My Dear Bryan,
My sweet and aggressive, kind and determined, born all boy with slug slim hands, a scowl (in deep thought, not to be mean) on his face but lip kisses for mom, Bryan. I am so thankful to God for bringing you into our family, to complete our family. You were born with broad shoulders and big hands, and still have them today. You are a stud and so coordinated. You are athletic and strong. You have an imagination and can play with Eliana all day in an imaginary land. You play cars at the table, it is where you prefer to play. Hiking the woods, you are never intimidated and can keep up with all of us. You hardly wine (if ever), although you protest with your words. You won't give up unless I make you, you and Eliana are so similar in that manner. You wrestle John and know how to play fight, you follow his moves and copy his words. Watching you brothers makes my heart soar. And to know that I will have two young, strong, men one day taller than me makes me feel so special and thankful.
You wake up in the morning with your blankie in tow, only recently giving up the binkie. You gave it up like a champ and hardly complained, you amaze me Bryan. You like to crawl in bed with John waking him up, getting me up, or recently waking your sister up in her loft bed and scaring her (only after asking my permission, you are so good at asking for things before you do them). I hear you turn off your noise maker and make your way to my side of the bed, meet at the kitchen table as I do a bible study, or greet me at the computer. You are so smart. You understand concepts beyond your age. At your birthday party, you looked at the Birthday banner hanging on the rail, picking up each letter upside down (because you were behind it), and named each letter in front of me and Rikki. I was absolutely shocked and proud, I honestly didn't even know that you knew that many letters (thanks Super Why!), but you learn them here and there and just hold onto the info. You've known all your colors for months, sing the ABC's, and can count beyond 10 (to 20 with very little help). You love books and could have any one of us reading to you for as long as we will read, you don't get bored, you love books so much. You are so smart.
Your emotional intelligence has taken off, you know how to behave but don't always choose to. We can talk things out. I am not going to sugarcoat it, it has been a challenging year with your behavior, but we have turned a corner. I have always gotten down to your level and tried to de-escalate you versus getting upset with you, we are often in public when the behavior is challenging. When we are home you are quite chill and easy. You used to tell me when we had been at a place for a while, "I can't be here. I want to go home." This was almost always at a homeschool coop for John and Eliana, but the coop was also for you to socialize. When you were "done", it was hard to come back from that. I guess you take after me in that way. But lately, I am finding myself letting you walk on your own (I have always made you hold my hand everywhere or you would run). You stay near me and listen when I tell you that you've gone too far on our walks on the trail or with miss Christy. You share toys and are considerate of others. You listen well Bryan and have started the "why's" about a lot of things. Most behavior issues are when someone is trying to force you into blind obedience, which I really can't blame you for. I always try to explain to your what's going on, what to expect, and talk to you clearly at your level, so when others don't do that it is challenging. You also are extremely active so sitting for long periods is hard. You love to run and you're good at it. I don't chase you though, that only causes you to run further. I speak firm and clear with you, you know the consequences with me and you get it. I get you too babe and I love you.
You love long car rides and going on adventures with the family. I turn on Morgan Wallen for long car rides and you always love his music and sing along. You also love the Chris Tomlin CD with all the country stars singing Christian music. You have a very strong preference in music and let me know whenever you like or dislike a song. You also like the music up loud while we drive, sitting in between John and Eliana, in the same carseat that they both had.
Camping is your favorite and you get so excited for it. Your first two birthdays were at the Concrete KOA. This was the first year that I had your birthday at home, I really wanted you to feel excited about turning 3 and seeing the house all decorated for you. I wanted you to feel special and that the event was only for you.
You chose a Paw Patrol birthday party. I originally wanted a Grinch party, a Christmas in July party, but you insisted on Paw Patrol and did not want the Grinch. I thought it would be cute because John had a Frosty birthday party when he was 3, but I did not protest knowing that's what you wanted and honestly it was so much easier to pull off! They have so many things Paw Patrol out there. We all loved celebrating you. You woke up to a decorated house and said, "Mom, my party's here!"
