Dear Chase (28 months),

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Hi Mr. Talkative,

Talk about language explosion, Mister. You can now repeat mostly anything we say and you're staring to talk to us about things you're thinking about in cute little sentences instead of the cave-man speak we have gotten used to. You do still sound a bit like a cave-man, but some of the things you say are just adorable. You like to say, "Good job, mama, good job," when I give you a yummy lunch or get you a sippy of chocolate milk. It's funny that this little person is telling me that I've done a good job! You're also starting to say sorry...it's funny because usually we don't use sorry too much around here and opt to check in on the person we've hurt with an, "Are you ok?" and then see if there is some way we can help make the other person feel better...a pat on the back, a hug or a snuggle, a special picture to hang on the wall...but you'll say a pretty adorable, "Oh, I sorry, Mama, I sorry," even for little things like when you step on my foot. You are still so rough and tumble yelling when you don't get your way or feel as though someone is standing in the way of you getting something you desire...hitting and pushing and pulling hair and biting when you feel unlistened to....but it's getting to be more words and less violence here and there. You have developed a "look" though...and sometimes when we say something you don't like you'll give us the look...and you've also started giving the look to people you don't know who say hi to you...it's kind of a funny little death glare with furrowed eyebrows and a cute little scowl...and I'll say to you, "Say 'hi' Chase," and you'll break into a huge grin and say hi to them and move along.

You are kind of working on potty learning....you LOVE undies...you have some Thomas the Train ones, some from the movie Cars and some "robots" from Yo Gabba Gabba and you enjoy picking a pair to wear, you tell me you are cute when you put them on, and I would say for the first half of the day you're great at letting me know when you have to pee. Usually I just give you a choice if you have an accident...undies or diapers and sometimes you choose one and sometimes the other. So totally non-pressure because you're not even 2.5 and I hear boys just take longer...so the choice is yours but man, you do look cute in the little boy undies! You're very character driven, actually, you love Buzz Lightyear and Woody and insist on wearing your Toy Story jammies when you see them...and if it has someone from "Cars" on it you WANT it. There was a little boy at the beach this weekend with a Cars bathingsuit and you would have liked him to take it off and give it to you. You definitely have a really strong opinion and make it heard!

You're also such a sweetheart...if you see Emmie sad you'll often try and make her feel better with a toy, a hug, a kiss, surrender of what you're holding...if I pretend to cry or like today when we were pretending a stick was a dinosaur and he was biting my toe you get sad for me and tell me, "No cry, mama, no crying, I hug you..." and you will give me hugs and kisses and check in that I'm ok. And on the other end of that stick you will get a little overzealous with the loving and it turns to pinching or head butting or biting...so we're working on it! Right now you're playing with your sister on the couch...belly bonks. You make people nervous because you're so small but so confident in yourself...you'll climb so high and so fast and at Emmie's swim lesson there is a big climbing structure and all of the parents will go running thinking you may fall you've been pretty good at climbing your whole life so I watch and reassure them that you're ok.

You loved the beach, we went this past weekend, and you liked playing in the water, running in the sand, and building things so that you could stomp and smash them. You were hesitant to go too deep...but you would have chased a seagull a mile down the beach without looking back at me if I hadn't redirected you to another one closer by. You usually don't nap but the sun and the wind and the water makes us all really tired so you would crash around 2pm with your head on my shoulder and whisper, "hold me," and I would sway with you a bit near the edge of the water and you were out in a minute. I would lay you down on your Lightening McQueen towel and you would sleep in the tent with Daddy for 2-3 hours and wake up ready for more. We went crabbing one afternoon and you didn't like the sharp rocks with barnacles or the pinchy little crabs we were getting, but you watched your three snails crawl around in your bucket for a loooooong while and loved it.

You're a mischief maker...always getting into things when I least expect it. A bottle of windex that daddy left behind the TV after cleaning the screen turned into a car wash for your monster truck and then you dumped the rest of the bottle on the carpet. You pulled the chair over to the refrigerator while I'm in the shower and played with the water and ice dispenser to the point that there were about 50 cubes on the ground in a big puddle of water. You sprayed a film of hair spray all over the bathroom while I was in the kitchen making some zucchini bread. I mean, man, you used to just sit and play with your toys...now you're up to things in a big way!!! Funny that I have never felt like I needed to gate you in...but there is a part of me now that wishes I could! As it is I'm just making sure there aren't things out that you can get in trouble with and checking on you often!

Oh, and did I mention that in the last few months you've grown 2 inches and gained 2 pounds? Thank you growth hormone...and BTW you don't even cry anymore for the shots...you just pick your spot and we do the shot and you're off and running again.

