Dear Samuel,

Happy 3rd birthday buddy! I was not even paying attention and all of a sudden, you are three years old!

You have had quite the year! You can count to 20, spell a few words, and you are speaking pretty clearly! You are still working on potty training but you’re doing better each day.

You had a lot of fun at your first football game this year in Kansas City. It’s too bad the Bengals lost but it was preseason so it doesn’t matter. And speaking of football, this year your birthday is the same day as the Iowa-Iowa State football game.

You love to help out around the house and you are a fearless little guy! You still love trains but you have started to get into something daddy was into, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

You still look up to Chloe and your second best friend is clearly Gary the Bengal. Both of them enjoy your company, most of the time.

Sam, I sure do hope you have a great year ahead of you, and that you continue to grow and learn!

Happy Third Birthday Samuel, we all love you very much!

Love Dad, Mom, Chloe, Gary.

and a bunch of other people too!