Hey my handsome little man,
It has been a little while since I have blogged to you. It seems times slips away sometimes, and before I know it, I have so much to share with you I start forgetting.
So simply, I am amazed on how much you have learned in the last two weeks. First, you decided on your own you were ready to start potty training again. I gave you the choice of diaper/pull up or big boy undies, and you always choose the big boy undies. I am so proud of you! Today you have ZERO accidents, including pooping three times and peeing multiple times. Not even a wet front of the undies as you didn't catch it in time. My gosh, it won't be long before you are heading off to college and I will still be reminiscing about you wearing "big boy undies". Yes, I will find some way to embarrass you, its my duty. You embarrass me at the stores by yelling, screaming, throwing fits, and showing how well "behaved" you are pretending not to be, so pay back is coming my sweet child.
Speaking of an embarrassing story, I can't wait to share later on. You discovered that if you pull the waist band of your underwear down over your privates, it creates a perfect little "display" of your privates. And I guess me laughing the first two times because it was funny that you found it so entertaining to do that probably wasn't a great idea. Because I fear you will do it in public. Which is fine. I think that some neighboring old couple will get a huge kick out of it remembering their child rearing days as I am so mortified that my face is red and I can't breathe.
You have been standing in the corner a lot lately. You really have been pushing the envelope to see how far you can go before mommy and daddy show we are serious. Jumping on the couch, jumping on the bed, kicking the dog, throwing toys (hard might I add) near breakable things, getting into things you are not allowed in (cupboards containing candy, etc), not getting into the car when told, not holding on to the cart in the store, I am sure some of these things can be looked over, but a good majority of them are pretty important. Jumping on the couch ruins our furniture, on top of the fact that if you fall off and hit your head on the very HARD coffee table, you will probably require a trip to the ER, same thing goes for the bed. If you break something by throwing a toy, especially since we told you not too, I know we would both be disappointed in having to monetarily replace the item (such as the TV, the glass coffee table, lamps, the china hutch, etc). You do not, despite what Granny or Papa teach you, need cookies and candy for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You can have a treat, when you have been good enough to deserve it. Popsicles are a privileged, not a right. Throwing a fit because I said no doesn't really get you what you want. It gets you in the corner. If you had accepted I said no, I bet that in an hour, you would probably get it because you were being so good. I do not like it when you run around the grocery store like a hood loom, grabbing everything, breaking things (like today, the lid of the camomile lotion, embarrassing for pink stuff to be every where and having to give it to a clerk so I could go get a bottle that wasn't broken). People look at your behavior and wander if I ever discipline you at all or if I just don't care enough to put the effort in. It is embarrassing to me. I don't like having to explain why I do the things I do, I wish you would just obey the first time without questions, but I also understand that knowing why is vitally important for you to understand why you must obey. There might be a day when I need you to STOP running into the street, or something similar, and I don't have time to count to three or threaten. I need you to obey me immediately. Without hesitation. I used to hate when Granny would say to me that one day I would understand when I had children, and she is 100% right, and one day you will too.
So on to things you have learned. You are really doing well forming whole sentences. The other night you told daddy you had a booboo (owie) while you were in the bathtub, and daddy asked you where your booboo was at. You said, and I quote: My booboo is right there on my arm. I can just hear your sweet voice saying it right now as I re-read the sentence. And tonight I didn't finish all my burrito, and we usually try stressing that we finish all our food, but we don't force you to eat if you flat out refuse. We let you get up from the table with unfinished dinner. Often I will leave it on the table until you go to bed just in case you decide you are still hungry. I had like maybe two bites left, and one thing I have learned with all my surgeries, that if I am done, two more bites is two too many, and I get very sick and uncomfortable. So I got up to throw away my last two bites, and you caught site of the food on my plate, and you said to me: You no like it? I was amazed how you put that together that because I didn't finish it, it was because I didn't like it, not because I was full. I feel a little guilty that I was so short with you all day today. You are 2 yrs 9 mo, not 16, you move slow, you like to look at things, you get distracted easily and often you don't go as quick as I would like when it comes to getting into the car or getting out of the car, or getting into the cart, or whatever it is. I need to remind myself that you are still a very young child, and these are normal things. I need to go to bed right now, because that is what the problem was today too, I stayed up too late and felt tired all day today. Until 8 pm. Then I feel like I am ready to go. I need to figure out how to fix that so I can be a better mommy to you and wife to daddy. So please forgive me while I figure these things out. You are amazing. The transformations you are making are just out of this world. I cannot believe it. It really does feel like a few short months ago that daddy and I were bringing you home from the hospital, and you were so cross eyed trying to get your eye muscles to work so you could focus on us, and totally completely unable to control your hand and feet, or go potty on the toilet, or get into the fridge, per-ruse for a few second to see whats in there and sounds good, pick it out and bring it to me or daddy. Or when you started smiling (few and far between, but now you are a laughing kind of kid), rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking, reaching, exploring, getting into drawers, throwing temper tantrums, pulling hair, pinching, teething, colds, growing spurts, all the baby weight melting off of you and the boy/man shape starting to form (muscles in other words). Ugh. And in 5 years I will look back to these days remembering how you just wanted to sit in my lap, you wanted me to stop cooking dinner so we could sit on the couch together, how you wanted me to rub your back and "kiss it better" on your booboos, and how you give me big hugs around the neck, and give me a kiss on the lips and then an eskimo kiss every night, and how you say Good night, and I lube ewe mommy. And I am going to miss you at this age. So I pray God helps me enjoy you now, instead of wishing for you to grow up, because it'll come all too quick. I also pray God allows me to stay with you for a very very long time. But God's will is perfect, and if he calls me up before you or anyone else feels it is time, than you must remember that it is time. It is his time. And you remember what you can about me. You read what I write for you. You read anything I wrote. I do not care. I have nothing to hide from you. I want you to know who I am, but mostly that I love you so very deeply that once I get to heaven, I will be looking for you to join me (so make sure you do what you need to do, as in accepting Jesus into your heart as your savior, and you continue doing the things Jesus and God calls you to do so you can get to heaven). And most of all, do not worry about me. I got this! I am mommy!!
Love,
Your mommy
PS We are currently trying to teach you our "real" names so if you ever get lost you can tell someone our names, you have daddy's name down great *Kris Mann* but for some reason Randi is hard to say, so you call me Granny Mann. Hahaha. We're going to keep working on that my sweet boy!
