Dear 2 1/2 Year Old Nate

Dear 2 1/2 Year Old Nate,

You turned 2 1/2 on September 19th and you are my wild and crazy boy. While there are times that you are calm, the easiest way to describe you is a bull in a china shop. You just go and go!

Thanks to a nasty cold, you got to go see the doctor this week so I know you weigh 33 pounds and are 37 inches tall.  The doctor and nurses were so very impressed with you and your language. You were so well behaved while we were there and that makes Mommy so proud. 

You wear mostly 3T clothes. I pulled out your winter clothes from last year and we had to pass them all onto your cousin Brennen because your legs are just too long for 2T pants. You can still wear some 2T shirts, but I mainly buy you 3T clothes because the sleeves are longer. You wear size 10 shoes! 

While there are times when we can't understand you, you talk a lot. You have awesome language skills, probably on the level of a 3 year old. You can communicate what you want without any problems. Everyone is impressed by the things you say.

You still love books and that makes Mommy so happy. You love the library and when we drive by it, you ask to go inside. You love the toys they have, but more importantly, you love being able to get books to bring home.

You are still and I think always will be a gross motor skill kid. You walk, run, and jump like a much older child. Just last night, you and I were outside playing soccer and you can run and kick the soccer ball like a pro. You love soccer, baseball, basketball, skateboarding, golf, and just recently, you fell in love with throwing a frisbee.

You love to be outside and one of your favorite places is the playground. Thankfully, we live close to lots of parks and you have a special name for each one. One of your favorites is the pirate park and the seesaw park. While you love the slides and climbing parts of the park, your favorite thing to do is swing. You would swing all day if you could.

You learned how to pedal your bike, but you would much rather just push it with your feet because you can make it go really fast that way. You love your bike and beg to do it quite often. You love riding your bike down to the mailbox with Daddy.

You are still quite the little eater, although you've gotten quite picky at times. Sometimes, you'll scarf down your food and then other times, we have to encourage you to eat. It just depends on the day and what is going on. You still love pancakes, but you also love hot dogs, waffles, oranges, yogurt, fruit snacks, bananas, cereal bars, doughnuts, and hamburgers.

You still take one nap in the afternoon and I think that you'll continue for quite some time. I don't think there's ever been a day when you've gone the whole day without a nap. You just need that extra rest throughout the day and Mommy and Daddy do, too.

You still sleep pretty well at night. You go to bed sometime between 7:30-9, depending on what's going on the next day, and sleep until 7:30 most mornings. When you wake up, you'll hang out in your bed and read and play. We love that you can be happy in the mornings.

Since your 2 year old update, you have moved to a big boy bed, a full size bed that we already had in your room since your room doubles as the guest room. While we feared this transition, it was super easy. You did great. Other than a few times the first few nights, you now stay in your bed and sleep well. You still sleep with your Monk Monk and Elmo. If I let you, you'd carry them around all day every day, but we normally have a rule that they have to stay in your bed.

You are now potty trained.  You woke up one day asking for undies and after a week of accidents here and there, you then woke up that Friday telling me you had to go potty.  It was like a light switch was turned on and you finally realized that you could know when you needed to go potty. You wear undies during your nap and diapers at night. Even with the diapers at night, you are normally dry 4 or more nights out of the week.

We still think that you'll be a lefty. You use your right hand every now and then, but you are much better with your left. You bat like a lefty and kick the soccer ball with your left foot.

You love anything that has to do with art like painting, coloring, playdough, etc. This makes Daddy very happy and I think that one day, you guys can make things together. When you do draw, you love to draw circles and you've actually gotten quite good at it. 

While you still don't recognize most of the letters of the alphabet, you do know that they are letters and can sing your ABC's.

You can count from 1-14 and you love lining up your cars and counting them.  You also know your colors and your shapes.

You love TV and ask for it when you wake up, which we don't mind since it allows all of us some time to cuddle and wake up together. Your favorite shows are Curious George, Fresh Beat Band, Super Why, The Cat in the Hat, and pretty much anything on PBS.

Cars is still probably your favorite movie, but you also love Bambi, Dumbo, and Monster's Inc.

You started preschool in August and you love it. You get in trouble sometimes, but what can I say!!  You're all boy and a follower at times. It's going to happen. You love your teachers and ask for them when we aren't at school. If I ask you what you did at school, you'll say play. :)

I'm so glad that you love school and their playground. When we drive by it while running errands, you immediately let us know that it's your school and your playground. You've had to adjust to taking a nap at school in a room with other kids, but you're getting there. You love your little cot.

