three years -- all in a day

It's been a day of celebration here, as our younger lad turns three today.  There have been trips in "the big truck" with Daddy to the hardware store to check out the riding lawnmowers and various other offerings, then later (in the Bambini Ride) to the ice cream shop and (water-logged) park.  Grandparents came for dinner and truck-themed birthday cake.  The birthday lad and his siblings climbed all over each other reaching for toys both just-unwrapped and those brought out from the closet to compliment the new ones (and there might have been words to the effect of negotiating whose turn it was with the brand new this or that).

All this we've done to honor and celebrate the lad who brings us such joy on a daily basis with his sunny disposition, funny little running commentary and facial expressions, endearing declarations of love, and generous spirit toward those around him. 

I may have intuited that he was a girl the entire time I was expecting him, but I am ever grateful for the lad he is.  I look forward to getting to know the man he will one day grow to be, and pray that the time between now and then passes only at a pace such that I'm able to fully relish each burst of laughter, display of affection, sound effect, and opportunity to be his Mama. 

Birthday blessings upon you, dear lad.  We love and cherish you.