16 Months

Dear Ellis-

Hi there! Sometimes I wonder when you will read these letters. Will you be under 18 and still living here with Dad and I? Will you be in college? Will you be married with kids of your own?

I am not sure who these letters are more for, you or me? I write them so that I can remember you because you are changing so fast, and I forget pretty much everything.   

 

It's for you too, though. I’m sure you’ll think it’s fun to see how you were when you were little. I always love hear my parents talk about how I was when I was little. It’s neat to see their faces light up as they remember that part of their lives. See, being a parent to a little person is a lot of fun(and work) and I think it is helping to make me stay young just like teaching young people does for me. I get to relive bits of my childhood. It’s okay to pull funny faces and talk in baby talk and to laugh at the little things in life. I do lots of stuff for you that you can’t do for yourself, but you do lots for me that I could never have without having you in my life.  I know you won’t always need me like you do now, so I am trying my best to love it all, from changing diapers, to wiping your boogers, to putting your shoes and clothe on, to carrying you when you’re too tired, to feeding you in the wee hours of the night. Sometimes those tasks seem like a burden or chore, but really I need to remember that this is a season in our lives that I soon will only be able to live in my memories. Always remember to live in the moment, Ellis. Don’t get too caught up in planning for the future because it isn’t guaranteed, and don’t dwell on the past either. Learn from your experiences and move forward. Of course, you should cherish the good memories but be quick to forgive both yourself and others. Too much good time is wasted on regret and bitterness. Learn to move on.

You are such a great little guy.  You are so smart and are learning so much daily.  Your vocabulary continues to grow quickly, just like your body.  Some of your new words are: milk, bottle, snack, bubbles, stroller, Santa, moon, Jesus, teeth and yeah. You are also signing more and all done which helps a little with communication with you. Sometimes it is frustrating when I don’t understand what you want and I can’t help you.

 

You are wearing 24 month clothes and are close to 2T. Your pants are still a size smaller because your legs are just a bit behind. You still hate shoes and socks. I worry you may get frostbite while we visit Wisconsin for Christmas in a week. We have been spoiled with an extra long fall around here.

You are still a little show man and you know how to get everybody’s attention. You love the attention but are totally fine entertaining yourself too. You love to watch videos of yourself and also stand in front of the stove to see your reflection and do tricks for yourself. You find yourself hilarious most of the time. You are walking well these days and often come close to running. We are in trouble. You also are starting to climb which makes me very nervous.

 

You still love Reno. You chase him all over, which drives him nuts. You also love to feed him your snacks which sometimes makes up for all the chasing for him. 

 

You are an unpredictable sleeper. Sometimes you sleep through the night but that is rare. You fight naps and usually only take one per day.  Sometimes it’s for two hours, sometimes it’s for 30 minutes. We never know what it will be.  Usually, you go to sleep around 8:30, but sometimes you party like a rockstar and refuse to sleep until midnight.  You usually sleep past eight, but sometimes get up to see me off to work. At least you keep things interesting. I guess we don’t really need to figure everything about you out just yet.

 

You still like sports even though you lose interest sooner these days. You love to watch train videos on YouTube and also still watch Chica. You also like the Ellen show lately, but mainly because there is a dancing reindeer on there for her 12 days of giveaways! You giggle and go on everytime he comes to dance. You also are quite the dancer and also spin and spin and think being dizzy is pretty funny.  Your little laugh is so contagious.

It’s getting late, so I better get to sleep. I cannot imagine life without you. You make my life full. I love you more and more each day and feel so blessed to be your mommy. Thank you for teaching me better patience and for making each day an adventure. I love you Bugaboo!

Ellis is 15 Months

Dear Ellis-

I find myself saying things like: "He is so fun," "He is at a great age," and "I just fall more in love with him every day" about you.

You are just a happy soul.  You spread joy to all those around you.  Usually, this is through your many tricks, like rolling it, spinning and spinning, ta-daing, pulling a million funny faces, or flirting.  You are rarely upset and when you are upset it isn't for long.  You just make every day fun and I am often racing home from work because I miss you so much.

I study your face every night when I am rocking you to sleep.  You are just changing too fast and I am still having a hard time accepting the fact that you are a little boy and not my baby anymore.

You are wearing 24 month tops and 18 month pants.  I guess your legs are chasing your upper body.  You still don't love hats and I still am offended by it and am trying to change your mind about it.  

