Dear Boy,

Happy 21 months kiddo! You continue to amaze me daily and I love you more with every passing moment! This past three months have been a challenge and a learning experience for all of us, and you’ve come out the shining star as usual.

Mommy was hugely pregnant for the last while and it was hard for me to play with you with my usual energy. I did my best and we even went tobogganing when I was 39 weeks pregnant but it wasn’t easy and I’m sure you wondered why your mother was such a lazy slug sometimes. You learned to pull my hand to help me up off the floor and were always very sweet. I went back to work for just two months, September and October, before going on early maternity leave and you missed your friends at your babysitter’s house but we certainly enjoyed having that special time together before becoming a family of four. We had almost daily play dates, went swimming every week, went on lots of walks and trips to your two favourite places – Costco and the grocery store!

We celebrated your second Christmas at our new house and had most of our family here. You were utterly spoiled and loved every minute of it. Grandma Betty & Grandpa Jack were here for over two weeks and you got so close to them that you freaked out whenever you couldn’t see one of them and even cried hysterically when you and I drove past Grandma’s car on our way to the pool because you thought she wasn’t coming with us. (She was – she was just bringing Grandpa and meeting us there.) Grandma Jeet came for a few days too and played with you a ton. You also have had a couple of opportunities to wrestle and play with Grandpa Kent over the last month which you enjoyed to the fullest extent of your abilities. So much so that mommy and daddy actually got to sit still for a few minutes! We also had Auntie Sasha, Grandpa Roger, Grandma Cecilia, Uncle John, Ashley & Jessie for Christmas dinner so it was quite the packed house and quite the amazing day. We all enjoyed every minute of it and you were the special attraction. It took you almost a week to open your presents because we just let you open them whenever you felt like it so as not to overwhelm you with the quantity. I highly recommend that strategy as we were able to enjoy each gift with you as you opened it and it was great entertainment!

Your speech is truly exceptional! You speak in three word sentences regularly and are rather easy to understand for a 21 month old boy. You are a total parrot and copy everything we say and do so we are sure to be on our best behaviour at all times! You are a demanding little guy trying to gain some control over your world and we’re doing our best to give you as much control as we can while maintaining limits and teaching you manners and compassion. You love to shout “OPEN IT!” and “HAVE IT” but you also ask for “Cuddle please” and want to “Help Mommy” with whatever I’m doing. I can’t count the words in your vocabulary anymore. You are WAY over 400 words and it’s a lost cause trying to keep up with you. You love to disect the intricacies of our language. For example, you want to know why your buddy Liam’s dad is named Matt and the thing on the floor by the door is also a mat. You want to know the phonetic differenced between your trains “tains” and your jeans “deans” and will ask me to say them both over and over again until you understand. Seeing (and saying) the world through your eyes is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.

You have always loved our pets and now your love has grown to include any animal you see, whether in real life, in a book or as a toy. You love to play with our animal puppets and know the names of them all as well as the sounds they make. You also love to point them out in books and want us to take them out for you. To your endless frustration, we have not yet figured out a way to remove items from books for your to play with.

Your problem solving skills are developing in amazing ways. We love to watch you play with your MegaBlocks and see how you’ve gone from banging them together to turning and manipulating them to fit the way you want them to. You love to sort things and put singles, doubles and triples into their own towers. It’s so cool to see you manipulating objects in your mind before you put them where you want them instead of relying just on trial and error like you did a couple of months ago. Of course, all of this is dependent on you being well rested, which doesn’t always happen. You cut three eye teeth in one day after suffering with them for two months and are now working on the fourth one. It wakes you up about 4 of 7 nights a week and sometimes prevents you from napping too. On those days you just freak out when something doesn’t go your way. It’s easy for us to get frustrated with you but we really try to just hug you instead so you know that we love you even if you’re being a stinker. We’re trying to verbalize your feelings for you to help you get a grasp of them. You haven’t said anything about your own feelings yet but you’re starting to get the idea when I act them out with you. And it’s pretty fun! We’re also working on “relaxation breathing” when you get a little worked up when you’re tired. It makes you laugh which in turn makes me laugh and it’s all good!

You have become a hockey addict over the past few months. In fact, the only thing you’ve ever watched on television is hockey so every time you see a tv you shout “Hockey!” You can spot a hockey picture in the newspaper from across the room and you love to go downstairs and play hockey with Daddy with your new net, sticks and balls that Mommy & Grandma Betty bought for you. Daddy often takes you down to watch a little bit of hockey after your bath before you go to bed and you love it. You recognize the flaming C and have claimed ownership of the Flames towel that Auntie Sasha bought Daddy for Christmas as your own.

Probably the biggest event in your life so far happened ten days ago. You became a big brother! Baby girl was born on January 11th and came home on the 13th. For those two days you were at home with both of your grandma’s tag teaming you and you soaked up the attention like a sponge. We thought you were no worse for wear but it was evident as soon as you saw your daddy after 24 hours away that you missed him terribly and it took you a few days after me coming home to totally forgive me for being gone and to hug me without being asked. Ten days later you’ve totally recovered and mommy’s feelings have recovered too. From the moment we brought her in the door you have loved your sister with everything you have. You shouted her name when she came in the door and latched onto both of her hands with a death grip. We had to pry you off to bring you both up to the living room and you spent the next while holding her hands and trying to sit in her carseat with her. You love to rub her head and her back & tummy and you don’t like it one bit when she fusses. You tell me to “Cuddle” her or tell me she needs “Milk. Bra. Boobie.” You often want her to sit on your tray while you’re eating. We put her little bum on there and you give her a kiss or a pat in between bites. You love to take her dirty diapers to the “garmer” and put the tags from her new clothes in the “kie-cling” (two of the only words you still don’t say perfectly, but they’re perfect for you!) You haven’t really shown any signs of jealousy yet. I hope that’s because we are trying really hard to make sure that you still get tons of one on one attention from both daddy and I and we also try to include you in caring for your sister as much as possible. Daddy took six week off to help us all get settled and the girl was so late in coming that three weeks were gone before she came home. That gave you lots of time to hang out with just Daddy and I which was a real gift for all of us.

Daddy and I love you so much babe. We’re so proud of you for everything you have learned and done in your little life so far.

I can’t imagine loving you any more than I do today but I know I’ll love you more tomorrow because that’s just the way a mommy’s heart works. You’ll always be the person who made me a mommy and don’t you ever forget it.

I love you right up to the moon and back!
Mommy
xoxo