Dear Nolan ~ 3 Years Old

Dear Nolan,

Today you turned 3 years old. Let's just cue the waterworks now. You are no longer a toddler. Every little thing that was once "baby" about you seems to be gone. You are a big boy and well, that makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry the ugly tears, but at the same time makes me smile from ear to ear just thinking about the handsome, intelligent little boy you have become. 

This past year has been SO. MUCH. FUN. You are potty trained, learned to write your name, took all kinds of fun classes and started to really come out of your shell. My timid boy that never liked to dance now asks for us to sing so he can bust a move. You finally say hello and goodbye to your family, friends and random cashiers at Target. 

You are VERY dramatic. You got a "boo-boo" at daycare and insisted you could not walk for a week. Dramatic. We have been working on the whole 'suck it up, kid' approach for quite some time now and it's hit or miss with you. Let's be honest, you are sensitive. 

You are no longer a daycare child. You are officially a preschooler! We had your last day of daycare this past Friday and they celebrated your birthday with you. The also put you in a cap and gown because you are officially graduating from your (almost) 3 years being there. Again, cue the waterworks. I can vividly remember dropping you off on your very first day and driving away feeling completely overwhelmed and saddened. Trusting our gut that we picked the best place possible for you. Dropping you off with people great on paper, but I didn't actually know them. I feared I would miss all of your "firsts". Here we are today, and I was able to document each of those special moments and see them all happen. Whether you did them for the first time in front of me or not I may never know, but having sent you to the daycare we chose made sure to give me those moments. Watching you grow and create friendships there is really hard to say goodbye too, but I know you are going to have no trouble making new friends (and a new girlfriend) at your new school in the fall. 

This past year your true passion for baseball came out. Don't get me wrong, you love all sports. You love more than sports too- singing, coloring/painting, books, cars, bubbles...you know, normal kid stuff. However, hearing friends and family tell us on multiple occasions that the way you play baseball is not normal has finally sunk in. We see you do it everyday. Every single day. Simply because you love to play ball. Not once have we ever forced the game on you, it's just in your blood and what you want to do. So, of course the way you hit and throw seems normal to us. But apparently it's not normal for a 2 year old to hit off of a pitching machine or have us pitch to you. We have had random strangers compliment you and tell us that you are a natural. Kid, if your passion keeps up you might pay for mommy and daddy's retirements. :) just kiddinggg. But in all honesty, I LOVE watching you play and will ALWAYS be your biggest fan. #baseballmom 

In your 3 years of life you still dislike food. Not all food, just all things healthy or of the meat variety. You have never tried a hamburger, steak, bacon, hot dog, umm I could keep going. Basically, you freak at the thought of us putting it on your plate. You did eat some carrots the other day. MAJOR WIN. We gave them to you again and you wanted nothing to do with them. Food will probably remain our longest battle, but I keep telling myself the day will eventually come when you are causing the grocery bill to be outrageous and eating faster than we can keep food on the house. One day at a time for now. 

I am looking forward to watching you grow this year. You will start your new preschool, make new friends, learn SO much and who knows the things that will come out of your mouth. I fear in the next few weeks when you have your last day at Aunt Gins because I know there will be tears. You look forward to seeing her and ask us everyday when you next get to see her. I am not exaggerating. Although you won't go to her twice a week anymore, we will make sure you visit her frequently because she has become an important part of your life and I never want you to forget that. 

This year poses new changes for you and I know you will thrive. I will also be the mom that volunteers to help out at everything at your school. I have also asked that your Aunt Lainy spy on you and send me updates. This means you better be on your best behavior. ;) 

My dear sweet little bugga boo boo baby, thank you for being the most loving little boy and always bringing the smiles to our faces. I wish you the very happiest 3rd birthday and hope it's everything and more. Never stop wanting to snuggle up with mommy, ok? 

Happy Birthday, Nolan! 

Love, 

Mommy 

Xoxo 

Birthday quiz answered 100% by Nolan! 

Tee Ball

I keep telling Ryan that I am sure there are so many people who think we are absolutely crazy for signing our TWO year old up for tee ball. Ryan's response is who cares what other people think. The ones that know Nolan know how much this kid loves sports in general, let alone baseball. Truth. 

The attention span and persistence Nolan has amazes me. He not only "practices" playing baseball every day, by his choice. He asks to watch baseball on TV. He then asks questions about the game, "is that a foul ball?", "look he caught it, that's an out!", "if you get 3 strikes you're out, right daddy?".  

He was more than excited when we told him we signed him up to play on a team and the best part, daddy is his coach! He had an added bonus when he found out that his BFF (and future wife) Quinn signed up to play on his team! 

Needless to say, I DON'T regret signing him up for a team sport at his age. He more than keeps up with the 3 and 4 year olds (being that he is only a few shy weeks from turning 3 anyways) and he absolutely loves it. Sure, the first few weeks he was probably the only one playing in a pull up and he cries over the most minor things. That is ok though because he wants to play, is learning the game and is making new friends. It's a win in our book. 

Yes, it's tee ball. There is no winning and no losing. No outs, and everyone hits. However, I will forever remember his very first week playing because even though it doesn't count it was still unbelievable to see-- Nolan ran to field the ball and threw it to Quinn playing first base. Quinn got the ball and stepped on first base. This happened 3 times. Yes, they recorded 3 outs in one inning together. It's like they have chemistry or something. ;)  

I hope Nolan and Quinn remain teammates for a long time because I love watching and cheering for these two.