You still love playing with trains and cars. You also love to do puzzles and to work on your tool bench. You are getting good at building towers with your blocks and your imagination is really growing.

If I ask you if you grew in my belly, you'll say no and that you grew in another Mommy's belly. While there are lots of things that you have yet to learn about your adoption, it makes us happy to know that you can understand some simple things about your story.

You are one special boy and I thank God everyday that He brought us together.

We'll love you forever,

We'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living,

My baby, you'll be.

We love you little man!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

2 Years Old

Dear Tater,

You turned 2 on March 19, 2012.  You are no longer a baby, but a boy. 

At your 2 year check up last week, you weighed 31 lbs (85%) and you are 35 in. tall (65%).  You are one solid little man.  The doctor was impressed with not only your language, but your gross motor skills.  You wear mostly 2T clothing, but we've started buying some 3T things for you, too.  You wear size 8 1/2 shoes. 

Since your last monthly update at 18 months, your language has exploded.  Your vocabulary is huge and you can pretty much communicate whatever you want to say.  I can't remember the last time I heard you babble or just make noises.  You have put words together and normally say 3 word sentences, although there are times when you say more.  Just last night, as I was holding you, you looked at me and said, "Mommy, tiss (kiss) me."  Such a sweet little guy (when you want to be. haha)

You still love to read books, especially look and find books.  We have a Disney one and an Elmo one and if you choose a book to read before bed, those are ones that you always grab.  This morning, on the way to June and Baylee's house, you looked at your transportation book for thirty minutes.  I love watching your little brain working to learn new things. 

You are still, and I hope always will be, a gross motor kid.  You love to run and play, you know how to skip, jump, gallop, and hop.  You can do a front roll and roll like a log.  You can hit the baseball off the tee (and sometimes the tee itself), kick the soccer ball, catch a football, and throw anything you can get your hands on.  You also love swinging the golf club and boy, does that hurt if you accidentally hit us. 

You love to be outside and one of your favorite places to go is the park.  You love the slides and have just recently mastered the curved ladder that you can climb to get onto the play structure.  You still love to swing and you can swing in either the baby swings or the big kid swings. 

You also love to ride your bike that Gramma and Papa got you for your birthday.  You love it so much that it pretty much lives in the back of my car so that you can ride it not only at home, but at June and Baylee's house and Gramma and Papa's house.  You can't quite pedal it yet because your legs aren't long enough, but that doesn't stop you from having a blast while pushing it with your feet. 

You have all of our teeth, 20 at this point.  You love to brush them, especially now that you have a toothbrush that lights up and flashes while you brush.  You're learning how to spit after your done brushing. 

You are still a really good eater and I love that we rarely fix you something other than what we're eating for our meals.  Your favorite foods are hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pancakes, fruit, yogurt, and any type of meat that you think is a hamburger (barbecue, pot roast, meatloaf, sausage, etc.)  You, unlike most kids, don't eat ketchup very often and would much rather have barbeque sauce to put on your nuggets. 

You take one nap every afternoon and without it, you are one crabby little guy.  You sleep from an hour and a half to three hours, but normally, it's right around the two hour mark. 

You are a pretty decent sleeper at night.  You go to bed most days between 8-9 and sleep until 7:30.  On the mornings that we go to see the girls, you're awake at 6:30 and some mornings, when we have a stay at home morning, you'll sleep unti 8. 

You still sleep in a crib, but that might change soon, as you have taught yourself how to climb in all by yourself.  You also sleep with Monk Monk, your little monkey blanket, and Elmo.  If you're really tired before bedtime or nap time, you'll ask for Monk Monk, letting us know that you're getting sleepy. 

We attempted to potty train over Spring Break for two days.  You know what to do on the potty, but I think you're just not getting the feeling that you have to go yet.  So...if I am late with taking you, you have an accident.  After two very frustrating days, we just decided that you're little body isn't quite ready and we went back to diapers.  I must admit that while I'd love for you to be potty trained, diapers are SOOO much easier. 

We're still pretty sure that you're going to be left handed.  You are much more comfortable using it than the right.  When we were spooning Easter eggs from one container to the other before Easter, you struggled to do it with your right hand.  I put the spoon in your left hand and you were successful every time. 

You love to paint, play with playdough, color, draw with chalk, and pretty much any other art thing.  You are in love right now with making circles and if you color a picture, I can almost guarantee that it will be filled with circles. 

You know some letters of the alphabet, but not very many.  You do, however, know they are letters even if you don't know which one and point out letters all the time. 

