dear children
what a month. really, if you only knew just "what a month" it's been for dad and i, you would offer to rub our backs and do what you're told when you're told with a smile and a skip in your step. but, you're kids and thankfully, your ignorance is truly bliss. bliss that i am truly jealous of because you've mostly just been concerned with valentine's day and when the snow is going to melt.
the snow still hasn't melted, it's miserably cold and i am sick of it too, we're all ready for warm weather. it's hard being cooped up inside so we've been getting pretty creative trying to keep you entertained so you don't drive me insane asking for a snack every thirty minutes.
a few weekends ago, dad made this really cool fort out of every single piece of furniture and blanket he could find in the basement. it kept you busy for an entire weekend. long enough for me to read a book and for dad to do whatever it is he does.
even baby felt cool to be included in the cool kids club
baby, you're still not crawling. why? you are ten months old and the most you'll move is in a circle, 'round and 'round. i admit, it's awfully convenient to sit you down and know you won't go anywhere. you're the only one of the three who has never rolled or wiggled off the bed and that's nice too ... you just don't move at all except for to bounce to music or turn in that same circle over and over again. if you were my first baby, i would be worried. i would worry that your legs don't work or that you're just all fat and no muscle but i know you're fine. i know you're just really, really smart and realize that if you move, you'll never be able to stop. i will start asking you to let molly out and make you put your own dirty clothes in the laundry room. you know that i won't carry you around on my hip all the time or spend hours on my hands and knees at eye level coaxing you to "come'mere." you're just really, really smart and that's great but soon enough, you'll need to do something with yourself, i just can't stand the thought of carrying you around when you're twelve.
sadly, you're no longer too interested in your bottle and i took that as a sign to start giving you a little cows milk every now and then and feeding you "table" foods instead of baby food. sadly again was when the cows milk and the table foods caused such serious constipation, i cannot even describe. the result, after an entire day of red-faced pushing was enough to make even a grown man cry and i cannot tell you how it broke my heart to watch you struggle so much. so we introduced apple juice. and now, we've gone from a "one wipey" diaper change to what dad calls "peanut butter poop" and i'm trying to figure out how to budget more for wipes and apple juice to keep you comfortable. oh, the joys.
you still have the sweetest disposition and i love to cuddle and hold you all of the time. i love your snotty nose and your stinky farts. i say "where are your toes?" and you'll grab your feet and laugh. i give you the brush and you try to brush you hair and you've been attempting to make engine noises when you're playing with trucks or cars. you throw everything we hand to you over and over again. we pick it up and you throw it down, up and down, up and down which you think is quite funny. i thought it was funny too until you threw your sippy cup into the bowl of baby food i was trying to feed to you the other day. you make the funniest faces and you're teeth are hilarious. you wave "hi" and "bye" and you love to look at yourself in the mirror. you're even attempting to say "hi" but so far have only mastered the "h" sound.
you love your blankie. you love your daddy. you love your brother and your sissy and you even love molly too. in two months you'll be one year old. that's not a very long time away and i won't tell you how it makes me feel ...
sissy ... you're a pain in the {expletive}. we thought c was rough when he was four but you have exceeded our expectations ~ beyond belief. you are a girl through and through. you're incredibly emotional and sassy and demanding and whiny and frilly and so, so very beautiful. sometimes, you take my breath away and i can't stop looking at you and you'll say in your snottiest voice "why are starting at me, it's bad manners ..."
you're obsessed with manners and healthy food {"beggies"} and the next holiday and your birthday party and your outfit. we've been focusing on table manners lately and you are more focused than necessary. "is it bad manners to have my elbows like this?" or "is it bad manners to sit like this?" or "is it bad manners to talk with this much food in my mouth" you notice everyone and how they're sitting, if their elbows are on or off the table, if they have food in their mouth when they're talking, if they've asked to be excused etc. i just want to eat my dinner. seriously. i'm terrified you'll live your life going around telling people how bad their manners are. what you need to understand is for the most part, in my opinion, not very many people have great manners and i cannot emphasize enough that it's only important to worry about your own manners and not what everyone else is doing.
