Happy 3rd Birthday Noah

Dear Noah,

Today you are 3 years old!

It seems so strange to think of it. Three years ago right now, This Mommy and I were hanging out in a hospital room, wondering when you would decide to come out of my belly and join us in the world. We couldn’t wait to meet you! Instead, we were stuck waiting and watching Wedding Crashers and Must Love Dogs on DVD, hoping that I would get into active labor soon! It had already been 29 hours since my water broke!

You were unsure about coming out — maybe exhibiting the earliest signs of the shyness you still show around strange adults. (Maybe you were waiting for our favorite midwife, who had just come back on duty, replacing our least favorite one who had been there during the night.) In fact, 35 hours after my water broke, the midwife and doctor went in to get you.

Back then, you were a big healthy baby, 9 lbs, 7 oz, and 21.5 inches long. You were a great eater, and a great cuddler, but you didn’t do much else.

Now you are a big healthy boy, 38 lbs, and 38 inches tall, and it seems like you never stop moving and talking. There is almost nothing you can’t do!

You love to run, jump, bounce, dance, throw, and climb. In certain moods, you also love to help your mommies, and to snuggle, read, draw, and play pretend. In the last few days, we’ve been pretend dinosaurs, gorillas, race car drivers, and you’ve been a pretend baby — both with baby Josie, and pretending that she is your big sister.

There is nothing in the family of “race car” toys that you don’t love. You spend hours lining them up, racing them around, and conducting elaborate games among the “race cars” and the “slowpokes.”

You’ve also become immensely competitive. You like to go first, be the leader, go the fastest, and most of all, to win. It doesn’t matter whether the activity is running or racing cars, or brushing your teeth, eating breakfast, or getting in the car. Sometimes the only way to spur you into an activity you would prefer not to do, like brushing your teeth, is to threaten to do it faster/better/farther.

We also love to watch you in action as a big brother. You love to kiss and hug “Miss Goo” and to hand her toys. When she cries, you always tell her sweetly, “It’s ok, baby Josie, it’s ok,” or you echo my, “I know, sweetheart, I know.” You advise us on what she wants and how to help her, and you often ask if you can play with her. (Usually yes, unless she is either eating or sleeping.)

Josie, in turn, loves to watch you and talk to you. She laughs and babbles when you pay attention to her and let her touch your face and hair.

You still have your challenging moments, getting angry and either hitting or kicking, or even head-butting. Sometimes you engage in passive resistance, curling up in a ball and insisting that you don’t want to do whatever we’re doing or go wherever we’re going.

But no matter whether you are being charming, sweet, and helpful, or stubborn, cranky, and screaming, we love you more than we could ever have imagined. You are and will always be my favorite boy in the whole wide world.

I love you.

That Mommy