My precious Everett Tristan Neal, Monday was your 3rd birthday and I cannot believe it! You have grown so much so quickly. You seem so very grown up but you are still the sweetest little boy in the world!!
Everett you still love all things Dinosaur and if you could have you would have had another dinosaur party this year for your birthday. You don't just like dinosaurs you like to know their technical names. You run around calling out a Triceratops from a Maiasaura and a T-Rex from a Long Neck. It has really challenged your Dad and I to brush up on our Dino knowledge. We got you a big book with all different dinosaurs in it and their names. You Love it!! I gave you the choice of Cars, Trains, or Animals and you choose "Choo Choo's" So this year we celebrated with a Choo Choo Party. I of course dressed you up like a train conductor for your pictures and you are the cutest sweetest little train conductor I have ever ever seen!
Everett you remain a picky eater. We can only get you to eat well if it is chicken, noodles, or cheese (grilled cheese or quesadilla.) You love applesauce and yogurt. You are very particular about the snacks you have and choose different things everyday. You absolutely Love apple juice! In the mornings you come in and ask for "Wawalles" (waffles) and milk and are very good about drinking it all up.
In the past few months you have developed a new habit of coming into our room in the middle of the night and crawling into bed with us. We would take you back 4 times a night and you just kept coming. Finally we brought back your sound machine and it has helped your midnight wakings. You used to sleep until 8 or 9 in the morning but now you are up at 5:30. This has been especially tough on your Mama who has never been a morning person. You come crawl in bed with us and lay there until your Dad gets up to get ready for work. We put you down to bed around 8 PM. You still sleep with Meyer and a paci. The paci must be a specific one though, you refuse to use any but a few specific paci's and this can be incredibly frustrating to hunt down these few paci's when they continuously disappear. Along with Meyer and your paci you take an armful of toys with you to bed each night to keep you company. Every morning I clean out your bed and we start it over again the next day.
Everett you are fiercly protective of your sister. You are really enjoying getting to play with her unless she touches one of your hundred dinosaurs. She chases you in her walker and you think it is the funnest thing ever. We are still working on helping you learn she is still to little to wrestle with though. If anyone messes with your sister though you are the first to speak up to her defene and the first to come get me when she is crying or awake. You are such a sweet and loving big brother!
There are some other people that you absolutely love and that includes your Nana's. It has gotten so hard and confusing to distinguish between Gran-Nana and Nana so they just kind of run together. However you always refer to Reilly (Gran-Nana's dog) when talking about her. You love to go play cars at her house and lay on the couch and have her tickle your back. I get jealous because I remember loving to have her do that to my arm growing up. You ask me everyday to go over to see her. Your Nana is also one of your favorite people to see. We go up to visit her at the home she is in and you love to walk with her. She is very fast and quickly can get out of view so you run after her. There are a few other residents there you have grown to be a fan of and you yell out their names when you see them. Everett you light up those people's faces in a way that hasn't been done in a very long time. You are so precious about giving them all high-fives and a big smile. I am so proud of you for being so compassionate at such a young age and not being afraid. You are such a big boy that you now walk into bible class on Sunday Mornign and Wednesday nights with a wave bye bye and no tears. When we get you out at the end of service you walk around saying Hi to anyone around that is listening. You can be quite the little social butterfly!
Everett you crack us up constantly! We are shocked by the things you are picking up on so very quickly! We have tried to work with you on numbers with some resistance from you then all of a sudden one day you were counting to 10 on your own. I have to continually remind myself that you are stubborn and will do things in your own time. Most recently this has showed up in potty training. We bought you some cool big boy underwear that you love to look at but tell us "NO POTTY" when we talk about sitting on your little toilet. I have even offered to bribe you with animal toys, which you love, but you don't care one bit and want absolutely nothing to do with the potty. I am sure one day you will just decide on your own to do it when you are ready!
Your favorite show right now to watch is the Lion Guard on Disney. You have collected all the little figures and shout out their names as they come on the screen. You rotate your movie preference from Toy Story, Monster's Inc., Ice Age, and Frozen. You discovered Frozen right before Christmas and were a big fan very quickly! When we are in the store you shout out "ANNA, ELSA" If you see something from it. It is pretty funny!
Everett I could not imagine you being a sweeter, more loving little boy if I had gotten to create you myself. You Love to be held by Mom and love to wrestle with Dad. We are so proud of you every single day! We are beyond blessed to get to be your parents and have a front row seat to your discovery of the world around you. I cannot believe 3 years have already gone by since we first laid eyes on you. My heart continues to grow every day with love for you in ways I never knew were possible. Happy 3rd Birthday my beautiful boy!
