A *very* belated birthday to Whirlwind!

I know, I know.  It's been forever.  But without further ado, I'll get right back into it.  Coming about, oh....4 months late here, it's Whirlwind's birthday post.  Finally.

Drum roll please.....

The third child.  Ahhhh, the third child.....

He was different from the very start.  Of my three pregnancies his was the only one with any kind of 'incident'.  The others were smooth as silk.  His?  Not so much.  Let's just say he made his presence known from the very start...and didn't quit until the very end.  Well actually, on second thought, he still lets his presence be very well known :-).  He's got an I'm here and 'take that!' attitude!



Before his birth S and I had a short list of names we were considering.  If you've read my previous birthday posts here and here, you know we don't name our children until we lay eyes on them.  Once we get a feel for 'who' they are, based on what we see, hear and sense, then we select one name from our list that suits them best.



Well, this child was fairly easy in terms of choosing the name.  He came out roaring like a lion and was aptly named as such.  In fact, he's spent the past 6 years on this earth pretty much roaring.....



He was so blessed to enter the world having three great-grandparents!  This Great-Gramma was super lucky as she got to see him at 8 days old and witness him being named after her dear deceased husband.



Despite all his roaring, he was a precious beautiful baby who captivated everyone with those eyes...



That 'I can see into your soul' stare....



And that fat, chubby and absolutely squeezable body!



One thing we very quickly learned about our new baby boy was that he would get into e-v-e-r-y-th-ing. Excuse me, what I really meant to say was that we learned he was 'extremely smart, ambitious, determined, motivated and inquisitive'...

He was curious about the taste of crayons...



I could have taken a picture of the incredibly colorful diaper the next day, but I didn't.  S still hasn't forgiven me.

He was curious about what was in the attic....(yes, we rounded the corner to find him there)



He just had to master the computer at 18 months....



He had to figure out how the lights worked...(yes, we rounded the corner yet again to find him here)



He loved conducting food combination experiments that even caused his big brother to shake his head in amazement....



He loved reading from the very very start and sat down to truly read his first book at 3....



He's always floored us with his verbal and so called academic skills.

"Hey! This is an 'I'!"



He's managed to get himself into many tight spots over the years and each time we insisted on taking a picture before we rescued him....



We weren't trying to be mean, but come on, how can we not document these events?!  They just soooo reflect who he is!



He's always had a love affair with food.

Wearing it that is.....



Sometimes proudly.....



And sometimes not....



His enthusiasm is unbridled...



As were his stereotypical two year old temper tantrums.  Or was it three year old?  No, four year old??  He's my only child that actually thew himself down on the floor....As he got older the rage mellowed down to intense facial expressions...



If looks could kill....



The outdoors for him is heaven.



Though hiking just about kills him.  Unless of course it's done like this,




I have to admit that during this trip his hiking skills have improved.  However, remaining true to form, he's THE one that while visiting Yellowstone fell off one of the boardwalks!  If you're familiar with Yellowstone at all you know that that's never a good thing....



Thankfully we weren't walking over boiling mud pits at the time...

Being cold is not his favorite as you can tell,



However, the freedom the beach offers is.



His first meeting with the ocean was thrilling and mesmerizing,



Watching him there was pretty darn mesmerizing too, if you'll forgive me saying so :-).



He's easily entertained by animals though has a healthy fear/respect for them too (his fears are pretty surprising yet quite the blessing in this case....).




So what's with the hair you might be asking....

Well, after regretting cutting big brother's baby hair at 2, we made the decision to wait at least until Whirlwind was 3 to cut his.  Unlike big brother though, this birthday boy had mucho mucho hair.  Of course he did.  So after hearing people refer to him as a girl over and over again, no matter how much blue I dressed him in, we gave in and the haircut ensued:



Not quite sure about this Mom!

But the end result was happiness all around,



And cuteness too.  And to quote him in later years: "Oh, I get it, haircuts are for seeing!"

Music was always a big part of his life.  He started Music Together classes in-utero,



And got to see some of his favorite 'rock stars' perform live.  That's one of the Biscuit Brothers fyi.



Apparently we have some drums in our future as well.  Oy.



Today he's always humming or singing, whether he's playing with legos and humming the Star Wars tune, or walking down the street.  Music is just in his head.  In fact, one song he's always singing is 'Side by Side' from 1927, one of this beautiful lady's favorites.  His very recently departed 91 year old Great-Grandma.



And speaking of Great-grandparents, he was and IS still blessed to also have his loving and admiring great-grandpa in his life.  They're just 93 years apart, that's all.



And while were at it, he's got some super duper loving grandparents as well.

With some he's ponderous and thoughtful,



With others he's goofy and silly,



And with yet another, well, he's his wild, crazy, messy self :-),



The T-shirt Whirlwind's wearing below sums him up pretty well...I tried to be good but I got bored!



Yes, his body and mind *must* be well occupied and challenged most hours of the day or else....it's true. He's also a total ham and entertains us all.  He's determined, ambitious, curious about everything and anything, and can operate any computer or computerized device on his own.  For better or worse, he's a perfectionist.  He remembers it all, be it a word, person or event.  He's a good friend, has a huge heart, a winning smile and the kindest words when you least expect them but desperately need them.

He truly is taking the world by storm, as only a lion can!