You still are soothed by Miranda Lambert's song "Desperation," but it doesn't work all the time like it used to.  Now to sooth you in the car, I reach back and put my hand on the side of your face.  

You sometimes fight us about your car seat and stand up in it facing the front seat while we are trying to get you buckled in.  You are a rascal.  You throw food on the floor on purpose while eating and laugh when we tell you no.  You also pointed at Daddy and said "Nah, Nah, Nah" one time when he told you no.  (He was pointing and saying "No, No, No!")  You also find it funny to say "Mama" when we tell you to say "Papa".  And chasing Reno is still one of your favorite things.  

Now you can walk, so Reno gets even more nervous when you are coming at him.  You actually have started to keep shoes and socks on which is a good thing with colder weather coming.

You loved Halloween and said pumpkin a lot which actually sounds like "ball ball".  You even screamed that the first five minutes of the Pumpkin Walk up in Logan.  We took you to the Zoo in Logan too and your favorite animal was the fox.  

You are a smart little dude and get into everything including all the things we lock up because you have mastered baby locks.  Your giggle is so cute and you giggle most when Daddy tickles and chases you.

You are addicted to sports and ask me everyday when i get home to turn on football, which is your favorite these days, even though you will watch any sport and yell "ball" at the TV when they are on. I am so excited that you share my love of sports already

Ellis, you have made our lives so much more rich and we are so lucky to have the job of raising and teaching you things.  It melts my heart that you are recognizing when it is time to pray over our food and that you fold your hands, try to close your eyes and say "amen" at the close of our prayers.  It is so fun to see you grow and I look forward to see who you will become.  Love you lots.  Mommy

Fourteen Months

Dear Ellis-

Today somebody asked how old you were, and I responded "fourteen months." They laughed and told me I could just say a year. I guess it may be time to start just saying he's a little over a year. I thought that if I keep calling you the baby months, that you would stay a baby. 

 

People have started to also say that you are looking more and more like a little boy and less like a baby. I have to agree, even though I don't like the fact that you aren't a baby anymore. The old adage, "babies don't keep," plays through my head lots these days as I often find myself studying your little face as I rock you to sleep. I almost feel like I have to breathe in each moment with you because they are flying by and you are changing so quickly. 

 

Your newest thing is walking. You took your first steps on a day I stayed home sick from work. I was so thankful for that. You then waited a little over a week to really get used to it. You are now a walker, mixed with side scooting and a little crawling. You can even get up from sitting down. As your dad texted me one day after you climbed into the clothes dryer, "we are in trouble."  Your new found independence and how you are into everything will give us a few challenges, but it's fun to be apart of this journey where you are learning so much so quicky. 

You love pumpkins and point for us to light up our plastic decorations pumpkins the first thing every day. You try to say pumpkin but it sounds more like "ball ball."  

You are saying more and more things, but many things sound like ball. I hate to say it, but I do look forward to when you can speak more so it's easier to know what you need. You do lots of pointing and gesturing while mumbling and I often find myself thinking, what the heck does this kid need? 

You are a character and know when you have an audience. You will roll it for people still and you love to spin and spin. It's really funny when you fake sneeze or cough after somebody else does. You also have been quite funny this week when you are asked to say Papa. You respond rebelliously with Mama instead and get a sneaky looking grin on your face. 

Your hair is hilarious these days. There is a lot of it in the back and not so much in the front and on the sides. Your double cowlick also makes for awesome bedhead every morning. I feel like it's getting time to cut it, but I am really entertained by it so I don't quite want to get it cut just yet. 

You are still my favorite little person and I fall more and more in love with you each and every day. 

This Chorus from Taylor Swift's song"Never Grow Up" rings true these days:

"Oh darling, don't you ever grow up

Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up

Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple

No one's ever burned you, nothing's ever left you scarred

And even though you want to, just try to never grow up."

Just stay small a little while longer. 

Love you,

Mom 

Ellis is thirteen months

Hi folks. Life is just moving along here. It's hard to believe that September is over half gone ready. Time flies when you are having fun. 

The school year is going great. My students are fun and the feeling at my school is amazing. Great things are happening and I'm loving it. 

There isn't a whole lot of news around here. The biggest news is that our new desk should show up on our doorstep any day now.  I think I have said this before but you know you have truly made it to adulthood when you get excited about furniture. It will be nice to organize a bit and to have a place to create cards and also a space to write. I am planning on participating in national novel writing month in November and it will come in handy. 

