"Cinco 2 Mayo"

 Hey, Claycito, it's finally "Cinco 2 Mayo," the special day you've been telling people about for months, and unbelievably, you are three (or "this many," as you often say, while working to hold up your three fingers)! You have really grown up so much in the last year, and it has been a blast watching you learn and develop! You are learning to say the ABCs and to count, and you can talk a blue streak, on almost any subject. We have noticed recently that many of your adorable baby pronunciations of words are (sadly) starting to slip away. There's no denying that you are getting big!

You like to "read" books when you see your siblings reading and "write" when you see them writing. You are a whiz at putting puzzles together, and you often get caught up in pretend or imaginary play. You like to play with trains (and other vehicles), hammers (and other tools) and do anything your older siblings are doing. You also really love to play in the water. You are busy, busy all the time.

You are still working on potty training, but I do believe in my heart of hearts, we will get there eventually. You understand all the parts of it, you just haven't gotten to the point of putting them all together all the time. Right now, you are really in to trying to do certain things all by yourself, which is great…most of the time. I appreciate your desire to be independent and can't wait until you really and truly are (at least in this area of your life).

You LOVE to travel and have been known to say, "You take me place," as a question, a statement, an exclamation and a command. The one that melted my heart, though, was when we were going around the table and saying our favorite vacation, and you said, "My favorite place I go with you, Mom." Regardless of whether we are talking about going to the grocery store or to the beach, you definitely don't want to be left out, and you are always ready to "load up." (And, by ready, I mean in spirit, because in reality, we will be spending the next 15 minutes looking for a matching pair of shoes for you to wear.) You were super excited to get to spend your birthday at the beach in "Norf Care-lina".

When we went to Disney World last year, you fell in love with Mickey and have been sort of obsessed with him since. Many months ago, you made up a "game," which goes like this: "You say Mickey Mouse, I say birthday party." Then, whoever is "You" says, "Mickey Mouse," and you say "birthday party." For the longest time, you insisted on being the initiator of the game (you wouldn't play at all if someone else tried to start it), but you think this game is hilarious, and we all get a kick out of it, too, so we always play along. At first, the script was always the same, but now, it varies and can be played either with "I say" or "You say" at the beginning, followed by any two, usually unrelated, topics, and you will now allow others to initiate the game from time to time.

Speaking of hilarious, you have started telling jokes in the last few months. For a while, your go-to was the Interrupting Cow joke, but you have recently learned the "Why do cows wear bells?" joke, and it puts me on the floor every time. I love that you don't normally have much of a twangy accent, but you turn it on thick for this joke, which makes it all the funnier. You are a bundle of joy in so many ways. You love to laugh and to make others laugh, which makes our home a happy place to be.

One of my favorite things that you do is give animal kisses (and hugs). This started with lion kisses, when, one day you had your fingers pulling the corners of your mouth out and said, "I am yike a yion." Then, you kept that facial position and started distributing kisses. You have added chicken kisses, tiger kisses, giraffe kisses and monkey kisses to your repertoire, and they are all so sweet, I can hardly stand it! Each one is unique and you always remember which animal goes with which kind of kiss.

You love all your family, but your "best buddy" is Grandpa. I do believe you think he hung the moon. You talk about him non-stop and have many a time prayed for each of his numerous vehicles individually, whether before meals or at bedtime. For now, he is the love of your life.

Sweet boy, you are a delight! You fill our days with fun and energy and joy. Dad and I are very proud of you and can really tell you are getting big in so many ways. We are thankful to have you in our lives and look forward to seeing what the upcoming year holds for you. Happy birthday, Little Bitty! I love you!

Love,
Mom