Dear M –
Have I ever told you how wonderful you are? I know you get told that you are amazing and perfect at least once everyday but I wanted to take a minute and tell you why. You are just shy of 3 years and 8 months old and my how time has flown. I get sad when I think about how quickly you have gone from a baby to a toddler. This summer you have most definitely taken that a step further and have blossomed into a full-fledged little boy.
I’ve seen amazing changes in you this summer and can see the person that you are developing into. It astounds me, makes me laugh, and saddens me all at the same time. You are really coming into your own and I’m sure that will continue as the years go on. You have a crazy amount of energy and could just go,go,go all day long. At the same time you are still craving attention and cuddling from your Mama – a favorite part of my job which I will never object to!
I wanted to take a minute and tell you all about your personality so you will have it to look back on when you get older. You are incredibly curious and ask questions about EVERYTHING. Then, to top it off, you also remember EVERYTHING! There is no sneaking anything past you! You love to jump, play and wrestle as most boys do and I don’t think Daddy or I will ever grow tired of hearing your little giggles. You are ridiculously smart, sometimes too smart for your own good, and can draw conclusions from what you learn that I feel a 3 year old just shouldn’t be able to do!
I see the people pleaser coming out in you this year. You are starting to discover humor and that people can be funny. You desperately want to make people laugh and are constantly trying to tell jokes or say silly things to get a chuckle. Once you find something that makes someone laugh – you don’t let it go and try to use it every chance you get. You have this little fake laugh that you do when you are trying to get others to laugh which is sometimes funny (like when you tell a bad joke) and sometimes embarrassing (like when you laughed at the little girl who fell down in the store to try to make her feel better – but it definitely came off as laughing at her and not with her). You also like to sing and dance and love to be drawing attention from the people around you. You are my little entertainer and while I love seeing that part of you come out I also worry, as is also another function of my job, because I see the vulnerability in you and don’t want you to get hurt if one day your dancing and singing and horrible joke telling is not met with laughter and applause.
You are incredibly caring and an amazing big brother! You love making your sister laugh and God knows how much she loves you! You are starting to learn sign language again like we taught you when you were a baby so you can help her learn and I just think that’s the cutest thing ever. You love playing with an entertaining her and most of all saving the day if we need you to bring her something or help us with her.
You have so much of me in you which I am glad for and sorry for at the same time. You often will correct people if they are doing something wrong like not wearing their seatbelt, saying the word “hate”, snatching things, or not using a coaster! You love cleaning up (I quite enjoy that I have instilled this in you!) but I wish you weren’t so afraid to get dirty. You are a perfectionist, which I hope you let go of as you grow up because from one perfectionist to another I have to tell you, it kind of sets you up for failure as much as it pushes you to do well. You want to do everything yourself and get extremely frustrated if you can’t do it the first time. I don’t like seeing that frustration in you and want nothing more than to go fix it for you but I know that you have to experience that in life to be a well rounded individual. As much as Mommy doesn’t like to admit it – you just can’t do everything on your own!
You are RIDICULOUSLY into super heroes and are constantly trying to save the day and give everyone around you secret missions and super hero names. I have to admit that we use this to our advantage to get you to do things like eat your meat and veggies, two things which you are not fond of, and to clean up your toys quickly. Whenever someone asks you what you want to be when you grow up, your response is always, Spiderman! While I know that you will most likely not be Spiderman when you grow up I do hope that you have superhero virtues and are kind and heroic and most of all, my little superstar, entertaining!! You have an AMAZING imagination and I love to just watch you play when you don’t know that I’m looking. You are one of the clumsiest little boys I know, again a trait you definitely inherited from your Daddy and I, and could hurt yourself in a padded room. I really do hope you grow out of this trait all together but I know it’s not likely!
You rarely will sit still with me anymore but I love the cuddles I get when you just wake up from your nap or bedtime. They keep me going throughout the day when you start to drive me insane with your energy and verboseness (I have no idea where you get that from ;))! You often say things that melt my heart like when you tell me that I’m your amazing family and when I rave about how wonderful you are, you ask me if I’m going to keep you forever! I can’t even begin to describe how full you’ve made my heart feel and how appreciative I am that God blessed us with you as our amazing, wonderful little boy. I would love to keep you forever, Matty Drew, but I know that it will not be possible. In the meantime, we are cherishing all the wonderful moments with you and are enjoying seeing you grow into this little individual person. I know that when you are all grown, if you have one iota of the personality that you are developing now, then you will be a success at all that you do. No matter what though I hope you don’t forget how much you are loved and make sure you always call your mother!!
You will be waking up soon and then the chaos will begin, and to tell you the truth, I can’t wait!
I love you baby boy, always and forever, to the stars and around the moon and back again a million times!
Love always,
Mommy (and stop calling me Mom, it makes me feel like you are already grown!)
