Birthday Letters: Three

To Satchel with lots of big bold LOVE,

Now you are three! There has been so many changes in the last year. It feels as though you went from a babe to a boy in the blink of an eye. I LOVE who you are, your smile, your laugh, your sense of humor, your smell, and the way you hug. You give good hugs like your Dada.

I LOVE co-sleeping with you, and the way you pull my arm around you, snuggle and then pat me exactly the same way I pat you. I LOVE our night time conversations. Last night you announced, "Mama...a possum looks like a FFFFOT mouse!" You said it like an agitated Brit and the more I laughed the more you kept saying it. I LOVE your charming non sequitur declarations. You've just begun sleeping through the night and the timing is uncanny...right before you hit the big boy mark. You are no longer a toddler. No longer toddling, you are running, jumping, climbing, splashing, digging....and um...spitting!

When you are searching for just the right book for me to read, you sigh softly, "It's very curious". I LOVE that you use words like curious and residue and yet still say "gah berries" instead of strawberries and "homa depot" and "oakameal" and "parking noonooraj". How I will miss those words as surely as I miss "googoogots" when you ask me for apricots!

You have begun to ask for what you want..."I need a clean fork please", you told the waitress after dropping it under the table, "and hummus and tzatziki and olives and pita...that is what ME want". I LOVE that you feel so confident.

Though you are selective and cautious, you have just started introducing yourself, "I'm Satchel ...nice to meet you", you said proudly to our new neighbors.

I keep writing things down - the things you say, the things you do because I don't want to forget any of this...

• You like looking for worms, salamanders and bugs and you know where to find them.
• and throwing rocks in the stream and digging (and all implements of digging)
• drawing and painting. You've just started drawing people, train tracks, and letters!
• You make picnics and serve me a mysterious brew you call "pup a tee" which I suspect is really a cup of tea.
• Your favorite foods are pizza and pad thai (which you insist on eating with chopsticks).
• You love to read and have so many favorites, "Frogbelly Ratbone", "The Salamander Room", "Fireflies" to name just a few.
• You are wild about clouds and sunsets and notice EVERYTHING around you.
• You are excited by the return of the caterpillars, butterflies, and turtles. You are thrilled at the site of fluffy gosslings. And at this moment you are longing to see fireflies.
• You are an excellent dancer and namer of things.

You are such a wonderful boy, Satchel. Thank you for being my son. I'm indeed the luckiest person on earth. I LOVE you!

Love,
Mama
(posted at the time of your birth)

PS- Our camera broke down right after I took these photos of your treats. Sadly, I don't have any photos of your celebration.











Here's a brief description of the events:

• Your "Nomah" arrived and we took an evening lantern walk. You were so excited about it that you ran over and hugged me. You called it a "Fire Walk". We walked the trail carrying our lanterns and when we got to the wooden bridge you squealed, "We made it!" Then we all yelled, "Goodbye two years old" at the foot of the bridge and "Hello three years old" when we reached the other side.
• Once home I read you a birthday eve story that I wrote for you and you were convinced that you saw the fireflies in the story outside the window.
• When you fell asleep, we decorated the birthday room and I created a crepe paper kelp and fish chandelier over the birthday table.
• We made a trail of paper stars leading from the bedroom to the birthday table
• When you awoke, you collected the stars and your eyes widened when you saw all the decorations.
• You opened your birthday gifts...Nomah gave you two new books ("Inch by Inch" and "Augustus and his Smile"), a set of marbles and dominoes, and instruments. We gave you an easel and supplies (you call it an art studio) and a toy parking garage (noonooraj).
• I made a special breakfast of fish shaped pancakes with chocolate chip eyes and a coral reef made of oranges and bananas.
• After breakfast, Dada, went to pick up your balloons - sooooooo many! A big shark balloon, and and jellyfish.
• Your friends arrived and we made giant bubbles.
• Then we played parachute games. We put you in the middle of the chute and tossed you gently in the air singing, "We wish you a happy birthday"!
• We painted our wooden "fishies"
• Lastly, we all went inside and you carried the earth around a candle three times...we cheered.
• You went to the birthday table and blew out the candles on your birthday cupcakes, feasted on your sugary treats and opened gifts.