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.

Little lady - 5 months

You've found your feet and you like to be in happy baby pose ;) You also like to put your feet in your mouth.... Like everything else!

Food! - we started giving you oatmeal and avocados and bananas this month.  You liked all of them.  You literally want to eat what we are eating and you try to grab our cups and silverware and food while we are eating.

You are sitting up with some help.  You often end up leaning forward on your hands in "gorilla stance"

You love to sit in the bumbo chair and play and watch brother play.

You love songs especially the wheels on the bus.

Your sleep is haphazard -- some days great and others not so much.  I'm waiting patiently for the sleep to even out.  This mama's tired!  But I do secretly love our early morning snuggles.

First big kid haircut

Finally!!!! :)

You are now officially a big kid.

It's amazing how a haircut can do that.

Little man - 31 & 32 months

Communication 

There are some words that you say that are just too sweet to correct you - cumbas is one of them, for cucumbers of course! - and then it's gone and you start using the correct words.

I try to savor each funny little Jonny- ism since they seem to come and go so fast!

The phrases that you use and your level of conceptual understanding is amazing.

We have recently been reminiscing about when you were a baby and watching videos of you when you first started talking.  We've brought back "cokem" for "welcome" and sometimes we say "bam" just to be silly.  It's such a funny experience for you to see how much you've changed and be able to laugh about it with you.

Phrases this month-

You shouldn't ...

Sweet boy

I can't believe how sweet and helpful you are with your sister.  You bring me diapers, wipes, pacis and you always check to see if I have a burp towel before I give her milk.

You also tell me what she is saying - if she wants a toy or needs something!

Play

Your level of independent play has skyrocketed.  You build your own vehicles and dinosaurs and trains.  

You use blocks, foam shapes and Legos to "cook" dinner for us.  You put all the pieces into a box lid or pan and you serve us the food. 

Your imagination is so funny and you now pretend that your toys are talking to each other or playing together.

Your new favorite show is Daniel Tiger and you especially love the shows with baby Margaret.  

Our little drummer - I mean musician! You are obsessed with playing your xylophone drums and basically anything in our house has become a drum.  You close your eyes and kind of sway back and forth like Stevie wonder style.  Hilarious.

We took swim lessons at CLU again this month.  You are getting way better at kicking - now we need to work on getting your arms moving!

Little lady - 4 month update

Ahhh sweet girl!  Your smile lights up the room.  You open your mouth suuuuuuper wide when you are happy and when we give you kisses.

You are laughing a bit more - your laugh is like a deep giggle.  Love.  You like to be tickled on your belly and under your arms.

You are getting so big so fast.  I want the time to slow way down.

You rolled over this month - both ways!  It was like all of the sudden you figured it out and flipped over.  You haven't done it much since then, now you've moved on to other skills ;)

We saw fireworks after a concert in the park and they were really close and very loud! I was worried you wouldn't like it but you were totally unphased.

You are doing a lot of cooing and baby talking to your toys and your mobile.  Your voice is quite forceful.  

We had our first Santa Barbara zoo adventure.  You napped through most of it but woke just in time for the train ride.

So far you are definitely mamas girl and you are happiest in my arms or in the pouch - that's definitely your favorite place to be.

Little lady - 3 month update

3 months

14.2 pounds 23.5 inches

You are talking! The baby babble is hilarious :). You are definitely carrying on full conversations - if only we understood.  I would love to know what's happening in that little brain.

You are getting much stronger and can hold your head up at 90 degrees on your belly.

You laughed at me a couple of time when I was singing the Noble Duke of York.  You are such a happy girl and you are full of smiles - especially for your brother.

You are sleeping a nice long stretch at night and you usually wake up just once to eat during the night.  I'm putting you to bed late so that helps!  You take two long naps during the day plus a couple catnaps as well.

You are such an easy going baby.  Your real cry is almost always because something is wrong - we just have to figure out what! But recently you've started crying when you're not getting enough attention ;) you scream so loud and then as soon as we come close and talk to you, you put on your biggest smile and start talking to us. Such a girl already!

Little man - 2.5 year update

You get funnier every day.  You will now repeat anything we say - which we can use for our own entertainment ;)

You constantly repeat what people say and you like to give everyone the updates on what's happening.  Your vocabulary is incredible - and the concepts you understand are at such a high level.  We are amazed by you!  Lately you've been very interested in where people live and how old we are.

You've started to use the correct pronouns when speaking, so you say "come with me" instead of Jon, and you say my and mine and you and yours.

A few funny phrases from this month-

"Oh, you're welcome!"

"Where us going?" - you ask me this every morning when I'm packing up the backpack. It's just too cute to correct you.

"Our whole family" - you say this whenever we are all together doing something.

Play

Your imagination is sky high! You love to pretend you are going to work or going to the store and you come back and give hugs and kisses and show us what you got while you were gone.

You want to do everything yourself and often have a hard time letting us help you - even when you need the help.

You love building with Legos and you could play with your cars all day long.

This month we finally got a water table for the backyard - you could easily spend an hour pouring water into cups and watering things around the yard.  

You love books - I've noticed this month you'll ask us to read the same book over and over almost as if you're trying to memorize it. I wouldn't be surprised, you have many of your books memorized and you read right along with us.

Your fine motor skills are getting better and yours starting to enjoy coloring a bit more. You "write" the letters in your name  - no real letters yet but you draw a scribble for each separate letter while you say J - O- N.

