3 years old - letter to little man

Sweet sweet boy,

People have told me that right before each birthday we would notice a huge leap in your development.  We find this to be a miraculous thing to watch, especially with a kid like you, because you take the leap to a level that we could never even imagine.

You now are beginning to understand the world in a different way.  You care deeply for the people in our family, including our close friends, and you like to show your love quite openly.  You are a caretaker by nature and you love to help whenever you can (even if the help is unwanted).  You like to be the "host" - pass out plates, food, drinks, etc.  and you ask your guests the funniest adult like questions, how was your day, how are your dogs, etc.

You are true to your word.  You have a definite idea of how things "should" go and you always seem to follow through which is awesome and also incredible.

You have been working on going in the potty for a few months and you will pee no problem, but you would not poop.  You said "when I turn 3" and low and behold you gave it a try on your 3rd birthday. Similar to when you threw away your beloved pacifiers the day baby sister came home.  Just amazing.

You are sleeping in a big kid bed!  You love it and so do we.  We got you one of those Ok to wake clocks that turns green when its time to get up and you call us to come and get you.

You have a brain for puzzles and those "hidden picture" puzzles.  You love your United States map and you know most (if not close to all) of the states.  You love to read books and you ask to read the same books over and over and over ;)  Currently your favorites are Hanukkah Bear, Count's Hanukkah Countdown and The Napping House.

Your love for music continues to grow and your newest love is your "real band", the one that "Ringo plays in" - Grammy and papa got you a drum set.  At first our plan was to only give you one drum because seriously what three year old needs a drum set.  But when we gave it to you, your response was - "there's no cymbals?!"  Sooooo your dad and I decided to give you the rest of the drum set, well at least most of it, the bass drum, snare drum and one cymbal.  We put the kit together and surprised you with it.  Again, when we gave it to you your response was - "there's supposed to be two cymbals!!!" I literally fell to the floor and then trudged back upstairs to retrieve the other cymbal.  Our little musician - who knows?!  maybe this will be your life passion.  Or you just have a strong love for music that will stay with you forever.

You love food and you are willing to try new foods, which is a fabulous quality.  Your favorite type of food are Mexican and Thai food (specifically the Chicken Satay).  You love treats, maybe a little too much, but this year you have developed a love for strawberry ice cream.

Your speech is almost like speaking to a grown up and many of your cute Jonny-isms are no longer with us.  Lately though you  like to talk about our "whole family" and you say "you should choose.... is that your choice?"

Our love for you grows more every day and we are in awe of the sweet, smart, kind and intuitive little person you have become.

Hugs and kisses,

Mama

Little Man - 35 months

How much longer can I say "little man"?  We talk about how you are such a big kid all the time, and it is truly crazy just how big you are in so many ways.... I wish the time would slow down.

Your little brain never ceases to amaze us.  You are so thoughtful and you are always asking other people questions.. about their day, their favorites, how their food is during a meal.... so funny.

Your music repertorie has grown exponentially this past month.  You are a classic rock kid, through and through.  You love any song with a good hard drum beat.  This month we added Journey and Bon Jovi to your playlist.  If anyone asked me I would never in a million years think that I would be rocking out to Journey with my two year old kid  I wouldn't have believed it. Seriously the best thing ever.
Drums are definitely your favorite instrument but you have developed a strong liking to the guitar this month too.

We recently got you a United States puzzle and you are obsessed with it.

You are quite bossy, in the nicest way possible.
Graham Crassers
You say /f/ in place of /s/ like in square (fair) or squat (fot) - its so cute and we know it will change but for now we are loving it
You ask genuine questions when we are reading and you have a brain for puzzles and finding pictures (like in those hidden picture Books) that is just fascinating to watch.

Little lady - 9 months

You are crawling!  Not fast, and not in a direct route, but you definitely get where you want to go!  And you are on a mission to play with any of brother's toys.  It's as if you know which toys are not for you and those are the ones you head right for.

You are making lots of baby babble - dada is your favorite word to say and you definitely say it to Dada which is the cutest thing.  You also say baba, papa, and you've started making loud raspberry sounds quite often.

You love Dylan and he seems to really like you too - in fact, he licks you (on the mouth) when we let him.  You are petting him pretty nicely most of the time.

Oh our little eater.... you just love food.  Your favorites right now are veggie burgers, yes the whole thing, avocados, corn and blueberries.

You are still the most amazing sleeper and you love your bed.  Oh!  We finally switched you to the crib - 9 months later.... but you were so stinking cute when we put you in it.  It was as if we gave you a big girl bed, you were genuinely excited.

Little lady 6 months

You are such a mama's girl.  Oh my.  It's the sweetest thing ever, but it would be lovely if you let someone else hold you for a while!  You are starting to warm up to daddy and grandma, thank goodness.

