Dear Riley,
Sweet girl, we love you so much. But I must tell you....you are keeping us on our toes! You're a lot different than your brother was at this age. You're testing your boundaries more every day and trying hard to be independent. Someday, that will be a great thing! Right now, at almost 20 months...not always the best. :) At restaurants, for example, you don't want to sit in a high chair, but you don't want to sit in the booth next to me, or on my lap... You don't want to ride in a stroller, but you don't want me to hold you, and if you are walking, you don't want us to hold your hand. We love your little personality, but boy...I'm worried about your teen years!
We love listening to you learn new words everyday. It's seriously adorable listening to you say 'Shirley.' Your new favorite thing is to sing, and it's the sweetest sound to listen to. I can tell you're going to be a little performer and make us so proud. I can't wait to see who you grow up to be. I know you're going to be an amazing person.
We love you!
Love,
Dear Gavin,
Lately, things have changed with you. I've been associating it with the dropping of your nap, but over the last month or so, we've seen a big change in your behavior. You're talking back, whining nonstop, telling us no, yelling at your sister... Now, it's not like this all day long, but it is something we're dealing with on a pretty regular basis. This week, Mommy hasn't had a good week. It is hard for me to even admit, but I know I had lost my patience with you. There were a lot of tears over the last two days from both of us, and I feel terrible for that. After a lot of thinking, and some talking with your teacher, I think I'm realizing that you're just getting older. You're testing your boundaries with me, becoming more independent, and overall, just growing up. I think we're going to have a lot of days in the future filled with attitude and arguments, because that's just part of the dynamic between a mother and a child. But I realize that the way I've been handling things this week isn't the right way, and I'm writing to you to tell you that I promise to be better. When I think about you starting kindergarten in just 6 short months and NOT being here with me all day, my eyes fill with tears because I can't believe the last 4.5 years have gone by so fast. I don't want to look back someday with regret... Daddy and I are so lucky that you are ours, and I will never let you forget that! Here's to better days, my sweet bug. I love you!
Love,
Dear Gavin,
What a special night we had! Last night, you and I headed out on our first official 'mommy/son date.' I won tickets to see Guess How Much I Love You at the Walton Arts Center, and we were thrilled to make it a special evening, just for us.
The drive down was long, with rain slicked highways and rush hour traffic, and we missed the beginning of the play. But we held hands as we ran across the parking lot and ran into the dark theater to find our seats. We only got to see about a half hour of the 45 minute play, but you sat on my lap for much of it and I just snuggled you close and tried to memorize every moment. Every question you asked. Every movement you made. I loved hearing you say things like, 'This is the best date ever!' and 'Thank you, Mom, for bringing me hear.'
We left the theater and walked around the lobby a little bit and the front of the theater to see the Christmas decorations. It was chilly, but we still had fun. The car next to ours parked super close to our car, and we couldn't get in our side. We thought that was so silly as we crawled across the other side just to get buckled in. Then, we headed north on the highway and ended our date at TCBY for some yummy frozen yogurt. Your choice: Cake Batter with white chocolate chips, mini M&Ms, and gummy bears. In the middle of eating our frozen yogurt, we happened to look outside and see it was pouring again, and we just looked at each other and laughed. We didn't bring your umbrella in and just imagined getting poured on as we ran back to the car. {Luckily it had slowed down before we left....}
It was just such a magical night. We got to spend 3 hours together....no distractions from the phone, the tv, or your sister. Just me and you and lots of holding hands. Of course that is special in and of itself, but last night came at a very fitting time, because yesterday was a really emotional day for me. There sadly was a school shooting yesterday, and it shook me, both as your mommy and as a teacher. My heart ached for those families that lost their kids, not much older than you, especially right before Christmas. I was so overjoyed to turn on the news coverage and spend that time together, devoting myself only to you. You are such a joy in my life, and I am so lucky.
I love you and I can't wait for our next date.
