As I write this, you are are off with your friends at school. You have been at this school for a couple of years, and have loved it! Dad and I have watched as you have grown so much physically and mentally in the last year. We know it is time for you to move on to an environment that is more challenging. We are excited at your growth, but are sad to leave a place that has been a big part of your life.
Recently you had your 3rd birthday, in which you had several celebrations! First you had a cupcake birthday party at school, then you had a special birthday at home with mom and dad, next you had a birthday party with grandma and grandpa and all your friends at the Enchanted Island park, finally you had a small get together with your dear friend Ryan at the McCormick and Stillman's train park. You are certainly well versed in how birthdays work! You are so sweet and caring to all your friends! I love watching you develop into a very caring young boy who is also unbelievably hilarious, smart, and talented!! My favorite gift for your birthday was the drum kit! I think you are excited too, but still learning coordinate three functions into a rhythmical fashion.
A very special weekend was spent with grandma and grandpa, in which you spent the night! You were a very good boy and had a blast :) I was proud of you! I didn't have too much trouble in the night, in fact I think I slept through the whole night ;) I definitely was confused in the morning when you weren't there to cuddle with me and steal my pillow! You have an adorable habit in which every morning you come over and snuggle with me, only to steal my entire pillow. You also try to steal the entire down comforter. I only wish you would go back to sleep, maybe one day soon you'll sleep in past 6 AM.
You are developing some fantastic skills, and many times I am pleasantly surprised at what deep connections you make! You are able to write your name, though, the letters are scattered still. You are able to write about half of the alphabet, you can sing the entire song, and you are learning to combine letters to make words. You love to sing all sorts of songs, but you are not a fan when other people try to sing the songs--you tell them, "Ssshhh!" and try to cover their mouth. haha! You are able to count to 10 fairly consistently, count objects, and you understand '1 more, and 1 less' you are doing well with directional words 'behind, next to," :) You are building amazing objects with your tinkertoys, rocks, and blocks. I love how much you help around the house, you really enjoy having order and cleanliness. You still refuse to go poo on the toilet, though you absolutely hate the 'mess' in your diaper. Soon you'll figure it all out :) In the meantime, I'll continue to read you stories, sitting on the bathroom floor, hoping for an 'accident' in the toilet :)
It seems as though you've given up naps, which in some ways is good-- early bed time. however, it also means a return to the evening fussiness. I've been allowing you to watch more t.v. than I would like, but I also don't want to 'fight' with you if we go anywhere. I think in a short time you'll adjust-- you are starting to wake up a little later in the mornings, though it is not consistent yet.
You are the sweetest, most amazing little boy! I love this journey we are on together, I only hope we steer you right as you learn to become the captain of your own ship. :)
Love,
mom
Tonight you were hilarious. Well, you are all the time, you have a very good sense of humor. However, tonight you were wearing the glasses for your Mr. Potato Head, my shoes, and a diaper and walking around pretending to be an owl. You came up to me and said, "knock, knock, mom." I said, "who's there?" you said, "who, who?" It took me a minute to realize that you just told me a joke. I think you were less than excited b/c I didn't respond as quickly as you would have liked. It is moments like these that I wish I had a video camera in running at all times to catch the totally hilarious, spontaneous events in your wonderful life!
With all my love,
Mom
You have always been the highlight of my day, and it surprises me every day how much more you become such a special little man. Your sense of humor has grown tremendously and you love playing practical jokes on your mom and dad. Your favorite is pretending to play airplane with your food, offering it to one of us, only to then swipe it away and eat it yourself. You laugh and laugh, and do it all over again. You also love to play chase and will run after us saying, "Gonna get you!" along with that you are holding your hands out and pretending to try to tickle us. You have also started to develop a fantastic imagination. You will pretend to be a dog and love to petted and played with. You are learning to have your cars, dinosaurs, trains, anything really to have conversations and play together. Along with this, of course, is your constant demands in *how* mom and dad are allowed to play a game with you. We have to follow your directions exactly, or else we have somehow offended your toddler code of ethics. Learning to share, and allow people their own freedom, has become a challenging lesson. You usually take your "share" of the toys and play somewhere else. ;)
Physically you continue to be big, almost 38 inches and you weigh 32 pounds! When you are hungry you can eat large amounts of food that surprise everyone, even your daycare has commented a few times about how you'll eat large meals. Then there are days you will eat a few bites here and there and are satisfied. You are very active and always moving some part of your body. You enjoy dressing yourself, you are half way towards learning to use the toilet-- the only thing holding you back is your refusal to do it, you know how you just won't :) We're fine with that, for a while longer. You don't enjoy dirty diapers, so soon enough you will ready!
