Letter to Baby

Dear Owie Kazoie,

Somehow we let the month fly by…I'm pretty sure I told you to SLOW it down a bit.  But I guess we'll blame it on the fact that you can't read yet that you didn't get the memo.  Either way, you're a whopping 21 months old.

The fact of the matter is, you're going to be 2 in a blink of an eye, so now would be a good time to discuss how we're going to handle this terrible 2 stage.  I'm afraid we're already starting to show signs of what a terror you're going to be, so maybe we need to nip this in the bud now.  Here's how mommy and daddy think you should behave in let's just say a pretend situation.
                Luke takes your toy.
                You hit Luke.
                We discipline Luke.
                We discipline you for hitting and put you in time out.
                 You listen carefully and sit in time out for you two minutes nicely.
                You get up when you're told and the rest of play time is awesome.

But here's how the scenario really goes:
               Luke takes your toy.
               You hit Luke.
               We discipline Luke
               We discipline you for hitting and sit you in time out.
               You get up.
                We put you back.
               You hit us after getting out of time out once again.
               We get mad and put you back in time out.
               You get mad.
               We put you back.
               Finally we realize that this is not working and you continue to terrorize your brother.

You see?  You're uncooperative and stubborn.  And strong willed.  And hard headed.  And sweet.  And kind.  And amazing.  And so no matter how many times we put you in time out, you still win with your cuteness.

Now lets talk about nap time.  I don't know why, but we cannot get you out of the car asleep and put you in your crib.  You cry.  You pitch fits.  You throw your blanket and pacifiers out of the crib.  You get you're legs stuck in the slats of the crib.  You're exhausted.  We're exhausted.  Just take your nap for the love of pete!  We all need a little break and nap time is there just for that reason.

Now on to vocabulary.  It's growing…sort of.  You have final consonant deletion on every word, but that's probably because you're still stuck to the pacifier.  You're doing better without it during the day, especially at school, but at home it's a little harder…or maybe mommy is just more dependent on it than your teacher at school is.  Either way, you can say 'back', 'cat', 'go', 'amen', 'me', 'bubble', 'bubba', 'no', 'eat', 'more', 'yay', 'fish', 'dog', and probably several more, they just aren't coming to mind right now.

You love playing outside and 'driving' the jeep that you and Luke have, or getting in the front seat of the car and turning all the knobs and pushing all the buttons.  You love singing and know a few signs to 'I Stand All Amazed' and some of the dances to 'Fruit of the Spirit'.  You love playing 'Ring Around the Rosie' and your favorite part is falling down with Luke.  You still are my little ball boy, you love to play with balls and people are amazed at how well you dribble.  You love books and get so excited to read your favorites.  Right now those favorite books include 'Good Dog Carl' and 'Pajama Time'.

We love watching you explore and learn new things.  You've started going down the slide by yourself! You love going to the zoo, especially when you get to play on the playground.  You can climb up on the couch by yourself and you can get down from mom and dad's big bed by yourself.  You're learning so many things I just can't keep track!

We love you little one.
Mom and Dad

Letter to Baby

Dear Mister Man,

Owie, you are 20 months old.  Just 4 short months away from being two!  I can't believe that we're reaching the terrible twos this quickly!

You crack me up daily.  You stick your lip out, fold your arms and turn away from us when you're mad.  You open your mouth up real wide and let out the funniest laughs when you're torturing poor Baxter or Luke.  You just have the best expressions lately and I can't get enough!

But I'll tell you what I do have enough of, and that's you waking up in the middle of the night or when we put you down for bed.  Seriously, it's been going on for two weeks now and I'm so over it.  I sure hope you don't have an ear infection, but we'll go to the ENT in a week or two and find out for sure, but I think it's just some sort of habit you've gotten yourself into.  Wanna stop?  It'd make our lives so much more enjoyable.  Thanks :)

You're talking so much more than you were last month, and that probably has a lot to do with having your pacifier out more often.  You can say 'fish' 'please' 'mama' 'dada' 'dog' 'quack quack' 'bubba' 'bubble' 'amen' and I'm sure there's more I'm missing, but that's a huge improvement over last month! :)

You have had your first haircut.  We finally broke down and cut off your baby mullet, it was getting long enough to put in a ponytail so it was definitely time.  You did really well and you look so handsome and big boy instead of a little baby.  But I guess you have to get ready for summer, and so off went the mullet.

