Today you are 3 1/2. Three and a half. 3.5.....halfway to four.
You are the biggest Big Boy and the best Big Brother that I have ever seen. Every morning you wake up around 7:30 (although there have been times where it was earlier.....much earlier), tip toe into my room, gently tap on my shoulder with your sweet, little hands and say, "Mom, I need you."
Every.single.morning.
And so it goes. I walk you into the movie room, turn on your shows, make you a cup of juice, and go back to bed.
You let Sissy and I sleep for a few more hours before deciding that you are ready for a "snack". We argue about how you have to eat breakfast before you have a snack....you usually stomp your feet and cross your arms and "Hmpf" a couple of times, but Mommy always wins. You are so three.
Your most popular phrases of the moment are:
"That's the deal" (when you've decided your way is all that matters)
"Is that a good deal?" (after bartering with me)
"Mom, I love you" (at least 10 times a day for no reason)
"Oh, good morning Wy Wee" (everytime you see your sister)
Grayson, you are so incredibly headstrong. A trait you most definitely get from your Daddy, Pappi, and Nana. But you can also be an emotional roller coaster at times....a trait you've most definitely gotten from your Mommy. Most days you are so cool to be around....like a little Kevin. You dropped your naps a few weeks ago and can handle it for the most part, but some days I find you fast asleep on the movie room couch at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. You have "quiet time" everyday during the week, which consists of a movie of your choice, a little snack, and you laying on the couch in the movie room. You are not allowed off the couch while the movie is on, and if caught, you have to go to your bed and take a nap.
This usually gives me a moment to gather my thoughts and let me have quiet time, too.
You have attached yourself to your "Jessie"....a little Lego figurine from Toy Story 3....she goes EVERYWHERE with you. It's really cute but also a little ridiculous because she's a LEGO and no bigger than my thumb, which results in losing her frequently.
You may think, "what's the big deal??"
The big deal is that you can't buy her separately, oh no! She only comes in a $15 kit with her horse and a train and a train station, which you could give two hoots about.....you only play with her. She's been lost twice and you absolutely cannot live without her. Thus, we have had to purchase a whole other kit.
You do the math.
Grayson, you have impressed your Daddy and I so much these past few months. You no longer inform us that you need to potty, you just go. You've gotten really good at
putting on and taking off your clothes all by yourself and you can even brush your teeth really well. You are an amazing sleeper and have been since about a year old. You can put your dirty dishes in the sink and your trash in the trash can....you even know what things you should recycle. So smart!
You can count to 20 and know all your colors and half of your letters. You can draw straight and squiggly lines and are learning how to trace very well. You are so smart when it comes to computer games....you figure them out faster than I can read you the directions...even with adult games.
You are wearing size 4 pants and shirts and sometimes size 5 and size 9 shoes. I think you weigh somewhere around 34 lbs. You are so muscular, no more baby fat!! We got your hair cut a few months ago...like a real big boy haircut and it looks awesome but it makes you look SO grown up.
You love taking baths.
We found you a little shaving kit that looks like Daddy's and you think you are so stinkin' cool. You hate getting your hair washed and are starting to become quite the picky eater. You're on a grilled cheese kick these days....it has to be yellow cheese, though, unlike your cheese sticks....those have to be white. No more mustard on your sandwiches, just plain. Who are you???
You used to eat anything that we put infront of you. Sadly, those days are over. You only like raw carrots with ranch, grapes, chicken nuggets, string cheese, grilled cheese with turkey, tortillas with queso, hamburgers, lunchables, and pancakes. That's it.
You are such an amazing big brother.....Rylee idolizes you. She can be screaming or squawking one minute and then she spots you or hears you and the biggest smile pops on her face!! Oh how she loves you!
You are my big boy! My sweet Bubba. My baby. My oldest.
There are benefits of being the oldest, the first born.
No hand-me-downs, everything you get is new. You're always the first to do something new or reach a milestone ... first to walk, first to have a first birthday, first to start preschool. By default, a bigger deal is made of all your "firsts."
You were the first baby I'd ever held that was my own. The first baby to be brought into our home to stay. The first to teach me a mother's love. The first. It has its privileges, ya know.
It also has its disadvantages. Also by default, I expect more from you. You should know better than to splash water out of the tub. You should know better than to pinch or hit. You should know to share. You are the oldest, after all.
By this birthright, right or wrong, you are responsible beyond your years. Greater expectations and discipline are sought from you. You become the target of my frustration, brokenness and exhaustion when you have no ability to understand any of the three.
And for all of it I'm sorry.
I see in you the worry-wort, hot-head and caretaker that I believe are genetically yours. Passed down from your Daddy and your Nana. Both first born, by the way. I sometimes see these traits in you, and wish I could somehow erase them all.
I also wonder how much I've taught you, versus how much you were destined to acquire despite my example. I'm sorry that I'm just a great big ball of emotions and that I wear my heart on my sleeve.....you, too will acquire these traits, if you haven't already.
Chances are you will always expect more from yourself than others do. Chances are you will worry constantly, and when there's nothing left to fret about, worry about that too. Chances are you will feel responsible for things you have no control over or ability to change. Chances are ...
In life, though, you take the good with the bad. What you get in high expectations, you don't get in hand-me-downs. You'll have to accept my desire to instill discipline in you, in exchange for a part of me only you will ever get to hold.
I promise you unconditional love that you'll never know from another and promise that you'll begin to understand it all when you hold that very first baby of your own.
Until then, please try to understand I only want the very best for you, even if it brings out my worst.
And also know that I will never tire of being woken up in the wee hours of the morning by your sweet voice saying, "Mom, I need you."
Happy Half Birthday!
Love, Mom
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