This letter was supposed to be all finished up on Mother’s
Day but I have been taking care of a very sick little babe (you) and have had
to put my letter on hold. You poor soul.
A whole year has passed and we have had such a lovely time
getting to know each other. You are 20 months now and I just can’t believe
we’ve had you so long. We will probably say it a lot but time goes so quickly
these days. Today is Mother’s Day and such a wonderful time to reflect on being
your mom. There are some days when I just think, I don’t know what the heck I’m
doing and other days when I think, hey I got this! But loving you is always constant.
Some things I love about you:
You are so concerned for others. You are always so concerned
when you see or hear others crying. Even in the book we read there is a part
where the little fox is crying and whenever we get to that page we have to stop
and talk about it. When someone is crying around you, you try to make them
laugh. It’s so sweet and adorable but looks funny to anyone who doesn’t know
what you are trying to do. You will go up to the person and either just start
laughing at them (trying to get them to laugh) or do something silly. I try to
explain to other parents that you are trying to help and not being rude when
you laugh at another child crying. The other day I was having a hard day (you
will understand this but you will definitely understand this as a mother) and
you found me crying. You took me by the hand and lead me to the bedroom and
patted the bed for us to lay down and snuggle. My heart almost burst with love.
I have so many similar stories of your interactions with me and others.
You are so funny! Seriously, you do super hilarious stuff
all the time. You are always making your dad and I laugh. You love to be silly.
You have a fake laugh and a real laugh and I love both. When your dad comes
home we will go over our days either over dinner or after you’ve gone to bed
and I always have a story about you that makes us both laugh. You absolutely
brighten up when you’ve gotten us to laugh so I make sure that no matter what I’m
feeling if you are doing something to make me laugh, I laugh. You will say “hmmmm…”
before saying “yes” “no” or “maybe” and it always makes me laugh. You will
whisper “wow” in the sweetest voice at the most hilarious times.
You are so helpful. I know this is pretty common with kids
your age but I hope it stays. You love to run and grab things for us. If
something spills you quickly run and grab a towel so wipe it up. You love to
wipe our noses and have us pretend cough into tissues. You are so quick to
throw your clothes in the laundry hamper or to clean up your toys. In the
morning you will bring me a shirt to put on to start our day. The other day I
was chatting with you about how I didn’t know what I was going to wear and you
pulled back the door of where I keep my clothes and pointed to them and then I
said “I just don’t know which ones to wear though.” You went into my laundry
hamper and pulled out a pink shirt for me. You’ve also brought me a pillow while I did my
stomach exercises on the floor, and your water bottle to drink while I worked
out. Just now we were playing block and you said “all done” and started putting
them away. I want to remember all of these little moments just in case you grow
out it J
You are smart. So smart. I know all moms say that and it’s probably
the case here and you are probably just on track; but you do things that just
blow me away. I can see in your eyes that you understand what I am saying and
you will more often than not do what I ask or answer appropriately. You know animal noises, tons of words (most
other people can understand but some are
just you and I), your body parts, how to count to three (all I say is “count”
and you do!”) and some days four, we are
currently working on colors. You love books and that just make my heart so
happy. You are such a great problem solver and just so clever. You are so good about communicating what you
need and I love how your eyes light up and you smile when I’ve got it right. You
can sign “all done” and “more” you can also say them but before you could it
was a life saver!
You are such a little chatter box and storyteller…at home.
You aren’t much for talking when we are out and about but at home you just talk
and talk and talk. The other night when you woke up at 2 a.m. (sick little
thing) you went on and on with quite the story. It was darling and I didn’t
mind because you were so happy and had so much to tell me. I was less happy
when you woke up at 6 a.m. in a terrible mood. (We won’t even mention last night and what you
put me through, just know you owe me lady!)
You are so loving. Although you aren’t one for lots of hug
and kisses much to my disappointment (although that doesn’t stop me!) you are
so loving. You take such good care of your baby and stuffed animals. You are so
gentle but so fierce at times that I
wonder how all of that can fit into such a tiny person.
I will finish it off (I could go on and on!) with talking
about how we’ve entered the toddler tantrums. When I was pregnant and when you
were a newborn I read a lot about parenting. The new thing is called time-ins.
They talk about how kids shouldn’t have time outs anymore to be left alone to
deal with their emotions but time-ins to work through it with their parent and
have someone help them with all their feelings. Obviously that’s a huge sum up
and there is a bit more to it but anyway. When I read that I thought “yes! That
makes so much sense that’s what I will do. Of course kids need to feel loved
and helped through their emotions. I will totally be that Mom.” As with all my
parenting plans you came with your own ideas. When you are in a tantrum the absolute WORST
thing we can do is interact with you in anyway. I am not talking about us trying
to do a time-in with you once and it didn’t work, we’ve tried SO many times. I
can’t quite put into words how much worse it is when we try to hold you, hug
you, talk to you, move you, anything that interacts with you. You calm down SO
much quicker when you are by yourself and being ignored. Like actually cuts the
time in half. So just know that I was all ready to be “that” kind of mom but
you did not like it.
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| Sitting so sweetly for Mother's Day. |
Eliza, I love being your mom. It’s amazing and challenging
and something I am proud to be. You bring so much joy and laughter into my
life. I am so happy you are mine for eternity. The true joy of motherhood is
the little moments throughout the day that I get to share with you and be apart
of. I love you and hope and pray you always feel loved by me, your dad, and
your Heavenly Father. We are all on your side.Thanks for letting me try out all my parenting ideas on you, I have no idea what I'm doing
