two.

To my sweet Greta Maeve...at two years.

When we surprised you with your slide for your second birthday, you were so excited. You kept saying, "Thank you!" You knew it was especially for you and showed such gratitude. That moment will forever stay with your dada and me.

We are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of your baby brother or sister. You both share the same due date...July 18. It melts my heart when you kiss mama's tummy and say, "Hi baby!" or when you sit on mama's tummy to try and slide down my legs and I cry out in pain and you say, "I sorry, mama. I sorry, baby."

You can count to ten in Spanish! I didn't even realize you could...I guess Dora taught you this.

You are kind, Greta. You are so smart. You always say, "Please" and "Thank you". As I write this, I"m crying because I am just so proud of the person you are becoming. You lightly touched my face, looked at me with those big brown eyes of yours and said, "Don't cry, mama. It's o-tay," which of course, melted my heart even more, you sweet girl, you. You continue to amaze me each day and I am just soaking up these last few moments we are having as a family of three and look forward to see what a great big sister you will be to this baby of ours.

23 months

To my almost two-year-old...at 23 months.

Whenever we get home, you walk through the door and announce, "We're home! Hi! I'm Teta!"

You swung on a big girl swing for the first time on the Fourth of July. You did really well until you forgot to hang on and fell right on your face. Never did I jump up and run so fast whilst pregnant to pick you up and console you.

You encourage dancing in our household. "Mus?" You insist on music during meals and afterwards?..."C'mon, Dada, let's dance."

You like to sleep with your baby. You also like to dance with your baby and give baby "dee-dongs".

When you are eating something you really enjoy, you close your eyes and say, "mmmmm...it's good."

You also will close your eyes when you listen to music and just sway and move your hands back and forth with the song.

You hide your Dora or your baby and then you close your eyes, count to five, and say, "ready or not, here I come!" and go retrieve them from wherever you left them.

You say who or what you like. Currently, you like Dada, cookies, ice cream, Papa, mus, beach, baby, and Dora.

You love your water table/ sandbox. You could play with that for hours.

You still like to nurse, which I don't mind. I have to admit I don't love it, but I love that we still share this special bond. I guess we'll see how the tandem nursing will go with the new baby due any day now.

You like to hide beneath my dresses, skirts, and kimonos. You call it your "tree house".

You like to grab mama and dada and say, "I got you!"

When we ask you why, your reply is always, "Because. Because."

To my 10 month old baby boy!

It is wonderful and beautiful to watch you grow.  You started crawling a few weeks ago.  You are taking your time with everything and that is OK with us.  You have started getting up on your hands and feet, with your butt in the air; and, you occasionally like to pull yourself to standing (just a few times so far because you aren't too sure about that).

Oh, my sweet boy, how you love to eat!  You have not slowed down nursing (and that's OK with me); and, you love to eat everything I put in front of you (and many things on the floor that I would rather you not eat).  This morning, you had some tiny wild blueberries for the first time and you loved them.  You often confuse the sign language signals for "more" and "all done"; so, mama is confused, too (sorry, buddy!).  But, you kept wanting "more" of those little blueberries! 

You like freeze dried and frozen bananas, but not so much the fresh ones. 

Just this week, you've started shaking your head (this is something you do for "all done", too...instead of shaking your hands); but, I don't think it means, "no".  I think you just like to do it.  You will mimic us doing it.

You like to carry things; and, since you are crawling, you carry them in your mouth.  We all think this is absolutely adorable.

You love to be with your brothers.  I love that.  I hope it never changes.

We took you to Wisconsin Dells last month (we left the day you turned 10 months old); but, because your brother was sick and we were at daddy's conference, we did not get to experience any waterslides together.  We did lots of other things, though!  You did well on the journey because I rode in the backseat with you.

Just this week, we showed you the Duplo blocks and you love pulling them apart.

Your top four teeth are on their way in.  So, sometimes you drool a lot.  My poor sweet boy.

You seem to put up with a lot of things, having two older brothers; but, when you want mama, you let everyone know.  I think you noticed how putting your hand to your mouth makes the "m" sound; so, I think that is how you tell us you want mama (besides crying).  You seem to only do it when you want to nurse to sleep.

When we ride in the car, you like to hum because you noticed that you make different noises as we go over bumps.

When you see your dad, you (almost, see paragraph above about wanting mama) always get excited.  That is awesome.  Your daddy appreciates it, too.

You are a gift, my sweet.  We all love you so much.

21 & 22 months

I can't believe she will be 23 months in just a few days. When people ask, Jon has been telling people she is two. "Almost two" is what I would say. She's not two yet...sigh...not yet.

Tonight at dinner, I told her to stay a baby forever. I just want to hold onto her like this for just a little longer. She replied, "O-tay, mama."

For now, you are my baby. Although, in just a few weeks we will have a new baby and you will officially be a toddler...you will forever be my baby.

To my sweet baby...at 21 and 22 months.

Instead of "yeah", you now answer with a very definitive "yes", almost always followed by "please".

The other day, I watched as you picked up different shapes with your toes and proceed to drop them into your doll pram. I asked if you were a monkey, to which you replied, "oooh, ah, ah, ah!"

You've become a little less sweet and a little more defiant these days. I understand this is normal and you are testing boundaries. You've had two timeouts...

You are so ticklish! Especially by your neck.

Every time you spill anything or you think something has gone wrong, you say, "I sorry, Dada."

You tell me to "shoo!" when I try to brush your hair or wipe the boogies from your nose. I don't know where this came from...

You will use anything as drumsticks and drum everywhere...the table, a door, anything metal.

You say "wow!" and "no way!" on a daily basis.

You will count, "1,2,3, go!" and run from one end of the living room to the kitchen and repeat.

