Made in Richmond

JR,

Hey, you! With the constantly moving and talking and being a person! What’s the deal?

I think it’s appropriate that this letter go up so close to Father’s Day because over the last couple days, I’ve noticed a definite shift in your feelings about your dad. You ask for him much more often (sometimes shout for him like you did last night, an evening that will be forever labeled in my mind as “The Night of Much Toddler Woe and Angst,” but let’s not talk about it anymore) and no longer lose your mind when I leave you with him. It seems you might even be headed towards a phase where you prefer him over me, something that breaks my heart a little but something your dad has been waiting for — 19 months is a long time to play second fiddle.

You and Dad also spent your first night alone together while I went on a retreat for church. Believe it or not, this was the first time Dad had to do post-nap fun, dinner, bedtime, morning, breakfast, morning playtime, and lunch all on his own. When I got home you were clean(ish), fed, and happy, so it looks like it was a success. Dad even said he really enjoyed running errands with you. This is a huge deal because he HATES running errands.

Day care continues to go well. You keep coming home with new skills that we haven’t taught you, so I’m assuming they did. The cutest ones are walking backwards and spinning in circles. Both often have catastrophic results, but they are funny in the moment.

Speaking of day care, you had your first time out this month…DUN DUN DUN. It wasn’t anything major — you realized you can actually get up *off* of your cot when you wake up. So you kept doing it. Over and over again. And waking up the other kids. So to The Thinking Chair you went. In an effort to support what they’re doing, we’ve introduced this concept at home as well. You don’t end up there often, but when you do, you are MAD. But you stay put and rarely end up there for the same thing again, at least not right away. You even say “sowwy” which is so adorable, I can’t even talk about it.

Despite the displays of willfulness, you love helping. Having you throw away your diaper and put your clothes in the hamper have become part of our routine and you love, love, love it. You’ll even wipe off your own face and hands when we ask you to.

Your gross motor skills are improving by leaps and bounds. You’re not running yet, but you can power walk like none other, and you’re able to get up and down the stairs pretty easily. We still stay close to keep you from tumbling, but your climbing skills combined with the Grandma-taught “scooch” technique fortunately limit the times we have to lug your hoss of a self up and down the stairs.

You’ve also become much more affectionate this month. You give real hugs now and love to offer kisses to anyone and anything — the wall, the dogs, shoes, chairs. In fact, last week I glanced in the mirror and saw you slyly giving kisses to your Buzz Lightyear cup. Hey, love is love, who am I to judge?

Like your teacher told us the other day, you are just such a happy and fun little man, so sweet and easy to please. The occasional challenges just remind us how blessed we’ve been because we can’t help but think, “Well if this is as bad as we’ve got it, we can’t complain.”

And we really can’t. How could we when we get to see this sweet face every morning?

Love,
Mama