Dear Jakey,
I can't believe how you have grown from a teeny, tiny 5 pound baby boy to a curious, active, silly 25 pound toddler. It has been my absolute pleasure and honor to be your mom for the last year and a half and I can't wait to see what the rest of your childhood brings.
You have become this little person who understands everything we say -- from asking you to take your jacket off (and you try to unzip it), throwing away trash (and you abide almost every time), to asking you if you want cheese (and you open the fridge in a fit of giggles and point to the drawer containing the cheese). You aren't saying a lot of words yet, but you have conversations in your own language, complete with the right facial expressions and tones in your voice.
Quite frankly my dear, you eat like a pig, and I am astonished by the amount of food you consume each and every day. We feed you a consistent breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but you ask for snacks all day long as well. Some of your favorite foods are bananas, strawberries, cheese, grapes, goldfish, applesauce, gogurts, chicken nuggets, french fries with ketchup, and cookies. Your favorite drink is apple juice though you have recently started to love drinking water out of a straw - from anyone's cup who will let you. Yesterday you had your first juice box, a true culmination of toddlerhood. You haven't had a bottle of milk in over a week and you're pretty resistent to drinking milk out of a sippy cup but last night we realized that you like it better if it's room temperature - no cold milk for you.
You started sleeping through the night when you were 7 months old (a little later than your peers!) and your mommy and daddy have enjoyed sleeping through the night for the last 11 months or so. Recently you have discovered that it is a lot more fun to stay up at night and play. Unless you are utterly exhausted from the day, you have been going to bed between 9 and 11 for the last week. Your normal bedtime used to be between 7:30 and 8! I am hoping that this is just a phase and you will return to your regular routine again soon. You are at an inbetween stage with naps - sometimes you need two but a lot of the time you only need one. Sometimes the nap is from 10-1 and sometimes it is from 2-4.... all depending on what time you went to bed the night before and what time you got up in the morning! For so long your sleep schedule was completely predictable but I appreciate you switching it up and keeping us on our toes!
You are a very sweet little boy and you play extremely well with others. You have never bitten another child or purposely tried to hurt someone else. You love to give hugs and you have even started to give kisses! Every once in a while you will hit mommy or daddy or another family member, but I know you are just learning and don't mean it out of anger. But we still tell you "no hit, that hurts!". You love your doggies. You give love pats to Mosley all day long and scream with glee when you see him. You especially love it when he chases you around the kitchen in circles. You are very nice to Bailey and you seem to understand that he isn't as much of a kid lover as Mosley and you leave him alone for the most part.
You are very silly and love to play. Your are a very happy child. Your laughs and giggles never fail to disappoint and most of the time end up being contagious! Every time music turns on or someone starts singing, you start dancing! You sway back and forth to the ABC song and you turn in circles for 'Ring Around the Rosie'. A big smile comes over your face when you start dancing. You must have gotten the music bug from daddy (he is thrilled). Some of your favorites toys are your motorized 4-wheeler, tool bench, puzzles, and blocks. You are very interested in how things come apart and how they go back together. You would plug and unplug an electrical outlet for hours and scream in delight if we let you. You are very good with your puzzles. You can put together some of them like you have been doing it for years! You are very curious about any grown up activities and like to partake whenever possible - like sweeping the floor with your little sweeper, helping us to unload the dishwasher, or putting a new trash bag in the trash can. I know it's winter right now and cold outside, but I can't forget about how much you love the playground, especially the slides and swings! You're learning your body parts and love to show us where your tummy is and where your ears are.
You are beginning to enter in to the phase of your terrible 2's... I am sure it's very frustrating for you to know what you want but not be able to tell us. Those situations often turn in to mini-meltdowns where you throw yourself of the ground and "fake cry". You snap out of it very quickly though and you are kind enough to not have little tantrums in public (yet!). You are a little stubborn... you do not like it when you don't get your own way. I think perhaps you got that from mommy, sorry about that! But you know what you want and when you want it, and that can be a good trait for later in life if you use it the right way.
You're not very interested in potty training yet and we're okay with that. I am not in any big rush to move you to the toilet. I know you will do it when you're ready. You still fit in your size 6 diapers so for now we're okay. Diapers don't go bigger than size 6 though so I hope you stay in those for a while longer! You are still in your crib. I wouldn't put you in a big boy bed yet because you move so much when you sleep and I would be so worried about you getting out of bed in the middle of the night! But your new crib converts to a toddler bed and then to a big boy bed so we have plenty of time to make the transition. You still love bathtime, which is a nice treat. Nothing better than a warm bath and bubbles at the end of a long day! Now if we could just get you to stop drinking the bath water....
I know you don't fully grasp the idea that you have a little brother on the way. But you do enjoy lifting up mommy's shirt and giving love taps to the ever-growing belly. We tell you that your little brother is inside and to give him a big kiss. I know that you are going to open your heart to being the best big brother that you can be and that you will take good care of your new brother. Watching you with other little kids made me realize how much fun it would be to give you a sibling. That's one of the main reasons why we decided to have another baby so soon after you. There is a sense of amazement that comes over you when you play with another child and I wanted you to be able to enjoy that every day. I don't ever want you to think that we are replacing you or feel any sense of us loving you less because there is a new baby around. I can't possibly imagine loving anything in this world as much as I love you but I know that in time, you will love your baby brother as much as I love both of you. And even though there is a new sibling, you will always be my first baby, my first "head over heels, totally smitten" love. You will always be special because you will get to do everything first and be able to set a good example for your siblings. Thank you for being so patient with me while I am on bed rest. I know it is so hard sometimes when I can't pick you up and just know that it breaks my heart to not be able to do the things with you that I want to be able to do. But I promise to make it up to you after your new brother arrives. We will do so many fun things together this summer!
So my baby boy, you are no longer a baby anymore! You have entered in to the world of full-on toddlerhood and I couldn't be more proud of you. I love every second of being your mom and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. You fulfill my life in ways that I never imagined and you truly make me a better person. You are able to melt away stress and give me a new perspective on priorities in life. I will thank you every day for the rest of my life for giving me the gift of being your mother.
Love,
Mommy
No comments:
Post a Comment