You love going to the park down the road from the house and you are great about climbing up the stairs and going down the slide now.  Last month I could barely get you to go down the slide.  This month you're doing it all by yourself!  And you love the swings.  You just lean your head back and laugh.  It's the cutest thing.  Really, seriously cute.

We love you little mister man,
mom and dad

Letter to Baby

Dear Owen,

You are 19 months old now and I adore every bit of you.  Your hair is getting long, it's starting to look like a mullet.  Can you say party in the back?  Your feet are growing like a weed, your tubes are starting to work their way out and your throwing arm is getting stronger.

Your vocabulary is growing and now includes the words 'bubble', 'ish' (fish) and 'mo' (more).  We have to tell you to take your paci out, say the word, which sometimes you do, and then you put the paci back in.  But I'm so glad you're learning more words.  Your receptive vocabulary is still amazing, so I know the expressive part will get there in time.

You've been running a fever for about the last 4 days off and on  I got a phone call from your school last week and had to come get you.  Your M came and picked you up, took you home to rest.  The rest of the weekend you would have spurts where you felt great and played, then would spike a fever and crash.  M took off Monday from work to keep you and Daddy was able to take off work yesterday (Tuesday) to keep you.  You stopped running a fever finally so you'll go back to school today.  We took you to the ENT I work with and you were fine ear, nose and throat wise, so off to school you go now.

Getting to stay home with dad must've been tons of fun.  Daddy made a pallet in the floor for you to lay on and relax.  You went to the store with him and got a bunch of groceries and a new ball.  Daddy even took you to the park and pushed you in the swing.  What fun!  Monday evening Daddy came to pick you up from M and took you back home so he could keep you Tuesday.  Mommy and Luke stayed at M and Pa's for the night.  I'm sure you loved having Daddy all to yourself for a night!

We put up a little basketball hoop and you love it.  You are pretty good at making baskets already and I know you'll be our little basketball player.  You have a knack for it already!  I have a feeling you'll be into a few sports.  If it includes a ball, I'm sure you'll want to play.

You're cutting your canine teeth right now, and to be honest, I think that's been part of the fever, if not all of it.  You are still a terrible teether and I hope you get them all out of the way sooner than later.  It's no fun for you or for us!

When you and Luke play together, and something happens, you come running to mom and dad and point and say 'bubba' to let us know that he's done something that upsets you.  Or you come running to us and say 'uh oh' to let us know there's something wrong.  You're really good at getting your point across.

We love you Owen.
Mom and Dad

Letter to Baby

Dear 18th month old that calls me mom,

You are the cutest, stockiest, funniest, cuddliest, most adorable mean little stink on the planet.  Seriously.  You hit when you don't get your way.  You pitch fits of epic proportions.  You throw, knock down or kick when things just don't go the way you planned it would.  It's really a good thing you only act this way at home or around people you're most comfortable with.  So far we haven't had any incidents at school.

You love dancing.  And music.  Any music can get you on your feet moving and grooving.  And you love playing 'Ring Around the Rosie'.  You fall down and clap your hands.  One of you're favorite songs says 'Peanut sittin' on a railroad track, his heart was all a flutter.  Along came a choo-choo train, smashed him flat! (Clap your hands together here) Choo-Choo peanut butter'.  You move your little arms like you're a little choo-choo, and when it comes to clapping your hands together, you get the best little look on your face like it will be the best clap ever.  Seriously too cute.

You're in nursery now at church, and because church is during your nap time, it's really hard.  You scream and cry when I drop you off, but then when you get settled and I come back to check on you through the mirror, you're playing and having a grand old time.  Your nursery leaders are so considerate to you and your pacifier addiction as well.