You can count from 1-13 if I say the number after you say it.  :)

I hate to admit it, but you love tv.  You love movies like Cars and Fox and the Hound, both of which are new to you.  You love shows like Word World, Fresh Beat Band, Bob the Builder, and Thomas. 

You are getting better at knowing the colors.  There are still a few you get mixed up on, but you're getting there.  For a while, I honestly wondered if you were color blind.  haha  You know some of your shapes. 

You are still very good about not being afraid of new people.  Because of Daddy's job, we go to a new church almost every week and you do great going into new places and new classes with new people.  I love that about you, Tater!  You get to go to the big boy classes at most of the churches and I love when you come out of class knowing something new. 

Your favorite toys are cars and trains.  You can play for hours with the car garage or your train table.  Many times, you'll wake up from nap asking to go play with them.  You also love building with blocks. You also love cooking me food with your grill. 

I've also noticed that in the past month or two that you're really starting to use your imagination.  I think a lot of that is because of playing with June.  She has a great imagination and I think you're picking that up from her.  You love to pretend that you have an ice cream cone in your hand and are giving it to me. 

You LOVE your daddy.  You love me, too, of course, but there's just something special about your daddy that you love.  You two are like peas in a pod. One of your favorite places to be is on your daddy's shoulders.  I hope that you grow up and can be good friends with him like how Daddy is with Papa.

You have reached the terrible two's in some ways.  There are times when you'll throw fits or refuse to do something that we've asked.  While I'm not a fan of this, I know that you're just trying to be independent and test the limits.  Just remember, little man, that Mommy and Daddy are the boss. 

Thank you so much for being such an awesome little guy. 
Daddy and I can't imagine our lives without you. 

We'll love you forever,

We'll like you for always.
As long as we're living,
Our baby, you'll be.

Love you, sweet boy!

Mommy & Daddy

2 Years

My Sweet Tater,

Two years ago, on March 19, 2010, your Daddy and I got up early and headed to the hospital.  I had barely slept the night before, but that didn't matter.  I was so anxious to see you, to hold you, to kiss your sweet cheeks. 

We met your birthmother, Joy, there and before we knew it, Daddy and I were alone, waiting for your arrival.  My heart was racing as I tried to soak in every little detail about that morning, knowing that it would be something that I would want to treasure forever. 

I stood in the OR recovery area with my ear pressed against the door and listened to your sweet cries as you entered this world at 10:04.  Minutes later, you were wheeled into the room and I laid my eyes on you, my son, for the first time.  You were so handsome and tiny.  My arms ached to hold you, to whisper in your ear that I loved you.

We stood at the window to the nursery and watched you get your first bath and get checked by the doctors and nurses.  I couldn't help smiling, knowing that you were finally here.  We made phone call after phone call, spreading the news about your birth to family and friends.  Your Trish even brought Krispy Kreme doughnuts to celebrate your birthday. 

And then the time came when you were ready to go to Joy's room, time when we could finally hold you and love on you.  I was the first one to pick you up and I felt like my heart would burst with love for you.  Watching your daddy hold you for the first time was the sweetest moment ever.  He's never been much of a baby man, but holding you, his son, just came naturally.  We spent a few hours with you and your birthfamily, all of us amazed at how handsome and perfect you were.  We took turns holding you and snuggling with you.  The love we all had for you filled the room.

Daddy took me home to get a few things and then he took me back to the hospital.  I got to spend that first night with you and Joy in the hospital room, just the three of us.  We loved on you, taking turns cuddling with you.  We talked about you, sharing our hopes and dreams for your future, and we marveled over how small you were and how gorgeous your chocolate eyes were.  We counted your toes and fingers and wondered if your hair would be curly or straight.  After Joy fell asleep, I put you in the bed with me and I just stared at you, feeling like I needed to pinch myself to remind myself that this wasn't a dream.  I felt like the luckiest mommy in the whole world. 

And you know what, Tater?  Ever since that day, two years ago, you have filled our lives with so much joy and love.  You are the child that we longed for, the one we hoped and prayed for.  God answered our prayers and brought us together to be a family.  I am thankful for the miscarriage and the years of infertility because without them, you wouldn't be our son and that thought breaks my heart.  God used those things to give us you.  You will never have red hair like Daddy or green eyes like me, but that's not important.  What is important is that you have had our hearts from the very beginning.  You are our son and always will be.   

I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always;
As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be. 

I love you, Tater.  Happy Second Birthday!

Love,
Mommy