Jair is "free!"

Our Jair turned three years old last month. He has grown up so much in the last year, although he still can't pronounce the initial th sound. I love his special way of speaking and, to be honest, will be a little sad when he can pronounce every word correctly.

Jair's special day followed the usual pattern: breakfast in bed, a cookout with Polish sausage and baked beans for lunch, then cake and presents, and a baseball game followed by fireworks in the evening. For several months, we had been saving Mater and Lightning decorations to put on top of Jair's cupcakes. True to his looks and his breeding, he is a chocolate lovin' boy, so the cupcakes had to be devil's food with chocolate buttercream frosting. Jair chose "Birthday Bash" ice cream. (Toy Story characters adorned the carton - which was placed strategically at child's eye level - although they made no appearance in the ice cream.)

Jair was thrilled with each gift, which was to be expected since all but two were vehicles of some kind. The only non-car presents were a Noah's Ark set (just like Ali's!) and Pooh and Some Bees, a story Jair loves. His renditions of Pooh's made-up songs are nothing short of absolutely adorable, in my humble mother's opinion.

This year Jair was old enough to be excited about his birthday cards and any cash contained therein. Before carefully placing the bills in his ceramic basketball bank, he shared some with his sister and me. When he wasn't looking, I slipped my portion into his bank, with a prayer that - even when he is old enough to drive a real car and pronounce every word with precision - his heart will remain just as tender and generous as it is now.