Dear Mason, today you are three years old...

(Mason's 1st birthday, Jan. 2007)

... and I'm not sure you know exactly what a big milestone this is. To look at you now and compare it with photographs from such a short time ago is to see one of the greatest miracles of life at work. In the past three years, you have become such an individual and such an important part of our family that it is hard to remember what life was like before you came along.

(First night home, Jan. 2006)

From the start, you were such a robust little guy. You were 9 lbs. 8 oz. and born three weeks early. We had a hard time interrupting your sleep to get you to eat often enough; in fact, sometimes it is still difficult to wake you up. You definitely need your 12 hours of sleep or life is not always pretty.

(Oct. 2006)

You regularly throw caution to the wind. I gave up keeping you off the stairs and taught you how to maneuver them when you were around 8 months old. This was before you could walk or crawl, but you were so dedicated to playing on the stairs that teaching you how to do it with something resembling safety was the only option. More recently, you climbed a ladder without looking back so you could be on the roof helping hang Christmas lights. Often times, we are having the heart attack for you as you proceed through everything because your curiosity will not let you stop until you have conquered the task at hand. If you can but keep this drive throughout your life, you will do great things even if your mom is in the background freaking out a little bit.

(Mason's 2nd birthday, Jan. 2008)

You have learned so many things and continue to amaze us with your knowledge and your memory. You can identify nearly all the letters in the alphabet and tell us what phonetic sound they make; the only thing that holds you up here is your desire to do it. As often as not, you are likely to ask us what the letter or the sound is if only in either subtle mocking or desire to be more grown up. You can count to 15 or so, but usually get the numbers out of order on purpose so that we'll laugh with you and you can remind us that you are a "slilly boy". You sing songs and sometimes get the words right. Other times, it's just fun to hear what you come up with.

You are a particular little guy who will ask us tirelessly to make the train track the way you have envisioned or build a tunnel out of the couch cushions that stands up just right so you can crawl through it. All it takes to make a fort you love is a card table and a sheet; all you need to play in the yard is a shovel and some dirt. You can keep yourself busy for hours with a good puddle and a few rocks. More often than not, you would prefer to be outside and your enthusiasm for camping is bound only by your fear of the wind blowing your ears away.

Happy Birthday to you, our sweet and sassy boy. You are three, which means your world is full of frustrations when things don't turn out the way you were expecting; but hopefully this year will be full of surprises and excitement for you. You have a new baby sister coming, which will be a big change. I hope you will smother her with kisses the way you do me and proudly proclaim that you stole them from her, too. I hope you will clearly feel our love and encouragement as you take a big-boy sized bite out the world by going to school for the first time. I wish you could stay sweet and small, but more than that I hope you continue growing up into a smart, happy, and handsome boy.

Love and many stolen kisses,
Mama