I love you mister-mister!
Mama

Dear Emerson (49 months),

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 _____________________________________

Dear Ham,

You seriously cannot get enough of the camera when it is pointed at you...you pose, click, pose, click, pose like it is your job. You pose and change pose more than some of the models we've worked with and that is crazy. I was shooting a bunch of kids from playgroup, I think there were 6 of you under the age of 4 all on a couch together and out of the corner of my eye I see Chase chatting on a phone cannot be bothered that I am taking pictures and out of the other corner of my eye I see you smiling and posing away. So yes, you're my little ham bone and I'll take it!

You're also becoming quite the little master baker. You love to do it all...you actually get quite bossy in the kitchen and sometimes even YELL at the recipe reader that YOU WILL POUR and YOU WILL MIX and YOU WILL CRACK THE EGGS. We're working on the Iron Chef attitude a bunch, but I could probably walk away from from the whole cooking thing and still wind up with yummy muffins and breads in the end because you'd just DO IT YOUR-SEEEELFFF! There is a rumor that when I was little no one could help me or tell me what to do because I wouldn't listen I would just stomp my foot and say, "KATIE-DO," well I am currently feeling the backlash of that from you and Chase simultaneously. I don't know if he is the instigator and you're following his independent lead or if you're just falling into it on your own at the same time. It is testing my patience and my playful and unconditional parenting, but we'll muddy through it, we always do.

You're also my superstar gardener. You like to help me water it, weed (and most of the time you're picking the right weed!) and harvest....although a lot of what you harvest ends up in your belly but I guess that can be expected when we're picking yummy green beans and cherry tomatoes. Might just mean that next year we need a bigger garden...and that would be ok since you love to weed and water. You get so excited every time we go out to visit the baby veggies and you'll hold big heaping handfuls of beans while I get things sorted out.

Speaking of superstar...you have turned into a dunking fool. The funny thing is your favorite place to dunk is in the bathtub with about 10 inches of water (yes we fill it deep) and you'll go under and stay under for around 5+ seconds. You blow bubbles, stick your whole face in (eyes, nose, mouth, even ears) and come up making sure that someone, anyone, saw you. The funny thing is you just finished up session one of swim lessons and in the pool you tell your teacher every time that you don't want to blow bubbles. I finally found out today that you think that the water tastes funny...so your teacher Caroline told you that if you just wipe your lips after you blow bubbles you won't even taste it...and if you did taste it it just tastes a bit salty. Not a minute later and you were showing here what an Emmie bubble blower looks like and I don't think she had believed me when I told her that you do blow bubbles at home in the tub because man was she surprised! You also were a little hesitant to lay on your back while she held you to float until I asked you to just show her your mermaid hair and voila, your head was all the way back and your hair was floating all around your head. You're a funny kind of stubborn and it is all about finding the right buttons to push.

Today we had your 4 year checkup and you're a healthy little kid and rarely see the doctor because you're ill...for a while there you were terrified of going. It happened after one bad ear infection where you just decided that maybe them looking in your ear is what was killing you. I remember when you were 2 and 3 your checkup was miserable and you were a velcro baby sitting in my lap clinging to me like a baby monkey...but in the past two years you've been to so many doctor's appointments with Chase and you've grown up and changed and today you sat on the doctor's table all by yourself in your little Looney Tunes johnny and you answered all of her questions on your own and I was stuck holding a sleeping Chase so you did the whole exam on the table just you and the doctor and to be honest, you never even glanced my way. Sniff...how are you 4!!??

Last thought...you decided yesterday when I was changing your sheets that you were done with the silly bedrail...that you really didn't want to have that until you were like 16 or something (your words) and we could just take it off already. Could you maybe slow down on the growing up all at once? Maybe that's what's making you so cranky? Or maybe today it was because you woke up at 4am for the day and you were hungry and then after a snack you were too awake to go back to sleep...thank goodness that doesn't happen often!

Ok little munchkin, I love you...even when I'm tried and cranky or you're tired and cranky or we're all tired and cranky...even when you push your brother over or when you and him play with the ice maker while I'm taking a shower and I'm frustrated to find 50 ice cubes in a puddle of water and I yell a little bit...I love you love you love you.

Hugs and kisses,
Mommy

Dear Chase (27 months),

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hi Mr. UPy-UPy UP-EEEEE,

You're such a funny little dude. Really, I'm not just saying that because I'm your mom. You say funny things, you do funny things, you win people over on a daily basis. You are still small but sometimes you talk in this big deep voice (well, deep for a toddler) like if I say to you, "Wow, are you strong?" You'll say, "Ya, tough, good...STRONG." Meaning you are tough and good and strong...there is a Backyardigan's episode with LoLos (motorcycles) and they are rough and tough and good...so funny what you aspire to be! You make very realistic motorcycles noises complete with gear changes and squealing brakes and you swerve your body side to side and twist the imaginary throttle in your hands. You are such a boy.

