3.

Maxwell Jared,
Three years old today! The old saying is really true; time really does fly. You are growing into quite the little boy. You are no longer a baby, but it is so fun to watch you grow.

You are at the age of discovery and imagination. You love to do new things and then once you have established you like it, you want to continue it. Like Play-doh for instance. You LOVE play-doh. You love to have me make different animals (although I must admit I am not that great at it, but you buy it...your imagination is that good) and then want beds and chairs for them to use.

Another thing you love is your toy cars. You line them up on the fireplace. You make up stories as you go along, it is fun to watch you play. You have equal love for your trains, you love to have someone build you a track on your train table and then run the trains on the track. Usually by the end of the day however, you have bundled the tracks into a large pile to be redone tomorrow.

Your newest love is a superman figurine you acquired. You have never seen anything to do with Superman but you sure love to play with him! You have him walk around and ride in around in anything he will fit in. It is so fun to watch your imagination at work.

Your little brother Evan loves you, he loves to follow you and do whatever you are doing. Sometimes you get annoyed because you want to do your own thing, but most of the time you are very good at sharing or at least getting him interested in something else. The sweetest thing though is your concern for him. If he is upset or gets hurt you are right there by his side making sure he is okay and consoling him.

You are usually well behaved, asking nicely, saying please and thank you. You do have your moments but they are usually short lived and few and far between. You are a sweet boy with a tender heart.

You still go between calling your Daddy and I between our first names and "Mommy" and "Daddy". I don't mind when you call me Anne, but I think in public people must think I am your nanny or something. Someone once asked if it broke my heart that you called me by my first name instead of "Mama" but I don't mind, and about 90% of the time it is "Mama".
You are a VERY picky eater! When you do eat, you take your time and do not usually eat that much. You love yogurt (sometimes with a little granola) in the mornings, or a waffle with bananas. You LOVE bananas. Otherwise you stick with Whole Wheat Mac and Cheese, Boca Nuggets, or grilled cheese. You pretty much only like broccoli and carrots, and besides bananas you only really will eat strawberries.

When I tuck you into bed at night you always ask for a hug,then always say goodnight and I love you. You love to pray as well, although you are hard to understand as you do so but this is much better than about 6 months ago when you used cry whenever someone said amen.

Your best quality is your tenderness and concern for others. If we are out and you hear a baby cry you always ask if he or she is okay. You always help me out at home, love to help me sweep, love to lend a hand in most anything I am doing, and I love this. I cherish these moments with you. I love when you come up comepletely unexpectedly and ask for a hug, a kiss, and an I love you.

We do love you sweet boy, so, so much. Happy 3rd Birthday!