Eli: 3 1/4 Years Old

Dear Eli,

You are a fun, sassy, hilarious, energy-filled little boy. You keep me laughing all day long.  I can't get enough of you! I truly realize that being able to stay home with you every day is a privilege, and I try my hardest to be grateful for the opportunity every day. Of course there are moments when I dream about how nice it would be to go to an office to be intellectually stimulated and to have adult conversations, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I can't imagine missing out on all of the cute things you say and do. I'm so grateful for how hard your dad works for our family and for the chance I have to be a stay-at-home mom!

You started preschool last month and you've been loving it. You go on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 12:30-3:00 p.m. On your first day of school, I was a total baby and sobbed all day long, but you marched right in without even a glance back. Even though there's a tiny part of me that wishes you were a little more attached to me, I really do love the fact that you're so independent and don't have any separation anxiety. I've been thrilled with your preschool experience so far. Your teacher, Ms. Amy, is amazing. She is very organized and does the funnest activities with you. She actually teaches you instead of just having it be a 2 1/2 hour long play group.  It's been fun to hear you come home and talk about things that I didn't teach you. You're constantly surprising me with things that you've learned there.

I have to brag about you a little. After you'd only been going to preschool for about a week, Ms. Amy came up to me to tell me that you had already learned how to write your name without any help.  You were the first kid in the class that was able to do it! Granted, I'm sure it helps that your name is only three letters long, but I'm still totally impressed with you. You are such a smart boy. I have no worries about the kind of student you're going to be. You love to learn and I'm sure it will carry you through the rest of your schooling years.

Lately, you have started telling me you're going to do something naughty before you do it. You'll say things like, "Mommy, I'm going to push Oliver." And when I ask you to please not, you'll say, "But mommy, I need to! I need to push him!" You know that you shouldn't be doing it and you're just testing the waters to see how mad I would be if you actually did it. You're pretty smart. You want to know how severe the consequences would be.

Since I last wrote to you, you've stopped napping. You stopped around the end of August. For some reason, you started thinking I was punishing you when I'd put you in your room for a nap. I'd try to explain to you that you weren't in trouble but that you just needed to lie down, but no amount of bribing would get you to do it. I tried everything. When you started throwing things around and crying hysterically for the entire time you were in there, I started leaving your door unlocked so that you wouldn't feel like you were in prison. When you figured out the door was unlocked, you started coming out on your own and I couldn't stop you. I gave up on naps completely and started trying to implement a "quiet time" where you'd read books so that both of us could get a little break during the day, but you didn't want to have that either. So now I just don't do anything. Most days, you are still super crabby towards the late afternoon and evening, and I know you still need a nap, but I don't know what else to do. If we drive somewhere, you fall asleep in the car 90% of the time.

After so many years of agonizing about your eating problems, I'm happy to report that I'm finally learning how to let go. I don't stress about it very much. I'd say a better word to describe your eating is frustration. I get frustrated that you eat the same few foods day after day and that you refuse to try anything new, but I'm not sobbing about it all the time like I used to. I'm not worried about your growth or development because you're a healthy, happy little boy, but I know that a lot of growth needs to happen and I just don't know how to help you. I know that you need to be pushed and challenged a little to try new foods, but I know that you have to think it's your idea. It's definitely a control issue and I don't want to push you too hard because that will make you even more resistant to change. It's a hard balance.  I don't let you just eat carbs all day like you want. I try to get some form of protein into you at every meal and get you to eat something fresh twice a day. If I can manage that then I feel like things are okay.

Potty training was a nightmare, but thankfully, it's over. You're 100% potty trained! Pee was easy for you. You got that basically on the first day. But pooping was another whole issue. It took 7 weeks before you pooped on the toilet willingly.  For some reason, you had an irrational fear of the toilet and refused to poop in it. After trying to force you for the first few days, we decided that we needed to take it in smaller baby steps. We used kind of an unconventional method to train you, but it worked. We would give you laxatives and glycerin suppositories to make you go and help it be soft. After a few accidents on the carpet and the hardwood floors in various rooms, we convinced you to poop on newspaper that we laid down on the bathroom tile. We let you do this for a few weeks and tried to take the pressure off. Once you learned how to recognize the feeling of needing to go and went on your own willingly on the newspaper, we just took the newspaper away one day. We told you that the diaper fairy came to take it away and that you were too big to be going on the floor anymore. From that day forward, you started pooping in the toilet. It was a miracle! It's been so nice to not have two kids in diapers at the same time.

You are majorly into potty humor.  You add poo poo, pee pee, bum, and penis onto the end of most of your sentences. You'll laugh your head off while looking at us for a reaction. We try our hardest to just ignore it or let you know that we don't think it's funny. It's such a typical three year old boy thing to do.  I'm sure you'll grow out of it eventually and I'm not too worried about it.

