Dear Simms,
Each and every day, your dad and I marvel at you. "Simms is such a big boy. He’s growing up so fast! Guess what Simms said today? Look what he drew at school today!” Everyday it’s a new thing. It’s a bittersweet moment of wondering, “How did he get so big so fast?”
This last year you have grown so much. Just yesterday, it seems like we were bringing you home from the hospital all swaddled up. And now, sleep in your own queen sized bed (well, with one of us sleeping beside you), you put your own clothes on, you race through the house, you can get yourself a cup of water, you can go to the bathroom by yourself, you can count to 20, and say 5 syllable words. "Look mama - there's a bird. No, wait that was just my imagination." You know the direction we need to go to get home. You’ve started asking, “What’s this street called? Why we going this way? How we going to get there?” You know our home address.
You've learned to write the letters I, T, S, M. And you can even write your own name now!
It's cute how you put a big bubble over the letter "i." I'm really proud of how hard you've been working at this.You are so eager to learn to read. You like to look at the pictures in books and narrate. Then you'll look up and declare, "Mama! I'm READING!"
I love the way you talk right now. You are still working on your pronunciation of a few consonants (L, R, V, F), so those get replaced with Ws and Bs.
"Gween Twee Twog" = Green Tree Frog
"One, Two, Twee, Tor, Tive"
"Cabbies" =Cavities
"BWEH-fuss" =Breakfast
"Staw-bewwy"
"Bwue-bewwy"
"Wosso" = Roscoe
"Beggles" = Vegetables
And lately you've been replacing the first syllable of words with "BUH":
BUH-mato (tomato), BUH-licious (delicious), BUH-zert (dessert), BUH-tilla (tortilla). And my favorite, "BUH-lax" (relax). "Mama, I'm just BUH-laxing."
You prefer having no pants on when you're at home. You're favorite game is playing T-Rex or hide and seek (with your dad). You enjoy wearing your monkey bathrobe. You reject "bumpy" pants. "I don't like those pants. They're too bumpy. I want soft pants." You love to help me bake muffins and scramble eggs. You are curious, sweet and genuine. You love catching frogs, toads, eathworms and snakes with your dad. You still call Jasper "baby" even though he's over two years old. You love sleeping with your pile of blankeys (i.e. my old t-shirts). Sometimes you still want to be carried. You’re afraid of monsters.
You're still devoted to Curious George cartoons, but you're branching out. You also enjoy Paw Patrol, Dora, "Doc Tuffin" (Doc McStuffin), Wild Kratts, Bubble Guppies, and Caillou. You think the word "PooPoo" or "cukoo" attached to any other word is absolutely hilarious. PooPoo Spider. PooPoo Man. Mr. Poopoo Man. Cuckoo Man. This cracks you and Roscoe up without fail. Every. Single. Time.
You love canned green beans. If you had to pick between a cupcake or a can of green beans, you'd take the green beans. I've seen you eat an entire can in one sitting. I've also seen you eat 6 boiled eggs in a row (you asked for more, but I cut you off at the seventh). You've never had much of a sweet tooth, but you've recently developed an enthusiasm for lollipops and jelly beans.
At night, after reading books, we turn off the lights, and you want to have "Talking Time." Mostly, we talk about our day, what we're grateful for. Afterwards, you ask me to tell you "wassuponatime"stories. "Once upon a time...." The last few nights, you've asked me to tell you stories about "fruits and vegetables." "Once upon a time, there was a radish, a beet, and a tomato. They were trapped in the refrigerator crisper and needed to find a way out...."
Sometimes during bedtime, you want to play the "Reptile or Mammal" Game. You like to select an animal and then try to figure out if it lays eggs or makes milk. (Recently, you've been asking about where baby animals come from). Then, when you're ready to sleep, you say, "I want to nuggle" (snuggle), and you always ask me to put my arm around you ("Mama, I need an arm.")
You're such a sweet and considerate guy. Recently someone rear-ended Greg's car and totaled it. Afterwards you said, "Maybe me, you, and baby can buy daddy a new red car. I think that would make him happy. I do think so." We went for a walk through the neighborhood this weekend. You stopped, picked a yellow flower and said, "Mama, this is for you. Will you keep it forever?" When we got home, you and dad planted it in the wheelbarrow, so I'd be able to enjoy it "forever."
Everyday you make us laugh. You surprise and delight us. Scare us, then reassure us. You are becoming your own person with good qualities that shine through. You make us proud every day. We're so happy to be your parents. Thank you for the past three and a half years. Happy half birthday, little spud. Hope you know how much you are loved.
-Mama
