Dear Davis,

Last week you turned three years old! This was the first year you really understood the whole birthday thing, and you had been planning it for months. Inviting everyone you saw to your birthday. You’d tell them about it, then announce that there would be a Ben 10 cake, and candles and FIRE there. Such enthusiasm you had. I guess the candles and fire at someone else’s birthday had made an impression on you, because you would usually repeat that part a couple of times so that everyone was aware that there would be fire…Fire…on the Candles…at the birthday. I am sure you won’t remember this birthday, but I wanted it to live up to your expectations. Unfortunately, this whole Ben 10 thing isn’t main stream yet, so it’s not the easiest thing to find in the Party Supplies store. I searched and searched online for a store that carried a Ben 10 cake and when I couldn’t find one, I even considered making a cake myself. Later in life you’ll appreciate how funny that idea is. Your Dad says I have a talent for pretty handwriting, but I am pretty sure he says that because I have no other talents. Or none that have been discovered to date. Anyway, I knew I couldn’t disappoint you with all your excitement and enthusiasm for this big day, so finally I came up with a brilliant idea to purchase a couple of Ben 10 toys and bribe the Wal-Mart bakery lady into placing them on a green and black cake. Wal-Mart bakery lady wasn’t too thrilled with the idea, but after drawing out my “design ideas” on the back of an order form (with my pretty hand-writing, I might add), she obliged. And let me tell you, my sweet son - - -you ab-so-lute-ly loved it! Even the five year old boys at your party loved it.

Mr. Davis, you are such a charming little boy. You captivate people wherever you are. I would bet good money that one day you will be voted prom king, or class favorite or something. You are not at all afraid of people and making new friends, and flashing that one-cheek dimple at strangers. You’re already into girls and girls are already into you. Moms all over Room 3 talk about you and your cute-factor. Just the other day, this picture popped up in my email box from your teacher. It's a little scary to me, because it looks like you already have the form...with your hand all up on her shoulder. Oh, and by the way, you better sow your wild oats now, because I already have a wife picked out for you.

However, you are also the most stubborn, hard headed person I have ever met. I know this is a recurring theme in these Dear Davis letters and I won’t deny that you got this not-so-endearing trait straight from yours truly. But it’s like my stubbornness - - - on steroids.

For example, let’s say you need a paper towel during dinner because you have a teeny-weeny-can’t-see-with-the-human-eye amount of sauce on your face. And let’s say your Dad and I are talking so we ignore you for the first forty eight times you say,
“I neeeeeeeeeeed a paaaaaper towwwellll…I neeeeeeeeeeed a paaaaaper towwwelll…I neeeeeeeeeeed a paaaaaper towwwellll…I neeeeeeeeeeed a paaaaaper towwwellll….”
Then, let’s say we finish our conversation, but decide to test your will power and combined desire for a paper towel by counting just how many more times you will say “I neeeeeeeeeeed a paaaaaper towwwellll”.

Let me tell you, we Always LOSE!! ALWAYS!!

By about the two hundredth time, our ears are ringing…we throw up our hands, and enforce the proper manners (‘please and thank you…they are the magic words’) before your Dad finally stands up, walks across the kitchen, tears off a paper towel, and brings it back to Your Highness.

But are you satisfied? No. Of. Course. Not.

“No, I need *MOM* to bring me a paper towel” …

And the saga continues for another five minutes until I finally get up and get a paper towel. You see, it’s not just about what you need, it is about who you would prefer serve you at that very moment. Dear son, some people reading this may think we have dropped the ball as parents. That your Dad and I just need to lay down the law and say NO! But chances are, those people haven’t met you, and if they have, they haven’t spent a long period of time with you.

I know your teachers would back me up on this. The other day I was told that you took a nap holding your toothbrush. You sleep with a different toy every day...whichever one you bring to school that day. But on this particular day, your terrible mom left your toy in the car. After who-knows-how-long of whining, one of your teachers got special permission to take you out of the classroom so you could go ask your brother if he had a toy you could borrow (see above, I am sure it was out of desperation, not kindness). Unfortunately, for your teacher (and you too), Hayden was also toy-less that day. So, some how…some way…that saint of a teacher convinced you that sleeping with your toothbrush was a viable alternative.

But, in many ways we have you figured out. Like how we know that if we ask you if you want water, you will want milk…If we ask you if you want milk, you inevitably want water. So during the times when we are out of milk, we simply ask you if you want milk…

And of course you don’t. You want water!

Problem averted. Your Dad and I usually give each other a high five or an encouraging nod on these rare wins.
To be fair though, not everything is difficult with you…You are the kid that asks to go to sleep when you are ready and loves to “cratch my back” if I scratch yours…You adore our dog Angel and usually only have to be asked once to give her a treat and put her in the crate when we leave…You’ve finally learned the sign “I Love You” after one full year of putting my thumb down and saying “NO! THREE HORNS!” It seems a longhorn got a hold of you at some point…You adore your big brother and strive to impress him…You love answering questions with, “Because I DID!” or “Because I AM”…as in:

Why did you give Angel your bacon? … ... Because I did!

Why are you standing on the coffee table? … ... Because I am!

Oh my little one, you are definitely a handful! But I love you. I love the attention I get when I walk with you. I love that you love your big brother and that I can see the bond strengthening between you two each day. I love that your personality and characteristics are so much different than I would have ever expected from your Dad and I. You make each day different and exciting and challenging all at the same time. Davis, I can’t wait to see what your third year of life has in store for you!

Love,
Your greatest admirer,
Mom

P.S. please stop saying that you want to trade me in for an “orange mom”. I have no idea what “orange mom” you are referring to, but I am starting to get a complex about it. If you mean that I need to start tanning again, you need to take it up with your father. Thank God your older brother wants to keep me around.