Three Years.

It was three years ago that I gave birth to my firstborn son. After three days of early labor and then 27 hours of LABOR, I thought you’d never come. Now, I can hardly believe the time has gone by so quickly. He went from falling asleep on his dad’s chest as a fussy newborn to telling me, “Deciduous trees lose their leaves,” in a matter of minutes, it seems.

Vaden, we are so blessed to call you our son. You are so joyful, so full of excitement and enthusiasm over every little thing you see. It helps us to see the wonder in life to see your face light up at a sunset, a ladybug, or the sun reflecting off the lantern on the back porch.

You make us laugh every single day. You have a creative imagination and a vivid vocabulary. We especially like how you threaten us when you don’t like something, “I’m gonna squish you and put you in a bush.” [No idea where you got that from.]

We’ve started keeping track of all the funny things you say. The favorite from this week is, “I don’t like coffee. It smells like porkchops.” Especially since you’ve never had porkchops and don’t even know what they are, let alone what they smell like. And the fact that you do like coffee. [Only a little sip here and there, of course.]

You are a wonderful brother. We love how you share well, most of the time, and how you fondly care for your duck, who’s finally got a name, as of yesterday: ‘Softwing Pearce.’ You named him yourself.

You are cautious, like your mama has always been, but given time, you’ve taken some brave risks. Including going to Jumping Beans bounce house with Auntie and the boys for your birthday surprise. And by the end of last summer, you made it off the step of the pool a couple of times, too.

You are a creature of habit; you love routine. If I (mama) forget to pray before a meal, you remind me. If I forget to read a story before bed, you remind me. If I forget to buckle your carseat, you scream at me, “Mama, my seat! I’m not safe!”

You are also my very big helper. You help me in the kitchen, you bring me diapers for Cana when I need them, you turn lights on and off, you even make your bed and fold the occasional washcloth.

No, you’re not perfect. Yes, you’re whiny quite a bit, but hey, so are we. You are such a special boy.

We love you more than we can say with words.