Three years of Laughter

December 30, 2019

My dear Isaac,

You are three! And a cuter, kinder, sweeter three-year-old boy never existed. Oh, my Isaac, could I

Grass Valley, CA, at Grandpa's 70th birthday

love you any more than I do already?

From the day you were born, the word I have used regarding how I feel about you is “affection.” I have a deep affection for you, my son, that, while echoed in my relationships with others I love, is in many ways reserved just for you. Following are some of the things we each love most about you.

First, Grace. I asked Grace recently, “What do you love about Isaac?” and she said, “He’s funny. He laughs a lot.” It’s true, you completely live up to your name! Your laugh is contagious, and you share it readily, making jokes and playing along with others’ jokes, and always asking for more. You are quick with a smile. You and Grace play so incredibly together because you simply enjoy each other’s company, as you work together to solve the world’s problems, save those who need saving (a la your favorite TV show, Paw Patrol), or simply act out Grace’s latest princess fantasy. You are regularly her groom, her

Best friends!
(Yes, Grace is covered in blue marker)

handsome prince (whom she has generously named “Ryder Prince,” so you can also be your favorite character from Paw Patrol), her husband, her baby – and you willingly go along with almost all of her ideas, investing in them almost as fully as she does.

Snow buddies

Which brings me to your dad’s favorite thing about you: your kindness. You are routinely sweet. When someone is upset, you search out something to cheer them up. If someone has lost something, you look for it. If someone (usually Grace) feels lonely or scared, you offer to go with her. If toys need to be picked up, even if you didn’t get them out or maybe didn’t even play with them, you happily help pick them up. If someone needs a fork, you volunteer to go to the kitchen to get it. And you don’t seem to want anything in return for your kindness – you only want to do the right thing, and to make the people you care about happy. And you do, my son – you absolutely do! You are friends with everyone, and everyone wants to be friends with you. After church yesterday, you found some foam circles in various colors, and you came out to coffee hour and asked around, “Does anyone want a circle?” And

September, 2019

you handed them out to people, offering commentary: “This one is blue, my favorite color. Do you want one? Here is one. It is green, mommy’s favorite color.” With this
simple and innocent gift, you won the hearts of everyone standing there, even those you’d never met!

Christmas Eve

And that finally brings me to my favorite thing about you: your generosity. You, kid, are a helper. One of your most uttered phrases is, “Can I help you? Mommy, do you need help?” You hear me head to the kitchen and you immediately run in after me, asking me if I need help. The times we spend working together in the kitchen are some of my favorite – you dump in ingredients, stir things, help me scrape cut veggies into the pan, fetch things from the fridge – and always with joy and contentment to be of use, and to be doing such big-boy jobs with mom. You also like helping with laundry, picking up toys, setting the table… really anything that you can help with, you do. You are generous with your things, too: you share toys with your friends, you let Grace sleep in your bed when she’s scared, you invite people into your world with joy. A few weeks ago, we invited our friends over for dinner, and Grace asked if they could sleep over. I said there weren’t enough beds. You piped up, “Well, I only have one pillow, but they could sleep in my bed.” That is so you, my child. Always ready to share your blessings with others. It is heart-warming and inspiring – I want to be more like you, Isaac!

I also love about you the very thing which sometimes makes you a challenge: you are (and always have been) a very emotional kid, who feels things deeply and has a strong sense of justice. While you are generally pretty happy, when you are unhappy about something (usually that Grace got to go first when you wanted to), you express that fully and at length. An hour later, or at bedtime that night, you will bring it up again, “I was sad when Grace got to go first.” But we are helping you articulate your feelings, and hope this will help you manage them as you grow.

Happy 3rd birthday!

For posterity, here are also some things that you love: cars cars cars! You love to play cars, look at cars, draw cars. Also planes and trains, but cars are #1. You love Paw Patrol (especially Chase), and you like to wear the Ryder vest that Dede made you. You love pancakes, and peanut butter, and despite loving to help me cook, and pretending to cook with your toy kitchen and play dough, pancakes and PB make up most of your diet (with some berries, graham crackers, cheese, apples, and carrots thrown in for you know, some balance). You love doing all things “together” – “Let’s drink together! Let’s eat together! Let’s talk cars together!” You love to figure things out, be it a puzzle or how to build a track for your cars or trains, and though you delight in doing these things with others, you are also perfectly content to do it quietly all by yourself.

Christmas morning 2019

You are quite a package, my son. I think we’ll keep you!

Love,

Your adoring mother