You are three! I have written a letter to you each year on your birthday and I'm amazed that I'm on my third one. These past years have gone by in the blink of an eye and I can't believe that you have gone from my little baby to a little boy. We got your school pictures in this week and I compared them to your pictures from last year. Your face has thinned out, the baby fat all gone and you are tall and lean now. Your eyes still sparkle with that bright blue, but the babiness in you is almost gone. I keep thinking that in three more years, you will be turning 6 and will be in your first year of kindergarten.
Everyone says that the terrible twos are, well, terrible, but all in all, I don't think it's been that bad. You sure have tested your boundaries and limits and we've gone through temper tantrums and time outs, but for the most part, you've done well. The best part about this year has been your ability to communicate. What a difference it makes to be able to talk to you. You have a sense of humor now and find things funny, especially anything that has to do with poop. One night you took a little stuffed dog with you to dinner and daddy made him "poop" out an M&M. You laughed so hard that you almost couldn't breathe! We had to do that trick over and over.
With that little boy sense of humor comes your love off all things with wheels. Caterpillars, trains, cars, monster trucks, fire trucks. If it runs on wheels, you love it. You can spend hours playing in the dirt, pushing it around with your caterpillars and loading and dumping it. You were in heaven at your birthday party yesterday because I think every present was a car or truck of some sort.
When you were very little, you would eat all veggies and this year has brought a little more difficulty with feeding you. Anything that is green or has a weird texture is automatically spit out. I always said I wouldn't be the mom that fixes her children a different dinner, but here we are. I feed you what you like and you haven't starved yet.
You love me, I know, but your daddy is your best friend. You wake up looking for him and you always want to help him in the garage or in the yard. You pal around with him running errands and I think your favorite place to be is at his office where you can play in buckets of dirt.
You are such a sweet boy, who goes non-stop. You give hugs and kisses freely and I'm starting to think you've never met a stranger. There's also a stubborn streak in you, and as I wrote last year, it makes it difficult for daddy and I now, but I want you to keep that in your middle and high school year and even on into adult hood. I hope that you always follow your own path and while I want you to have friends, I don't want you to feel that you always have to go with what the crowd wants to do.
Oh, I love you, little Lucas. I've teared up more times than I like to admit this week thinking about you turning another year older. And while you're still oh so little, you're oh so big, too. You have opinions and ideas and make up stories. Your imagination is boundless. I hope that one day you will read these letters and see, see the road that daddy and I have traveled with you. Our hearts were entwined forever with yours from the day you were born, if not before, and each year, we unravel it a little more to help you make your mark on this world. It's a hard thing watching you grow and gain your independence a little more with each passing day, but it also provides endless joy to see who you are becoming.
I love you, Lucas James. Happy Birthday.
Love, Mama
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| Luke and I made cookies a few weekends ago. He helped me! |
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| Luke loves for Lola to sit next to him |
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| Birthday boy badge! |
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| Dad and Uncle Jon |
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| Maw and Aunt Christine |
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| Toby came to visit too! |
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| Russ took some great pics, too! |
