Wednesday, September 01, 2010

My Little Man Turns Three!

Now that it has been nearly a month since his birthday, shall we catch up here on the blog a bit?

We started with this tiny bundle of adorable-ness:

He grew and he grew. We celebrated surviving the first year:

He grew and he grew, and I finally started to get comfortable in my mother-skin. I rejoiced when he turned two:

He grew and he grew. And then we got to celebrate three years with this delightful little boy:

Daddy helped blow out THREE big candles on our big boy's cake...

and after present-opening, he enjoyed running around with his only cousin, Olivia:

These two are kissing cousins. Literally:



We had the blessing of being in Ohio the weekend before Elijah's birthday (he turned three on August 10), so we got to celebrate with our families. And while Elijah definitely did not relish being the center of attention in a big crowd, he did love spending time with beloved family members and eating birthday cake with Pops's homemade ice cream :)

I know I keep saying this...but it really does get better and better. Not one to grieve the passing of the newborn stage, I enjoy each age more than the last. Two didn't turn out to be terrible for us after all, and though I have heard warnings that three is worse than two, for now we have a sweet little boy who is (most of the time) a joy to be around.

I'm so thankful for the growth we have seen in Elijah over the past year, and over the last few months especially. His language skills have improved dramatically as a result of the Vanderbilt study (more on that soon, really!) and it's so much easier to be able to communicate with him. Beyond that, it's fun to see his personality develop. He has unfortunately inherited a few of his mother's less desirable traits, but he also has some really wonderful qualities: a great sense of humor; his daddy's laidback/easygoing temperament. He's tenderhearted and can't stand to think that we are upset with him, but desires quick reconciliation. He loves books, animals, and playing outside, and he loves to imitate Daddy and play with Daddy's tools (Steve is now experiencing firsthand what it must have been like for his own father to constantly have tools missing, find rusted screwdrivers in the yard, etc :)

When I stop to consider it, I'm amazed that God would entrust the care of such a precious soul to me, a sinner who He knew would screw it up over and over again. I'm thankful that He is much more patient with me than I am with my son, and that He has chosen such a kind way to refine me. I'm thankful for His grace, and praying for wisdom to know how to extend and display that grace to my little boy.

This is certainly a season of anticipation, as the birth of our next little one approaches. But I'm also trying to make it a season of soaking up this stage of Elijah's life and being grateful for my sweet firstborn son. Happy (belated) birthday, Elijah.

3 comments:

Rebecca said...

He's adorable!

litabug said...

That baby picture is so sweet!

You forgot to mention his talent for character voices. Every time we read Goldilocks now, the kids talk about Elijah doing the big bear's voice. :)

Danielle said...

Happy Birthday! Congratulations to both of you! :)