Girl, you love to eat.  You want to eat everything that we are eating and you try to grab at our silverware, cups and food constantly.  This month I gave you a sippy cup with water and you loved it.  I think you mostly like to bang it on the table, but still.

You love shaking your toys, really hard.  You often hit yourself with them, which must hurt but you don't seem to mind at all.

Your favorite "toy" is still brother, and you like to watch him more than anything or anyone else.  He definitely gets the biggest smiles.

You are starting to sit up.  You can sit on your own for a few minutes, gorilla style, resting on your hands in fists.  Then after a couple minutes, you face plant (we try to catch you of course) and then you're content to stay laying on your play mat.

Sleep, glorious sleep!  You have turned into an amazing sleeper and you take 3 naps during the day and sleep about 11 hours at night.  We are thankful every night that you are such an amazing nighttime sleeper, it is quiet luxurious to have a baby who sleeps as well as you do!  Even if its a phase, we will take it.

Little man - 33 & 34 months

Our sweet boy, you are an even sweeter big brother than we could have imagined.  You are so wonderfully helpful with your sister and we feel so blessed that you love her so much.  It's almost like you know what she needs before she needs it, which is such a nice thing for mommy.  You are also more than willing to get things for me, like her diapers, wipes, paci, etc.  So helpful!

Your palate for foods continues to evolve and you are the BEST eater.  You will try most foods and you definitely like things that have flavor!  No bland foods for this kid.  You love Thai food and salsa of course.  You even like sushi (California rolls)!  It is my dream that we all eat the same dinner every night and you eat your food just like we do.  We can also order food for you at pretty much any restaurant and we are getting to the point where you need your own food, we can't share because you eat a lot!  haha.

You are still a great little sleeper and you love your bed.  Daddy has been doing your bath and bedtime routine since sister was born, so that's been a big change, but you both seem to be settling in to the new routine.  I hope that it will shift back to me being a part of your bedtime too, I miss my Jonny snuggles.

Things you like recently....

Songs and artists - this is incredible.  You know who sings the songs on your playlist.  John Lennon, Louis Armstrong, Kenny Rogers, The Beatles.... Oh My Goodness child, it is amazing to hear you say these names and know the songs they sing.  Daddy and I feel so lucky that we have a two year old who loves classic rock.

You love to build - lately legos have been your fixation and you use your imagination to build dinosaurs, cities and farms.  It's really neat to watch you play by yourself and create things with minimal help.

You still love cars and trucks and you like to line up all of your cars like the freeway or the parking lot.

Jonny - isms
What is?
I guess so.....

You know all of your letters and you are starting to write your name!

Little lady - 7 months

You've found your voice!

I had some of your aunties over for a girls night and you were definitely in on the conversation.  Hilarious.

You are rolling all over the place and you can move yourself around by rolling.  Its pretty crazy how far and fast you can move by rolling.

You love to eat.  No, seriously.  I thought your brother liked to eat when he was a baby but it is truly no comparison.  You like to chew on pieces of real food, so I give you sticks of cucumbers, bell peppers, cooked carrots, rice cakes, pretty much anything that is a good texture for you to mash with your gums.

You have your first bottom tooth!  And boy is it sharp.

You are the happiest baby.  All smiles, especially for your brother,  there is no one you love more.  You look at him like he is a rockstar.  It's kind of the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

You had your first Halloween!

Little lady - 8 months

You are sitting up and playing on your play mat like a champ.  You will sit and play and laugh and watch brother or watch me in the kitchen, sometimes for a long time!  Other times you need someone to sit with you and play with your toys.  You are loving the stacking rings, and this week brother gave you his stacking cups too.  Those are a hit!

You are trying to crawl.  But right now you just get stuck in downward dog position on your hands and feet.  Then you yell for someone to come and help.  You are starting to get on your hands and knees and rock back and forth so I know its coming soon.

You keep trying and loving new foods.  This month we tried pumpkin, black beans, quinoa, veggie burgers and turkey.  You like all of it.  Even when there was something you didn't love (black beans and quinoa blend) you still ate it all, you just kind of smashed it around for a while first. 

You laugh a lot!  Your giggle is awesome.

You are making more and more sounds.  Last month was mama and baba, this month we've added gaga and dada.

You are clapping which is quite adorable.

You are the most amazing sleeper and seriously the easiest baby ever when it comes to naps and bedtime.  I am thankful every day by just how easy you are.  You love your bed, your lambs and your paci and its such a safe spot for you.  We just snuggle you up and read books (which you really seem to enjoy) and say good night.  You will sometimes roll around in your bed for a while before you sleep but you rarely cry, if ever.  Absolutely amazing.