Happy 3rd Birthday, John!

My baby boy is three today. For three years, he has filled up my life with his sweet, gentle, fun-loving personality.  

John on his birthday.

I remember when this picture was taken--on his birth date--I was so pleased with it. Unlike most baby pictures, it looked exactly like him, and perfectly captured his sweetness as well as his focus.

John at 1 year

When this picture was taken, I remember being disappointed that it lacked the 1-year-old exuberance of Sam's portrait. I'd purposefully dressed John in the same clothes and put him in the same pose. But it just goes to show that with two children, no matter what you do, they will be their own people. This picture is so John. Sweet, a little shy, taking in the scene before he opens up, biting his lower lip, concentrating on the moment.



John at 2 years old

By two, John had his own likes (The Wiggles) and dislikes (smiling for pictures). This picture perfectly captures his two-year-old self. He's busy and I've interrupted him. He's humoring me with a half smile, but he really just wants to get back to what he was doing. 



John at 3 years old



Today John is a happy boy, who is excited about going to camp, and swim lessons, and starting preschool for the first time. He'll smile for pictures now, but frequently is looking off into the distance. He doesn't want to take time out for pictures when he can be doing something fun.

In honor of his third birthday, here are three new facts about John.

1) John's Grandmom calls him "The Little Italian". Until she mentioned it, I never noticed how much he talks with his hands (almost constantly). Everything he says is emphatic. He will be telling you about what the garbage trucks did, and each sentence is accompanied by a big gesture.

2) John loves every kind of truck. Last night at the park, there was a play structure that was shaped and colored like a fire truck. John told me it was a "fire bus"--that it went to school and put out fires. His creativity never ceases to amaze me.

3) Whenever he feels hurt or upset, John wants to snuggle in my lap with "blanket". Blanket is a green fleece blanket that I received at Sam's baby shower. Sam was never very attached to it, but I took it to the hospital with me when John was born and John loved it right away. They've been inseparable ever since. If you ask John what blanket's name is, he says it's "Green".