Dear Atticus: 2 years!

My beautiful boy, you are two years old today!

How quickly time has gone. It seems like just the other day that we got the call that you were born. So many things have happened since then, and you have grown so much!

You are turning into a little boy right before our eyes. The last few weeks have brought full sentences (wow!), lots of questions (what’s this?), and tons of ball playing. The ball may be your favorite thing right now. You have really good aim, and love making baskets in your basket ball hoop. You say, “shot,” and then shoot the ball. You rarely miss, even from several feet away!

You have also become very clean. Or at least very concerned with cleanliness. Anytime something is out of place, you say, “uh oh. That’s a mess!” I’m so proud.

Some of the other things you like to do is draw, build the train track, go outside, play with your friends, build blocks, use the shape sorter, and slide. I am amazed every single day by the speed of your development. Sometimes you will have a couple really tough days. It’s hard to be little! Afterwards, you always make some huge developmental leap that leaves us amazed.

You are such a lover, too. Every night before bed we all give each other kisses and say, “night night!” You love this part of our routine and always get so happy about giving your brother kisses. You are super sweet, and often give us hugs, kisses, and snuggles. In fact, I think you are a very snugly person in general. You enjoy getting close to everyone you like. Sitting on laps, touching their arms, you just really love that contact. This makes me so happy to see. I know that you are going to be such a warm, caring person. What more could we hope for?

Atticus David, you have brought more joy to our family than you could ever know. We love you beyond measure. Right up to the moon and back. Happy birthday, sweet boy. 2 years old!

Love, Mama

Well, hello.

Hello, friends. There are no words to describe how busy I have been. I knew that school would add a new element of crazy to my life, but I really had no idea what my baby becoming a toddler (2 toddlers!) would do. These kids are bananas, and I am one tired Mama.

Life is good, though. Really, really good.

I feel like school has changed me. It has opened me up in so many ways. Between the fog of new motherhood and the years of struggle to become a parent, I feel like I am finally starting to crack open the shell that has been surrounding me for so long. Much of that has to do with the program I am in at school.

For those that don’t know, I returned to finish my Bachelors degree after so many years of starting and stopping. I am close now. I plan on going on to get a Masters in psychology. Probably counseling of some kind. The year long program I am currently taking has required a lot of self examination, and is really forcing me to see myself in new ways. Scary and hard, but so good.

The boys are doing amazing. They are growing so fast, and learning so much. Every day it seems they surprise us with a new skill, or new words. It’s incredible to watch. I won’t lie, there are some very challenging times. As much as I love my kids, and as much as I wanted them (and still do!), it is not all sunshine and rainbows. In the midst of a full on tantrum, I can look at one of them and wonder, “what the hell do I do now?” To me, this stage is the most difficult of any (so far). But there are also times when I look at their sweet faces or they do something so cute/funny/amazing, and I just can’t believe how lucky I am to be their Mom. So, so, so lucky.

So, life is good. And I am so tired!

Dear Truman: one year

My darling, boy. You are one year old!

Your birthday was actually two weeks ago, but between Thanksgiving, school, and you busy boys, Mama is just now getting around to writing this. Phew. What a year!

You are such a sweet, happy guy. You love your brother and copy almost everything he does. And you are mostly walking! Well, you are walking, just not all the time. There is nothing cuter than watching you balance on those still chubby little legs! Hee hee.

At one year old, some of your favorite things are:
Dancing!
Clapping
Peek-a-boo
Making your “crazy” face
Blowing raspberries
Following your brother around
Laughing
And snuggling

You are awesome.

Truman, 1 day.

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months - Happy Birthday, Tru!

Happy first birthday, Tru Tru. Mama and Daddy love you to the moon and back!

Love,
Mama

Dear Truman: 11 months

Yesterday was your 11 month birthday. Less than a month now and you will one! I feel like your entire first year has gone way too fast. You are getting so big. This last month your personality has exploded and you are even more funny, silly, and opinionated. Your favorite things right now include standing, or walking with a push toy, making noises with your mouth, banging on things and laughing. I love your laugh more than anything in the world. It is amazing.

Play hard and sleep hard!

You have gotten faster, stronger and love to follow your brother around. He’s not totally sure what to think about that, but I think he likes it!