Love,
Dear Gavin,
It really is the littlest things that remind me how grown up you're getting. Today, I packed your first school lunch. Usually, you're in preschool until 11 and then you come home for lunch. But today was a special day. You've been learning about animals at school, so you go to take a special trip to the zoo. Well, in actuality, it's the local safari, but it's the closest thing we have to a zoo around here! But, it wasn't something your class could do in just the short time you're there in the morning, so you get to stay at school ALL day today. This morning, we packed your first lunch, and I wrote 'I <3 a="a" about="about" all="all" and="and" at="at" be="be" becoming.="becoming." blast="blast" bottle="bottle" brought="brought" but="but" can="can" coming="coming" could="could" day="day" despite="despite" down="down" emotions="emotions" field="field" first="first" font="font" forever="forever" gone="gone" have="have" having="having" hear="hear" hope="hope" i="i" it="it" keep="keep" kinds="kinds" little="little" ll="ll" love="love" m="m" mommy="mommy" napkin.="napkin." nbsp="nbsp" of="of" on="on" pick="pick" proud="proud" rain="rain" re="re" s="s" safari.="safari." same="same" so="so" soon="soon" surface.="surface." t="t" that="that" the="the" there="there" time="time" to="to" trip.="trip." u="u" up="up" wait="wait" who="who" wish="wish" with="with" you.="you." you="you" your="your">
Love,
Dear Riley,
It took me a while to want to write you your first birthday letter. I'm in denial I think that my baby is a toddler! This first year with you in our family has been a whirlwind of wonderfulness. Daddy and I are still surprised at how quickly it went by. It's fitting that I started having contractions with you on 4th of July and you beat your August due date to become a July baby because you are certainly a little firecracker! You're our daredevil, our instigator, our crazy girl! Seriously, into everything! From throwing everything you can into the trash, or taking things out of the trash, to eating dog food, to scooping up handfuls of dirt from the plants and dumping them wherever your little hear desires, you do what you please. You are a copycat! We keep telling your big brother he has to remember that, because whatever he does, you do. I've never seen a 1 year old 'shoot webs' before like Spiderman.
You decided you were ready to wean yourself sooner than Gavin did, and so we're done breastfeeding already and you're not even 13 months yet. It's no question where you got your appetite...you eat like Mommy! We love that you're a good eater, but watch out if you get hungry! All crankiness breaks loose. Everyone tells us they've never seen such a happy, smiley baby. I agree...you're all smiles 95% of the time, but boy are those meltdowns huge when they show up!
I thought for sure while I was pregnant with you that I was having another baby boy. When the ultrasound showed you were a girl, I was shocked and taken by complete surprise. Now, I cannot imagine you not being our baby girl. Our family is perfect with you in it, and your Mommy, Daddy, and big brother are absolutely in love with everything about you.
Happy birthday, sweet girl.
Love,
Dear Riley,
I hope that Daddy, Gavin, and I can always remember what a silly little girl you are. You make us laugh so much, and we absolutely love the personality you're developing. This morning, in the car, Gavin laughed and said, 'Riley has a book on her head.' I looked back to see you through the mirror, and there you were, with a book balancing on the top of your head, with your cheesy little smile, nose scrunched up and all, because you knew you were being silly and making us laugh. Please don't ever lose that. I want you to always make us laugh. We love you, silliness and all!
Love,
Dear Gavin,
I love the things you say that bring a smile to my face. We've been talking all week about making a word wall. It is something I decided do a while back during the summer because I know you're an the verge of reading and I thought it would be a good idea to introduce sight words. So, this morning we finally got around to making it. I put the letters up on the closet doors in the toy room, and we added some words that you already know. Your little face lit up when you realized you knew how to read them! Later, we were in the car and I told you that you had to show Daddy your word wall when he got home. And this is what you said to me - 'Mom, you keep calling it a word wall, but I was thinking. Since you put it up on the doors, shouldn't it be called a word door?' Why, yes, son...you're technically correct. Thanks for correcting me.
Love,
