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.