This month right before Emmie's 4th birthday party you were really sick. Sicker and more sad than you have been in a long time. Your fever got very high, you were shaky, miserable, and you wanted me to carry you in a wrap...you haven't wanted that since you were 12 months old. You were clingy, extra tired, cranky, cuddly, miserable and you didn't want to eat. The fever went on for about a week and finally right before they wanted to test you for mono it broke and my happy Chase emerged on the other side...thank goodness! The only thing is you really have decided that you liked that whole week of mama holding you and now you demand UPy, UP UP UP, UPEEEEEEEE all the time. That's ok, you're only going to want to be my UPEEEE boy for so long and for now I'll take it. You have such a sweet and gentle side to you and then this other side the bites and pinches and hurts...very dynamic...but I could do without the pinching and biting. I feel bad because usually we say, "Ouch, please don't bite, that HURTS," but seeing as we give you a shot nightly that you don't really want because it HURTS I feel like pretty big walking contradiction. You do know that your shot will make you big and strong, but I don't think you care that you're hurting us with your pinches and bites because, well, in your mind we don't care that we're hurting you...so sad. But also such a little phase in life that I know you will one day pass through and come out on the other side not biting and pinching and truly understanding why it is we give you a shot. Until then I'll trying to come up with something to say other than, "OUCH, it's HURTS when you bite!"

You and Emmie are playing a lot together...I know I've said that in the past...but this morning you both were sitting looking at a book with 100 animals in it. She would ask you to find the pig and you would point and she would say, "YES, Chasey, that IS the pig!" It went on like that for a good 20 minutes so I got to take a shower in peace! You're also showing some interest in her barbies...actually just the newest one who has a horse to ride...and she insists they are too special to share with you but she did get a barbie on a bicycle for her birthday and she's ok if you play with the bike...but when you start calling it a motorcycle she gets pretty mad. Actually I'm pretty sure you like making her mad...like figuring out something that can make her squeal is exciting to you and you get this devilish little look on your face and go back for more every.single.time. Today it was the bathroom door. She was sitting on the potty and she wanted the door open, and you kept slamming it shut making her squeal and shriek and then you would open it and she would ask you to keep it open and you would laugh, slam the door, and go running down the hall...let the torture begin, huh? I just wish there was a way to let you know when girls, especially your sister, squeal and shriek you're supposed to stop what you're doing and run fast...I keep reminding her to use her words and her quiet voice so we can hopefully get you to use your words and your quiet voice. Sometimes you scare the kids are the park with your motorcycle noises!

It's been so hard to get you to stay awake all day lately and you've been crashing for these late naps...last night and tonight it took Daddy about an hour and a half to get you to bed which is a little insane. Tonight I heard you singing, talking, and making all kinds of incredibly cute noises while you were supposedly trying to sleep. After our trip to Vermont you fell asleep a few nights singing, "Cow poop, COW poop, cow pooOOooop, COW POOP!" You like to sing a lot, actually, and usually your songs are one phrase or word repeated constantly to a little tune...super cute my friend! Top contender is still, "Angel," but runner up might be, "Baby!"

Some moms complain that their baby won't keep a hat on...with you it is like we cannot get you to take it off, or to raise it enough so we can see your face. You like your new bug hat and want to wear it all the time, sometimes even to bed. If I adjust it you will growl at me and push it back down over your eyes. Taking photos of you this month was a bit challenging, as usual, since you wanted your hat and you wanted the chocolate that I promised you could have AFTER the photos immediately. We got it done, though...complete with a dirty shirt sure to embarrass your daddy and a nice bonk right between your eyes...so you!

So, mister man, keep growing, keep learning, keep smiling and laughing and we will continue to enjoy you for who you are and what you add to our family. You're amazing!!

Love,
Mommy

Dear Emerson (4 years!!!!!!),

Friday, June 11, 2010

Hi Big Girl!

I can't believe you are 4! The four years ago a sweet face, screaming little you entered this world...so dependent on Daddy and I and the world around you...for food, for shelter, for love and warmth. Now that you're four you're a different kind of dependent...you can get your own snack out of the fridge, you love to pour your own drink, you can go to the bathroom all by yourself and only need help with tricky buttons once in a while. But, you still love company to come with you, get scared of being alone in the bathroom, love someone to snuggle you after reading in your bed until you fall asleep. The other day we were interviewing a new babysitter and you claimed that you didn't really want one, that you could take care of yourself while we were at a wedding. The babysitter convinced you that it would be lonely and that maybe she would babysit Chase and you could just help her with that. You thought that was an ok idea...but you often talk to me about how you just don't really want me to shoot weddings...that quickly passes when I remind you if mommy didn't shoot weddings she might have a job like her other teaching job where she would have to leave 5 days a week instead of just one...and how great it is that Emmie can play while Mommy edits pictures.

