Elijah Neal {3 years old}

 Our Eli,

Today you are three years old! And for all 1,095 of those days you have been a little ball of energy...everyone says its the red hair...apparently that big personality comes with the red hair.  Hey, I'm a believer.  Here are some things that define your personality right now:

1. Dramatic-I've never met such a dramatic little boy as you.  From acting like a little scratch is a stab wound to acting like the world is ending when you see a bug, you know how to bring on the drama. You are also really good at "pretend" play.  You constantly ask us questions like, "Do you hear that train?" when there is obviously no train around.  Or "Do you see that train?" when again, there is obviously no train to be seen.  But we just go along with it and let your imagination run wild.  It's really cute.
2. Talk, Talk, Talk....that's what you do 24/7...you kinda have your own language too. Here's some of the quirky phrases you are known for:
"Coffees me!"...(translation: I want coffee!)
"Where you at cup?" "Where you at trains?" etc.
"Momma-D!" "Daddy-D!" (We have no idea why you add the D)
"Addy Yo Yo!"
 "Siah!" (As you can see, you've given us all nicknames!)
"Ping me!" (translation: swing me!)
"tay-tu!" (translation: thank you!)
3. People Person- you love people....a natural-born socialite.  You don't like to be in a room by yourself.  And on the rare occasion when I do find you in your room by yourself, you are talking to your toys.
4. Attention Seeker- Everything you do has to be witnessed by someone which goes along with your need to always have someone around. However, you do sometimes get a little shy around people that you don't know very well.  Your little head goes down and those big brown eyes start blinking really fast.
5. Complicated Sleeper- You don't have much trouble falling asleep at night when you haven't had a nap, but when you do take a nap, you don't want to wind down until after 10 pm.  So we've cut your naps down to about 2-3 a week so that you are tired enough to go to bed around 8:30 every night.  Also, up until a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't remember the last time you had slept through the night.  You would half wake up every 2 to 3 hours and scream out as if you were in pain.  We tried everything to get you to sleep soundly.  We researched night terrors, milk allergies, melatonin, etc. Finally, we found relief in the form of coconut oil! I started rubbing you down with it every night to combat your dry skin not expecting it to help you sleep too. But it did and that is when you finally started sleeping soundly through the night.  Praise God for that because we were reaching the end of our rope! Unfortunately, you are still pretty moody when you wake up.  But hey, we're making progress!
6. Smart!- So I know that most parents think that their children are smart, and I'm no exception.  But seriously, you really are smart.  You picked up potty training so fast and rarely have any accidents. You also count really well for your age, you know your alphabet and most of your colors. When we read together, you name off EVERYTHING that you see in the book.
7. Nudist-haha! But seriously, you have an aversion to clothes. I dress you every morning and you are usually in your birthday suit 30 minutes later.
8. Sweet-you have such a kind little heart. If someone coughs or is crying, you ask them if they are okay.  You use 'please', 'thank you', 'yes mam' and 'no mam' extremely well for your age.
9. BOY! You are a typical little boy.  You love being outside. Dirt and mud are right up your alley.  Along with cars, trucks, tractors, planes and trains...ESPECIALLY trains....You are all about trains right now! When we go on trips in the car, you point out every train and train track that you see. Thomas and Chuggington are your favorite shows to watch.
10. Pretty good eater...(unless we are traveling and you get too busy to eat)...Some of your favorite things: almond milk, bacon, eggs, sweet peas, trail mix, cereal.  The two things that you request the most are ice cream and coke, but you only get these on special occasions because all that sugar makes you crazy!

Oh, Eli...you are one of a kind! What a privilege it is to be your mommy.  You keep me on my toes and I can honestly say that life is never boring when you are around! I love you little man! Happy 3rd Birthday!

Love, Mommy