Mama has been really busy this month, but I love the time we get together. You are doing really well at daycare a few days a week, but definitely prefer Mama time. When I get there to pick you up, you immediately stop what you are doing, start fussing, and crawl straight to me. You sure know how to make me feel special!

I love you sweet boy. I hope you are enjoying 11 months as much as we are.

Love, love, love,
Mama

Dear Atticus: 18 months

***Guest Post by Daddy***

Dear Atticus,

I am continually amazed at all the new things you figure out every day! The most amazing thing so far was what you did a couple days ago. Truman had managed to fall over backwards and pull one of his toys on top of himself.  He couldn’t move, so you said “OH NO!” over and over again in a loud voice until mom and dad came in from the kitchen and could pull the toy off of him. What a great big brother you are, – looking out for Truman!

You clearly understand a lot that we say to you. When we try to figure out what you want and suggest things, you say NO right away and shake your head if we don’t get it right. When we do get it right, you smile and laugh a little.

You know where your head, nose, ears and eyes are when we ask you. You like to play with your belly button sometimes. You LOVE bikes. It doesn’t matter if they are motorcycles, scooters or bicycles. Every time you spot one you immediately say BIKE! Just yesterday you said RIDE THE BIKE!

You also like construction machinery like cranes, loaders and forklifts. Your grandpa and I took you to the Tumwater salmon hatchery and the coolest thing for you was the forklift parked nearby!

Grandma was delighted to hear you say, “Nam-ma” when she visited a week ago. Yesterday I heard you say basketball for the first time. You have some other words that your Mom and I are still trying to figure out, but you are saying them over and over again. So we know you are referring to something specific.

You are pretty grabby right now. I suppose most all kids your age are. We occasionally see signs of sharing, though. You’re still a little rough with your brother, but he’s getting bigger now and will soon be walking. It won’t be long until you both are wrestling around the house together! Truman adores you, and we also see you smiling at him, so we know you love him, too.

Dribbling the ball!

You figured out how to dribble a soccer ball about a month ago! You’re also getting better at throwing. A lot of people have commented on what good balance you have. You can climb onto the play equipment at Barclift Park all by yourself now. You even prefer to go down the slides alone (even the big one)!

Ninety-nine percent of the time, you are SO EASY when we go places. You were great at Auntie Sara’s wedding. Except, maybe, for the time when Auntie Sara was walking down the wedding aisle and you said, “No! No! No! No!” You were actually pointing to boats in the nearby harbor, but your timing was perfect! Despite your protests, Auntie Sara and Uncle Bruce still got married!

At Auntie Sara & Uncle Bruce's Wedding

Atticus, you are SO SWEET! You have the face of an angel and a busy boy nature. Your little boy voice is absolutely delightful! And you love to give kisses. Mommy and Daddy are so happy!! We love you SO MUCH!

Love, Daddy

Dear Truman: 10 months

Sweet Tru,
Well, you a happy, busy, strong 10 month old. You are pulling up on everything and just starting to attempt cruising. You love, love, love being mobile (crawling) and especially love standing at every opportunity. I’m sure watching your older brother run everywhere is good encouragement for walking sooner than later.

You have a great sense of humor and love to laugh at all of us. You are almost always in a good mood and only really get upset when you bonk or get bonked. Totally understandable!

You say, Mama, Dada, and Bubba (the dog). Your favorite sound right now is Da Da Da Da Da, which you start babbling the second you wake up. That or blowing raspberries. Funny boy.

Happy boy!

You play peek-a-boo, show Mama how big you are (hands in the air), and dance when music comes on. You are delectable! We love every single little part of you and I hope you know how much sunshine you bring to our lives.

I am a little sad today (not just because you are getting so big!), because it is my first day back to school. I have enjoyed my time at home with both you and your brother more than I could ever explain. I am going to miss you like crazy today! I am doing it for a lot of reasons, but the main one is that I want to be a good example to you two and this is one way for me to do that. Education is so important.

I will be much busier now, but will still spend every second I can with you. I love you so much, gorgeous boy. You are everything.

Love, Mama

Dear Truman: 9 months

Truman, 9 months

My gorgeous boy,
I swear you get cuter by the minute!

9 whole months? WOW! You are such a big boy now.  You started crawling a little over a week ago and you pulled up to standing for the 2nd time today. I just can’t believe how busy you are now. You are trying to pull up on everything. Everything. And you follow your brother around and try to steal his toys, which I suppose is only fair since he’s been doing that to you for months!