You've learned a few new words, the most notable is 'melmo' otherwise known as 'elmo'.  It took me a while to figure it out, but when you started pointing to your diaper, which has elmo on them, I put two and two together.  Your mom is a pretty smart lady, you know :).

You are loving oranges.  Not so much a fan of orange juice, but you can chow down on some oranges. You still love chicken, black olives, fries, fish sticks and peas.  You've tried rice a few times and despise it.  And all of a sudden you won't eat grilled cheese sandwiches.  What's up with that?

You love climbing all over your dad, painting with Luke, playing Trouble with the family, loving on Baxter and stealing Luke's toys.  Oh, you love to torture your brother.  You can be his best buddy, but you can be so mean to him, too.  I know that's just brothers and how you roll, but I really wish you could be just a little kinder to your brother.  He loves you so much.

You're not a fan of the snow.  Not just a fan, but hate everything about it.  Sledding down the hill?  Nope, hate it.  Build a snow man?  Absolutely not.  You just would rather the weather produce no snow or ice and you could be satisfied.

We love you little one, for always.
Mom and Dad

Letter to my 4 year old

Baby Luke,

Turns out, you're not so much a baby anymore.  As you would put it, 'I'm 4, I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy.'  As a matter of fact, you've sprouted up this past year.  You're face has changed into a more little boy look.  You have a TON of hair.  You have opinions and the vocabulary to back them.

This past year has been so awesome.  We've had vacations to the beach, twice.  You loved the sand and playing with daddy, and for a few minutes you actually liked the ocean, but then you were over it.  We've been to Dallas to play and shop.  We've been to Branson and Silver Dollar City.  We've been to visit your Grandma and Grandpa in Northwest Arkansas.

At Silver Dollar City you loved riding the rides.  You're favorite was the roller coaster - kid sized.  I can't believe you liked it!  You're definitely more of dare devil than I realized :)  We waited in line for the parade and in true Luke fashion, you made friends with the kiddos beside us.  We weren't able to stay for the parade because you and Owen were just way too tired.  We had a great little trip and I think that we may make that a yearly trip.

You're learning so much!  You know you're 'ABCs', you can count to thirty, you know shapes, colors and the sounds the letters make.  You can write your name.  You love to look at the letters in all your books and try to figure out what they say.  Your preschool teacher is Mrs. Amanda and we think she's great.  She lets you and your class do so many fun things.  You paint, draw and craft.  I know you always have a great time.

Your favorite movies right now are 'Planes' (we're watching it right now), 'Wreck It Ralph' and of course, the all time favorite, 'Cars'.  You love playing the game 'Trouble'.  We play it all the time.  Your favorite part is sending mom and dad home.  You won last night, but when you lose, you're a bit of a sore loser so we're working on being a good sport.  Dad has yet to win a game.

We still stay at M and Pa's some during the week, and you love getting away with murder there.  You and Owen seem to rule the roost while we're there.  You sleep with mommy on the pull out couch, and most nights we're fine, but we sleep with a pillow in between us because your little foot likes to find its way to my back.  Ouch!

Your vocabulary is amazing.  You pick up everything and are really pretty articulate.  You've turned into quite the little helper.  You can turn the lights on by yourself, you can wash your hands, put your shoes on, clean up toys, put in a DVD by yourself, get into the car by yourself.  All of these little things really add up and help us so much!

Oh!  and you're FINALLY fully potty trained!  What a relief!!

You are kind hearted, gentle, you love your brother and are so good playing with him (most of the time).  You know what you want, you don't pitch too many fits.  You love to read books.  You still have Monkey.  You love your family and we love you.

We love you and can't wait to see what the next year brings.  Happy 4th!
Mom and Dad

Letter to Baby

Dear Mr.,

You are cutting all four one year old molars at the same time, and that's why this letter is late.  You are mean you are cutting teeth.  You are cranky when you are cutting teeth.  You are clingy, whiney, mad, tired, and a down right bear when you are cutting teeth.  If this is how you act when you lose a tooth, I'm sunk.

