Dear Little Man,

This past weekend was the Super Bowl. Which is forever a reminder of you. For three years ago I lay on the couch (so not to wake up Papa) and followed the Patriots versus the Falcons as they went into overtime, praying my contractions would get closer so I could go to the hospital and have you! This is the first year of your life when the Patriots have notbeen in the Super Bowl – rather an historic moment for all of us!

Today you are three years old, which is rather hard to believe. It has been an adventurous year for you. For while you haven’t seemed to grow very much in stature, you have grown by leaps and bounds in many other ways. You talk a mile a minute from the moment you wake up. You wake up a lot like your Grandpa Sturm – as loud and as happy as can be, sometimes singing cheerfully and always loudly. (While the rest of us would like to sleep!) You hit the floor running, ready to play, annoy Emry, and go about your busy day. 

You enjoy doing “school” with Emry, for you hate playing alone. So, sometimes you color (which you love to do and are very good at), you enjoy your number flash cards, you like to color on the chalkboard wall (and erase it); but mostly you just enjoy being where Emry is. Because you don’t know what life would be like without Emry. And you adore her.

You’re no longer a mama’s boy, even though you do like being with Mama. But you love to go to your Sunday School class (and you talk their ears off the moment you step into the door!) and you also love going to Puggles on Wednesdays, jumping around and dancing to the Puggles song. It’s fun to see you enjoy being in your classes.

Your favorite thing in the world is Spider-Man: Spider-Man shirts, Spider-Man shoes, Spider-Man jacket, Spider-Man sheets, Spider-Man toys. And even though you love to dress up in your Spider-Man costume and run about pretending to be Spider-Man, if asked you always say you’re Ethan and just ‘tending to be Spider-Man. 

You are still my cuddler. You like to curl up with Mama with your blanket, chatting or giggling. You are not quite the reader Emry is, but you enjoy reading with Mama. Your favorites are The Little Blue Truck series, your Spider-Man book and any books with Elmo in it. 

But while you have your moments of cuddling, you are all boy. You like to rough and tumble. In the past couple of months, you are forever trying to do “tricks”, shouting “Mama, watch me!” You love to climb things, jump, run (although you can’t run as fast as Emry yet, much to your disappointment and tears), and throw things. You are exhausting, but I am glad you are an active little guy.

You can also be a challenge, for you know your own mind and like to make it clear. If you don’t want to do something, you simply don’t. You like to see how far you can attempt to “cross the line”. You refuse to be pushed around, which can be both a good thing and a bad. And you are always that way, which is often very tiring for me!

But as worn out as you can make me, I wouldn’t want to live without you. I love watching you grow and learn. I love it when you tell me something you learned at Sunday School or you repeat Emry’s Bible versus. And even though you do it loudly, I do enjoy hearing you sing. You are a very special little man. And I love you very much!

Love, Mama