Dear Noah,

I can’t believe it’s been four years since you were born! It seems like just yesterday we were having pancakes and waiting for the glider to be delivered before we went to the movies… when my water broke. We still have pancakes every year and laugh about that morning even though we no longer have the glider and it took us forever to finally see The Davinci Code.

  

These days though are much more interesting and, usually, far less painful. You are figuring out your world, testing your limits, finding out about yourself and my tolerance for toddler antics. I love you so much. I love how much we’re alike, even if it means we butt heads constantly. You are stubborn, opinionated, feisty, active, and hard headed. It’s more politically correct to say you’re “strong willed” but you are far more challenging than that implies. You are the kid I got when my mother said “I hope you have one just like you!”. Often I wish the same for you!

You’re also way awesome! You are very mechanically inclined, inquisitive and curious. You love counting, numbers and trying to read.  You’re fascinated by Spanish and practice it constantly (and some days you remember seis and siete!).  We try hard to let you figure things out without squashing who you are but sometimes that can be frustrating and in case you ever remember the hard spots, I would like to tell you I’m sorry from now. I promise I’m doing the best job I know how to.

I love how much you love our family!  Daddy has always been, and will likely always be, your number one.  We joke about how great it is to be “the favorite”, like when you want a glass of water in the middle of the night and I just won’t do.  Trust me, he loves it as much as you do.  You’re crazy about your sister – when no one is looking!  You watch out for her, you speak up for her, and your protect her even if you also yell at her and swat at her for the silliest of reasons.  You want to include her in everything, whether she’s old enough or not, and you always save your banana at lunch time so she can have a snack when we pick you up.  You may want to be careful about that, since you’re so petite, she’s quickly gaining on you!  You are in the 25th percentile for height and 20th for weight.  You just broke the 30 pound mark and you mostly wear clothes made for children between 12 and 24 months of age.  I’m sure you won’t go to college that little but it is my job to worry! And the love of your life, our 5th member of the family – monkey.  Although he is far beyond tattered, his shine has still not warn off! Take it easy on him though, I’m not sure how many more washes he can handle!

You are very shy.  I’m not supposed to say that around you but it’s all I can offer up when a stranger is trying to engage you and you look at them like they’re crazy.  You won’t tell them what your name is, how old you are, who your sister is, or which balloon you want when they ask, no matter what.  It’s just not your thing.  You also don’t do group activities.  You will wait for your entire class to finish a project and move on to something else before you’ll do yours.  It always has to be your way.  Lucky for you, your teacher, Miss Molly, loves you and caters to you.  Your preschool best friend, Charlie, is your partner in crime.  You two are like long lost brothers, he’s the only little person who gets you at the moment.  Ayla is still your “girlfriend”, or so we joke and if you don’t marry her we’ll be shocked.  You get along, share, and fight like an old married couple.  It’s adorable and you do a great job at tolerating her when she gets bossy.  You’ll even give in to a hug every once in awhile just to keep her from being heart broken.

You are such an amazing boy!  I can’t wait to see how you grow and thrive throughout the years.  I’m certainly not wishing any time away but if you could be a little more reasonable or mature, that would be great!  For now I will remain as patient as possible and cherish the moments of love, cuddling, and kindness that creep in when we’re at home.  I love you to the moon and back and wish for you everything you could possibly need to thrive and succeed.  One step at a time though.  Pancakes?

Love you always,

mom

This entry was posted on Friday, May 21st, 2010 at 12:05 am and is filed under Noah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.