Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Month twenty-eight letter

Hello my little love!

Well, here I am - late as usual. I even put this in my calendar of things to do on Saturday. But instead something much more important came up - spending the day hanging out with you. We played outside and watched videos and TV and read books. So much more fun than writing!

This last month has flown by. Although so many are flying by now...

You continue to be absolutely, unequivocally AMAZING my Nunu. You are doing really well in daycare and spend much of your time in the preschool room, where you are learning so very much. Your language and ideas are blossoming. You love to point to things and ask "What's dat?". We'll often answer, but if I know you know... then I say "I don't know. What is that?" and you answer with great pride. You're also getting a better grasp of your physicality and now want to walk up and down the stairs yourself (although do better with a hand to hold). And do so much more on your own. Luckily we aren't at the point where you want to dress yourself, but that is coming. And I have to admit to looking forward to the outfits you will create!

The hardest thing right now for you is transitions. This was most apparent on our trip to Jasper (which was a great time, but exhausting too). You did really well up until the point we had to change. Fun at the lake throwing rocks! When it was time to move on? Meltdown. Fun at the playground going down the slide over and over and over. Time for lunch and to leave? Meltdown. Fun playing in the courtyard of the hotel, hiding behind the pillars and dancing. Time to leave? Meltdown. Actually, the best behaved on that trip was Walter - he was a stellar travelling companion! He snuggled on mom's lap the entire time and even napped some.

Some stories about you... things I don't want to forget...

One evening you were being a grump. Your dad and I were in the kitchen as you wandered in and whined for something. I am not even sure we could understand you - you wanted something and you were past the point of patience even before you walked in the room. We then kind of mocked you by mimicking your intonation... And then you showed us. You stopped, looked us in the eye and said "That's not nice!". And, no, it wasn't nice at all. Schooled by our 2 year old!

Or how you say Pablo as "PLA-blo", garbage as "grab-age", face cloth is a "BAFF clop", when we ask "What time is it" at your bedtime and get "Time a NAP-time!", or listening to you sing yourself to sleep with Wheels on the Bus or the alphabet or the song your dad sings to you each night... And I know there is more that I wanted to capture, things that were too important to forget that are already being crowded out with everything else that needs to fit in there.

My lunch is over and I must write another briefing note today. Third one's a charm! But I love you Maddy. Happy 28 months, my love.

Mom.





Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Month... oh which month is this? Letter

My dearest Maddy,

Once again, your mom (I am now mom, not mommy, momma, mama. Mom) forgot to write. AGAIN! I blame life. And that if I don't write it down I cannot for the life of me remember. Like, at all. So I have added it as an appointment to my calendar. Will that guarantee I get it right from now on? Hells to the no. But it does mean I am really really trying. And I think that is the biggest lesson I am learning about being a mom. I won't always get it right, I'll sometimes get it horribly wrong. But I am always always ALWAYS trying.

Always.

And you are always so much a 2 year old. One second overjoyed and laughing and smiling and the next tragically upset because I won't stop cooking dinner so that you can go play upstairs. Or downstairs. Or eat 3 apples at once. Or... anything.

Twenty-seven months. I just counted. Two and one-quarter years old. I have been saying almost two and a half. It's easier (and a little more indicative of your developmental age). You continue to soak up knowledge and words at an amazing rate. You are always putting ideas together, looking for relationships and ways that the new information fits into your existing knowledge base. You still LOVE music and singing. Now you love demanding of us, when we sing, "FASTER!" or "LOUDER!" and the newest "QUIETER!". You love Super Why and Wiggles and Bubble Guppies on TV. We have also graduated to movies - Winnie the Pooh and Tangled (aka ra-PUM-zel). We'll add more when we can PVR them off Movie Central.

I have also started giving you my (now ancient) smartphone, with games and apps on it. You are starting to even get the idea, and request a few over and over. And then coat my phone is a surprisingly tenacious coating of... toddler. Even if I clean your hands before there is just... toddler... all over everything. You like the one where you create and pop balloons and make animals make noise (and robots and instruments). There apps are "baby" apps, but we're starting you off slowly with the tech stuffs.

However, this week we bought a tablet. Initially it was more for you, to play on and amuse yourself. And now your dad (not dada or daddy. Dad.) has adopted it as his own and is having fun with it. Although we are also loading it with games and apps and movies for our impending trip.

What trip? Our first road trip! Well, second really. But you were 5 months old the first time. Wait - third. You were 13 months the second one. And now this one. Third, for certain. This time we're going to Jasper. Deets to come, after we return. I am starting frantic planning mode and have arranged for driving over nap times and meals in the hotel and a possible pack and play if you won't sleep in the bed and outdoor and indoor activities we can do with you. And with a dido that is on crutches and in a cast from a surgery 9-ish weeks ago. And the dog.

Oy.

Panic.

SO MUCH PLANNING TO DO BEFORE WE GO!

Luckily there is time.

I just hope you have some fun and bring more of your happy-mood, and less of your grumpy-mood. And that you don't fall off a mountain. Or into a lake. Or get eaten by a bear. Those dangers ever present in the wilds of a national park.

Happy 27 months (plus 6 days) my sweetest, most perfectly nunu-like Nunu ever.

I love you,

Mom.