Dear Oliver, on your 3rd birthday

Oh my sweet little Bubby. Your green eyes, those insane lashes and your cheesy smile make me MELT. Women are constantly swooning over your eyes. Since you were born. You are my little snuggle man. You would snuggle me and watch shows all day long if I let you. You are crazy for technology. You will find any computer, laptop, phone, radio - anything with buttons and/or a screen. At Discovery Gateway, instead of playing with all of the fun exhibits, you will literally spend the entire time on a little Ipad they have there. You will find and steal phones and hide and play on them.  This summer, you really bonded with Grandpa playing on his phone. You would snuggle up to him, put his phone on his belly and you two would have a blast playing Minefield. You wake up and ask for a show. Then you cry and cry when I say no. Every day. I make you and Nani take turns picking a show, and you will let me know the moment it is your turn to pick! And you cry and cry when I turn the TV off, or won't let you pick.

You are astounding with technology. It comes so naturally to you.

You are so stinking smart! You know your shapes, colors. You can identify all your letters and their sounds. You'll say "A. Ah, ah apple" And go through the alphabet. You can count to 20 and identify your numbers. When I pull out the flashcards, I get tired before you do. You could flash card all day. You LOVE to read! You love puzzles. You love your animals, cars, dinosaurs... You love bugs!! But your favorite is Halloween. You are still obsessed with Halloween. Ghosts, bats, witches, spiders... You are obsessed. It is so funny and so weird. Nani is obsessed too, but this is more your thing. If it wasn't for your intensity about it, I'm not sure how obsessed she would be. You constantly ask me when it will be Halloween again. And you'll say "it's not Halloween yet". And when something is AMAZING you compare it to "Halloween night". You'll loudly proclaim "it's like Halloween night!!" It is so funny.

You love your Grammy. You have always loved her more than anyone else. And you like to help her walk and hold her hand. You two have a special bond.

You  are such a Daddy's boy!! When he is home, you like him to get you out of your car seat.  You'll go through phases where it is Daddy everything. You love to roughhouse with him!

You love superheros!! You are constantly running around with your right fist in the air saving something. It is so funny and so cute!

You are so gentle and sweet. If I'm upset, you are upset. You are so loving and sweet.

You could sit there forever, watching a show, doing a puzzle, reading a book. You love to learn. You love to point at things and have me tell you what they are. You love to count things.

You are so sweet, my Oliver boy. Your hugs and kisses melt my heart. The way you just love to sit close to me, and 'shnuggle' is my happy place. I love when we hang out, and the stories you tell me. I love how when we sing "old McDonald had a Farm" you never pick farm animals, instead you pick ghosts, monster crabs, warewolfs, bats, kitten giraffes, shoes, rain and whole menagerie of other weird things.

You have such a funny sense of humor. You keep all of us laughing. I love you so much, my little man!

Love, Mommy

Dear Savannah, on your 3rd birthday

You are upstairs taking a nap as I write this. You are pooped because I took you to a playplace for lunch - and when I told you it was time to go home you preceded to run to the top of the play tunnels and hide from me for half an hour. HALF AN HOUR. You and Bubby would peek your heads out like spiders, find me standing there glaring at you, and then hide again. Then you cried when you finally came down and I wouldn't get you a treat. Savannah, you are the light of our family. There is a saying "when mama isn't happy, no one is happy." In our home, it's "when Savannah isn't happy, no one is happy." You bring so much love, light and laughter to our home. You are so much fun. You are wild and crazy. You rarely sit still. Your little mind is constantly turning, thinking of the next adventure you will embark on. You will plot, and you will wait until the perfect moment when Dad and I aren't looking, and you pounce! You get into more trouble than any child I have ever met. Seriously. You have at least 1 major, major incident a week. Usually it's more like 1 a day, or 2 a day if you are really on one. You come up with these ideas, and then your loving brother follows along. Often, you will come up to me, and tell me to leave the room. I know if you do this, you want me out of the room to get into trouble. You will command "mommy! Go clean!" or "Mommy! Go do the dishes!"  or "mommy, go watch TV!" To get me out of your way.

You LOVE princesses! Everything has to be pink (or purple) and princess. You have to wear a princess dress most days. And princess shorts, princess pants, princess shirt, princess shoes... It has to be pink and so girly. You love to read!

You love Halloween. Your and Bubby's obsession started July of last year, and is still going strong. We have these halloween forks and spoons, and you will only eat off the Frankenstein fork. You love ghosts, witches, dracula, pumpkins... I had a cute Mickey and Minnie party planned for your 3rd birthday, and when I said you would have a party, you yelled "halloween!!??  Pumpkins!? Trick-or-treating!!??"

You are so strong. You will often pick things up that should be way too heavy for you, and we are all so impressed. Especially during our move, you were so good at helping and carrying things.

You are a terrible eater. You like to snack all day and refuse to eat meals. And you love treats!

You have so much energy. You have a high pitched scream and will yell and spin and act like such a goof.

You and me, baby girl, we are best friends. You love me too much. You won't let anyone but me get you in or out of your car seat (occasionally you'll let Teta or Lacey get you out). I have to carry you around like you are a baby. You only let me tuck you in. We love spending time together, reading, playing. I hope and pray you and I can stay best friends like this forever.

You love your daddy. When he comes home, you yell "Daddy!" and run to him. When you are scared, you always go to him to feel safe. You know he will always protect you.

Your little brother, Oliver, is your absolute best friend. You two are literally 2 peas in a pod. You guys are never apart, because you don't want to be. You still will crawl into each others' beds to sleep. You play together all day. You don't like to be apart. When we are out playing at a park, or play place, or even at home, you two stay together and play so well. You fight, too. Oh, you fight. But more often you just love being together and have so much together. You will hug and kiss. You are protective of him. If another kid messes with him, you'll put up a big fight. If I punish Bubby or won't give him what he wants, you will come to me, hands on your hips, and demand I give him whatever is is he wants.

You remember everything. Absolutely everything. Bubby's finger got nibbled on by a fish at the aquarium 6 months ago, and you still talk about it every time we go to the aquarium. Once a horse pooped while we were on a walk, and you talked about it for a year after. If I say something, you never forget.

You love shows that have princesses. But mostly you don't like watching shows, you like to be busy. You love to help me. You love to help me put away laundry, do dishes, clean. Anything I am doing you like to do, too.

You LOVE your pink blankie. You can't do anything without it. You need it all day, all night. Washing it is so much drama. If you get hurt, or feel sad, you have to have it immediately. You eat meals with it. You try to take it everywhere we go.

You got a cute little pink horse, and named it Memo. That is the first time you have ever named anything.

We call you Fire. You are pure Fire. You are so smart, sassy, cunning, busy, stubborn... I am so proud of the little crazy 3 year old that you are. You push me beyond me limit more often than not, but even though it drives me crazy, I am so glad you are Fire. This world is hard, and it needs people like you. People who are passionate and stubborn and loving. You love our family and are so defensive of us. You already, at 3, have such intense opinions and would rather die than change your mind.

You are my best little friend. I love being with you. I love our talks. I love how you hold my hand, and at night when I try to leave your room, you wrap your arms around me and stay "I stuck on you!" I love how we sing as loudly as we can in the car (usually "Let it Go" or "Old McDonald had a Farm") while car dancing.

I love you so much, Savannah Banana. I am so proud of you.

Love, Mommy