Dear Max,
Not that you care, but this month’s letter is a few days late. This week has been busy. I completed my first course in my masters program! It went really well and I feel like I learned a lot. Because of the holidays, I now have a month off before the next class and I’m looking forward to relaxing on the weekends and evenings, since that is when I work on my class. You have a little toy laptop and you like to get it out and “check your email”, but lately when I ask you what you are doing you tell me, “I’m working on my class!” You are such a silly willy.
You are scared of everything. Well, not EVERYTHING, but it seems like it sometimes. Basically if anything or anyone is loud or big, you are scared. The vacuum cleaner (STILL!), loud singers at church, most people over 6′2, etc. Over the Thanksgiving break Nona wanted to take you and Jake to Chuckie Cheese. I took you there once when you were like 9 or 10 months old, but you haven’t been back since and she thought you would have fun. As soon as we walked in the door you saw the big mouse walking around. We were in the process of ordering our pizza and getting tokens and I was able to distract you enough that you didn’t completely lose it. Thankfully, we didn’t see the mouse walking around after that so you were okay because it was gone. You rode a few little “rides” and you were very excited to ride Bob the Builder. As you were riding you spotted the mechanical mouse that sings and you got scared again. Just about that time the entire place lost power. No games, no lights, and lots of scared children. Some emergency lights came on so that it wasn’t completely dark and our pizza had just been brought to our table. By this time you were focused on the mechanical mouse and you kept saying, “I’m scared of that mouse”. I told you to stop looking at it and you would yell, “Let me see it!” The power finally came back on and once you saw the mechanical mouse move you got hystericle. I thought I would “cure” you by making you go up and look at and see that it isn’t real. It didn’t work. You were crying and making a scene, but I made you go look at it and I touched it. That was the end. Game over. You just kept saying, “I’m ready to go home”. So we did, with 40 unused tokens. Maybe in a few years I will take you back. We’ll see.
The other day we were at Wal-Mart grocery shopping and Jake was sitting at the front of the cart and you were sitting in the back. A lady walked up beside us and said, “Oh, they are so cute!” You look directly at her, hold your index finger out and exclaim, “LOOK AT THIS BOOGER!” You really know how to make your Mama proud. I couldn’t help but laugh and the lady laughed and said, “It’s okay, I understand. I have 3 boys”.
You and Dada’s new game is to make “bean burritos”. Dada gets a blanket and rolls you up really tight so that you can’t move. You finally get out of the blanket by rolling the other direction. I love watching the two of you play together and even Jake has started trying to join in the fun. This past week we went and saw Granny and Pappy and brought your sleeping bag for you to nap in. After your nap Jake was climbing on top of your bean bag and holding on while you pulled him around the living room. You have also been wanting to drive your mini power wheels fire truck around the house lately. On the back of it there is a little ladder and Jake gets on his knees and holds onto the ladder while you drag him around the house. It is hilarious. The two of you are starting to play together and it just melts my heart. The other day you and Jake played in your room by yourselves for over an hour. I would come check on you two every few minutes, but it was great because I got tons of stuff around the house done. By the time you boys were finished playing in your room it was a complete disaster and you guys had drug every toy out of your toy box, but hey, you had fun and no one got hurt.
I got my iPhone last month and Nona also got one. You are proficient at using it. You know how to record yourself, play games, take pictures or video and look at previous pictures or video. It is seriously ridiculous. A while back several people told me about a Leap Frog DVD that teaches letters and the sounds they make, it’s called “The Letter Factory”. You call it your frog movie and you love it. It has really helped you learn a lot. You will see a sign or something and point out the letters you see.
We have been going to the library at least once a week to check out new books. They have computers in the kid’s section that have little programs that teach letters, numbers, shapes, colors and all sorts of stuff. Usually the computers are taken and Jake starts humming anyway, so we haven’t gotten a chance to use them. Well one day the computers were open, and Jake was in a good mood, so I thought I would let you try it out. It was funny because you kept trying to touch the screen like you do on my iPhone instead of using the mouse. Eventually you got the hang of it and you were pretty disappointed when we had to leave. A lot of times when I tell you “no” or tell you to stop doing something fun (like playing with my phone, watching stuff on the computer, play at the park, etc.) you start crying. I have found that you are able to deal with disappointment better if you have a little heads up. I really don’t like it when you cry because you don’t get your way or you have to stop doing something fun, and I have started to tell you that if you don’t cry then I will let you do something fun later. Sometimes I feel like you just have trouble controlling your emotions and other times I think you are just being a brat because you aren’t getting your way. It’s a work in progress.
I decided to start the potty training process a little more. I got a glass jar and I filled it with M&Ms and set it on the counter where you can see it. I told you that every time you pee pee in the potty you will get one M&M and every time you poo poo you will get two M&Ms. We have started sitting you on the potty right before you take a bath and with a little warm water you pee almost every time. You get so excited and we make a big deal out of it and you run into the kitchen completely naked and get your M&M. Since you usually have a dirty diaper in the morning when you wake up, it has made it more difficult to get you to poop in the potty. When you don’t poop in the morning you will tell us, the problem is that sometimes you tell us too late, and other times you tell us and we sit you on the potty and nothing happens. However, you have pooped in the potty 3 times and you get so excited. You are starting to get the idea and you seem to be more aware of your body and what is going on. You have told me once or twice that you are going pee pee, but I don’t know if you are just saying that or not. I figure by Jake’s 1st birthday you will be 2 and a half and we will go full force into wearing underwear and losing the diapers.
I am really enjoying watching you grow up and learn new things everyday. I love seeing your face light up when I tell you we are going to the library or the park and hearing you say, “I’m excited, Mama!” I love your enthusiasm for life and the way to repeat everything you hear. I love how sweet you are with Jake and how you always want to know where Jake is and what he’s doing. Mostly, I love the way you hug me and tell me that you love me.
Love,
Mama