I also say this often: Ellis is at a fun age. I am laughing at him lots these days he is a silly goober. Sure, he is into everything and a bit of work, but he is so worth any of the hard stuff(even his not sleeping through the night!).

Without further adieu, here is his 13 month letter, even though I have started to just say he is one:

Dear Ellis, 

Just thinking about you makes me smile. That little smile of yours is contagious and I feel so lucky to have you around. You make each day more adventurous and always help me to focus on the good in life. In a world that often seems cruel and cold, you're cute little laugh, smile and attitude help me to see the good and to feel better. Not matter how hard the day has been, when I come home from work to you, I am instantly happy and smiling. Thanks so much for being so fun and for loving me so much. 

Today at work, a co-worker mentioned how he missed out on this age when his kids were young and that he would have liked to be around for all the stuff I see challenging like getting up in the middle  of the night and diaper changing. I thought about that a lot as I was putting you back to bed tonight(I say back because you fell asleep in the car on the way home from Papa's birthday celebration. You must have woke up not knowing where you were because you were a bit upset.).  I realized that sometimes I complain a bit about taking care of you and forget to cherish each and every moment with you. I studied your face extra close tonight and rubbed your soft blonde hair and held your feet as you fell back to sleep. 

As I studied your face, I noticed that you are a little masterpiece full of amazing heritage. You have my nose, which is the Koehne nose I got from my dad. You have the same gap in your front gap that I have which comes from my mom's side of the family. You have a lot of great aunts who have the exact teeth. You have your dad's forehead and chin which he got from your Papa. You have my hands which are my moms hands(I think of her each time I look at my own hands closely. Maybe one day, you will see all these parts of you and think of this great heritage and remember all the special people in your life.)

You are into everything. You have figured out a few of our child locks on cupboards. You don't quite walk on your own yet, but you are walking assisted either by somebody leading you or around the couch or coffee table. You have figured out how to get on the couch and often come up to have a quick cuddle. I love that you are more into cuddling, seeing it hasn't been your thing in the past. 

You love to be outside and even when in our house will sometimes hold yourself up standing to look and see what is happening outside through the window. You still chase Reno all over and love all animals. You recently decided that reno's food tastes good and that his kenel is comfortable. 

 

You still love all people and try to get strangers attention while out and about. You love food and will eat pretty much anything we give you. You have discovered that cow's milk is tasty and drink it out of a sippy cup. You also say, "Ahhhh!" after each gulp. Daddy taught you that trick. 

You love to throw balls around and get excited about sports. 

You wave goodbye and recently have started to give kisses. You always tell dad it is time to go to work by waving after I get back home from work. 

I sometimes spoil you while changing your diaper by letting you watch the kid show "Chika."  My sister probably won't like that but changing the diaper of a kid who wiggles is like trying to train a worm to sit; the distraction is sometimes needed. Otherwise, we try to limit your screen time. 

You still love books and can often be found reading one yourself quietly somewhere in the house. 

You think it's funny to both bite mommy or pull daddy's chest hair. 

Your giggle is so cute. 

I could go on for hours and pages about you but it's getting late. You are so special to me and I am so glad you are a part of our family. I love you so much and can't even remember life without you.  You are my bugs, bugaboo, small fry, little rascal and I wouldn't want to be doing anything differently these days. I love being your mom and am looking forward to watching you grow more and more. 

Love you kiddo, 

Mommy

Throwback Thursday

I find it only appropriate on my first day back at work to reflect on the awesomeness that was my summer. It was hard to go back to work today, but it helped ease the pain a bit to remember how awesome my summer truly was, so take a trip down memory lane with me:

There was some swinging. 

Some introducing Ellis to trains. 

And to mascots. 

Some hiking. 

Some playing with "cousins"

Some fish to be caught 

Heads to be bumped

Uncles to meet

Baseball to watch

Rainbows to enjoy

Great-Grandmas to charm

First swims to take

Great-uncles to play with

Grandpas to win over

Farms to be explored

Hands to hold

Books to read 

Sailing across bays 

Motorcycles to grunt and drool over

Traditions to see

Dreams to ignite

Silliness with cousins

Dinos to discover

And cake to be smashed!!!

Summer always flies by but it also is always very full. I am truly blessed to do the work I do and to be able to have the time to play and make amazing memories. Sure I mourn summer's passing but I will cherish every little memory that was made!!!