Four years ago, late at night, our Little Man was born. Our first son. Our first take-home baby. And the first baby I got to hold the day, the very moment, he was born.
It’s fun to watch how kids grow into their nicknames. We started out called Paul “Big Guy” and “Little Man”, and he is! Paul is confident and independent. He’s not afraid of “big people”. He’s not afraid to be alone. He knows what he likes, what he wants, he makes his plans, and he carries them out. For Christmas we got him a backpack. Most Sunday mornings, while Dan and I are after the other kids to get ready, or while we’re busy helping them get ready, Paul will pick out clothes, dress himself, and pack his bag for church. He makes sure that bag is full and we have shown up Sunday morning to find that he’s packed a change of clothes and shoes (for sports, like Daddy), a toy wagon, cars, football helmet, and (probably our favorite) about eight baseballs. Oh, he likes to put his Bible in there too. It’s not really his Bible, but an orange New Testament that he found and declared his own so adamantly that no one has tried to change his mind.
Paul gets his “Little Man” look, in part, because he studies men around him and imitates them really well. He does this especially with his Daddy and loves helping to “fix things” around the house. He also does this extremely well with sports. Paul loves sports, but especially baseball. Basketball is probably second and I’ll have to ask him if he prefers football over soccer. For his birthday Paul only asked us for “lots of baseball stuff”. He wanted baseball pants, socks, a belt, and a bat. And he got them all. The socks and belt are orange, of course, because that is Paul’s favorite color. He wears the baseball pants every day and when they go through the wash, he will sprint to the dryer the moment it buzzes to dig them out and put them on. He’s also designated certain articles of clothing for certain activities. He has basketball shorts (blue and green), and soccer shorts (the orange ones with the blue stripe). We splurged on our vacation last year and bought him a Cubs shirt at a Cubs baseball game. It is probably the only t-shirt we have every spent money on for Paul, but it’s gotten its use. He wears it almost as often as his baseball pants.
But, for how independent he is, Paul is still a good brother. He and Elijah often melt my heart as they sit side-by-side on my lap or in a stroller, both sucking their fingers and holding my hair, their own hair, or each other’s hair for comfort. Paul loves to chum around with his sisters and lately has enjoyed snuggling up with Abby as she “reads” to him. Other favorite games include wrestling, pretending to be puppies, anything involving water, and running around like crazy while hitting imaginary home runs and sliding into home plate.
Paul is incredibly silly and he is incredibly sweet. He often makes himself the clown for others to laugh at. He is also quick to give hugs and kisses, and ask to hold his baby sister. He cannot stand to see others in pain. If someone has to get a shot or have a sliver pulled out, or anything that looks like it might be painful, Paul is often more distraught that whoever is actually hurting.
Paul still loves his music. He has since he was an infant. That was the motivation behind getting him a drum for his birthday last year. This year my parents got him a small guitar. Every morning when we practice our Bible verse songs, Paul busts out his drum or guitar (or both!) and plays along enthusiastically. After church, he’ll often climb up on stage, playing with any instruments anyone will let him touch. Or he’ll bring his own guitar and lead some imaginary singing. He was devastated when we told him he couldn’t bring the guitar to Bible study yet, but he’ll still lug it around to church and get it out whenever we give him the ok. When Paul is having a particularly hard time with something, I can almost always calm him down by holding him and singing his long-time favorite: Jesus Loves Me.
We love you, Paul. We love your charisma and we love your charm. We love your passion and independence and courage. And we love your soft, sweet heart. Happy Birthday, Little Man!
“What should I write in Paul’s birthday card this year?”, I asked Dan in the middle of our spring break vacation to Georgia.
“Put something in there about his spunk and charisma”.
Paul is spunky and charismatic, ferociously loyal and stubbornly independent. And he’s entered into the threes. And we’re enjoying them so far. 🙂
Lydia is a people watcher. She likes attention and praise, but she’ll watch what other people do and imitate them. Abby is a follower. She’ll sweetly follow just about anyone, anywhere, doing anything. Paul is his own man. He struts around like he’s in charge. He takes matters into his own hands. When he gets an idea in his head, nothing can stop him. He’s adorably independent and doesn’t care if anyone is leading or following.
He’s also super cute. 😀
He loves the colors orange and blue and he’s obsessed with baseball. He picks little items and obsesses over them for a while, bringing them in the car, to the dinner table, and even to bed. Some of his little obsessions over the past year have included: his little orange New Testament (which was really mine and I never offered it to him, but he declared it “My Bible” and was so persistent that no one bothered to fight him), a plastic toy crow bar, a parrot puppet, my kitchen tongs, a whisk, and Elijah’s long-abandoned pacifier.
Despite all his independence, Paul gets overwhelmed the most easily out of our four children. In those moments, he sits on my lap, holds my hair in one hand, sucks his two favorite fingers, and periodically looks up and me and says, “Hi Mommy”. As soon as his basic needs are met (food, sleep, and some snuggles if things are getting to overwhelming) he’s back to his confident self.
I say surprisingly because Paul wasn’t very quick to start talking. He still doesn’t say a ton, but he picks up on things easily and often surprises us with what he knows. Often I’ll ask the girls to do a task or tell Paul we can do something fun (play baseball or go outside, usually) after we finish a chore. The girls are slower to help and often get distracted, but not Paul. Paul is all business helping set or clear the table, sweep, or put away groceries. In fact, he often jumps in just to be helpful without my asking or mentioning any incentive. And, though he’s still learning, his helping often is actually helpful, even doing things I’ve never taught or consciously shown him how to do.
Last year we were struggling to get Paul to speak. We would ask questions, read stories, point at the pictures or facial features and ask him what they were. Nothing. Then, on some random day, he would start spouting off all these words we never knew he knew. He’s sharp, for sure, but doesn’t like to show off.
Even though Paul is not the youngest, he often ends up being the one who gets his way. “Orange bowl”. “Music on”. “Watch baseball!”. “No, Abby! Off the field! Lydia, play baseball with me!”. He’s so confident, insistent, and cute, that once we understand what he wants, he usually gets it.
Oh, and Paul loves music. He loves the singing at church and he loves instruments. If we let him, he likes to hang out up front when church is over by all the instruments. He latched on to Lydia’s toy drum from when she was a baby and it has become his. We got him a real box (cajon) drum for his birthday and he loves dragging it around the house to play while the girls dance, music plays in the computer, someone is singing, or we have a guest over playing a ukulele (which also fascinated him).
So there’s a glimpse of our three-year-old in a nutshell. He’s really and endearing little boy everyone should get to know. We enjoy having him around immensely.
Happy birthday Paul! We love you!