Month 25 - Recap

Oh my sweet little love,
So on your 2nd birthday, I asked for a kiss ... and you blew in my face. Perhaps you were confused and thought my mouth looked like birthday candles, perhaps you were all hopped up on sugar that you
forgot your manners, perhaps you're just a punk two-year-old. Whatever the reason, you still blow in faces when asked for a kiss. You BLOW in our FACE when we ASK for a KISS. You think it's hilarious! And I admit - it was moderately funny the first time. Maybe even the second time. But the 374th time? Eh. It's exponentially less cute now. KISS ME. I AM YOUR MOTHER, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE. KISS ME,
KISS ME, KISS ME.

A few days ago, Natalie proudly announced that she was going to marry you. Your response? "OH NO. NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOO!" My thoughts exactly, my boy. I want you to marry someone
wonderful, but your wonderful sister is not the gal for you.

Speaking of you and Natalie, you two have played so well this month! Of course there are always those screechy, pouty, whiny moments, but for the most part, you two have been joined at the hip this month. She's spent a lot time trying to teach you about shapes, colors, numbers, and letters. You're good with shapes and colors, you're batting about .500 with numbers, and you have zero interest in learning individual letters other than an M and a W. You think it's funny that an upside down M is a W and vice versa.

You've always loved being read to, but you've never been interested in any of the words until recently. Even though you have no interest in having Natalie teach you your ABCs, you're all about the words we read. You point to the same word over and over and over (and over and over ...). You also love finishing the lines in Sandra Boynton's Pajama Time ("But we can all pajammy in whatever we've ..." "GOT!!!"). You think Fifteen Animals is especially funny because all the animals (except one) are named Bob. To even out the score, though, you sometimes call one of the animals 'Pep'. I love, love, love your sense of humor.

Christmastime always feels magical (and stressful ...) to me. But when seen through the eyes of a child? The magic gets multiplied ten fold. You love Christmas carols; you even know that O Holy Night is my favorite, so whenever it comes on, you screech "Ho-wee Nat!" You're in awe of our Christmas tree. You always talk about how tall it is (it's only six feet tall, but to a shortstuff like yourself, it must look enormous). And you get so excited when Natalie plugs it in. You're really gentle with the ornaments (Natalie constantly reminding you to be gentle also helps) and I often catch you just standing in front of the tree, soaking it all in. So I soak you in.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for December 9, 2013:

• Winter woes for commuters, travelers as relentless storm cancels 1,000 flights
• Who's who of world leaders descends on South Africa to honor Nelson Mandela
• Brees tops 50,000-yard passing mark as Saints rip Panthers
• Paul Walker Memorial Draws Thousands
• Sisters hoping for new parents use ‘prayer balloon’
• Keepsakes, notes by Nancy Drew author sold at Ohio auction

November 2013 - Recap

We went to the park earlier this month and you were playing with two older (five and six) boys. You held your own with them, I was pretty impressed. When the game they came up with was deemed too hard by you, you walked over to their moms and said "Those boys are being tricky. They don't make any sense." Then you laughed and ran back to the boys and convinced them to play a 'less tricky' game. Like chase. Your shoe fell off while you were running so you trotted over to me with your shoe in your hand, wanting some help putting it back on. Not one minute later, your other shoe fell off (clearly your cute little shoes were meant for just that - looking cute. Obviously Gymboree had no intention of these shoes being run in.) Before you could come to me to get help with that shoe, the six-year-old boy said "Oh I'll help you!" So you sat on the ground and he knelt down in front of you and carefully put your shoe back on your foot. It was beyond adorable. A few seconds later, his mom came running over because she thought her son had knocked you down and taken your shoe from you. Once I told her what happened, her face softened and she made the appropriate "Aww!" sounds that mommas are famous for.

Apparently you were being a chatty Cathy at school, and your teacher had to move you to a new table. There was no fussing and no freaking out on your part (thank you, Jesus) but you did assure your teacher she didn't have to tell me you got moved. According to your teacher, the conversation went something like this:

Teacher: Now Natalie, you know I'm gonna have to tell your Momma that I moved you, right?
You: Well of course you don't! Look - I've moved! I've taken care of it! No need to tell Momma!

This month marked the first time you apologized - unprompted - for acting rudely. You were a big ol' sassypants, you got corrected, then a few minutes later you came up to me and said "I'm sorry I spoke rudely to you, Mommy." I scooped you up and we had an epic cuddle session. It was glorious. (And in case you were wondering, not 10 minutes after that, you were a big ol' sassypants again and did NOT apologize for it. I'll take what I can get.)

This is the first year where Daddy and I are actually giving you some say in your Christmas and birthday presents. (I know, I know - it's a travesty that you've had your presents chosen for you for the past four years.) Since you love to write, we asked you to write out your wishlists. Some of the stuff I knew you wanted (a scooter, Magformers [though that one was due to my coaxing - they look really fun and *I* want to play with them so I talked them up a LOT]) but then you went and threw some random stuff on there that I had no clue you wanted. But then I realized you had put things on your list that were advertised on the commercials after some of the shows you like. You love the commercials that come on after Bubble Guppies. You ask to watch that show JUST so you can see the commercials. Some of the toys that are advertised are straight-up creepy, dude. A strange, gigantic-eyed monkey is NOT my idea of a best friend, thankyouverymuch.

This is your last month as the big 0-4. You are unbelievably (no - make that believably; it's totally understandable) excited about your birthday. You're excited about cake (you've requested strawberry
cake this year - and we're not talking vanilla cake with strawberries on top. No, you want pink strawberry cake and pink strawberry frosting), you're excited about presents (we're trying to teach you to ease up on the whole materialism thing, but it's pretty hard when your birthday is one week after Christmas), you're excited about being a big kid. Hopefully maturing to the ripe ol' age of five will lessen your big ol' sassypants-ness, but I'm not holding my breath. You are my child, after all.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for December 1, 2013:

• 'Fast and Furious' actor Paul Walker dies in high-speed crash
• Etsy-nomics: How crafty artisans stitch together a living in shaky economy
• Canine crowned world's ugliest dog in 2007 dies
• ObamaCare site deadline passes
• Ranchers send livestock to SD after blizzard losses
• Why You Should Give Your Kid an iPad This Holiday (riiiiiiiight - not gonna happen in THIS family)