a birthday letter

Dear Luke,

You are THREE.  Let that sink in for a moment.  You.are.three.  And what a terrific three year old you are.  Well, minus the tantrums :)

This past year has been pivotal in your development.  We started two barely talking and now you are talking full blown sentences.  You are so inquisitive and I love that about you.  One of my favorite things you say is 'What's that sound?'  or 'Where we going?'  After being asked a million and one times, I usually respond 'Crazy' and you say, 'No, we no go crazy, we go (fill in the blank to where I've told you we're going the thirty times before changing my answer)'.

You are learning your letters and numbers and it amazes me when you spot one you know and tell me what it is.  You have also learned a lot of your shapes and you can spot them a mile away!  I'm so proud of everything you have learned, you're such a smart little guy!

The other day you asked me a question and I responded, 'Yes, baby'.  You looked at me and told me 'I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy!'  Yes you are.  Or if I say 'Sorry, Charlie.'  You respond by saying 'I'm not Charlie, I'm Luke!'  It's pretty funny how you're catching on to those ideas.

You are potty training like a champ! You like to stand up say, 'Watch this, mommy!'  and sure enough, you start to potty.  Now if I could just get you to aim :)  One of these days I'll get you fully potty trained, a drivers license and you'll be graduating college.  These days seem to fly by!

You're quite the negotiator and if you really want to do something you might say 'Don't say no, say yes'.  I can't help but laugh and so you typically get to do whatever it is I may have said no to before.  Or you'll put your hand on your cheeks and look up at us with the sweetest smile, bat your eyes and say 'Please!'.  You have us wrapped around your little finger and you use it to your full advantage. 

You love trains, cars and airplanes.  You really want to ride on an 'hairpane' and ask us all the time if you can.  When you're a little older I guess we'll need to buy roundtrip tickets to Dallas and spend the day flying.  You look at cars and ask if it's like mommy's car, M's car, Grandma's van, etc, etc, etc.  You're really starting to make correlations between things and it's great.

Your little 3 year old self is so fun and we love you so much.  The tantrums we could do without, but we absolutely adore you.  You'll always be our 'baby luke'.
Stop growing so fast.  I'm not prepared for you to know more than me :)

We love you to infinity and beyond!
Mom and Dad