You're getting more and more adventurous in this big world and while sometimes you are glued to my hand hanging on for dear life, other times, like at the park, you go sprinting off away from me to see the world around you! You've determined that even when you stray a little bit at the park you can easily find me again and you're ok with that. You still love all things girly and pink and frilly and are developing a love of Barbies and all that goes along with them. I remember playing with my barbies almost every day...so maybe we will share that love. You still have trouble dressing them and need some help with that...but the look on your face when you get a new dress for one of your dolls, or...gasp...a new doll is priceless. I know how parents fill the house with toys...that look of sheer delight at your new friend that you can play with, and dress, and doctor, and dentist, and dance with, and sing with, and sleep with clutching plastic limbs that must poke you in the night.

Preschool ended this month and you think you're just on vacation for a week....we keep talking about how you will be on vacation all summer. You still don't get it yet but you do talk about how you will be at the same school next year in a different room with new teachers...how you will wave to your old teachers and give them hugs on the playground. You got a little emotional when we were saying our final goodbyes at the closing ceremony but quickly looked at me seeking praise, "Did you see me? Did I do a great job? Did you hear my singing and see the movement class?" I assured you that I watched the whole time and that I loved every bit of it.

You're currently mad that I won't come pee with you...you want company. Your brother is sick and miserable in the basement and you have a little bit of a four year old need to control...thank goodness that is something you out grow because we're both stubborn and it usually doesn't bode well for the two of us when we get into a stand off of, "I want you to come with me," vs. "I know you can do it by yourself!" And now you're back and you're fine...you're working on so many things at once and I know that it is ok to lose it every once in a while...and you do, and I do, and Chase does. For the most part you are so amazing at explaining your needs, using your words, and communicating, and sometimes, well, sometimes you're 4! We have an awesome system for apologies that involves a lot of talking about how we feel and making up always includes lots of snuggles, hugs, kisses and sweet unprompted words..."Mommy, I'm sorry that I screamed at you when I didn't want to clean up all of my animals."

You're kind of into movies right now, Disney movies mostly...and you love them! It's a special treat when we get a new movie like Bambi or The Fox and the Hound and I'll tell you how much I loved them when I was little and you'll snuggle into the couch next to me and melt into my side as we get to experience it together for the first time. You love the princess movies but still tell me that you'd rather see it "Live" like when we went to Beauty and the Beast as a production at a real live theater "WITH A STAGE AND AN ORCHESTRA!!"

You also are REALLY into books and we've finished a few more Junie B. Jones books and then we just finished Romona the Pest and started on The BFG. You get a lot of the jokes and then use them in the everyday world...like instead of proclaiming that you tooted you'll say that you did a big wizzpopper just like the BFG would say. You empathized a lot with Romona and said that you really didn't think she was trying to be a pest, she just really didn't want her new red boot stuck in the mud. You still love swinging and your swingset that is celebrating it's 2 year birthday! And guess what? You can PUMP!!! There was a day where Chase and I were cleaning the yard, filling the water table, watering the new dogwood tree, etc and I turned around and you were swinging as high as if I had given you an underdog and you were SO proud! But this is another one of those 4 year old control moments where you will exclaim that you just neeeeeeeeeeed a PUUUUUUSSSSSHHHHH because you (insert a little whine) just don't know how to pump!

Your birthday cake was a bit of a fiasco. Mommy and Daddy took some pictures for a woman in town that makes amazing cakes...she wanted them for her site and we offered to trade a kid birthday cake (that we will of course photograph) in exchange for some images for her site. I told her that you wanted a barbie cake, more specifically you really wanted a cake that looks like Ariel wearing her pink dress after she turns into a girl....and then when I went to give Michelle the doll you lost it. You said you NEEDED me to make it, that you NEEDED to help me make it, that a MOMMY IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE THE CAKE FOR THE KID. Then you thought maybe Michelle could come over and we could make the cake together...then your eyes lit up and said, "Can I have two cakes?" So thus an idea was born....Michelle will make your castle cake and Mommy will try her best to make a barbie cake!

This past year has been so wonderful, to watch you grow and learn and discover so much more in this big big world...I love every minute of it, even the cranky, four year old minutes where I feel like you're just being a little bit kookoo...I remember that these are the moments that I will miss...the moments that I will crave when you're all grown up. The snuggles in your bed when you don't want me to leave you alone just yet, your little hand slipping into mine when we're waiting in line someplace, your constant surmising from the back seat on all of life's little ponderings....these are all of the moments that I need to soak up to the deepest level I can so that when I need to access them later in life when I am craving 4 year old you they will be there at the ready.

I love you little chicken girl...
Mommy