I continue to be impressed by your language skills. You speak so clearly and enunciate your words so well. I literally never have a hard time understanding what you're saying. You always remember new words that I teach you. I swear, I'll teach you a new word one time and you'll remember it weeks later, even if it hasn't come up since. You are so smart!

Eli, you are so much fun. I love spending time with you. You're kind of a wild man, but I love your energy. I love how spunky you are and how determined you are in life. You are a great big brother to Oliver and nothing melts my mother heart more than when you two play well together. You're already setting a wonderful example for him. I can't wait to see you grow and develop even more. I thank Heavenly Father every single day that He gave you to me.

Love,
Mama

39 Month Stats:
Weight: 37.4 lbs (92nd percentile)
Height: 39 1/4 inches (81st percentile)
Head Circumference: 

Oliver: 16 Months Old

Dear Oliver,

You are now 16 months old. You're getting to be such a big boy and you definitely have a big boy attitude to go along with it. You've started shrieking at the top of your lungs when you want something or want attention. It is extremely high-pitched and ear splitting. I thought it was funny the first few times you did it but now I'm totally over it. I wish there was some way you could communicate with us without doing that!

I'm still breastfeeding you, but just two days ago, I dropped your nap time feedings. Now I'm only nursing you at night. It was really hard for me to put you down for your naps without nursing you because I cherish when you fall asleep in my arms so much. I love when you're all warm and your cheeks are rosy. You never look sweeter than when you're nursing. Surprisingly, you didn't have a very hard time falling asleep without me. You fussed in your crib for a few minutes and then fell into a deep sleep. I had a lot harder time letting go of these nursing sessions than you did. I cried and cried.  At least we're still nursing once a day. I plan to continue this for as long as you want it.

The good part about nursing you less is that you're eating a lot better. I think my milk must be extra fattening and keep you full for so long that you don't want to eat any real food.  I always joke that it's like the Jack in the Box of breast milk. I'm so thrilled with your eating lately, I can't help but laugh and grin like a fool at meal times. You're usually eat anything we offer you. You'll at least try almost anything. Last night, you even ate a piece of salad.  SALAD! Are you even my son?!?! I was so happy!

You still aren't talking. At all. You literally can's say any words on your own. You'll occasionally parrot a word here and there if we ask you to, but even then, it's pretty indistinguishable. Like we'll say, "Oliver, say 'juice..'" And you'll says something that doesn't even have the same number of syllables like "gee gah." I'm not going to lie. Your dad and I are getting a little worried about it. Most kids your age can say about 10 to 15 words all on their own. However, I talked to Dr. Reese about it at your last appointment and he seem unconcerned. He says that you're probably just a late bloomer and that it will come.

Your naps have been all over the place this month because you're trying to transition from two naps to one. Two naps seems to be too much for you, but one isn't enough. When I try for two, I put you down around 10:00 a.m. and you almost always fall asleep right away.  You sleep for an hour and a half or two.  Then, I'll try to put you down again around 3:30 because we seem so tired again, but you rarely fall asleep. So over the past few weeks, I've slowly started putting you down for only one. I typically put you down around 11:30 or so and you'll sleep for a few hours. You're totally exhausted and falling apart again by bedtime, but hopefully you'll get used to this new schedule and be fine.

Your relationship with your brother continues to blossom.  You two play together more than you ever have, but you always fight more than ever too! The most common fight is when Eli snatches a toy from you that you're playing with and you hit him back and start crying. He can be pretty domineering and bossy, but you can certainly be dramatic.  Sometimes I feel like I don't know how to get the fighting under control because Eli doesn't listen to me and you're too little to understand still. It gets exhausting by the end of the day. But there are times when you'll play together really well and share, and for that I'm grateful.

You are getting really steady on your feet and are practically able to run. You still hold your arms up a little for balance while you toddle around, and it is all kinds of adorable. You still love music and love to dance. You can hum almost the entire tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and I'm not sure, but that seems pretty advanced to me. I have a feeling that you're going to be a musical kid.

Oliver, you are hilarious. You make the cutest faces, do the funniest things, and have the sassiest attitude. I am completely obsessed with you and would do anything for you. I love seeing you every morning when you wake up and after you go to bed at night, I miss you like crazy. I feel very blessed to spend my days with you and to be your mother. I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for coming into my life and for being such an incredible son.

I love you,
Mama

16 month stats: 
Weight: 25.4 lbs (53rd percentile) 
Height: 31 1/2 inches (44th percentile) 
Head Circumference: 19 inches (72nd percentile)