A Happiness

      My mom likes to compare GE to the ornament Noel from the children's Christmas story. "He has a Happiness," she says. GE's joy has been exploding out of him since the day he was born. I have never known anyone so genuinely content and thrilled to be alive than GE. You can feel his happiness from across the room, but chances are you won't have to because he would love to come over and give you a hug.

       He always has something positive to say. He starts his day rejoicing in what most others would find mundane: that it's morning, that he woke up in his bed, that he still has feet, that he's wearing pants, that his fish is alive, that he woke his brother up, that he didn't wake his brother up...and on and on the list goes. Seeing anything orange is cause for celebration, but he gets pretty excited about any other color too. Needless to say he's pretty easy to please. Even when he's told no about something he usually responds, "Alrighty!" (But sometimes he asks about it 37 more times because he's 3). 

      Earlier this week the weather was beautiful for the end of February. "It's warmer for me!" he exclaimed over and over. 

      Then it got colder again and rained all day. Then it got really windy. Then the rain turned to sleet. And then to a heavy, wet snow coming down sideways. We were pretty negative about the weather but despite this GE wanted to go outside  to "play in the snow."  So Daddy took him out anyway (because we've learned that's the best way to convince a three-year-old it's cold out). He went out and happily tried to catch the blowing on snow on his tongue, told G it was "good!," outside...but when asked he did admit he wanted to go back in. 

      G came in a said it was pretty nasty out. 

     GE came in and brightly reported that "It's not raining!" always finding the good in everything. 

      The next day GE was playing outside and took a big fall off the tube slide. He looked at the ground, which he hit pretty hard, and congratulated it, "Wow!  That was a nice catch!" I don't think he even realized he should be hurt because he was so proud of the ground's nice catch. 

     GE regularly cheers for his older brother when he finished he schoolwork, compliments the rest of us on everything we do (I got a very excited praise for giving him the right amount of ketchup at supper tonight), and serenades with whatever song is going through his head at the moment (today he was singing a song he made up about happy rainbows).  Most people would be exhausted from being as happy as he is all the time, but GE has maintained this level of genuine joyfulness since he was born. I don't know how he does it but I hope he never loses his Happiness.