Birthday boy!

It was three years ago the Lord brought Nathanael into our arms. The Lord has been good to us and has grown him so much in just those three quick years. It is amazing to see how God can take a helpless baby that can only communicate through screams and tears and three years later have changed that boy into a child who can have creative conversations and is constantly asserting his independence from his parents. He can now use the potty with consistency and we haven't had an accident in several weeks. He even wakes in the middle of the night and stumbles to the bathroom in the dark. He loves to read and enjoys thinking about what sounds start words. He is constantly listening, though not always with obedience. He never misses a word we say, even when we are not talking directly to him. It is truly a joy to be around him each day.

He had a fun birthday that started before Forest went to work. We allowed him to open his birthday presents from out-of-town family since he had seen the boxes almost all week. He was so excited to get some new zipper pj's and a great tractor. He also could hardly wait to play his new game. His new camera didn't work till Mom and Hannah went with him to get batteries though. He had so much fun all day taking pictures! He took over 80 pictures just on Friday! Here are some of his first attempts at photography:

The first picture he took with his new camera was of his sister. She was fascinated with the tags on his new zipper pj's.

All day long, Laura was addressed with, "Mom, I'm going to take a picture of you, smile!"

"Smile Daddy!" He still needs to work on the timing of his shutter finger. Most of the pictures of his parents are actually of feet or legs, or just carpet.

"I want to take a picture of my cake baking." He got to help pour and stir the ingredients of his birthday cake.

"Look, my new tractor can fit in the trailer. I should take a picture of it."

Later, we dropped off Hannah with the babysitter and took him out to dinner and to play at a restaurant/entertainment place in town, just the three of us. He had a blast conquering the inflatables, navigting on the 30' tall playground, almost beating mom at air hockey, and making new friends. To top off his day he got to wear some of those new zipper pj's (and refused to go to sleep).