Happy Birthday Jonah!

Today is my little brother's birthday! Okay...officially he's bigger than me but I'm still older which still makes me the big brother. Jonah turned 3. Can we just brag a minute about this awesome little linebacker? If you said no, too bad. Here it goes:

Not only is my little brother great, he is super smart. Really, really, really smart. He has just turned three and he has already started to read. Yes. READ! He loves to read books and to our shock and amazement, he started reading the books to us! Talk about a jaw-dropping experience. He definitely knows how to read through word memorization and doesn't phoenetically spell things out but his word vocabulary is spectacular! We're talking a huge collection of words, some of which are pretty complex. Here is just a sampling of words he can read to you:

butterfly
ladybug
hi
bye
day
tree
apple
banana
monkey
camel
zebra
whale
there
the
what
is
house
pizza
and many, many, many more!

He is an amazing little guy. In addition to reading (yes, really reading), Jonah can count. He can count to 20 without any correction and up to 30 with a little help. He knows his ABC's, a plethora of songs (many of whom he can also sign), and he is very good at using his manners. He says please, thank you, your welcome and more all correctly and will even help you if you miss an opportunity to be respectful.

Another amazing accomplishment is that he is almost officially potty trained!!! He wears diapers out in public but that will soon end. At home, he travels around in his big boy pants, goes to the potty all by himself, flushes the toilet, washes his hands, and asks for help when he needs it. Truly wonderful!

So that is our little birthday boy.
Happy Birthday 3rd Jonah Ray!
We love you!