Two and three-quarter years-old today. My heart feels so full, yet so heavy. I can literally feel my baby getting grown up, watching you outgrow your 2T clothes, waiting for you to transition from a crib to a bed and from diapers to underwear and from pacis to no pacis, hearing those intricately long sentences flow from your mouth, and witnessing the developing friendships and real PLAY with your buddies at school. As much as I absolutely adore all these "big kid" developments, I just want to continue to cling to your babyhood longer. Three seems so big already, and I'm certainly not ready.... will I ever be??. . . for these years to pass so quickly.
So, in order to capture you at this age, let me tell you all about YOU at this very awesome age:
-You can't decide if you want to be a big boy or a baby. You ask to be rocked, to be carried laying horizontally ("like this" you'll show me), to be called "little boy" when I say "big boy." You go into baby talk some times ("ma-ma, eh, ehhhh, ma-ma" as you go limp or cling to my leg) and you crawl around on the floor like a baby saying "goo goo, gah, gah" playfully. But, then there are those times when you want to do everything by yourself and frustrate all of us with your persistence in doing something a certain way that is doomed to fail.
-However, you may have THE best coping skills of all my children. When you get upset, you will get still and limp. Your head drops slightly, your eyes get heavy and eyelids droop a little. If you're near the couch, you'll lay your upper body on it and be as still as can be. It's like the disappointment or frustration or sadness has taken all your energy, and you are not willing to fight. You're definitely in "freeze" mode. Daddy and I have talked about how mature it is that you don't fling yourself around or throw a tantrum, but instead you definitely get our attention by us wanting to console you. You just need a little bit of time, and soon you are communicative and able to turn your attitude around. When you get angry, you very clearly let us know, "I FUSTATED!" or "That makes me MAD!" Daniel Tiger has really helped me help you breathe through it with songs like "When You Feel So Mad." I also hear you saying things when you're annoyed or irritated like, "I sick Quinn," which means "I am sick and tired of Quinn." And you don't like it when either boy is misbehaving or not listening: "I talking to you, Banner!!" or "Don't DO that, Quinn!" And if those two are fighting with each other, you will assert yourself and try to intervene, usually yelling at them and trying to help stop whatever is going on.
-Speaking of your brothers, they both adore you. You sometimes get sick of their attention. Quinn wants to love on you all the time, but you are not always a willing participant. I will coach him on what to do if you don't want to hug or kiss, and once he asks you or says, "Knox, I want to kiss you. Let me know when you're ready, " you usually say "Okay, I ready now" only a few moments later. You simply want to be respected, and no one can blame you for that! You don't like it when the boys take things from you without asking, but once they ask, you are willing to oblige usually. They forget that you are a REAL person with REAL feelings, and they have taken advantage of your innocence for too long. You're definitely not putting up with that any longer! They used to be able to sneak your Halloween candy away from you, but not so much anymore! They used to be able to trade you a toy to play with what you had, but not any longer!
-Speaking of Halloween, you were STOKED for Halloween, and you haven't stopped talking about trick-or-treating since then (over two weeks ago)! You dressed up as DJ Lance Rock and Brobee - alternating costumes at various events we went to (My Gym Halloween party; block party at one of Quinn's friend's house; trick-or-treating and a visit to Chuck E. Cheese before the rain ended Halloween night). You were a little bit obsessed with the Brobee hat - wearing it all weekend before Halloween. But, then again, that's not surprising... you ADORE your Yo Gabba Gabba friends! You even sleep with a Brobee doll most nights.
-Sleep... that's another topic. I don't like to EVER write about what a good sleeper you are, but in the past several months, you really have been. You love your pacis, your lovey, your Brobee, your stuffed kitty, your blanket, your sleep sack, and the routines we have in place - "wash my pacis" (demanding I rinse all three pacis before you to sleep), "rock me," "water please" especially if you didn't get any after brushing your teeth, "can we sing?" and if I sing a song you don't want, "Nope; not that one."
-You now want to say goodbye to everyone in your class and get upset if you didn't get to say "Bye Zolly!" or "Bye Asher!" You run and chase them at school and want to read books with them. One of my favorite things I hear is your friends calling you, "Knoxy! Knoxy!" This simple but loving nickname is heard throughout the classroom as your friends and teachers want your attention or want you to join them or hand you something, etc. I love how loved you are by all those who know you!
