As you turn two

Nolan Michael,

This has been a year of milestones for you little man. You started walking last year before your first birthday, actually well before your first birthday, you were up and walking full speed by the time you were 10 months old and you have not slowed down since. You now literally run, jump, kick, spin, and do high knees. It has been incredible to watch you transition into the little toddler you have become. You have had your tears and triumphs but you do all of them with a smile and we are so proud of you. Since your first birthday you have learned so much, you are like a sponge who takes everything in. You are quiet as your teachers would say but you observe everything and let us know when the time is right to share your knowledge. I think you are just like your dad, he is also more quite natured and sits back and observes everything but that doesn’t mean he isn’t paying attention.

In the last year you have done a lot of traveling, we have been to Chicago, Lake Geneva, Arizona, Houston, and San Antonio. You are an excellent traveler and love to fly. You got to experience your first time in snow at Christmas 2012 in Dallas.  You spent your first night away from mom and dad with Ms. Kelsey while your daddy and I went out. When we returned in the morning you were all smiles and had no trouble being away from us.

You found out you were going to be a big brother, and have embraced it. We can’t wait to meet her in the next few weeks. I believe you understand that we are going to have a baby coming home into our house. When I ask you if you are going to help feed her and change her diapers you say “yes.” You also tell me she can sleep in your bed and have been very hands on in setting up her nursery and getting her toys and clothes together.

You absolutely love school. We could not be more fortunate to have found a school with more caring and loving teachers than Kids R Kids. You go into your classroom every morning and give the teacher hugs. You then sit down at your table and eat your breakfast with your friends and never cry when we leave. As your parents this is the best feeling, knowing that you feel safe and loved with your teachers and genuinely want to be there.

While your teachers say you are quiet when you come home you talk our ears off. You vocabulary has grown so much in the last 3 months. As you are about to turn two you are using sentences, yes saying 3-4 words in a row. This morning I asked you if your shoes were tight on your toes and you said “No not tight” when our cell phones ring you say “mommy iphone” or “daddy iphone.”

You started sleeping in your big boy toddler bed around 18 months and just last night you sleep in your real big boy bed, the queen in your room. We will transition you slowly into the big bed and then your sister will get the crib/toddler bed in her room.

You love to be outside. You have a basketball hoop on the back porch that you love to shoot “slam dunks”. We also spend a lot of the time in the garage where you throw and now catch a ball. You get so excited when you catch it you say “I did it!” with a huge smile. We recently got you a bike and you scoot around on it but are still working on figuring out the pedals, I think another inch in those already long legs and you will be flying down the side walk.

You are still our little water baby, you never say no to bath time. You like to put your head under the water and in the running water. It does scare your mother that you have no fear of water but I would rather you like it than fear it. Just please be careful little man.

As we approach your second birthday this week. I am reminded of the day you were born and how you have changed my life. I love being your mom and couldn’t ask for a better gift from God to allow me to be your mother. You constantly make me laugh and smile and have taught me to appreciate the simplest little things again. Like the sound of an airplane, never before I had you did I notice you could hear the airplanes in the sky even when you can’t see them. But you let us know every time there is an airplane and you do it by the sound of the plane not you seeing it with your eyes.

I cannot wait to see what the next year brings as you continue to grow and develop and we bring another person into our family. I love you with all my heart and am so proud of you in everything you have become in these last two years. Always continue to be yourself and know you are smart and can do whatever you want. You will make mistakes but you will always learn from them and can make anything right that you did wrong.

Love,

Mom