To my big boy,
our Father wired you a very certain way and from the second you were born, you exclaimed your personality loud and clear. When I look back over your life, I am filled with wonder. You're exactly the same today as you were the day you were born. But you've developed into an absolutely delightful little BOY, my constant companion and joy from the Lord.
You are a connector of dots. Always have been and I think you always will be. Incredibly associative. You remember things that blow our minds. Every time I ask to hold your hand when we cross the street, you say "vroom, vroom" (meaning that you understand we hold hands because a car might come). When you see the color blue, you say "dada," because you remember that is your daddy's favorite color. When you see the letter T, you say "choo choo" because you know T stands for train. And trains are your favorite.
It goes on and on like this all day long. You see something, attach it to a memory, and remind us of the connection. The brain God gave you amazes us!
Today I heard you say your very first two-word sentence. Usually you just say one word at a time. We've been working on directing words to people, like "bye, Mama" or "move, Annabelle." But you hadn't spoken any sentences on your own yet. We were walking home from the park and you said "Dada, home?"
Just for memory's sake, I'm going to try to recount the words you are currently speaking: doggie, duckie, choo choo, track, bunny, boone, mama, dada, ahbel (annabelle), tidew (stryder), mick (milk), wa-wa (water), juice, nana (banana), apple, mark (color/marker), moot (move), mow (more), mimi, chip, ga-bean (gramma beanie), es-lee (lesley), mack (matt), abby, bet (beth), gabby, bin (brynn), hudson, micah, cayman (caedmon), nona, many letters of the alphabet, most of the numbers 1-10 (if we count like elmo), meow (cat), cow, goat, e-i-e-i-o (always sung), bat (bath), i-pad (you say this clear as day - you are your father's son), tuck (truck), bawney, elmo, patty (paci), backy (blankie), off, on, ah-key (ok), yes, no, pees (please), no pees (no thank you), bubboo (bubble), pock (park), bus, ah-mean (amen), back, up, down, in, poo-poo, pee-pee (ha), wook (work), uh oh, bye bye (with a waving hand to everything and everyone whenever you leave). You try to repeat most words when we ask you to.
You continue to be cautious around strangers and in new environments. We have yet to make it through a church nursery without hysterics (sigh). Someday you will understand that the separation is just temporary. We have left you with non-family babysitters several times and you've done pretty well. They are great with you, and I think you enjoy being with them, especially because you get to stay in your own house.
When you are with people you know, you're a hoot! Full of life, talking, playing, running around, joking, laughing! However, you clam up when you feel that you're in the spotlight or feel like you're on "show" (you get this from your mother). You are not into performing. And that is just fine.
Cars, trains, trucks, construction equipment - any moving vehicle thrills you. You are all boy! When we are out driving, I often point out trucks or buses. You stare at them until they drive away and immediately say "more, more!" You also LOVE the wheels on the bus song and if you could, would listen to it all day on repeat while doing the actions (the horn beeping seems to be your favorite).
The past two times we've taken a family walk, you refuse to ride in your stroller and insist on walking along with us. You can walk so much further than I would have imagined! We've even let you hold Annabelle's leash and you get a kick out of walking her while Daddy walks Stryder.
You have a precious little heart and rarely do we have to discipline you. When we do, although you might be screaming mad at first, you usually become receptive and humble and willing to say sorry (you still do this by rubbing your chest). The other day I asked you not to do something and you looked right at me and did it anyway. I got down at eye level and asked you why you did it, and you responded right away with a "sorry." You totally know.
We took our first family trip last month (before you turned two, so you could fly free!) to California. You did really well overall, considering all of the disruptions to your regular routine. The highlights were the beach - you could not get enough of the water or the sand - and getting to meet and hug Elmo at SeaWorld.
You are eating soooo much better than you used to, now that you have a mouthful of teeth. You still choke sometimes, but we had an ENT doctor examine you and everything is fine physiologically. I think you may have inherited my gag reflex (sorry about that). We stopped the bottle a few months ago and now after naps you drink a sippy cup of milk, with a little chocolate mixed in. You also get a bedtime sippy of milk. That transition off the bottle was surprisingly easy. We were considering giving up paci when you turned two... but I am wondering if it might be better to hang onto it until we can reason with you and explain why you can't use it. I know it will be an enormous battle and I'm not sure I'm ready to take it on yet (I'm also not ready to lose sleep as you will wail without it). We only let you have it when you're sleeping, so I don't know that it's doing any harm, or so I tell myself.
You are also sleeping and napping a lot better. Lately you've been sleeping from about 8:30/9 until 7:30/8. Your naps were such a struggle for a while, but the past couple of weeks you've been averaging 1.25-2 hrs which is AMAZING for you! I've been putting you down closer to 2, trying to stretch you until you're really tired, and I think it's helping you stay asleep longer.
I keep thinking that the next phase of life could not possibly be any more fun, and then it always is. The Lord is so gracious to allow me to be a student of your life! What a gift.
I love you, ever so much,
mama