-Every girl you see is "sister"... pronounced "sistuh." I think this is awesome given you don't have one and aren't getting one - but you will point to a girl and say something like, "That sister is playing over there," or "That sister is in my way!" or at the gym play area you'll say, "I was playing with the sister." I will correct you and say, "Oh, that girl?" and you will agree, "Yeah, that sister." Even older girls - women - are sisters.
-You've had your first official swim lesson at Montgomery last week. You did GREAT! No tears, and you were excited to finally have YOUR turn to swim.
-Some of my favorite things you say are: "volerume," (as in "turn up the volerume," probably because you say it like you're going to say "Valerie" first - your teacher's name), "dinosoy," "roy" (as in "roar!") "fustated," "wittle" (little), "it's not fair, mommy!" "Bridge up/Bridge down!" (when you raise your bottom up/down for a diaper change), "Mommy, something startled me!" and "Wanna see my cool trick?!"
-I still absolutely love our one-on-one days we have together this school year. Just last week, we went to Play Street just the two of us and then had the best lunch at Souper Salad where you ate and ate and ate so nicely. "Tell me a story, Mommy," you asked in the middle of our lunch. "Tell me the story of Goldilocks." And when I started telling you, you began taking over for me. You have such a great imagination and a phenomenal memory.
-We have no idea who this is or what this is, but you talk about someone named "Phono" and you crack us up when we drive down the street and you will point to a random house and say, "Phono lives there." The next house comes, and you'll say, "Phono lives THERE!"
-Things you love: My Gym, going to the gym with mommy/daddy, kolaches, Danimals, candy, Sukkot dinners, pizza, dancing. watching YouTube on my phone, jumping off high places, anything Gabba related, Damon, Zolly, Asher, Hayla, going to Grandma's house, BeeBee, being with Mommy, when Daddy lets you watch a DVD in his car, wearing your rain boots, Chuck E. Cheese's, baths, pretzels, wearing a mask or a superhero cape or dressing up like any superhero, your pacis.
Knox Morgan, you are such a delight to live with! You are one special, verbal, active, sweet little nugget, and I just adore how perfectly you are growing up. You have mixed feelings about getting older, as do I - but I can tell you want to keep up with your big brothers and enjoy the privileges that come with not being a "baby" anymore. You're a good listener, a quick learner, and a fun friend. I love watching you with your school friends at Tot Shabbat or at events like today after the Thanksgiving feast when you were running all over the social hall with your buddies. I love how snuggly you are first thing in the morning and how perfectly you fit in my arms. My favorite time of day with you is rocking you at night before bedtime, singing with you and cuddling just the two of us.
Let's both just promise to enjoy the next 3 months of your 2-year-old year. Threenager-hood is just around the corner, and we will navigate that together beautifully I'm sure (at least I'm hopeful!), but while you are still my not-in-the-least-bit-terrible two year old, I'm going to savor every moment... even the hard ones.
I love you, Baby Love!
Happy three-quarter birthday!
Love,
Mommy
P.S. I wanted to add this a few days after posting... today we had your parent/teacher conference, and Ms. Valerie and Ms. Hani told us a couple of poignant things. One was that you are like the "police office" of the classroom - helping monitor the rules and making sure others are obeying them (not in a negative/tattletale way, but in a helpful way). They talked about what a bright, smart boy you are, how you give them great hugs, how they are full of love for you and will have such a hard time letting you go to new teachers next year when they will have been your teachers for more than half your life by then, and how you've mastered all the objectives they've had for your age group. Not one item went unchecked by them. But most important to me, was that Ms. Valerie said in the Thanksgiving song your class sang, she specifically wanted you to sing the first line, "Thank you for the sun so bright," because you do just that: "He lights up the room. He is such a bright light." Oh, my heart, she is so right!
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| You randomly said, "I need to call my Bubbie," at Play Street. |
At our fun lunch date last week:
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| Taken at school - right before the Thanksgiving song. There you are being the helper "police officer!" |
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