THREE

It's still hard to believe that our little David is going to be THREE in 2 days! Where has the time gone?! It seems like I was just pregnant with him...and now he is growing into a big boy! What a joy this guy has been!

David's love for God, our family, and his friends has become quite evident this year. He loves to pray, hear Bible stories, and learn about Jesus' "happy birthday" (which is our Jesse Tree advent calendar)! His prayers are so genuine and sweet. One of his first prayers was for little brother James. He grabbed James' hands before bed, closed his eyes, and asked God to help James feel better...but James wasn't sick at all :) He repeated a prayer that he'd heard us pray before!

It's hard to describe everything David has learned this past year. He literally learns something new everyday! David has become such a great communicator. His reasoning skills are quite impressive, and sometimes entertaining! David has been going to Kid's Day Out twice a week and loves having the structured activities. He calls it "goose church" (meaning school church)!

He's very observant and will notice the slightest change in details. For example, one evening after he went to sleep I cleaned up the house and placed a new book on the bookshelf. The next morning he went to the one book and pointed to it because he hadn't seen it before! Out of a few hundred books he spotted the one that was new.

Here are some funny things David has said or done:


- I called James "J Dawg" as a nickname, then right after I said that David smiled at James and said "hi, doggie." Guess that didn't work!

- I made stuffed meatballs for dinner one night and David loved them. We told him what they were and he kept saying "meat-fee-ball." "Fee-ball" is what he says for "football." So he was in essence saying "meat-football." We corrected him, then he said "meat-bask-ball" Meaning "meat basket ball." I love his toddler logic :)

- David knows that he is NOT allowed to touch the bookshelves in our living room. Now that James is crawling David will lead James to the bookshelves. David will stand next to them and let James reach up and touch them. Then David will immediately report to us that James is in trouble. Sneaky sneaky...and James has no idea what David did to him!

David: Hey Raaache
Me: No, David. You need to call me Mommy.
David: Sure, babe.
Me: No, David. You need to call me Mommy.
David: Okay, sure.

I could go on and on, but these are some of the interactions that stick out the most :)

David's personality has developed more this past year as well. He's highly organized and loves to keep things in order. He knows exactly where everything goes, and the routines that we do daily around the house. He loves structure!

Some of David's favorite activities include: coloring, reading, going to the library, watching movies, imagination playing (making truck or sounds, pretending he is Superman), most sports, going to the park, going outside or on a walk, wrestling with Daddy and James on the floor. David will BEG for James to push him over!

Some hilights from David's 3rd year:

-Seeing snow in San Antonio!

-Child Dedication at our church (at which he loved being on stage and showing the audience his new book (the Bible which they gave him)!

-Swim lessons

-Going to the beach for the first time

-Starting Kid's Day Out

-Riding a donkey (this was a huge step in overcoming his fear of animals)!

-Small successes with potty training (we intend to fully train him over the Christmas break...wish us luck please!)

For this next year some of my goals and hopes for David are:

- Fully potty trained

- Starting toddler basketball at the YMCA

- Continued learning of alphabet, numbers, calendar, colors

- Lots more reading

- Bible verse memorization, as well as continued Bible stories

- More time and interaction with his friends, extended family


This is only a small picture of this past year. David is such a joy to our family and we love getting to raise him. He has a teachable heart and loves to learn. Can't wait to see what this next year holds for David :)