Happy Birthday Zachary!

Happy birthday to my favorite three year old. As I discussed with a friend today, birthdays seem to take on a whole new meaning when they are the "birth"day of your child. I can clearly remember all the events of three years ago. It all actually started three years and one day ago. My water broke the night before you were born at about 6:00 pm. Many of my friends remember because Daddy and I were at church for bible study. We were not ready and we had to shuffle your brothers around because Grandma and Papa were about 2 hours away, but we finally made it to the hospital about 7:30. I was all about the epidural, and at 3:49 am, with a little vaccuum assist, you were born. It sure made for a long night and Daddy and I were really tired the next day.

Later in the day, Grandma and Papa brought your brothers to see you for the first time. Kyle really wanted to hold you and Jacob pretty much wanted nothing to do with you. Bruce and Michele were on their way to the airport and they stopped to see you. We finally got a hold of Aunt Sara and Uncle Bill and they came to see you later that night.

However that was three years ago and you have changed so much since then. As I watch you today, you are certainly an amazing little boy. Yes, I still call you my little boy. I don't think I am ready for you to grow up yet. You absolutely adore trains. It is so much fun to see how excited you get when you see one. Just today on our way home from church, you stuttered your way in excitement as we went over not one, but two trains. You said things like:

"There goes the train!"
"There's a consist. It has two engines."
"Look! It's going backwards!"

You love your wooden trains and train table at home as well as your lego trains, and any other train you might happen to find. Even if there is no train, you find one, like at the new Whole Foods, there is a little decorative canopy over the front doors, and you told me that you thought it was a track for trains.

You love your brothers and most of the time think you are as old as they are and can do anything they can do. Sometimes I am appreciative of this. I truly feel that is why you were potty-trained by two and a half and how you have learned to undress yourself already (for those of you that have only girls, this is something that you have to TEACH boys to do). Sometimes however, it makes for difficult times and you don't always understand that you can't do the things that they can do yet. I sometimes say, "You're not four, you can do that when you're four." You then shout, "I AM four!" All this does is make us go round and round, soI guess that I need a new argument. You want to go to school just like your brothers. You love your Parent's Day Out, but I know that you are looking forward to next year to going to the same school Jacob and Kyle went to.

You are the most stubborn child I have. Papa always has told you that you can't out-stubborn your mom, but you are giving me a run for my money. Hopefully you will learn to use this skill for good. I think I have, for the most part anyway.

Your smile and laugh lights up my day. It's hard to stay angry with you when you grin at me. I love our "donut Mondays"-grocery shopping while the boys are at school and we get a donut at Meijer. I love to snuggle with you when you have just woken up from a nap. I dread the mantra of "I'm hungry," which seems to escape your mouth about every three minutes. I love to listen to you sing. Just yesterday I heard you belt out "Open the eyes of my heart," while playing and then this morning you started "The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me!" You seem to have a natural gift for music and I hope that I can encourage that. You learn songs very fast and seem to remember them for a long time.

I don't know what the future holds for you, but I know that I love you more today than the day you were born. You are my baby boy, and since the next one is a girl, you will always get to stay that way.

I love you! Happy Birthday Zachary!
Mom
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