Mr. Three-Year Old

Three years ago this morning we drove through the first snow of the season to the hospital in Lake City, Iowa, so that Nils could make his way into the world. Cindy Freeberg stayed with Anders at our house when we left, and Lisa Aljets came later to bring Anders to the hospital to meet his new brother. Beth's mom came as well. Anders brought a present for his new brother (a little bear) and Nils had one for his big brother (a John Deere tractor). And Beth and I began to learn how to raise two boys instead of just one.

Since then Nils has lived in a farm house near Pomeroy, Iowa, a town house in South Surrey, British Columbia, and an apartment in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Nils has lived by corn fields, oceans, mountains and lakes. And of coursek we've seen a lot of growth in Nils.

Nils likes to ride his bike, play with trainsets and race cars. Nils has learned his alphabet and can count well past twenty. At times he can sit and look at a book for a long time. Nils LOVES to climb and jump. No sofa is safe. He loves to run, skip and turn summersalts (even uphill). Nils loves to get into whatever he can, take things apart, dump things out and make messes in general. Nils can bring huge amounts of frustration and joy at the same time. He's got a face that makes it impossible to be upset with him. He's got a lot of determination. And he's the best 3-year old hip hop dancer I've ever seen. He marches to his own drumbeat. And I love him--and thank God for the last three years that he's been a part of our lives.