Dear Knox,
This is the final letter I will write to you as a one-year-old. The next newsletter will be on your 2nd birthday, and man, are you so ready to be TWO! I just can't handle the passage of time moving so quickly. More and more, I go back and forth between wanting to strangle you and wanting to cuddle you.... as you are quite definitely becoming a temperamental two-year-old!! You definitely have a mind of your own and let us all know it. You get "MAD!" if we don't respond right away as you try to navigate the world and make your presence known in every setting: school, home, library, car, restaurants, etc. You want what's yours and sometimes what is everyone else's - namely my phone or the iPad. Yep, you have entered the world of the screen, and you have quickly learned to rely on it for entertainment. Ugh, this drives me NUTS, but it's the world we live in . . . I just wish you weren't so addicted to it!
Okay, so what have you been up to this month? Well, I'll change this format up a bit and list 23 things I ADORE about you at 23-months old:
- You have a pretty lengthy vocabulary! Your word list is ever increasing. My two favorites right now are "honeydew," and "applesauce." You say them so sweetly and perfectly!
- You have very nice manners. You say "sa-ee" (sorry) and "peas" (please) and "tan-too" (thank you). Just tonight, you said, "Tan-too Mommy my poon," ("Thank you, Mommy, for my spoon.")
- You don't say /k/ and /g/ still. It's still "milt" (milk) and "dot" (dog).
- You say your own name: Knot (since you can't say the /k/ or /ks/ sound).
- You love to cuddle and lay keppe on my shoulder.
- You hum with me or sing with me at bedtime.
- You continue to be a dancing machine! You love the Just Dance app on our Apple TV and will ask for "dacine" (dancing) nearly every day.
- While I hate that you get so upset, your angry face is just the cutest darn thing.
- You adore Elmo and Cookie Monster. You also love Muno and Vampirina.
- You love to jump and hop - and love to tell us when you are doing so. "Watch! I jumpeen."
- You have started the beginning of counting! "One. . .Feee... Fuuhh...Fiiiee..." I've heard you count 3-10 properly, but you haven't done it since that one time. When I ask you to do it again, you just smile at me, as if to say, "Yeah, right, lady! You wish!"
- You are getting your colors! You know color names for sure - you just don't always match them correctly. You have known "ellow" for a while, but now you are trying to remember which is "bue," "geen," "wed," and I have no idea how to spell the word you say for orange (something like "george" maybe?!!). As of this evening, though, you were getting them all correct!
- Your name for Grandma is now Dam-ma.
- When you laugh, you say, "That's funny!" Oh, this just makes me smile thinking about how awesome that is to hear!
- You chime in on various lyrics of pop music: Bad Blood, Thunder, Believer, On Top of the World . . . those are a few family faves around here. You love to hit those last notes of each sentence or verse with your brothers, and you are quite proud of yourself.
- You really enjoy books, especially ones with animals so you can say their sounds or point to various animals you know. You have recently enjoyed a book you got for Hanukkah where we look for items on the page, and you like to spot the shoes or the socks or the car or the train....
- You are quick with puzzles and seem to enjoy the challenge of doing them - matching pieces to their picture/space.
- You have a love for your teachers at this point in the year that thrills me. I am delighted to see you give Ms. Valerie or Ms. Hani hugs before you leave the room. Just starting these past few weeks, we added an extra day at school, and I get to pick you up on that day! Seeing your connection to those teachers helps me feel at ease about you being there more often and away from the house.
- You're still in love with your My Gym classes - and we just started a new class since you aged out of the younger one. You are a bit feisty in that class, though - not wanting to share your space or equipment. You are quick to make a mad face and point at a "friend" who you don't want to play near you, and you spout out all kinds of gibberish at them in a mean tone. I told you - you are becoming two!
- You love fish still - your new pet fish "Feesh," watching the fish on your projector, eating fish sticks, finding them on various objects (the soap dispenser, for example) or around wherever we are (swim school, for example). In fact, that is the theme of your upcoming birthday party! I think it's fitting and represents something you've been pretty drawn to all year.
- The brother hug you guys give each other is quite possibly going to melt my heart completely into a puddle one night soon. The three of my boy joys with their arms locked around each other saying goodnight while laughing and hugging, it's a mama's high! I love seeing those boys tuck you in to little circle of love - my little squirt just standing there in your sleep sack next to those boys who tower over you.
- The way you eat ice cream is both frustrating and cute. You just touch your tongue to it with a mouth wide open. You won't bite it or put the spoon in your mouth.
- Just like Quinn used to do, when you get excited about us getting home or coming to pick you up, you immediately look for something to bring to us. Like you're shy and don't know what to do. But, pretty quickly you realize you don't have to do that - and you put it down and run into our arms with a great big smile on your face. Oh, I just love your hugs and your excitement, and that moment of being reunited with you!
Knox Morgan, two years ago, I was uncomfortably pregnant with emerging complaints about my back, low pressure, heart palpitations that were triggered by Braxton Hicks, awful reflux, a rash, and leg cramps. I was feeling the most miserable I had ever felt while pregnant - not to be unexpected during a third pregnancy. I remember feeling like those last weeks were going to creep too slowly by and I couldn't imagine making it to your birthday in one (happy) piece! Fast forward to today, and I know this month is going to fly by, and I'm trying to soak it up - not speed it up! You bring our family so much joy, laughter, and love. So, even though you test those boundaries we keep trying to uphold, you can tug on me incessantly while I'm cooking dinner to the point that I can't even reach the stove, and I can't even look at my phone without you whining for it ("phona, phona, phooooona!"), I am going to embrace this final month of your second year. Happy 23 Months, my one-year old boy!
I love you so very much, Baby Love!
Love,
