Dear Kale...THREE!

Dear Kale,

Today, you turned three years old.  Let me tell you how you started your day.  You came stumbling down the hallway asking me where your daddy was.  When I told you he was gone for the day, you crawled up into my lap for some amazing cuddle time.  Mommy loved it.  I told you that it was your birthday and you told me it wasn't.  I told you that you were three.  You told me: no, I'm not three...I'm four.  And that my son, is how you decided to take on being three.  

Three years ago this morning, your mommy and daddy didn't know you.  Mommy knew you were my squirm worm and we both knew that you were going to be our October pumpkin instead of our December stocking stuffer.  Other than that, we didn't know much about you.  We didn't know you would have hair that gets complimented even at the grocery store.  We didn't know you would have blue eyes that sometimes look like the sky on a spring day.  We didn't know you would be wicked smart to the point that it scares us.  We didn't know anything about the love that would take hold our our hearts and turn our worlds upside down.  We didn't know that you would love tractors and be so scared of the dark that you would refuse to walk from the living room to the bedroom without the kitchen light on in between.  We didn't know that you would love to "dig in the dirts" but would hate having your sticky/dirty hands.  We didn't know how persistent you would be.  We didn't know what kind of fight you would have in you.  We didn't know that within the first month of your life, you would show us exactly how amazingly strong you were and in the meantime teach us more than we could have known about ourselves and our faith in God.  We didn't know how much joy you would bring to so many people.  We had no idea that our child would have a personality to at completely dwarfs our own personalities.  We just didn't know.  We are still learning.  It seems as though each day, you teach us more.  Each day, our love for you grows.  Each day, we learn that, amazingly, we actually can love you more.  

Son, three years ago, we didn't know you.  Some days, I have a hard time remembering what life was like before three years ago.  Today, we can't imagine life without you.  Thank you for being you.  Each day we thank God for giving us the blessing of Kale George Fletcher.  We love you more than you will ever begin to know!   Happy birthday Kale.