Three

Marc-Adam~

You're three now!! You've grown up so much in the last year! Such a big boy now! You really understood the concept of turning three, because when I asked you how old you were you yelled, "THREE!" and when I asked you how old you were yesterday, "Two." You are convinced that this additional year has opened all sorts of doors for you because when you wanted to do something today, I told you to wait. You insisted you COULD do it (I knew you could, it just wasn't a good time) and you pleaded to me, "I can, Mama, I can! I'm three!"

(Marc-Adam at 3 years old)

This past year, you moved from your crib to a toddler bed, and now you share the bunk beds with Zachary. You love sharing a room with your brothers, and I can hear you talking or whispering to them when you are supposed to be sleeping, or at least being quiet.

You are still our little firecracker, and I'm convinced that if I look close enough, that one gray hair on the top of my head has your name on it. You had your first ER visit this July when you fell off the bunk bed ladder you weren't supposed to be on. No stitches, thankfully.



You are learning SO MUCH. You seem to soak up a lot of the lessons that I gear towards your brothers and you can say your ABCs, count to 20 (although occasionally you leave out 5-8 and throw in a few extra 15s), you know most of your colors and can even recite the planets for me! You LOVE to work in your workbooks for school and right now your favorite is the Thomas the Train book with the flashcards....I don't know if you ever actually seen the Thomas the Train show.

Speaking of shows, you definitely have favorites. Being the third brother, you've never really gotten to enjoy the toddler shows like your older brothers did. Your favorite show is Phineas and Ferb and I could listen to you say "Perry the Platypus" all.day.long. Arthur is another favorite that you watch because of your brothers. But if given a choice to pick something to watch when no one else will watch it with you, you'll pick Wow! Wow! Wubbzy. For a long time it was Yo Gabba Gabba and can I just say how glad I am that you're off of that kick now? :)

You're at the age when you want to do everything yourself, and you can not be deterred even when you do it wrong. You think which ever way you do it is right. If I tell you you're doing it wrong, you say in a sweet little voice, "It's okay, Mama, it's okay." You also pull out that cuteness when you get caught doing something you shouldn't. It makes it really hard to fuss at you when you say that to me. But I can fuss at you when you are being hard-headed, which you are. A lot. When you get it in your mind that you are going to do something or that you want something, you will not let down...and a lot of times will just keep doing what you want until I either raise my voice or physically stop you.

You are speaking wonderfully now. You talk in normal sentences, about 5-8 words, but I still have to translate for you once in a while, and sometimes even your brothers have to translate for me because I don't understand (but usually only when I can't get the context of what you are saying). One of your most used phrases is, "Mama? Can you come here for a second?" And if you keep saying it so sweetly, I will follow you where ever you want me to go! You have the same language challenge Stephen did at that age and you can't say a hard G or C sound and replace those sounds with a D or T (so you would say "tootie" instead of "cookie"). But you'll grow out of it, I know....hopefully before Evie starts to pick up on it!

Speaking of Evie, you became a big brother this year!! You love having a little sister, and you try to take good care of her. You are a little rough with her sometimes, though, but I don't think you are ever trying to be malicious. You are just curious. Many times, I have to tell, "Please don't make your sister be a pirate" because you think it's funny to close one of her eyes and yell, "Argh!! I'm a PIrate!" She's not so amused. You also like to pull her ears out and make monkey noises. Again, she's not so amused. One of these days, my dear, I think you are going to get payback. ;) Your brothers love playing with you now. You have finally become fun to them. You make them laugh and play right along side them during their pretend play. You'll run through house yelling, "I'm Hulk! HULK SMASH!"


You are still my most daring, and I HOPE we can get you into gymnastics sometime after the first year. You would be so good at it! You also LOVE to play games and can beat any of us at Uno! You are really good at Memory, too. You like to read, but rarely sit still long enough to finish a book and when you do sit still for a while to read, it's because you want to read to me. Your newest favorite book is your storybook bible and you read it to me almost everyday. You think every grown male character on every page is Jesus. And every other character is either happy to see Jesus or sad because he/she misses Jesus.

For a long time, you weren't very affectionate or cuddly, I had to sneak in my hugs and kisses when you weren't paying much attention to what I was doing. But lately, you've loved having me hold you and snuggle you. You give fantastic kisses complete with little growly noises. I think I do something similar to you, but I didn't know you paid that much attention.

My baby boy. I am LOVING getting to know who you are and who you are to become. You are so much fun and even on the days I think I could put you on the curb with a "Free to good home" sign, you still make me laugh and make me thank God that I'm your mom. I love you, boy.

Love,
Mama

(Marc-Adam at 3 months)