recently you had gone to a little girls house down the street to ask her if she could play and other girls happened to be there already. girls who are a good two or three years older than you, who already know each other and who don't know you at all. they didn't want you to play with them and you came home sobbing hysterically because they called you a "whiny baby face" when you cried. it was the first time that you're feelings were hurt by someone else and it killed me to watch. i tried to tell you that it is important to remember how they made you feel so that you can be sensitive to how you treat other people but you were over it in ten minutes and didn't hesitate to play with the little girl the next day when she came over. i tried to make an example of the situation to teach you a valuable lesson but you actually reminded me an even more valuable lesson about how much easier it is to just forgive and forget.
dance remains the highlight of your week. dadda came home from work one day after dance and you said "i danced my butt of today dad ... " you're practicing your handstands and cartwheels and this interest has left me with a burning desire to start you in gymnastics too. i think you would enjoy it quite a bit. hopefully one day soon!
you are so hard to keep busy .. you follow me around every where and constantly ask me for a snack. i hope that one day you have a kid who constantly asks you for a snack. recently you've become interested in my quirky journal keeping skills and you've tried to start your very own "color chart." i like to call it my "chore chart" and you think it's so cool that i have given myself my own set of chores and that i had one extra sheet of grid paper to share with you so that you could start your own "chore chart." i even let you use my very expensive colored pencils ... see how nice i am ... to think you would ever say "stop being so selfish mom ... " which you do say, all the time, even when it makes zero sense. i ask you to feed molly {which is your chore by the way} and you'll say "stop being so selfish mom ... " or i'll tell you to come and let me do your hair "stop being so selfish mom ..."
C "that boy with a hole in the knee of every pair of jeans." how do you do that? and why only the left knee on every pair of jeans? do you not realize we're in the middle of an economic recession son?
we've had a great past few weeks together bud! something happened when you turned six. it's like you're ears started working ... you hardly protest my requests for basic actions such as brush your teeth or do your homework. i'm so proud of your efforts to be mature and your willingness to take on the role of the older brother.
i had the pleasure of coming to your classroom twice the last few weeks. once for "fairy tale friday" and once to assist with your valentines day party. you were so excited to have me there and so cute about it. i so enjoyed watching you interact with your classmates and your teacher seems to really love you.
"fairy tale friday" was something i've been anticipating since the beginning of the school year. i was really nervous which is really funny for obvious reasons. i mean, seriously, who is nervous to read a fairy tale to a bunch of five and six year olds? it's not that i was nervous about my ability to read, i can do that just fine but i was terrified that you would all be bored to death with my prepared lesson and that i would run out of material before my time was up and then i would have to be creative to keep you all entertained. i can barely entertain my own kids successfully and half of the neighbor kids are scared to death of me ... i'm just not that great with other kids. but, i think you're friends liked me and they liked the lesson and the treat ...
the valentines party was also a lot of fun. i admit, i was dismayed at my assignment. i was asked to do the "reading station" which is one of four stations you and your classmates rotated through during the party. "reading station" was by far the most boring of the four stations. how could i compete with cookie decorating, tic tac toe and passing out valentines? no one wanted to be at my station, no one paid any attention to what i was reading with all of the commotion around them. i will for sure petition for a different job next time.
watching you give out your valentines was super neat cayd. i've told you before about your enthusiasm for the holidays but i can't get over it. i can't get over how excited you were to get to each persons valentine heart ... the line couldn't have moved fast enough. you put your valentines together with the same amount of enthusiasm and went through everyone elses when you got home so thoughtfully while most kids would just rip in for the candy.
you're such a good boy buddy. you're so considerate and i'm so proud of you. i've had several occasions this month where other "moms" and adults have complimented you and what a great friend you are to their kid or how polite you were at their home. i couldn't be more thrilled. you even apologized to your opponent at wrestling for bonking his head and asked him if he was okay in the middle of the match.
this month you started your second year at wrestling. even this is like night and day compared to last year. last year, you were completely unfocused and you didn't win a single match. this didn't phase you though, you were still really excited for wrestling to start this year and told me that you were going to try "really hard to win." so far you've had one meet (two matches) and you lost one match and tied the other and you were awesome! i can tell it's going to be a good year and you'll get a win in. i know it. i know this will sound partial, i'm your mom but the kids who won just got lucky ... if they allowed 'pins' at this age, you would have won for sure ...
wrestling will be a great sport for you. at first i was a little worried because you tend to be a little insecure but as long as your dad can remain patient as your coach and you continue to give it your all, i know it will help build the confidence you need. you have to be good at it ... it's in your blood {no pressure}.
you have a great cheerleading section and we look forward to your next match ...
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