You love being outside. On the days we don't get outside you definitely have a lot more energy :) Your new favorite activity at the park is playing with your trucks, shovels, buckets in the sand. It is especially fun because the nearby park has water to make mud! One important lesson that you learned is that the sand is hot on bare feet. You refuse to wear your shoes at the park with sand (which I understand), so after a couple of times realizing "hot! hot! sand!" you stay in the shade or are ready to go home. The summer is definitely a time when you are wishing for more outside time. We are usually only outside in the morning, which is always nice. Going to large places with crowds is still difficult, mostly because you love to run around and grab everything :) Sometimes, though, large crowds are just not your thing and you drag one of us back to the car.
You love your daycare and during the summer are going one day a week. You love going to music class, but mostly you love all the time to play with friends. Riding your bike is another favorite activity of yours. You are very skilled at riding down hills, you have even learned to control your speed so you can ride safely.
You are always talking! Your clarity has improved immensly and every day you learn several words and phrases. Some of my favorites are when you say goodbye, "Bye, bye, have a nice day." or "My goodness." You are also signing many words, "stop. bird. wait. all done. help. turtle." Mostly signs are used as a way to emphasize what you are saying. I love that you are able to 'listen' to me from across the room when I can't be right next to you to-- such as at the park to 'stop.' ;)
This weekend we are heading up to a Yurt in the mountains around Flagstaff. We are excited to go camping, or at least as close to camping as we want with a toddler in diapers :) We are hoping to see deer, elk, and a ton of birds. We are going to visit the Grand Canyon and a place called Bedrock City (aka Flinstones Village.) There is a train ride through a volcano that we think you'll totally love. This will be our father's day retreat.
There are so many things you do, say, and learn every day. I am always so surprised when I sit down to write and realize I could go on for hundreds of pages and still not say all I want to say. You are an amazing little man and I am so excited to watch you progress in your journey through life.
With all my love,
Mom
Today you are are 2 years old! It is amazing to look back and see how much you have grown, to see you become a little boy and not a baby. I have to correct myself a couple times a day when I refer to you as my baby. ;) You are growing so fast, you are 36 in. and 31 lbs., though you still have limited hair... :)
You have become very skilled at climbing on the toys at the park, and you love being able to climb the various stairs/ladders to then slide down the slides. You are learning to swing on the big boy swing, you love running down hills as fast as you can, you love riding your trike around. If you are outside you are quite happy. When we go for walks you are always certain to bring a toy car or two along. Usually by the end of the walk you will have traded the cars for various rocks, pine cones, and twigs.
At home you are generally wanting to do the dishes, which you call "Hands" all. the. time. We have to put limits on your willingness to do the dishes, I know some day I will look back to these times when you were willing to do dishes. Although with the recent addition of your frog tent and lego table, I think our water bill may see a small break.
You love being able to zip up the frog and hang out in your own little space. It is as if you have your own little studio apartment, you even brought your portable potty, blanket/pillow, and drink into the tent today to hang out and 'relax.' Each day it seems like you learn several new words, today you learned 'tiger' and 'lion' as you played with your new lego table. Although putting the legos together is fun, what you enjoyed more was dragging the chairs around to various locations so that you could attempt to climb to even higher perches. Luckily you are still a little too short to get up onto the kitchen counters.... it is only a matter of weeks really, before you are able to climb the counters.
At school you have become very comfortable and love going each time. You are always happy to join the activiites and often times we have to encourage you to end your playing to go home. You are getting much better about staying with anyone besides mom. Today you even only wanted dad to hang out with you in your new tent.
You are saying many words, and phrases. You are signing a lot. You pick up new words and signs so quickly, you are even able to say each letter of the alphabet (when you see the letter on a card or something.) You love helping to count, you will count anything, including attempting to count the rocks on the way to the car.... in the dessert there are a lot of rocks ;) You also love signing (more like humming) along with songs that you have heard many times, usually elmo related ;)
Today you helped make your birthday cake, you loved that you got to lick the beaters when you were done! You even got to do the same with the frosting beaters!
Happy Birthday my lovely son!
Love,
Mom
omg, give it to me NOW!
I'm a big boy!
Finally mom and dad let me move into my own pad.
legos!! :D
As always you learn so many things, so quickly! You are crazy about dinosaurs, cars, trucks, airplanes, blocks, coloring, drawing, singing, dancing, trains, playing chase, tickling, playing hide and seek, cooking, climbing, and so much more. On many occasions I will come home in the afternoon to discover you have learned several new things. Just the other day you signed the word "no" to me when I asked you to get down from somewhere dangerous. While trying to control my laughter I had to lift you from your precarious perch, for probably the thousandth time. It is funny to see the choices in decorating our house, based solely on whether or not you can climb/get into the piece of furniture. I do like the rather minimalistic set-up we have, plus it gives you that much more room to run around!
