Dear Alexis,

So.

Three.

You're three.

How did that happen? I could swear just yesterday I was listening to a very frightened ultrasound technician tell me that she thought you were upwards of 11 lbs 14 oz and needed evicted immediately. In a flash we were in a operating room, with you screaming (because you were so pissed off to have been ripped from the place you intended to stay for a very long time) as a room full of onlookers tried to hide their disappointment that you were *only* 9 lbs 12 oz. How did we get from there to here so quickly?

In a flash you have learned to smile, to laugh, to talk, to walk, to sing, to melt my heart, and to melt the heart of everyone you encounter. You're something, kiddo. You KNOW you're cute and have quite the ability to harness that cute thing for evil. In the best way imaginable. I love nothing more than to heed your command to look in the mirror in the morning, because I know you're going to look carefully at yourself, then carefully at me, and will then proclaim, "I'm bootiful. You too, mommy." That? Is why you get your way so often.

Of course, there to here hasn't seemed so quick when you are in a Why Sort of Mood. You're a smart kid, no doubt about it. I'll tell you some day how I know you got that from me, and how it's not quite as fantabulous as you might think. I'll save it, though, because those Why Sort of Moods are helping you learn things about this world I would have never imagined. Listening to you spell your name, s-t-o-p, g-o, and c-a-t just blows me away. You wouldn't know how to spell those words if you weren't forever asking me to spell everything I say. So keep on asking, no matter how annoyed my betraying eyes may say I am.

When I think about what makes you different from other kids your age, it's easy to figure out the #1 thing: You are happier. You are seldom caught not wearing a smile (unless, of course, there is a camera around--you just LOVE screwing with me). That smile lights up rooms, infecting everyone with a little glow of Alexis joy. You love to play tricks, and are just as good at dishing it out as you are at receiving it. Many times your daycare teachers have commented that they can prank you in ways that they can't the others, because they know you'll realize just how funny it is to have a ball unexpectedly tossed at your backside. Not only do you "get" the joke, you will encourage the joke with endless giggles and prompts like "do it again!"

And your laugh. Oh. my. hell, your laugh. You have the most infectious laugh I have ever heard. Nearly every day you drag me into a giggle fit, because it is physically impossible to hear you giggle without joining in. Thank you for that. I appreciate your demands to have fun far more than you can possibly understand.

I appreciate you.

So does your Dad.

Happy Birthday, my dear sweet Alexis. Thank you for three years of bliss, and I look forward to a lifetime of giggling right along with you.

Love,
The Lady Who is Thinking about Buying You Balloons Every Single Day after Watching You Glow with Glee this Morning