Living for Jesus: Isaac Turns Three!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the big day is finally here!

It's the moment he's been waiting for since September.

It's the occasion he's been asking me about ten times a day every day since January.

Today, our firstborn turns THREE YEARS OLD!!!

Three years ago, this wonderful little boy, Isaac Nathan Britton, came into the world and forever changed our lives. I look at him so often and can only marvel that such a precious gift was given to us. The love in my heart for this child is so strong it takes my breath away sometimes. He is smart, funny, loving, full of energy, eager to learn, servant-hearted, and a bright ray of sunshine every day. I am so deeply grateful to God for blessing our family with Isaac.

This past year of his life has been full of growth and learning for him! Most people talk about age two as something terrible, but our experience with Isaac has been quite delightful for the most part. No, he's not perfect, and yes, we've had some rough patches of obedience training like any parents of a toddler, but in general, the overall characteristics of this past year with Isaac have been JOY and FUN!

He has been like a little sponge soaking up knowledge and learning as fast as we can dish it out to him. Reading books and playing basketball continue to be his passions in life. He is especially fond of Curious George, the Berentstein Bears (which I try to carefully select to be the ones that don't portray Papa in an idiotic light), Little Bear, Magic Castle books, farm books, and books about sports or science. Since Isaac was making such great progress with academics from simple activities like flash cards and an ABC placemat, we officially started school this past fall. He had already learned to recognize all capital and lower case letters of the alphabet as well as the basic sounds each one makes. Now, he is learning how to read and spell simple two and three letter words. He can count to 11 by himself and 20 with a little help. In addition to all the reading we do together, school usually consists of various phonics activities, writing letters or shapes in a pan of salt, learning a few sight words, counting and simple addition or subtraction with manipulatives, puzzles, sticker books, learning where states are in the U.S., doing Brain Quest cards, cooking together, making cards for people, or doing simple science activities here and there when we see an idea for one in a book that we want to try. Isaac would far rather do school than play, so he keeps me on my toes to have productive educational activities ready for him. When he does play, he likes to cook in his pretend kitchen, shoot baskets, and build with various kinds of blocks and Duplos. His imagination is really starting to come alive during his play, which is lots of fun to watch!

Besides all the learning in preschool Isaac has experienced this past year, he has also learned to ride a tricycle, sing several songs, get himself dressed, and be fully potty-trained. (That last one was almost a year in the making...so just writing it makes me want to do a happy dance!) Most exciting out of everything, is seeing Isaac's understanding of God deepen. A priority of our daily routine is "Bible Time" first thing after getting ready for the day. We keep it simple. A few songs, reading chronologically from The Beginner's Bible, praying, and working on Scripture memory. Isaac is also getting great teaching at our church during his toddler Sunday school class and during his AWANA Puggles/Cubbies club meetings on Wednesday nights. It's been so fun to hear his questions about the things God created, see his love for praying, and observe the comprehension he is starting to show for the Gospel. My deepest longing is that my children would believe in Jesus as their Savior and serve Him out of love all of their lives.

And now, without further ado, here is a collection of pictures from Isaac's third year of life, celebrating sweet moments and special memories with our wonderful little man!