Dec
13
Dear Ash,
Okay, I missed last month. I’m sorry! I got so busy with my business (Pip Robins, just in case you have no idea what I’m talking about by the time you read this, or maybe I’ll be a multi-millionaire from cowl sales!) that working took precedence over writing your newsletter on time, and then when I went to write it I realized that ALL of my November 2009 photographs were somehow gone from the memory card on our main camera. And then I lost all my inspiration to write. I’m sorry.
Well, let’s see. I’ve got two months to cover here, so let’s get started.
You’re smart. Man, you are SMART. Your vocabulary in the past couple of months has grown from hundreds of words to thousands of words. You pick up on EVERYTHING we say and do. You can remember songs after hearing them only once or twice, you mimic our actions- see here in the picture below- you got ahold of my mascara and before I even realized what you were doing, you had APPLIED IT PROPERLY, TO YOUR EYELASHES. Granted, you got a little messy, but do you see that? Without me even realizing just how closely you must watch me while I do my makeup in the morning, you took the wand and applied mascara to your eyelashes. How could I even get mad at that? Genius, my son, genius.
It seems a little out of date now that it’s the 9th of December, but I have to talk about it: Hallowe’en. This month you celebrated your third-ever Hallowe’en and we dressed you as a lizard in a costume I got for $5 from the Salvation Army. Your father and I dressed as doctors, complete with masks that I made that very morning, as a shout out to the Swine Flu mass hysteria that’s happening around the world. You and your day care friends were even able to dress up during the day, and at night we and two other families went out trick or treating, which you loved.
So. WHY. Why? Why? Why? Why? You started saying “why” by the time I was finished writing your last newsletter two months ago, and now it is your answer for everything. It’s as if it’s a knee-jerk reaction, everything we say is followed with a “why” and then another “why” and then another and another and another. We will answer you until we don’t know the answer anymore because it’s how you’re going to learn things, right? Sure, it’s a tad annoying sometimes, but it’s cute and you’re learning, so how could I complain. I wouldn’t mind if you toned it down, maybe just a little.
These past couple of months you’ve becoming increasingly into reading books. You’d rather sit on our laps and read books than do anything else, maybe even including watching YouTube videos of Franklin the Turtle. You and I have started going to the library at least once a week on one of our days off together, and while you play with the toys I seek out new books for us to read. You are able to memorize them within a couple of times of reading them, and love it when we stop midway through a sentence so you can finish it for us. Right now your favorite book is The Jungle Book and Bambi, but a couple of months ago all you wanted to read was Franklin the Turtle. We’ve read every single one of them that the library offers about a hundred times each.
You still love cars of course. And you love to line them up on the table, like this:
When it was still nice outside, you and your dad would often go for walks/rides outside. Now we’re confined to the basement, and your father got you a HUGE bike (it would probably fit a four year old better) for a good price second hand, and he put some training wheels on it. You can JUST reach the pedals, and you ride around as fast as you can down there. It’s such a big bike that you could easily fall off and hurt yourself, so we make you wear your helmet. You don’t mind.
In mid-October we took a family trip to the same zoo we went to last year, Oaklawn Zoo, where they have all kinds of animals- everything from Zonkeys to Camels to deer to pigs. Your favorite animal? The concrete cow. We could hardly get you away from it, even though MY favorite animal exhibit was just right around the corner (the family of monkeys with the nursing baby!)
In early November it snowed, and that was exciting for you. It didn’t last long and the snow didn’t come back for another month, but it actually made me a little excited to be able to go outside with you and play as you get older.
At school you get to do a lot of artwork, drawing and painting. At home we have the supplies but are often busy with other things. You did ruin our kitchen table in one swift move while I turned my back for 1.23432 seconds, you grabbed my pen and with all of your 28lb force, managed to carve a nice L shaped line in blue into the tabletop. This is exactly why I bought a table and chair set that cost $114. I expect these things of you. You like to take your markers and draw on your face, and call yourself a kitty. I believe you think you’re drawing whiskers.
One morning this week you built a huge tower of blocks all on your own. Not one iota of help from me. You were so pleased with yourself!
To follow up to the last newsletter, where I said that you were fully potty trained: I have put away every single one of your diapers and you have still (knock on wood) not had an accident at night. And recently you’ve even started going to the potty by yourself, at school and at home, and have finally figured out how to pull up and down your pants over that plump little bottom of yours (which you get from your dad, definitely not from me), which is even MORE wonderful! (However, you did come home in a completely new outfit from school the other day when you went by yourself and forgot the “tucking” step of going to the potty and soaked your pants AND your shirt. There’s obviously a learning curve!)
You’re pretty incredible, I have to say. You love to sing lots and lots of songs, Christmas carols and kids songs like Itsy Bitsy, you know your alphabet inside and out, you know every single one of the letters and what sound they make. And even more exciting- you started COUNTING things this month. You have been able to count for many months, but you never knew when to stop, or what counting actually meant. But a couple of weeks ago I was taking apart a Clementine for you, and you counted every piece (13 of them) as I laid them down on the plate, without missing a beat. It was if something finally clicked, and now you’re successfully counting things all the time.
You can do your age 3+ puzzle basically on your own- your attention span lasts one or two vehicles (it’s a large floor puzzle with an ice cream truck, fire truck, ambulance etc) at a time, but if you could focus for long enough, you could do the whole thing on your own. You are understanding how puzzles work more and more- lining up the pictures, not just jamming things in all willy nilly.
The point is, is that when people ask you how you are, I always say, “Oh, ya know, smart.” You never cease to amaze us. Every single day you just get smarter and smarter and smarter and I feel like such a lucky person to be raising a child who is this easy. Sure, you don’t sleep through the night, sure, you have temper tantrums, sure, you get into things that you’re not supposed to, but overall, if we pay the attention to you that you need and deserve, you’re amazing.
You make me feel so lucky to be your mom. I cannot imagine my life without you in it, I cannot remember what it was like not to have this much love in my heart. You are my everything. I miss you whenever I’m away from you, my heart aches when I’m at work and I feel jealous that your teachers get to see you so much, especially when I know they don’t think you’re as special as I do. Sometimes I get so angry at myself for going back to work and missing so much of this time in your life because you’re learning and growing at such an incredible rate. I just hope that you’re happy. Please be happy.
I love you so entirely.
Love,
Mama