You have started going to a nearby pre-school/daycare 2 days a week. You went through an initial hard time, but now, 4 weeks later you are having a great time. There are only a handful of students. You are the youngest, which is fine, because you love watching the big kids play. It is a integrated program for children who are developing typically and children with disabilities. Not only do you have a small class size, but you also get to participate in some fun programs.
I am not sure you have stopped growing, ever. You are at least 3 feet tall and 30 lbs.! You enjoying eating, but still love fruits and veggies the most. You have moments of being very picky, but generally you like to eat, and will eat even the most interesting of foods. Your new favorite activity (well until a few days ago when we got a 'safety' cold-water valve) is to fill up any empty cup with water from the water dispenser. You drink a lot more water now that you are the one to fill up your cup. When we go to restaraunts you are happier if we let you sit in a booster chair, and will generally let us have 20 minutes to eat. If we try the hi-chair, we'll get about 4 minutes to eat ;)
You are talking quite a bit, with many sentences. You enjoy playing the game of, "where'd it go?" You'll hide something and then ask repeatedly the same question. You enjoying naming objects, you especially love when airplanes fly overhead. Recently on a flight to see grandma and grandpa, you were saying "where'd it go?" "bye-bye airplane" "airplane all gone" you love seeing trucks and cars. When you try to say watermelon, you say the cutest word 'mneam-mneam-mneam' ... You are signing some words still, but mostly talk or drag people to what you want.
A few times you have shown interest in going to the potty, but mostly you refuse. There's no rush as it's mostly your timeline, but it is sure cute when you say, "tee-tee" and then actually use the toilet. Mostly you are excited to run into the bathroom to flush the toilet for everyone and wave "bye-bye" to whatever goes down. :) Otherwise you're still content to help us wipe your bum and put on your diaper.
Love,
Mom
In the last few months your universe has grown immensly. Not only are you discovering many new abilities, words, and people, you are also now living in Phoenix, Arizona. We arrived in the middle of a scorching summer, 110 degrees is about average, and yet the heat doesn't bother you nearly as much as it does mom and dad. You are happy to swim in the pool multiple times a day and eat popsicles! You have learned how to kick your feet while on your stomach, and are now brave enough to get into the pool from any location-- even if it means going under water. Watching others run and jump into the pool makes you squeal with delight! You are building up your courage to do the same, but are still hesitant to actually jump into the pool. Yesterday was the closest yet, as you were okay with "falling" backward like a scuba diver into the water. You watched mom and dad countdown and fall in, then you were very eager to do it yourself. To our surprise, you not only "fell" into the water, you said, "1, 2, 3, GO!" Besides swimming, today you did a somersault (completely) for the first time! You were quite impressed with your new ability and are always doing them now!
Besides swimming you have become very skilled with communicating your needs and wants. You are signing and talking so much! You still enjoy fruits and vegetables more than any other foods, though I think cheese quickly gaining popularity. No longer will you allow mom or dad to feed you. If we even try you will refuse to eat, until we give you the utensil.
Uncle Mike has 3 dogs, and every time you see them you are super excited! You adore all the dogs, but Ashley seems to be your favorite. I think the only thing you say when we are visiting uncle Mike is, "Hi Ash-ely" over and over. Even if she has left the room. Besides Uncle Mike's dogs, you light up with delight any time you see an animal, even if it is in a book. The other day at a friend's house you got to help mom and dad feed newborn kittens who were 3 weeks old. You were excited that the kittens drank from a bottle! You were very skilled at feeding them and you were so gentle and caring. When they were done, you were very insistent that it was your turn to drink from the little bottles. :)
Your favorite activites are building blocks, climbing on anything, coloring, playdough, and of course READING and helping mom or dad with anything they are doing. You have become a huge fan of Sesame Street and have even started to say the alphabet, "ACDB..." you listen with delight as we sing the alphabet song and clap when we are done. If you see a stereo, or hear one, you will automatically say, "D, Dance" and start dancing excitedly!
You are showing your affection in so many ways, asking dad to put you on his shoulders, giving huge bear hugs, and my personal favorite, brushing our hair! You are so gentle and caring and seem to understand when I tell you to be gentle. You have recently become interested in caring for baby-dolls and stuffed animals. You are happy to feed them pretend food and even enjoy eating the pretend food yourself. When we are out in public you are so social with others, insisting that others say "hi" and wave back to you, though I am certain everyone you have said hi to loves to say hi back! You have put so many smiles on so many faces!
At almost 18 months you have already amazed mom and dad with how quickly you have grown. We can't wait for the months and years ahead!
Love,
Mom
For spring break this year, we flew (your first time!) to visit Uncle Mike in Phoenix! You were very good on both flights, though sitting still on mom's lap wasn't your idea of a good time! Luckily, you were tired enough to fall asleep for most of the flight. When we arrived you were super excited to see Uncle Mike and wanted to stay up, finally around 3AM you decided you could sleep :) The next day we took the best nap together, 2 hours!!
The rest of the week we went everywhere! We visited with a bunch of friends at a BBQ, went to the Zoo, went to another wild animal zoo, went to the dog park, visited all sorts of parks with slides and swings, we rode on a train through a beautiful park (AND you got to chase a ton of pigeons!) we rode on a boat to see animals from Australia, and most importantly you got to play with Ashley and the other doggies! Every second of the day you wanted to be outside, which mostly was okay, until the sun got to be too hot. You were okay with a couple of hours in the house, as long as the doggies and Uncle Mike were with you too!
You are talking so much now! Every day a new word is spoken! You are an old pro with signing your needs and are excited about combining words together. You are becoming very independent and LOVE climbing on anything you can-- no matter how unsteady it might be. Learning boundaries of how to interact with others is sometimes difficult, especially if you are told 'no.' Although it isn't okay, I still can't stop laughing when you try to slap my mouth when I say something you don't want to hear. Hopefully soon you'll learn 'gentle' for all sorts of activities, instead of just when you are petting an animal.
Speaking of animals, you are a huge fan of any animal! Especially cats and dogs! Hopefully soon we can get you one of them :)
I am excited about spending the summer with you! We will have a ton of fun adventures :)
( Pics )
Our week off together was awesome! We went to many places, including the zoo, the Kubota Japanese Gardens, and our friends' houses. You loved the barn animals at the zoo! Everywhere you looked you squealed with delight and exclaimed various babbles with a 'dut' 'moo' and 'ooh-ooh-ooh' (the sound of a monkey when we saw the chimpanzees.)
Our trip to the Kubota Japanese Garden was walked at your pace! You were more than excited to push the stroller rather than sit in it ;) Birds are such a great sight for you, especially if you're able to scare them and they fly away. You are si happy out in nature and would spend all day outside, even if it is raining!
You've become very expressive and able to communicate quite a few important needs. You will sign 'more' 'all done' 'bye/hi' 'up' 'no' and you'll say na-na (somehow that is what "boobie" became?) You are also much more interested in listening to the reason behind why things work a certain way. Though you are still not interested in any explanation for why you have to wear a diaper :)
For Easter we ate dinner with grandma and grandpa! You loved your basket, especially b/c there was a stuffed-dut. You even ate a mini-cadbury chocolate egg. Grandma and Grandpa were happy to spend the day with you.
I am looking forward to spring break in less than 2 weeks!
Love,
Mom
You have become a whirlwind around the house lately! You can climb on the couch, on your toybox, you are very confident in turning backwards and climbing down from bed in the morning and from the couch. The other day you were trying to climb on top of the bookshelf from your toybox. In the process of getting down you slid down into a stuck position. For a little bit you were laughing as I was laughing, but as soon as I turned the camera on you were not interested in sharing this with anyone else :) One thing is for certain, you keep me on my toes at all times! After spending all day with dad on Sat. and Sun. (I had classes) you have learned to climb and go down your slide completely on your own.
Tonight you discovered how much fun it is to throw your toy at dad's head. For some reason it was a fun game to throw objects at whoever was at your eye-leve. I got a few attempts throughout the evening as well. I have a hard time not laughing when you act a certain way that is not really good for the long term. Let's hope this turns into a throwing arm for some sport?
I am looking forward to next week as I get the whole week off! We will have fun, I can't wait :)
Love,
Mom
Happy 1 year birthday!! You spent all weekend with so many family members that were so happy to see you and give you all the attention in the world! It was neat to see that you reacted quite warmly to family, with strangers you often are hesitant. You are very intuitive :)
You spent Saturday afternoon running around at the Jungle Gym in Burien with your baby friends. Even though you had a little cold you were still happy and playful! You loved your cake, though at first you were unsure of how to approach the food! I was surprised at how clean you were after the cake, even your bib had only 1 or 2 spots.
Later that night you met up with your family for pizza at Piecora's! You enjoyed nibbling on the pizza and cake! Everyone there was happy to personally entertain you when you started to get fussy because you were tired.
Sunday we walked all over the waterfront with your cousins and auntie. We visited the aquarium and ate fish at Elliots. You were excited to screech about the duts!!
You have leared so many new and amazing skills! I love watching you put together blocks, or stuff laundry into the washing machine. You also enjoy stuff all sorts of other items in the washing machine too-- bottles, remotes, phones, etc. :) You have really started to become a great helper! You enjoy sweeping and washing surfaces.
You have also become one major cuddle bug! You love cuddling up and having your head/neck rubbed or your back or feet. You'll sit for quite a while, which is so different from your earlier desire to never be held in one spot ;)
I am looking forward to another amazing year of adventures and fun!! :)
I am one lucky momma!
Love,
Mom
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