Happy Birthday, Little r…. You are 3!

My darling baby boy,

You are now 3 years old. I can hardly believe it. I remember when you were 7.5 lbs and your little foot was about the length of my palm. Not any more. You have grown so much.

At this time, you love ketchup and fries (more the ketchup than the fries – I swear you’d drink a cup of the stuff if I let you), cupcakes, pizza, spaghetti and “neat-bols”, momos (only the outside), thukpa, soups and of course, rice and curry.

You love dragons – you have a Puff the Magic Dragon book and CD that KSDorjee gave you that are your prized possessions, you have a dragon that your Pala bought you at Universal Studios Orlando and of course, you have your Dragon Tail and Wings that I made you that you want to wear all the time (Most Rewarding Project Ever!).

You love Thomas the Tank Engine and friends, Dora the Explorer (though why she has to talk so loudly, I’ll never know), Bubble Guppies, Cat in the Hat and Max and Ruby. (Yes, you’ve discovered the TreeHouse channel and you are completely addicted!) It made me glow with pride though when I asked you what you wanted for your birthday and you responded “More Thomas books!”.

You also love swimming and jumping in is your favourite part. You spent so much time in the pool this time in Florida. In fact, given a choice between Disney World or swimming, you picked swimming – making us a the first family vacationers in history with a kid who didn’t visit a single amusement park. Boo yah!

On your third birthday, we went to Chef Mickey’s for your birthday Brunch and then post nap, spent some time at the pool. After that, I had heated up some chicken noodle soup and you pretty much scarfed down two bowls!

You are able to say 2 prayers in Tibetan, you use Tibetan when you really want to stress a point (“Nang doh” – translation: let’s go home) and you can count to 20 and recite days of the week in Tibetan. You know all the words to “Oh Canada” and sing it regularly and sometimes at odd places (the airport, anyone?). Actually, you’ll learn pretty much anything if I put a tune to it. ”Oh my tummy aches, oh my tummy go-nga (translation: go-nga is egg in Tibetan. See the challenge for the poor kid?)” is my favourite anecdote this year.

You just got your first very own library card last Saturday and we were both so proud. Your first check outs were a Max and Ruby book, a “Mary had a Little Lamb” book (“Look Amala! Farm animals!”) and the “Good Morning, Masie” DVD. Sam, our librarian, loves you to pieces and you got a “Hi Rigden” from the cutest little girl (Florence)from your daycare whom we also met at the library.

You have broken us down and your father and I are now proud owners of a king size bed. You are never leaving! But you want to know a secret? I love cuddling with you at night, my own sweet little hot water bottle. I love kissing your downy head and listening to your little breaths. You are a bedding kicker – I have woken many nights just freezing! You also glom onto me leaving me hanging on precariously to the edge of the bed while you have all this real estate behind you. Somewhere along the line, your sweet milky morning breath was replaced by the “OMG-I-smell-something-rancid-and awful” morning breath. I love you anyway. You are funny, affectionate, smart and kind. When you stop everything, run to me, give me a kiss and say “I love you Amala” without even being asked, you leave me breathless. Waking up with you and cuddling is the best part of my day. Coming home to you is a close second.

I am so proud of you. I love you so much – it defies my pre-you imagination. You bring sunshine and laughter into my world everyday. You are my heart, my world.

Love,

Amala