Some things I want you to know.......

Brady,
Time is going by so fast and there are so many things that you do and say that I want to hold onto forever. I finally understand all of the things my mom used to say to me when I was too stubborn or too selfish to listen. I understand how my mom and dad look at me and why they hold on so tight, even now. I now get the ache they feel when I hurt and the joy they experience when I laugh.
You have taught me so much about myself and about life in such a short time.
While the memories may not always be as vivid as I would like, I will never forget how you hold onto your matchbox cars with a death grip when you sleep. I will hold onto the smell of your room, your little snore and how you cover your head with your pillow during the night. I love how you laugh in ten different ways and when you get excited you make the funniest little faces. I cherish your little voice when you first wake up and how you say "pick you up please" first thing in the morning and then you beg to see LuLu before you go down for nap. I giggle everytime you say "look at this guys" like a grown up boy when you get excited and how you tell me you are "not scared" of everything that terrifies you! I love how you have started to ask to hold my hand and how you still play with my hair sometimes before bed while we sing the Jello song and the Bologna song. And last week, when we rode the choo-choo at Belleview Park, you held my hand so tight the whole way around the park, and you were so brave because you knew I had to hold onto Lylah at the same time. I love how we now have full conversations before you fall asleep, even if it's about the motorcycle you heard on the street or the monkeys you saw swinging from the trees two weeks ago at the zoo. Your daddy and I both love to watch you dance and play the "buitar" in the living room. And you have learned to say "no thank you" when you have had enough tickles and wrestling. Strangely enough, even the few major meltdowns you have had ended up melting my heart, and it's been hard for us not to smile in the midst of the stubborn act of defiance.
And the way you eat.....well...I could never forget how you eat. You try everything and like most all of it. You are the only kiddo at the bday parties to eat all of the cake without leaving a crumb and down an entire corn on the cob without taking a breath. But, you are able to keep your boyish figure intact by eating tons of veggies and running...you do like your exercise even if it's up and down the driveway chasing matchbox cars for an hour.
I could write about you every single day for pages and pages because you surprise me, amaze me and ground me every minute I'm alive!
Thank you................for so many things!