Letter to Lance

My precious, precious boy,

A couple days ago, you turned 18 months old.

It's taken you months and months, but you have finally learned to call me "Mama." I wondered if you would ever figure out that "Daddy" was not my name, too.

You love to look for bugs when we go outside.

If we would let you, you would climb on all the furniture. You're such a little monkey!

Your favorite way to spend the evening is in Daddy's lap, drinking chocolate milk that he made specially for you. Then you climb out of his lap, climp up into mine, and we read stories together.

You love to fall asleep to the sounds of Norah Jones, Petra, Kenny Loggins, and Sting.

You have a whole roomful of stuffed animals, but your favorite is a small teddy bear that belonged to me when I was a little girl.

Your vocabulary has expanded to include the following words:

dog
duck
horse
bug
two
go
eat
up
sky
ball
book
drum
baby

You used to like going to Miss Beckie's for a haircut, but for some reason, you're afraid of it now.

You're also afraid of the vacuum cleaner, when it runs. If it's not running, you think it's great fun to pull all the attachments off of it and hide them around the house.

During a thunderstorm, I take you to the back patio and we sit under the screened-in porch and watch the rain come down. If it starts lightning, only then do we go back inside. Then we stand at the window and watch the storm pass by. Sometimes you get scared and you want me to hold you close, yet you can't take your eyes off the sky because it fascinates you.

The ladies who work in the church nursery just love you to pieces.

I can't say that I blame them!

You make my world a sweet place to be. Nap well, little one, and when you wake I shall scoop you up in my arms and kiss you, and you will smile at me-- the kind of smile that fills a mommy's heart with warm sunshiny love.

My dear sweet boy,

You are 14 months old. It is amazing what you have learned in these last few months, how much you have grown. You understand so much of what we say to you! You can point to your nose, your head, and your tummy. When we tell you that it's bathtime, you eagerly run towards the bathroom, ready to squirt and splash! You love to play outside, and find endless fascination in things like leaves, fences, trees, sand, pine needles...

In the photo above, you learned how to go down the slide all by yourself!! You had a marvelous time and wanted to do it again and again.

You have an impish little grin that makes everyone who sees you fall in love with you. You're going to get away with all sorts of mischief when you get bigger! Especially when you and James get together. Your Aunt Holly and I are going to be on our toes!

I love you so very much, my precious baby. You bring joy and delight to every day. I am so very, very blessed to have you for a son. As you grow up, I pray that you and I will be able to keep this very special relationship that we have. Don't stray away from me, small one. You will always be my Punkin-Boo-Bear!

love love love

Mommy

To Everything There Is a Season

He's growing up.

He doesn't chew on book pages anymore. Now, he brings a book to me, places it in my hand, and crawls up into my lap so I can read it to him.

He helps with the laundry. He pulls clothes out of the dryer, throws them on the floor, then I pick them up and hang or fold them.

He points excitedly to objects that he wants to know the names of. Today he saw several Santas in the grocery store and eagerly pointed out each one.

He tries to say so many words! Sometimes I get the idea of what he is saying. "Bud" means "build" after he heard me say "Santa builds the toys!" "Iss" means "Chris" (which is his real name.) "Ba" means "bathtime" which he says happily as he runs towards the bathroom as we sing his bathtime song to him.

He likes to share his lunch with me. He holds out pieces of food and likes to "feed" me the same way I feed him.

He likes to play ball. If you ask him to bring you "the purple ball" he will find the purple ball, bring it to you, and go after it once you roll it across the floor. Then he picks it up and tries so very hard to roll it back to you, though usually it goes in quite the opposite direction!

My little man astonishes me each and every day with what he is capable of doing.

He can turn on the TV.

He can lift the lid to the toilet and throw things in it.

He can put his toys in his diaper pail.

He can pull diapers out of their basket and drag them around the house.

He can dig through the laundry pile, find my unmentionables, place them on his head, and giggle.

He can wriggle away while I'm changing his diaper resulting in a VERY disgusting mess.

But he can also give wet sloppy kisses and baby-sized bear hugs.

And I am just so in love with him!

Things That Lance Does Which Annoy Me Now But I Will Miss Later

I know that I only have a short amount of time with my baby before he turns into a "big boy" and then later, a man. So I try not to be annoyed at certain things, because while right now they may aggravate me to no end, I am sure that I will one day miss them. Here is the list of annoying things that I will *hopefully* miss.

1. Lance loves to take off his socks and then proceed to chew on them.

2. He finds it hilarious to try and roll over while I change his diaper.

3. When I lift him out of his crib after naps and in the morning, he pounds my chest with both of his hands (and he's strong! It hurts!), but then looks at me and smiles so sweetly so I have to forgive him.

4. He will not, and I mean will not sit still in the bathtub while I try to wash him.


Here is a list of things which he does now that I do not find annoying and will most certainly miss as he gets older.

1. The way he claps his hands when we cheer for him as he walks.

2. His long conversations with his stuffed Elmo and the way he talks to the characters on TV. He just babbles, babbles away in what sounds like Japanese.

3. How he imitates funny faces.

4. The way he buries his face in my shoulder when I pick him up out of his playpen after I take my shower and am wearing my snuggly soft bathrobe.

5. How he likes to "help" me turn out the lights as I leave rooms and guide the spoon into his mouth at feedings.

6. The way he gives "kisses" by throwing his arms around my face and pressing his mouth into my cheek.

7. The look of pure wonder on his face when he sees something new or exciting.

I could go on and on. I just wanted to get these down so that thirteen years down the road when I'm dealing with an angst-ridden adolescent I can remember these moments of unadulterated ecstasy and delight in my child.

Letter To My Son

My dear, sweet, small son,

Tomorrow you will be 3 months old! While on one hand it seems like you've been here forever, it also seems like just yesterday when I saw two pink lines on the pregnancy test.

Already you have doubled your birthweight, can hold objects, laugh and smile, and now you can start to pick your head up during "tummy time." These precious days pass so quickly!

I've taken a hundred photographs to remember the way you look.

I've shot hours of video footage to remember how you move and the way you sound.

But how can I bottle up the way I feel when I hold you close, rocking and singing your favorite lullabies?

How can I capture the fragrance of your skin and hair after your evening baths?

Is there a way to store the melting of my heart when you look up at me and smile?

Can I record the joy of cuddling a warm baby?

One day, you won't want to be held and rocked.

One day, you will be too big for your baby tub and you'll be taking showers.

One day, my kisses will embarrass you, and you won't like being called "Sweetie Pie Punkin' Bug."

I'd better enjoy these moments while I can, because one day you'll be all grown up and won't need your Mommy anymore.

But for now, I get to hold you, rock you, feed you, bathe you, giggle and smile at you, make funny faces at you, and laugh with you.

I can smother you in kisses and make silly baby sounds at you.

I love you, my son. More than you'll ever know.