Happy 3rd Birthday, Camden

Dear Camden,
Today you are three years old!!  My goodness!  Where has the time gone?  I can't believe you are already such a big boy!  Today, for the first time, Daddy has to be gone on your birthday.  But, Grammy gets to be here with us!  We are going to go see Brave for your special day.
The last year has brought two big milestones for you...you are potty trained and you are a big brother.  Mama was not looking forward to potty training because, well, both of your big brothers were really hard.  And, when we first started, you were NOT excited.  You would cry every time I put you on the potty.  But after you figured out what you were supposed to do, it was a breeze.  I think after about 2 weeks you stopped having accidents completely.  Whew!  Mama will be forever grateful to you for being so easy. :)
You also became a big brother just 5 weeks ago to little Laney Kate.  You have handled it so well.  You aren't too jealous of your little sister and you like to love on her with Ayden and Landon.  You have this way of rubbing your cheek on her head and looking up at me with the sly little grin that you have...and its sweet and spicy all at the same time!  None of you boys like it when she cries, and you'll say something like, "Whatsa matter, sweet girl?" or "Don't cry, baby, don't cry."  You are going to be a great big brother!
You love Ayden and Landon, too.  Some days you and Landon, especially, fight like cats and dogs, but you really are the best of friends and playmates.  We are out of our school time routine now that its summer, but you two spent most mornings playing together while Ayden was at school.  You are both very imaginative!  You like to reenact movie scenes (go figure!).  The most popular is from The Lion King.  Landon will stand up on the back of the chair (which is actually against our rules...just sayin') and you will climb below and stretch out your arms.  Then Landon will grab your arms with his hands and you'll look up and say, "Scar, brother, help me!"  Landon will say, "Nevah!!!" and then throw your arms away from him, just like Scar did to Mufasa when he threw him over the cliff.  Then, you'll switch and you will be Scar.  It is so funny!  But, you'll never do it when I want you to, so not too many people have seen you.  You also repeat lines and phrases from other movies....all of you boys most definitely get that trait from your Daddy.  He only has to watch a movie once before he's got down all the lines and quotes.
Speaking of Daddy, you are a Daddy's boy!  Your favorite time of day is when Daddy gets home from work and gets down in the floor to wrestle with you boys.  He just taught you how to do an arm bar...I don't even really know what that means, but Daddy is proud! ;)  You like to sit on his lap with your "night-night" at night and snuggle with him.  I always joke that you save your limited amount of sweetness each day for your Daddy!  You'll be the most ornery little boy I've ever seen all day long, and the minute you see your Daddy you become ooey-gooey sweetness, looking up at him with adoring eyes and telling him you love him and giving him sweet kisses and hugs!
You also like to sing.  Sometimes in a sweet voice and sometimes in one thats, well, scary.  Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Linda are your Sunday School teachers and they sing Jesus Loves Me and Jesus Loves the Little Children with you a lot...so you like those.  You also learn songs from Ayden and Landon that they've learned in preschool choir.  And, lately, all three of you boys have fallen in love with God's Not Dead by the Newsboys and you sing it nonstop.  Grammy has the Newsboys cd, so since she's been here with us, you all three want to listen to it over and over and over every time we are in her van.  And you all know the whole song...not to mention a few others that you've picked up from the same cd.  It makes my heart happy to hear you sing about Jesus at such a young age.
You are a very smart little boy...sometimes a little too smart for your own good, because you get yourself into trouble.  I often say that its a good thing you're so funny, because I'm not sure the two of us would survive one another otherwise.  Although, you haven't quite figured out that you can't repeat everything that I say to you....like, its not okay for you to tell me not to sass you...or to point your finger at me.  But, just when I think I'm absolutely at the end of my rope with you, you'll do something funny and distract me.  Grammy watched all of you boys a couple of weeks ago so I could have a girls' night and you were really acting up.  Finally, she told you that if you did ___ again, she was going to spank your bottom and send you to bed....and she meant it!  Your response?  "Oohh, that's not good."  She said she totally cracked up and lost all control.  But you are very smart!!  You can count to 14, know lots of letters and are learning their sounds, you know your colors and most shapes, right and left, opposites, and you are a puzzle master.  You don't particularly like to sit still and read, but every once in a while we get to enjoy a book together. 
You L-O-V-E anything that has to do with superheroes...Spiderman, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor...and others that I don't even know about.  You also like Toy Story toys and Thomas the Train toys.  You like to dress up in your superhero costumes.  Your cowboy boots are an essential part of your everyday wardrobe.  You like to eat mac and cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets, and peanut butter and jelly, and all kinds of fruit...but not much else.  You love bathtime but do NOT want water in your eyes and cry and call it "the big water" when that happens.  You like to help me brush my hair and to wear Daddy's deodorant and cologne.  You sometimes fight with your brothers but ask for them when they're not around.  You are fearless, yet say that lots of things scare you.  You challenge me, drive me wild, make me wonder if we're going to survive until you reach adulthood, and melt me heart with a look, an "I love you," or a kiss.  You are all big boy, but you still like to snuggle in your Mama's lap.  And that makes your Mama happy.
I don't know what the next year will hold, but I do know that I'm looking forward to how you'll grow and change.  I love you so much, little man.  Thank you for being you.
Love,
Mama