growing up too fast

I just wanted to write a few things that you have done in the last few days that made me smile.

We've been working on recognizing letters and tracing and writing them. You've started trying to guess what the letters are when you see them and yesterday when you were reading a book you said, "Look, it's a broken O." I said well that's actually a C and you said, "Ohh, but it's a broken O though." I just had to smile and say okay so I didn't start any fights. We'll try that letter again soon. You have decided to try tracing the letters on your own and actually successfully traced about 4 letters in your dry erase book. You were very proud as was I.

Aunt Sarah and Uncle AJ came to visit you and your brother last weekend. Of course you wore your Aunt Sarah out taking her to the park and making her build so many barns and play with all your toys. You two even had a tea party and let me join. You ingested an entire tube of lip gloss and wanted to put on makeup with Aunt Sarah every day. You didn't let Aunt Sarah spend much time with Ben unless you were all three sitting on your floor playing. Aunt Sarah read you books before you went to bed and she took you to feed Michaelangelo. I think it's only taken a week for you to detox from all the extra attention you received while Aunt Sarah was here.

You've been doing a great job using the big potty and haven't had any accidents in many days. For some reason yesterday you decided you needed to use your tiny potty seat that was being stored under your crib. You dug it out and set it up in your room and sat on it and went potty. You yelled at me that you went and then picked up the entire potty and carried it into the bathroom. I tried to help you, but you wanted to do it all by yourself. You managed to get it to the bathroom and dumped it into the toilet and flushed it. Then you climbed up to the sink and washed your hands and the toilet out. You were so proud that you had done all of it by yourself. I think it would have been easier to just use the big potty like you usually do, but for some crazy reason you decided to go to all that work. It definitely brought a smile to my face.

looking forward to spring break

Hi Pumkin!!
I'll be coming out to visit in less than 1 month. Grama gets a vacation from school and she always tries to come and see you. I hear you are a little restless. It is hard when it is too cold to go outside and you get bored in the house. You seem to like the new donkey you received from me. You told me that you took a nap with donkey and dapple grey. You really love all animals and like to talk about them. You were so excited on the phone because your best friend Pippa was coming over for dinner. I think you were planning exactly what you two were going to do. Every time I talk to you on the phone you say something about coming to Kansas for Aunt Erin's wedding. I think we found the perfect flower girl dress for you! You will look like a little goddess (that is the name of the tutu dress). We are all looking forward to that day. Your great aunts Teen, and Jenny, and I are trying to plan another visit in July. Your dad is going to be in Boston for two weeks and we thought it would be fun to come keep you and Ben and Momma company.
I can't wait to see you!
Love, Grama

loving camouflage

We need to thank Aunt Jenny for your new favorite dress. It is camo with a pink trim and you have worn it every day for the last many and cry when I try to put it in the washing machine. If I tell you that it's dirty you dig it out of the hamper and insist that it isn't dirty. You also make Ben wear his matching shirt and think when both of you are dressed alike that it's time for pictures. Of course for some reason we can only take pictures of you two in your camo outfits in the hallway. You really like to be in charge of things. I think you get that from your poppie.

You've been busy with projects lately. Since you got to see dad's office and saw he had a pictures hanging that you had made him, you want to make him things for his office all the time. For his birthday we made him a frame for a picture of you out of recycled magazine pages. You chose the pages and we cut them out, rolled them up and glued them together into a frame. You were very proud and you also drew him a picture.

For Valentine's Day we decorated popcorn hearts with candy that grama sent out for you. She knows how much you enjoy making and decorating cookies so she thought we would enjoy decorating popcorn hearts. We invited your friend, Patrick over and you two played and decorated, but mostly ate all the candy you could sneak in your mouths while we weren't looking. You made a heart especially for daddy. It had graham crackers and m & m's on top and you were very excited about giving it to him when he got home from work. Of course after you gave it to him, you insisted that he share it with you. You ate all the m & m's off the top.

You've been learning your letters and numbers in the last few weeks and recently started making some real progress. You recognize almost all the numbers and know many letters. You've been doing flashcards, writing them on paper, and on the chalkboard/whiteboard and recognizing them when we are out of the house. It's been fun trying to think up words that start with the letters because every time we say a word you ask what else starts with that letter.

Another funny thing is that since I started taking a photography class on Monday nights, you look forward to hanging out with dad. You wake up from your nap anticipating when he will get home so you can watch TV. I don't know why you associate dad watching you with watching TV, but it always makes me laugh. As soon as he walks in the door you say Bye mommy, daddy you wanna change clothes and watch a little bit of TV? Of course you two don't watch a lot of TV together except of course The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. You actually know the names of the shows, which is a little disturbing. You love going swimming with daddy and standing on his chest like a surfboard while he has to run laps in the pool. It makes me happy and sad that there are things you enjoy doing only with dad and I'm sure he loves every minute of it.

There are so many things you say that make me smile that I usually forget to record, but today you were spinning around while singing Farmer in the Dell and then you would stop and let the dizziness settle. After spinning you came in to tell me Mommy, the house is moving. Thanks for saying things like this to make me smile to make those times when I get impatient seem so silly! I love you.