Stephen and I agree that although yesterday was Silas’s birthday, he seemed to turn three a couple weeks ago. As we watch our darling boy grow, we’ve noticed that he often reaches a plateau in his development, and then all of the sudden, he jumps up to the next level. It seems to always take us by surprise! The other night at the dinner table, Silas was being unusually cooperative. Stephen said to him, “Who are you and what have you done with my son?” Silas thought for a minute and then said, “I’m just Spiderman.” On the Birthday Eve, I was planning to decorate Silas’s bedroom door with streamers and balloons, but didn’t remember until we were in bed. Stephen and I hopped out of bed, decorated the door, and blew up all the balloons to put in his room as a morning surprise. I loved doing something special for our little boy together.

In the morning, we heard Silas calling, “There are balloons in my room!” When I opened the door, he looked scared and confused at the streamers hanging from the door, but soon fell in love with the idea of making a “garage” out of the balloons. He said the balloons “grew” in his room. Some friends dropped by first thing to deliver a birthday present for Silas. Then we visited Enchanted Island, a kiddie amusement park, for the morning. I think the miniature car ride was Silas’s favorite. His happy grin was priceless! On the airplane ride, he wasn’t strong enough to pull back on the joystick to make the plane fly, but he still had fun. He looked terrified on the Dragon roller coaster, but later he told Grandma and Grandpa over the phone that he wasn’t scared, so he must have been feeling braver then he looked. After a family train ride, we went to Sonic for lunch. The birthday boy got a free kids meal, a balloon and a free ice cream. The day was filled with phone calls, texts, and cards from family members. One thing I love about this age, is that Silas is filled with wonder over the smallest things. He loves opening birthday cards and was so mesmerized by his presents that we had to convince him to keep opening the other gifts. We saved the Buzz Lightyear until the end, and it was a good thing since he hasn’t stopped playing with him since. After dinner we sang to the birthday boy and put three candles in an ice cream sandwich for him. He did great blowing out the candles! One of our birthday traditions is to see how much Silas has grown and mark his height on our giant ruler. He grew two inches since last year and is now 3 feet tall! Our evening entertainment was letting Silas stay up late to watch Monsters University as we cuddled on the couch.

Silas, Mommy and Daddy still live in wonder that God has given you to us. How have we had you for three years already? You teach us so much, and we love to teach you about God and His truth. Just the other day you were creating crosses out of belts on the floor while you said to yourself, “Jesus died on the cross to take away our sins.” Our prayer for you is that some day soon you will believe the gospel and receive Christ as your Savior and Lord. We are so glad you are part of our family, and we look forward to the day when you will become part of God’s family. Happy 3rd birthday, our treasure boy!