My grandson Liam is three years old. He has brown eyes and soft, brown, curly hair that bounces when he runs or is singing a song, which is frequently. He is a happy child with a song on his mind and in his heart all the time. And after struggling with health issues early in his life, he has a voice that can deliver the music.

Recently, while I pushed him around a store in a shopping cart, Liam started singing very loudly. I am used to him singing all the time, so it doesn’t faze me to hear him or the volume. That day he was especially loud, performing some very dramatic singing.

I whispered to him to sing softly. He did for about two verses before he began belting out the words to “It’s a Big Blue World” again. Again, I tried to get him to soften his tone. An older man and his wife walked by and instead of giving us the stink-eye, they smiled. The woman said she loved his voice and would rather hear a happy child singing.

It’s hard to believe, but there was a time when Liam didn’t sing. From three weeks old until he was almost two, Liam had multiple colds and ear infections. It seemed like he was always sick and we were concerned about his hearing.

Two years ago, Liam had adenoids and tonsils removed and tubes put in his ears. After multiple procedures at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, we could see him starting to feel better. He began talking too. Instead of sign language for “more milk,” he vocalized the request.

Then the words began to flow. It started off with a few words.

“Mommy.”

“Mimi” (his name for me).

Then Liam started singing with me, songs I have been singing to him since he was a newborn.

“If You’re Happy and You know It.”

“This Little Light of Mine.”

And my personal favorite that I sang to my children, because I remember my grandmother singing it to me: “You are my Sunshine.”

My daughter and Liam moved from Arkansas to Florida last summer and I moved a few months later to be closer to them. We love going to the beach, the playground and—most of all—the Walt Disney World parks. My favorite park is Animal Kingdom because it has the show “Finding Nemo — The Musical.” Liam loves the show and I see the wheels turning in his head when we watch the 40-minute production about the over-protective clownfish searching for his son Nemo. The show has beautiful puppetry and a talented cast, and after every show, Liam wants to stay and watch it again. And again.

Not long after we leave the auditorium, he begins to sing the songs of the musical, including “It’s A Big, Blue World,” and “Go with the Flow” (when we sing this song, I dance around with my arms spread wide like the baby turtles in the show).

And Liam sings just like they do on stage, with big, dramatic long notes and his arms spread wide.

In the past year I have seen Liam’s speech improve and his vocabulary grow.

I won’t lie — sometimes hearing the same song sung really loudly for over an hour can get on my nerves. But to know Liam can hear the music around him and know he loves it and absorbs it makes it worth it.

Now Liam makes up words to the songs he does not know. But when we listen to the CD of “Finding Nemo” in my car, or watch the bootleg video of the show on YouTube or are lucky enough to see the live show, he grows more each time.

He is just a happy child singing.