And if I could pry that pacifier out of your mouth for five seconds I'm sure you would start speaking.  But as it stands, it all comes out 'ga' or 'da' or '{add a consonant of your choosing}ah'.  Ball, mama, dada are still plenty understandable.  The rest, not so much.  Your comprehensive vocabulary is amazing and you're really great at relaying what you want by a series of points and sounds, but you have got to start getting some more words!

When you're feeling good, you're a ton of fun.  You love to crawl all over us, give us high fives, play catch, race cars with Luke, enjoy pizza, picnic and a movie night.  You like to pull all of dad's shoes out of his closet and make a big pile.  He doesn't enjoy that, but I think it's quite funny.

M has been picking you and Luke up at school and taking you to the library to play.   I think you really love getting to go with them and enjoy the play time.  M and Pa think you are so funny, but know you've got a little mean streak in you.  We have to be careful, especially because you like to slap and you just don't know your own strength!

You had an awesome Christmas and enjoyed ripping open packages.  You didn't really care what the present was, but the tearing of paper was right up your alley.  Santa was pretty good to you and Luke this year.  No coal in your stocking!

We celebrated the new year by going to bed on time and sleeping in to five a.m. the new year's day.  It was very exciting and super glamorous.  Actually, it was exactly what we all needed!  And now that we're in the new year, it means you're going to be eighteen months old and then 2 and then before we know it, you'll have a job and be moving out of the house.

But as for now, we want you to know how much we love you.  Crankiness and all.
Loves,
Mom and Dad

Letter to Baby

Baby Owen,

You're 16 months old and just coming in with a new trick - the temper tantrum.  And molars.  And they don't mix.  Let's start with the temper tantrum…

I found out you had been working on the art of the well known temper tantrum when I picked you up from school last week.  Luke had been picked up previously by M so it was just us.  When we got upstairs to leave and were walking out of the building into the parking lot I went to hold your hold and you promptly snatched it away.  I explained, best I could to a sixteen month old, that we hold hands in parking lots and went to grab your hand again.  And you snatched away.  I gave you one more opportunity to give me your hand and when you didn't comply I picked you up to carry you to the car.  And that's when the temper tantrum began.  As I picked you up, you threw yourself backwards, stuck your hips and stiffened up.  Screaming is what normally occurs, the sound out of your mouth sounded like you alerting authorities ten miles away.  While I tried to put you in your carseat you tried to throw yourself out.  I had to push down on your belly and fight the straps while you're fighting me.  Can you say stubborn?

And those molars.  If you can shove an object back into your mouth to relieve some of the pain, you're going to do it.  Luke's toothbrush?  Check.  Mommy's eye drops?  Check.  Add that with a sore throat and a round of antibiotics and call me wiped.  I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but you are a terrible teether.

You still love your usual foods, and we tried to give you crawfish last night but you wouldn't try it.  You typically will try new foods.  You do love the noodles from sausage and peppers and black eyed peas.  And you still love to feed Baxter.  It's a wonder he even eats his dog food anymore.

We've been iced in the last couple of days and cabin fever hasn't been too terrible.  You helped me glue on some cotton balls to make Santa's beard, you've helped me measure fabric and watch videos on how to sew on bias tape.  Ok, maybe cabin fever has set in.  I suggested to your father we take you and Luke outside, but he said it was so slick outside that he didn't think it would be enjoyable.  We didn't really get any snow, just a ton of sleet, so I agreed.  No sense in an unnecessary ER trip.

You can imitate animal sounds and call Baxter 'umph umph' which is really 'woof woof' but you won't take your passy out.  You are starting to say 'dada' a lot more and you said 'my ball' the other day several times.  We're working on saying 'luke' 'passy' and 'cup', but again, that passy is stuck in that mouth of yours which makes talking a little less important.

As you know, you love balls and have started tossing them in the air over and over and over again.  It keeps you entertained for a bit.  And you've started playing with cars and making little car sounds when you play.  And you and Luke will race them around the ottoman and have a blast.  I'm glad you two are really starting to play together.  But just like any siblings, it doesn't last long.  You pull Luke's hair or he  crashes his car into yours.  Someone always ends up in tears.

We're so in love with you, don't ever forget that.
Mom and Dad