In Three Months...

My baby will be 3 years old. Is that possible?

He is an amazing kid. He's funny, he's witty, he's smart and affectionate. I don't think kids get any better than this. I am constantly amazed at how much a being can learn in less than three years. I try to remember that he's still just a little tyke, but sometimes it's hard. He speaks in full sentences. This morning he got up and said, "My cup is full of juice. I don't like that juice. Can I have Chocolate Milk Please?" as if he'd been speaking English for years, versus about 9 months.

The other day, he counted to 57, just because he likes to count. He sings his ABC's in various rhythms and crescendos, showing tremenduos talent for music already- thank god he didn't inherit his great-grandfather's tone-deafness! He can write every letter and number by himself, amazing people at parties when he asks for crayons, and instead of scribbling a toddler-like sketch of the world, he asks "How you spell your name?" and proceeds to write it for them. He is on the verge of reading by himself, already skilled in phonics and sounding words out. Last week he was sitting in his carseat, behaving like some spelling bee junkie as we ran errands, yelling, "CAT! C-A-T! CAT!" and continued to spell out various animals and items by memory, just for the heck of it. He repeats virtually everything (including some things mom should remember not to say out loud now!), and uses new words he learned just hours before in a conversation with dad later in the day.

The weather is getting nicer and warmer, and soon we'll be moving out of this house that he was born in. The house where he has learned how to be a little human in the last 2 3/4 years. It will be sad, but a new adventure that I hope brings him great things- new friends, more fun, more learning. I hope that he loves his new room, which he gets to pick out all by himself, and I hope the new house brings him a new brother or sister to teach everything he's already learned. I can't wait to play soccer in our backyard, ride bikes on an actual sidewalk - A SIDEWALK (we don't have those now!), to be in a neighborhood with KIDS! I hope he learns and grows even more as a person with more room to stretch.

I know he's only 2-3/4, but for me, he's such a little man already. Yesterday he burped and said "Excuse me!" without any prompting, and he often says "OH THANK YOU! I LOVE DIS (fill in the blank with whatever he is holding)!" when he is given some little trinket or gift. He pats my face and smiles just because, or when I'm mad, he flashes a big silly toothy grin and says "BEEEEE HAAAAPPPY!!!!". I love every second of his life, including the tantrums and the sleepless nights we still occasionally have.

In three months, my son will be three years old. They have, quite honestly, been the best three years of my life. And there is no way he'll ever understand until he has kids of his own. Isn't that the way it goes?