You are still squishy and soft like a baby, but I know it won’t last much longer. Here’s proof…

Truman splashing

You are a total Mama’s boy right now and I LOVE IT. I hope we are besties forever! You love your Daddy too, though. He’s really good at making you laugh and rocking you to sleep when you are too wound up to nurse. You are usually a bit of a night owl and get your 2nd wind after your brother has gone to bed. I think you like the few minutes of alone time.

You have the most contagious smile and laugh I have ever seen or heard. You make every day brighter.

Currently you have 7 teeth. The 8th one is close behind. That sure happened fast!

Some of your favorite things are playing pass the ball, clapping, blowing raspberries, babbling, chewing on books, watching Mama sing songs, bouncing in the jumperoo, splashing in the pool, watching your brother do all kinds of things, and crawling. You have a great sense of humor already!

Foods have still been an issue. We’ve found a few more things that you are having reactions to. Hopefully we’ll get in to a specialist soon to work it out. It makes us so sad when you don’t feel good.

Well, baby, these last 9 months have been amazing! You are such a sweet, snuggly, super happy boy. And Mama loves you to the moon and back.

xoxo,
Mama

 

Dear Truman: 8 months

Hi, sweet pea! Your personality just shines more and more every day. You are funny and sweet and excited to be almost mobile! You laugh all the time now, at us, at your brother, at yourself. So cute!

"I love playing with Brother!"

You are almost crawling. You migrate around the room by rolling, getting on your tummy and then sitting up in another spot, scooching backwards, etc. You make the arm movements to crawl but haven’t quite gotten your legs to cooperate yet. Any day now!

You started playing “catch” with the ball the other day. You throw it and Mama rolls it back to you. You LOVE to throw the ball and usually crack up while you are doing it.

We have had some trouble with food. I believe you have something called FPIES, which is basically an intolerance to the proteins in certain foods. So far rice and oatmeal are making you really sick. It’s been hard to really get going on feeding you, because we are afraid that you’ll be sick each time. Good thing you like to breastfeed so much!

You love to splash the water in the bathtub or the little pool outside.

You have started saying, “Mama!” YAY!

You have 3 teeth in: one on the bottom and two on top, with at least 3 more coming in. I love your toothy smile. I could just eat you up!!

Hi, Cutie!

Happy 8 months, squishy boy. I love you SO much!

Mama

Toddlerific

Anyone that ever said babies are hard never met a toddler! Holy cow, my boy is BUSY. He’s walking. He’s talking (though only he knows what he’s saying most of the time). He’s tantruming. oh boy, is he ever. He’s almost 16 months!

Atticus comes up with new words all the time. He even did the sign for “please” the other day, totally out of the blue. I am facsinated by his development. He is very smart and has a strong desire to figure everything out. He is simultaneously sweet (lots of kisses!) and independant (no, no, no!).

Challenging? Yes. Exhausting? Yes. Completely adorable? YES!

Hey, I can fit in the drawer!

Dear Truman: 7 months

Truman, Truman, Truman…

Can you slow down a little bit? Mama’s heart can’t keep up with how fast you are growing and changing.

You are showing some signs that crawling is coming soon (sniff, sniff). You sit up all day and grab somewhat frantically at any toy in reach. You are pretty darn charming!

We have started some solid foods with you, but so far you only like things in the mesh feeder or stuff you can grab with your hands and gnaw on. I’m thinking we may just skip baby food altogether and see how you do. We discovered this weekend that you have an intolerance to rice. Poor baby. You were pretty sick for a couple hours. This was the 2nd time on rice and the 2nd time getting sick after. No more rice for you for a while! You love avocado, banana, apple, cantaloupe and watermelon in the mesh feeder!

You do some really cute stuff that I want to remember. One of my favorites is that you chuckle when I clean your neck. It’s so stinkin’ cute! I admit that sometimes I clean your neck even when it doesn’t need it just so I can hear you laugh.

You love balls. Whenever one gets in your reach you lunge for it and smack both of your hands on it until it gets away from you. If anything entices you to crawl it will be that! Sometimes you’ll topple forward trying to go after it.

I know from experience that you will soon be a busy, opinionated, silly toddler and I just want to keep you as my sweet, dimply, chubby, smiley baby just as long as I can.

I love you, babycakes.
Mama