You're such a busy little man and it makes me so tired! Sometimes I feel so badly that I'm inwardly wishing you would just be able to hold still for a few minutes. When will you be old enough to watch TV?! I'm sure Aspen will teach you all about Netflix anytime you want. Perhaps we could do that soon and I can take a nap... Yes?
Speaking of naps- I think we've figured out what works for now. You get up at whatever-time-you-feel-like in the morning (usually between 5-7a) and you need a nap around 9a. If I'm lucky, you sleep about 1.5 hours, sometimes 2. During that time your brain is certainly making important neural connections while I shower. Also, Aspen does her Kindergarten homework without you trying to destroy everything. When you wake we have an early lunch and then take Aspen to school. It's worked out well that she's in PM Kindy because you kind of LOVE having a few hours with me all by yourself. LIKE WE HAVEN'T HAD ENOUGH ALONE TIME ALL THOSE NIGHTS I HELD YOU AS YOU SLEPT OMG.
Your vocabulary is growing rapidly and I love hearing you squeak out new words. You're saying a lot of stuff, like: cookie // dada // doggy // ball // yeah // no // caw-caw (for parrot) // birdy // caca (for pooooop) // ow // uh-oh // baby // go // bye, and YOU WILL NOT SAY MAMA. You sign "more" like there's no tomorrow. You also gesture when you need a diaper change and when you've hit your head on something and want me to know about it. One thing that's really hard to help you with is differentiating between birds and horses. I know, weird, right?! Well, it's because Aspen has so many MLP Pegasus ponies (or princess ponies with wings with are alicorns and DON'T YOU FORGET IT) so you see the wings and you think they're birds. Thus, you now call horses "birdies." Also, Dada has a random, big poster in the garage that depicts a Pegasus horse bursting out of a mustang or something. And you love playing with Aspen's flipping Rainbow Dash toy so that doesn't help you understand birds and horses are quite different. Oh well. It's dang cute.
When I ask you about going bedtime you run your little self into your room and pull your swaddle out of your crib. You love and adore the Aden and Anais (bamboo) swaddlers. In the dark of your room you'll often reach for any extra blankets in sight when I pluck you out of your crib (like, on the nursing chair or on the nightstand) and if it's one of the swaddles you hoard it. If it happens to be some other random blanket you drop it on the floor and indicate you'd like to get into your wardrobe to retrieve the right blanket. It's just one of those things I want to remember about you if you ever happen to outgrow it. Being that you're still swaddled when you sleep (!!), I can't really see you abandoning the A&As any time soon.
Lately you've been a really picky eater and it can be frustrating. You do happily eat the pop tart crusts Aspen refuses and I appreciate how symbiotic your relationship is in that regard. But other than castoff food from your sister, you basically like yogurt, crackers, cinnamon/sugar toast, sometimes any and all fruit if the wind is juuuuust right or the Earth is tilted correctly on its axis, pancakes, beans, peas, corn on the cob, granola, and random assortments of cereals. Meat is still a touchy subject and sometimes I share my Chick Fil A sandwich with you and have success. But who can say no to Chick Fil A?! As when you were a very young baby starting purees, I find if you play with stacking toys on your tray while I put the food in your mouth we have success. It's a slow, tedious process but at least it allows me to get an assortment of foods into your diet some days.
And yes, you're still nursing up to four times each day. We had it down to just three (morning wake up, nap time and bedtime) but then you started coming up to me randomly in the afternoon asking to nurse. So I dunno what's going on. I attended my first La Leche League meeting this month (with you in tow) and it was nice to be with the group. You wowed everyone with your ability to kick a soccer ball and basically be adorable.
You're very much an outside kid and you beg to be let out the sliding glass door every day. I fear for our lives come winter when the temps are super cold and I'm super not into snow. If it weren't for the deck being a death trap to unsupervised children (you did tumble down a few of the stairs onto the concrete this week), I'd just leave you in the backyard with the dog and watch through the window. But we both know being outside isn't fun unless I'm standing RIGHT THERE watching you do everything. And one of your very favorite games is to have me say, "ready, set, GO!" and throw a racquetball as hard as I can against the patio. You love to watch it ricochet all over the place. You also love to see your Dada kick a big bouncy ball as high as he can and watch where it will land. Basically, you like to walk around with a ball in each hand while kicking a third ball across the patio and watching other people play with balls, too. You're very much into sportsing.
You're also very much into biting, hitting, whining and clinging to me like a spider monkey. You also like to go into Aspen's room when she's at school and sit in a pile of My Little Ponies. You've learned to climb up onto all the beds and couches so the poor dog is never safe. Sometimes I have to lock her downstairs just to keep her away from your mean little mitts (you like to poke her eyes and pull her ears/skin). You love to sing and will do so almost the entire ride back from Aspen's school after we drop her off. You love to watch out the front window after we put food in the bird feeder. You love to help me in the garden, and you mimic me when I'm cleaning leaves out of the flower beds or placing rocks to control water flow. You love to help put clothes in the washer and dryer give Maddie her treats when we have to leave her at home for our human adventures. You're amazing at putting things away and copying your sister. I love watching your relationship with her grow. She's a very tolerant person and your verrrrry lucky. I can't believe she hasn't bitten you back yet. She taught you Patty-Cake and she plays tug-o-war with you in the back seat of the car to help you stop crying when we're driving places. I hope you are aware that she shares with you without being asked almost every. single. time. She just automatically breaks things in half to give you some, or she just hands over a portion of something, whether it be food or a toy. She's amazing, kid. Seriously, you're lucky.
We love and adore you and understand the feeling's mutual.
Love,
Mama
You can see Aspen's monthly letter HERE.
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