You love to share. Except if it's "coco". You will not share any chocolate.

You pretend to sleep, with the old timey snore and everything.

When we ask you your name, you say, "I'm Teta!"

You can sing all your abc's and count to fifteen!

You show such sympathy. When mama is feeling overwhelmed or upset, you sense this and say, "it's o-tay, mama," and gently rub my arm and climb up into my lap and give me a big hug and kiss. Then,  you say, "better?" Yes, Greta. When you do things like this, you always make it "better."

You still smile in your sleep...and I could still watch you forever.

To my 9 month old baby boy!

Where does the time go, sweet boy?  You are growing and changing so much!  Since I last wrote, you have become good at sitting up now.  You are even starting to maneuver (scooting, getting up on 3 "legs", pushing yourself back, turning yourself around in about a 4 foot space).  Any day, you will be crawling.  Yikes!  :)

You also got your first teeth (just like your brothers, just made it in at 8 months!  LOL).  You have your two bottom teeth now.

You have tried some foods now.  Avocadoes, olive oil, butter, zucchini, carrots (I think you are allergic), green beans, bananas (which you loved).

You have learned all of our faces, of course.  You also respond to EVERY noise you hear, especially when you are nursing (much to my chagrin).  You even know that the sounds of the stairs mean someone is coming.  It is very hard to get you to go to sleep when there is activity around you, even if you are super tired.

You are very good at finding tiny little things (that you are not supposed to have).  No matter how often I vacuum and sweep, you always find something I missed.  I have no idea how your brothers are going to play with Legos when you start getting around.

You like to study things and are great at transferring them between your hands.  And, boy, do you get mad if I try to take something away that you were interested in.  I forget how upsetting that can be (and, sometimes I forget to distract you with something else).

I was going to remark how lucky you are you haven't fallen (out of a bed or from a sofa, etc.).  But, you kind of jumped out of my lap last week and landed on your forehead on the carpet, from the chair.  I know it hurt and you were mad at me.  I think I lost a tiny bit of your trust there.  I am sorry, buddy.  You were too quick.  I am really sorry.

You absolutely love your feet.  You love to chew on them.  You love to take your socks off.  I have a feeling we might have a hard time with shoes, once you need them.

You love your brothers.  They love you too.  You love to be wherever they are.  You love to play; and, you are starting to know what to expect.  You always get excited and laugh when you see any of your brothers or your dad.  They love to play with you.

You do this thing where you pull your hair.  It must hurt; but, it does not seem to bother you.  I think you do it when you are overtired and overstimulated (it's always when I am trying to nurse you to sleep and its a bit of a struggle).  You like to feel things sometimes as you are drifting off--a blanket, my skin, your hair.

You are so amazing.

I love to hold you on my chest when you snuggle in to me or when you are sleeping. 

I love to just watch you discover the world.  It's wonderful.

I love you so much.  I just squeeze you sometimes (not sorry).  Oh, and your legs...and the dimples in your knees.  Too much.  Too much.  I love you always!

 

 

To my (soon to be) 6 year old son

I am so grateful that I get to be your mom, teacher and friend and witness your life, dear son.  You are amazing in ways you don't yet know.  I love you so much.  It drives you crazy that I love God more than I love you.  I pray that He will show you how that makes my love for you better. 

This year, you started taking Tae Kwon Do.  You have already earned your first belt and really enjoy challenging yourself.  We enjoy watching you.  We also like your instructors.  Good people.  Good examples.

You were sick for almost a year; so, to see you grow (and eat and eat and eat) is awesome!  You are keeping pace with your brother's height now.   You try to keep pace with ALL the things your big brother does; but, you also like figuring out who you are.

Your journey to reading independently has been long.  And, that's totally OK.  You did not have an interest for a long time; but, you have always loved looking at books.  When we sit down and sound out words, you are so good at it.  Sometimes I think you just like reading together better.  That's OK, too.  I will be here for you.

You had a sudden interest in numbers this year and seem to have mastered the basics for addition and subtraction.  You ask about math all the time.  I think that is awesome.  Possibly related to this interest is your ongoing desire to play Uno card game.  I love to play with you and see you increase your skills.  LOL.

I overheard a friend ask you about your favorite sport and you said, baseball.  We have been trying to get you into a league that is more fun than crazy competitive.  We'll keep trying.

You love to draw.  You love to draw "good guys" and "bad guys" (and all my attempts to explain to you that we are all "good" and "bad" are ignored).  Any other art projects, you rush through so you can get back to playing.  You love to paint; but, you still like to rush through.  LOL.

You have a collection of "books", full of your drawings, that you call your "Nim books".  You loved the movie, "Nim's Island".  I can only imagine your "hero/heroine" is some combination of brave and independent, like Nim.  Like you.

At 18 months of age, you discarded your sweet baby voice, in exchange for a deeper, louder voice.  You needed to be heard.  It is still very hard to get you to be quiet. 

When I ask you to put something away, I often find it later, somewhere hidden where it does not belong.  I don't understand this.  But, I love you for it.

I love you for who you are.  I love you for who God has made you to be. 

We have been trying to teach you that peace and love always win over war and violence.  Your dad and I pray about that, how to teach you, that your heart will be contented.

You recently started biting your cuticles.  I worry that you worry about too much.  You asked me the other day if bombs could get us.  I told you how fortunate we are to live in this country where many people work to protect us and have many tools to keep that from happening.  We prayed about it, too.

You are officially a two-wheeler after both of us got some bumps, scrapes and bruises!  LOL.  You are so proud and so good at riding!  You learned so quickly!

I am so grateful to be your mom.  I know how much you love hugs and kisses.  I try to give you lots throughout the day.  I love you my son.  I love discovering you, discovering you and the world. 

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy.