One, Two and Three ...

One

"Fighting Machine"

That's what you told Dad you were recently when you were boxing on the Wii, a "fighting machine." I video taped you doing this so that in a few years you can laugh at how funny that is when you see how ridiculous you really looked!

What's going on with you that's exciting to report? Oh, how about the fact that you start KINDERGARTEN next Tuesday!! Can you believe it? Tomorrow we go to meet your teacher and she'll probably make sure you're smart enough to join the rest of the class ... I think you'll pass with flying colors because you're my son and therefore brilliant! You really haven't said much about this upcoming adventure other then to voice your concern about what happens if you suddenly have to use the bathroom ... are you going to have to walk all the way home??

We've been working on tying your shoes which is quite a challenge because you're not convinced that there's really a point to it when your shoes slide on so freely without needing to be un-tied to begin with. I hear you buddy, some of the skills we must master are simply annoying and useless. Really though, you'll appreciate the knowledge one day, promise.

Grandma Linda has provided you with all sorts of neat workbooks to help you practice your writing and word recognition. She even gave you some cool pencils and a pencil sharpener which I eventually hid because I couldn't stand all the shavings laying around. You yelled to dad through the bathroom door during his "quite" time, "Dad, do you know where my pencinal sharpener is? My pencil's almost out of ink."

Two

"Corn Teeth"

This is what Dadda calls you because you have the weirdest inability to brush the upper right side of your teeth so those three teeth are never as shiny white as the rest. I try to show you the correct way to do this and it's so funny to watch. Kinda like when I asked you to hold a piece of your hair and you tried grabbing it while looking in the mirror so everything was backwards. I laughed until I nearly peed as you attempted over and over to swipe that piece of hair I was holding up.

You've mellowed out some the last few weeks. I believe you only took scissors to hair one time which happened to be YOUR hair but it wasn't as bad as the first time you did this at the age of two, hardly noticeable at all actually. You love to have "cute" hair but you hate having your hair done and recently yelled at me for spraying you too much with the "water botter" and a few days ago snapped at me while you were in the shower for washing you too much because you were going to "smell too good."

One day you'll deny this but you really seem to enjoy dog food. I know, it's disgusting but it's true. We try to give you some responsibility by teaching you to feed Molly and you are always so willing to do so and I soon realized why. You were enjoying a little snack yourself everytime you fed her so I think we'll give you a break from this chore until you can come to your senses. It really is revolting Sis, really.

You have an odd obsession with vitamins, constantly asking for a vitamin which drives your dad crazy. Maybe it's the lack of nutrients your getting from you strict dog food diet? Either way, you know the important role a daily vitamin has for a healthy lifestyle and while we were watching Mary Murphy scream on "So You Think You Can Dance" (see a few posts back) ... you said matter-of-factly, "she doesn't take her vitamins Mom."

You are so precocious. As I'm getting after your brother for trying to annoy you you'll say, "oh, he's fine mom." Everything is "it's fine," "you're fine," "I'm fine." What am I going to do with you?

Three

"Perfect One"

You really are perfect ... my little snuggle bug. You're worth every extra pound of fat on my behind. You are by far the most cuddly of my babies and I love all the little sounds you make when your curled up in my neck. I dare say you are the perfect baby, every mommies dream. You make me want a hundred more just like you and single handily validated the reasons for my urging desire for a third baby and erased any doubts your daddy had about being able to handle one more. He's even admitted to feeling guilty for how excited he gets to come home and see you. We agree to re-visit the topic when you're three and see how he feels then!

Every moment with you is a treasure. Sometimes when we're all alone in your room late at night listening to our favorite nighttime music, I feel a slight sadness knowing you'll soon wiggle out of my arms and I'll begin to forget what it feels like to hold your warm little body against mine, to hear your little sounds, your soft fuzzy hair and your sweet baby smell. I realize that these feelings will be replaced with other happy feelings as you grow and learn and experience but there's just something about the wonder and miracle that a baby brings to a family.

The other day I was changing your diaper and I had just gotten out of the shower so I still had a towel on my head and you thought this was the funniest thing to see. You giggled the whole time and you're starting to mimic noises we make and when you get it right you also think this is so funny. Your siblings love to try and make you laugh and you're so receptive to them, your face lights up when you hear their voices which is fascinating considering how annoying they are most of the time.

You sleep through the night and sometimes for so long that I wake up in a panic and go flying up the stairs fearing the worst (11 straight hours without a bottle is impressive for a 3 month old). Neither your brother or sister slept through the night until I started feeding them rice cereal so you're way more advanced AND you'll sit through a full 30 minutes of Baby Einstein mesmerized .... smartie pants.

You've rolled over twice from back to tummy this week. Yesterday while you were playing on your butterfly mat I looked down and your face was in the floor and last night daddy went up to check on you and found you on your stomach which you don't seem to like very much so we need to work on teaching you to get yourself out of your self inflicted predicament.

I can no longer hold things in my hands without you swatting at them. You are so focused on grabbing everything in front of you, it's quite funny to watch and you're getting better every day. Practice makes perfect, right?!

One, Two, Three ... I love you!

Mama