You love to sing and you are starting to get more and more of the correct lyrics when singing your songs.  Sis's favorite song is Wheels on the Bus and you sing it to her all the time - with hand motions of course.  You really like Skinnamarink and Ram Sam Sam too (both from school with Mrs Kandy).

Eating

You are the BEST eater!! I am the happiest mommy every night at dinner when you eat whatever we are having for dinner and you love everything! I've never seen a kid more excited to come and see what's on his plate for dinner! Hilarious.  You love salad - of course you do, you're my child - and you like things that have lots of flavor.  It's so fun to watch you eat - you really enjoy food!  You've had frozen yogurt a couple times this month and while you do like it, it's a bit too cold for you and you make the funniest face while you're eating it!

Sleep

Your naps and nighttime sleep have remained consistent.

Dentist

You went to the dentist for the first time!  You did AMAZING.  They showed you all

Of the tools and checked and counted all of your 20 teeth.  They flossed your teeth and cleaned them too.  Then the dentist checked them.  Quite a process!  You were a champ.

Little lady - 2 months

Wow! You have quickly adapted to our family life and you are such a sweet and easy going baby.

We are so lucky!

Your smile lights up the room. Your favorite thing to smile at is your brother.

You are a amazing sleeper.  You sleep for 5-6 hours and you eat once and then go back to sleep for a few more hours... Well  most of the time!

And you are getting soooo big!

We have your doctor appointment on Friday but I'm guessing you are close to 12 pounds. (Actual weight 11 lb 13 oz)

You are starting to coo and "talk" to us.

You like to be outside and you love going for walks in the stroller. You also seem very content sitting in your bouncy chair in the kitchen watching me cook or clean.  We sing songs and brother is always showing you what he's building so you are plenty entertained!

Little lady - 1 month

Well little one the first month of getting to know you has been lovely. You are a super mellow baby (and I think I'm a more mellow momma the second time around).

You are a good eater and you weigh 9 lbs 12 oz at your 1 month doctor appointment.  

You are a pretty good sleeper - you give us one longer stretch of 4 ish hours at bedtime and the rest of the day and night you eat about every 3 hours.

You are a very noisy sleeper - you make lots of squeaks and grunts and sometimes you cry out while you are sleeping.  

We've done tummy time a few times now and your neck strength is already improving. You can turn your head from one side to the other.

Brother loves to lay with you on your playmat. So sweet. Talk about good entertainment!

Little man - 28 & 29 month update

Communication

You have turned into a small adult seemingly overnight.  We now carry on full conversations and you literally understand everything we are talking about.

Some funny phrases we've noticed the past couple months...

- You've always called your elephant "yaya" because you couldn't say Ellie or elephant.  But now you say "yaya elephant" like it's all one thing.

- To ask us if you can do something you say "It's ok if Jonny...."

- Ok, ok with the head nod

- When we talk about going to buy things you say we should get it "At the bookstore" no matter where we need to go

- You shake hands and say "nice to meet you" with this funny little facial expression. We're not sure where this started but it's quite funny.

- you've started asking us how we are doing and what we are doing all the time 

- You love saying hi to people everywhere we go - the park, the market, target- and no one can resist your adorable smile

- You LOVE to sing! You sing all of your nighttime songs now - it it quite hilarious to see and hear a 2 year old singing The Beatles (In My Life), Kenny Rogers (The Gambler), Louis Armstrong (Wonderful World) mixed in with Old Macdonald and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. 

- You can count to 13 and you count everything

- You sing the ABC song perfectly and you know many of the letters too.  I'm still amazed by this because many kindergarteners don't know their letters!

Siblinghood

You are the sweetest brother EVER - you give your sister her paci, cover her with blankets and you love laying on the playmat together.  She truly likes looking at you more than anyone or anything else.

Play

This month your favorite show is the Bubble Guppies. While I'm still not a fan of TV watching.... It is a pretty cute show and its educational. And it allows me time to get ready and get your sister ready in the morning without you creating too much drama! :)

Your new play obsession is Legos!  We've graduated to the duplo Legos which are much smaller than your first Legos but bigger than regular Legos.  You have such an imagination when playing, both with Legos and playing in general.  I love to see your little brain create ideas and pretend all sorts of things.

Eating 

You are now officially eating regular food almost all the time!!  You love tacos, salad, chili and you even tried sushi and chicken legs this month.

Amazing. And couldn't have come at a better time for mommy since I'm now trying to balance feeding sis during meals too!

Sleep

Your sleep has remained consistent with a minor blip right when Sis came home.  We had a few rough nights where you did not want to sleep or you would only sleep with Daddy laying on your floor.  But it seems we have passed that with no lasting effects and you are back to your regular nights of great sleep.

You take one afternoon nap from about 1:30-3:30 most days.

You've been my little buddy for a while but now you are my little helper too. And you really are super helpful. You love to help (especially in the kitchen) with making your lunches, cooking, unloading the dishwasher and you even set the table! I'm amazed at how capable you are and it seems like every day you do something new that surprise me!

Big brother - big changes!

Many people say that when you have a new baby your older child may revert back to more babyish behavior.  Or there is the possibility that they may rise to the occasion and become a great helper.

I'm thrilled to say that not only are you an amazing helper but you have literally turned into a big kid overnight!

You threw away your pacifier, started trying to pee in the potty, and you are drinking from a big boy cup.  All within the first week of your little sister coming home.