Happy Birthday, Jeremiah!

Wow. Jeremiah, my little man, my baby, is now THREE!

Wow.

As with each passing year, he's changed quite a bit since turning two. The biggest change: he speaks! At his 2 year check up, our pediatrician expressed some concern about his development, since he was only saying a handful of words (his favorite being "apple.") We went through all the motions to get him evaluated, both privately and via the county, and both suggested therapy. By the time we had our follow up assessment with the county, though, he'd decided he was going to start talking, and boy did he! Five to ten words quickly went to 40-50, and there's been no stopping him since!

It's so cute, now, because he has little phrases that he'll use regularly, and it's just so sweet to hear him try to explain things. For example, he told me the other day that he was going to, "Tell MeeMaw" when we were en route to my Mom's house. "Tell MeeMaw what, Jeremiah?" "Umm.... tell MeeMaw!" Once we got there, we found out that he was planning on telling her about his playgroup that morning, and how he was playing at Cameron's house and they were playing with trains, etc. :) That was the first time he's given a report of his morning without prompting! Pretty cool.

His latest thing is saying he could do something, "all day long." And everything he does, he does, "all day long!" :) Like when he woke up from his nap, and I asked him if he had a good one. His reply was, "Yeah, me nap all day long!" Or he'll be drinking some water, and he'll say, "Mommy, me drink water all day long!" Not sure where it came from, but it sure is cute! :)

We bought him a balance bike for his birthday (if you're not familiar with balance bikes, see thisarticle.) So far, he's really been enjoying it, though we haven't had many opportunities for him to ride it outside. And when we did, he decided it was more fun to go off roading, and try to ride over snow instead of staying on the driveway (which was far less muddy...) Sigh. Oh well, I'm sure he'll get the hang of it on PAVEMENT, too.

For his birthday, we had a party for him at Chuck E Cheese. Kinda weird, since I remember having my birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese when I was young. According to my Mom, the price has only gone up $1 since then! Crazy. It was loads of fun,t hough, and everyone had a great time. My Mom and I made the cake for him, since it was the only thing we actually had to do for the party, and I think it turned out quite well (though the pic below is blurry--camera case is STILL missing, and that has the card converter so it will fit in my laptop.)

It's still hard to believe my little man is 3, yet at the same time, he seems so much older. Funny how that works, huh? :)

Happy birthday, Jeremiah! Mommy & Daddy love you lots! :) You're such an awesome son, a super sweet and cool big brother, and a blessing to everyone who has the pleasure knowing you! :)