dear ryan | 3 years old

Dear Ryan,

Yesterday you turned three years old. It has gone by so fast, yet I cant remember my life before you were in it. Just as I have said the past 2 birthdays- you amaze me. You continue to make me stretch and grow. You help build my faith and strengthen my character. You push me to set and reach goals, you make me want to be better. I bet you have no idea that at only three, you could accomplish so much. 

Baby boy, I have never laughed so much, cried so hard, or prayed more often than this last year with you. At two, you were barely speaking and then last fall your speech took off like a speeding train. You talk non stop all day, every day. You are loud and proud for sure, even your whispers in church can be heard in the back row. Your sense of humor is to die for- you understand sarcasm too and that makes for a pretty great time. You ask so many questions and insist on full understanding everything around you- from why daddy is at work, to where milk comes from. Everything is coming in full, grammatically correct sentences now and you sound so very grown up. You are my problem solver, just like your daddy. If we are out of milk you will  insist I go get some at target (where you think everything comes from) or if Weston is cranky you will tell me he needs a diaper change or to nurse. Though it creates quite the controversy when you want me to fix a popped balloon by blowing it up again- like hello mom! 

One of the greatest parts about you speaking so well is your ability to pray. Nothing melts my heart more than hearing you pray to Heavenly Father and thank him for Weston, for our house, and to help us be happy.

You may be all grown up and three now but there are still a few innocent, baby, things about you that I love and will desperately hold on to every day til they are gone. You still love me to carry you everywhere, you still cuddle on my lap any chance you get, you still like to use sippy cups so you dont have to be careful when you are taking a drink, you still make us lay in bed with you every night before you fall asleep and just prefer to sleep in our room if you have your way. You still dont like to venture very far and spend most of your day by my side. And best of all you are still obsessed with your taggy blanket. Thank you for not growing up too fast. I dont know if my heart could take it. 

You have always been a smarty pants but with you talking so much now its very apparent. Combine that with the fact that you never ever forget anything and its so cool! You count to 15, know the alphabet, can do basic subtraction and addition involving numbers up to 5, know all the colors, days of the week, and how to cook your own scrabbled eggs. You can tell me how to get places in the car, like various target locations, church, yia yia's house, daddy's work and so on... You know the names to all your favorite restaurants and would eat out every meal if we let you. Of course you are also very tech savvy and know how to work a computer mouse and keyboard, run the apple TV, call your family members, and cruise netflix on the xoom for the fresh beat band.

 This year was huge for you in so many ways too. You full filled one of your greatest missions so far- you became a big brother. From the time I told you I was pregnant you have been over flowing with joy and love for Weston. You had been telling us for quite some time before then, that we needed to have another baby. I knew you were just waiting for him because your world seemed complete the moment you first held him in the hospital. Every day since then has been like a dream (sometimes a crazy one of course) you love him so much and he feels the same about you. You two love to play together and you are the best at making him happy when hes sad- especially in the car. Its a great mommy moment to look in the rear view mirror and watch you guys laugh at each other. 

Your personality is making its self known more and more- its explosive in every way. You are loud, crazy, and hyper all the time. You run around non stop all day and fight us to sleep every night. You laugh and yell, and are constantly moving. Sometimes just watching you makes me tired, I dont know how you do it. There is never a dull moment when you're around. You always have something to show me or something you need.  You also have quite the tempter and three might be more difficult than two! You seem to be very emotional over everything and its not uncommon for you to throw your self on the floor in a puddle of sobbing tears, even if its just because we are out of bubbles. 

But you are pretty flipping cute so its all good. Above is your "scowly" face. Kills me every time. Happy 3rd birthday monkey man, We love you to the moon and back. 

Love,

Mommy and Daddy