Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Happy 3rd Birthday sweet boy

Dear Markus,

Today you are three. Three! You have been talking about this day for months. You know that your birthday is April 7th. You really became interested in when your birthday was coming in February when we celebrated Halle Joy's birthday. Last week, while Daddy took you and Halle Joy on a date to Barnes and Noble you walked up to another kid and said "My name is Markus Jaden Wilkening. My birthday is on April 7th and I am going to be three."

At three years old you already have so much personality Markus! You truly live life to the full, enjoying every minute. You never do anything halfway, and if you are not interested in something you have no problems hiding it :). You still favor your music instruments, although recently you have been asking for a guitar "like Daddy's. With a strap." You love to go to church and play Daddy's guitar with the "blue triangle" (guitar pic). You're pretty fascinated with the drumset up on stage too. You readily sing along with the songs we listen to in the car (usually Veggie Tales worship CD with Matt Redman) but you no longer sing on cue. That's okay. You like to "be shy" sometimes when meeting new people- other times you march right up to new faces and introduce yourself using your full name (that cracks me up!). You enjoy your trains and love to read books. Today I took you to Barnes and Noble for your birthday. I told you that we had some birthday money for you to spend (thanks Grammie and Papa!) and asked if you wanted a new train or new books. I loved that you chose new books! You picked out a froggy book about froggy playing tee ball (perfect, since you got a tee ball set this morning!) as well as The Very Busy Spider book by Eric Carle. You love reading his books. You can "read" Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Head to Toe all by yourself. You also continue to love your airplane. Recently you named it "Petap" and it has almost become an imaginary friend to you. You like for it to be at the table when we eat and you share your food with it.

Your best friends are Abigail, Grace and Zach. We are with them often, although Grace and Zach will be moving in a few weeks (I haven't had the heart to tell you yet). You are especially fond of Abigail lately, and you are right by her side whenever she is at our house. Your favorite people to be around though are by far your Abu, Papa and Dita. When I asked you who you wanted to come to your birthday party, that's who you said. You have a special relationship with each of them.

Your heart is so tender and sensitive Markus. You still get very concerned when Halle Joy cries. You rush to her, put your hand on her back and say "it's okay Halle." You thrive on words of encouragement and hugs and kisses. The other day when you awoke from your nap you asked if we could snuggle on the couch. We were blessed as Halle Joy slept a half hour longer (usually she is awake before you) and we spent that whole time laying on the couch together under the blanket. You didn't want to read or sing or watch a show- you just wanted to snuggle. I happily obliged. You are not without a strong will though and we are definitely seeing you battle for control- much more than we ever have. Part of that is just being three, and we are doing the best we can to guide you and teach you and grow you through those moments with God's help.

We wonder what God is going to do with you my sweet boy. We pray that your tenacity, strong will, sensitivity towards others, love for music and tender heart will be used in mighty ways for God's glory. We have already seen how He uses you to reveal Himself to our family, and for that we praise Him. I pray that your life will be a daily testimony to the God who loves you more than I ever could Markus. I love you and wish you the happiest of birthdays.

Love, Mommy

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This brings tears. What a precious gift God has given in your children. We love you all with all our hearts. Grammie and Papa