Tucker's Three Year Letter

To My First Born,
  Baby Boy Momma is riding the struggle bus through this milestone. I have not been able to keep the tears from my eyes as we have celebrated you this past week. As you blew your candle out two weeks ago at your family party I was overwhelmed by the moment. You are so big. You are not a baby at all anymore. You talk all the time. You are so smart. You are potty trained. You have opinions (this is both good and bad). You are independent and brave. I cannot believe the baby boy who made me a Momma is much more a big kid then the baby I brought home. It just doesn't seem possible. I don't know why this has made me so sad, but as I marvel at who you have become and all you have accomplished in the past three years I know you have changed me for the better and I'm so thankful for you.

   You are and always have been a big boy. You weighed in this morning at your three year check up at 41 pounds and 3 ounces. You are 39 inches tall. You are wearing mostly 3T clothes, except for Old Navy clothes which you wear a 4 in. Your shoes are size 9 and your undies are also size 4's. (Big Booty Judy!)

 
 You favorites things are still cars. You love race cars and know lots about them, including that their tires are made of rubber and create friction so the cars don't slide off the track. You play with your hot wheels everyday and usually carry one around with us everywhere we go. Trains are a close second to your favorite toys. Thomas the Train and all his buddies have made a home in your toy box this year and you really like them too. You also really like to wear socks all the time and are super paranoid about me cutting your toe nails. Weirdo! You like to eat chicken, grilled cheeses, pasta, bread of any sort, cereal, strawberries, apples (any fruit really) and candy. You love your family and thank Jesus for Bennett, Casen, Momma and Daddy every night. Your favorite shows are Bubble Guppies and anything on PBS Kids. Your favorite movies vary quite a bit. You still really like Cars 1 & 2 but you also like Robots, Finding Nemo, and Wreck it Ralph. Your favorite songs are "I Love Rock and Roll," "What Makes Your Beautiful" by One Direction, and "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen. You also still love Justin Beiber and know most of his tunes. It's crazy how many songs you can sing along with these days! You love to play games on our phones or the iPad. These make you VERY smart so you get to play a little every day. Your best friends are Emrie Hays, Michael & Carsten Copeland and Karriona Lakey. You look forward to Sunday school every week because you get to see Mikey. Pretty cute friends. You still love to cuddle and Momma's sleeve, which I love that you still love more then you realize. Your imagination is expanding every day and your play reflects that. You love to play outside and jump on your new trampoline.

   You don't like getting spankings and usually just the threat of one straightens up your behavior. You don't like to share Momma and Daddy with your brothers when you first wake up. You don't like staying buckled up in the car. You graduated to a booster seat when your brothers came along and you got moved to the back row of the van. You much prefer your freedom back there and you're very sneaky about getting out of your lap belt. You also don't love going to sleep by yourself sometimes and have gotten really good at playing quietly and in the dark so you being awake goes unnoticed. Smart I tell ya!

 
 For the most part you are really a good kid. You mind and behave well for the most part. People notice your behavior when we're out in public and love to visit with you. You are very friendly and people are always amazed you are only three by how well you talk and all the words/things you know. You have such an outgoing personality and you draw people in with your sweet smile and funny comments. You are all boy and have lots of energy. You love to wrestle and play rough with bigger kids. It is so fun to watch you interact with others and discover your role in social situations. I hope you always keep your enthusiasm and adventurous spirit. You are not scared of trying new things or meeting new people. We pray that this love for people will always remain and develop into compassion for others. You are also very tender hearted and don't like for others to get in trouble or your brothers to hurt. You cried with Bennett today when he got his shots and said you didn't like that game because hewas hurting. Sweet big brother!

  We have thrown a lot of change at you this year and you have handled it so well. Better then expected or even we hoped. We have added two new little brothers to your world! You went from being the star of the show at our house to getting less then your third of our time and attention. We worried you wouldn't like your brothers or you'd be rough with them but you haven't been that way at all. You don't want to hold them much, but you do wonder where they are and like to check on them. You also do not think it's funny when people joke about taking them home with them. You have not figured out sarcasm and it makes you really upset. It's been a crazy six months for our whole family, but you have transitioned beautifully and you're turning into a wonderful big brother. We pray that the three of you will always be good friends and share a special bond because of how close in age you are.

 
This year you also learned to use the bathroom instead of a diaper. In August you just decided you wanted to wear undies and pee in the potty. I didn't think it would last but you did it. The poop thing took you a long time to figure out and we tried a variety of things to get you to do that. The things that worked were a candy reward if you pooped in the potty and a spanking if you didn't. After about ten days of consistent reward or punishment you FINALLY got it! You've been going consistently potty trained for about a month. Way to go Buddy!

    Your little brain has also grown a lot this year. You know all of your letters, their sounds, numbers through 20, colors, shapes, and lots of songs. You quote movies all the time! You talk in paragraphs and use big words. You know the difference between boy/girl, left/right, up/down, in front of/behind, over/under. I think you will be reading soon. You can tell us what each letter sounds like and if we say the sound you can usually identify which letter makes it.

   Every day you amaze me with the things you can do, how you play, what you retain and your sweet heart. I am so crazy about you and I'm convinced I have the greatest boys in the whole world. You made me a Momma for the first time and no one else will ever be able to do that again. I am beyond proud of you and can't wait to watch you continue to grow and learn and change. You make us laugh and warm our hearts on a daily basis. The last three years have been the best of our lives and I know the next three will be even more of an adventure. We love you so much Tucker William Gordon! 

I love you more,

Momma