Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

At age 3 you are:

Enthusiastic - You say everything in exclamations, and you're most common phrases are "Yay!" "Oh, yeah!" "Woohoo!" and "Let's go!"

Focused - when you have your mind on a task or activity, nothing can preoccupy you. You became an expert at riding your new bike in about an hour - practicing over and over and saying, "Mommy, I can do it myself," anytime you got stuck and I tried to help you. I've also seen you practice shooting baskets for extended periods of time. Trying over and over until you get a shot, and then taking a step farther back and practicing until you make it from there.

Imaginative - You are always pretending you are a race car. You frequently set up imaginative

games for you and your sister/friends to play. Quite frequently they involve being chased by someone (a big bad wolf, a giant, silly people...). While I wish your pretend play was more positive, I know that big imaginations usually lead to big fears, and that you are able to take control of those fears through pretend play.

Active and Adventurous - You love to run, bike, play games with balls. Every day you ask, "What special adventure will we have today?"

Curious - I hear "Why, mommy?" about a million times a day. You want to know about everything.

Funny - You love to make people laugh, and will keep doing anything that gets your crowd going. You recently discovered that a particular funny face you make (you call it the "poopy nose" because it's the face you make when something smells) always makes me laugh and you do

it every now and then just for my response!

Some of your favorite things:

Bumble, Bach (no joke. You even can pick out Bach songs, imitate his music on the piano, and recognize the letters of his name when flipping through the books to find a Bach piece), "Help" by the Beatles, "Wonder Pets," Playing basketball, riding bike, anything related to cars, swinging, peas, chicken, being silly with daddy, reading (you're currently into "The Cat in the Hat" and any in the "Give a _____ a _____" series).

Funny things you say:

"It's not my problem!" - not sure where you heard it, but you say it at the funniest moments. Usually it doesn't fit to the question I ask, which is why it's funny and not obnoxious.

"There are no other choices!" - I say this to you when you want something that we don't have (like cinnamon graham crackers when we have none). You say this to me when you want to do something and I say "no."

"I don't know." - you say this with your hands in the air and an innocent face. You almost always say this when I ask who made a mess or broke something. You almost always are the culprit when you say this.

My favorite recent stories:

When we were up north, we all slept in the same room. The first morning you woke up and told us you couldn't get out of bed until Bumble woke up. Suddenly Bumble's head popped up and he turned to look at us. You were moving his head just like a puppet! You do this a lot and it's really funny.

You like things just so. You like repetition and routine. You like things to be repeated day after day. There are two recent situations in which this has become very apparent. You have a cd that you like to listen to during morning quiet time (Bach), and you are very insistent that it always

start at the very beginning. If I accidentally skip the 15 second opening, you get really upset. We were playing a game, and I had to set it up just right each time. If it wasn't set exactly the same you wouldn't play. You kept saying, "No, mommy. It's not right. Try again!" The good news is that you are very good with putting things away because you know the right place for everything!

You don't like any picture with a face that looks surprised or angry. If you find them in books (and we're talking 1 face our of 100 in a search and find book), you won't look at that page. But you will show me every time. You will hold the book on the page before and say, "See, mommy. See the next page." Then you will quickly flip the page, hold the book up to me (upside-down), ask me to take the book and cover your eyes. Or you put one hand over your eyes while you quickly turn the pages with your other hand so you can skip that page.

You are a sweet little guy. You bring so much laughter to our days. Your sister adores you and calls you her best friend. Daddy is thrilled you love sports and enjoys sharing that with you. Mommy loves your hugs and enthusiasm and thanks God each day for the joy you bring. Happy Birthday, Buddy! We love you!