Happy Halloween

Dear Roman,

This Halloween was so much fun. Right away you caught on that this holiday was something you were going to be into- mostly because it involved treats. The days leading up to October 31st you’d talk about candy. Anytime you saw a pumpkin you would exclaim “treat” as though it was a reminder of what was to come.

So it wasn’t surprising when we took you trick or treating tonight and you walked right up to each house, knocked on the door and said, “treat please” as though you were an old pro. Looking adorable in your astronaut costume people couldn’t resist and offered you multiple sweets from their candy bowels. And you really knew how to work the person at the door by politely asking for an extra piece of candy for “Mama” or “Kitty Cat.” I swear there was no coaching involved.

After a big night of going door to door you were completely content with a single lolly pop and your Dad and I are devouring the rest of your haul…

We love you!

 

Astronaut

dear roman,
your imagination is running wild lately. sometimes i think you just aren’t sure what you are talking about and other times i think you should pursue a career in creative writing.

something you are really into is pretending that you are an astronaut flying to the moon on a rocket ship to look for moon rocks. you will run up to tell me that you are an “astanaut” and then you take your hands and pretend to fly. Once landed on the “moon” you look for “moon rocks” and pick tiny pieces of nothing off the ground and put them in your pockets. We were walking down a city street the other day and out of the blue you took on your astronaut persona picking up moon rocks off the ground. you even held some up to a group of guys walking by shouting, “look moon rocks” as they smiled and laughed at you.

your kitchen set is another favorite pretend spot as you’ll make “soup” or “treats” or “cheese sandwiches” for your parents, stuffed animals or friends. And you love, love, love to serve tea. You will get a cup and saucer and hand it to me saying, “please mama tea” while pouring and re pouring from a tea pot.

then there are the stories you tell. You’ll talk about flying baby bumble bees and the neighborhood cat. You tell me stories about the people you love and what they are doing.

this part of your development has been fantastic to watch and we can only “imagine” it’s going to get even better!

Preschool

Dear Roman,
Today was the first day of preschool and you had a blast! Not too much of a surprise that you jumped right in. You wasted no time saying “hi” to teachers, exploring the five rooms and making yourself completely at home.

Your favorite room was the “craft room” that had multiple sensory tables filled with oatmeal and scoopers, play doh and cookie cutters and a water table with doll babies and wash rags. You played a lot at the play doh table and pretended to look for “baby seashells” at the oatmeal table like you would with sand at the beach. The funniest moment was when you handed wash rags out to your teachers and instructed them on how to clean a baby at the water table. Of course they were good sports and played along.  Besides the craft room you spent a lot of time at the play kitchen. Two little boys sat at a table while you served them play food and you all did a very good job of pretending to eat!

At the end of class we sang the goodbye song, you got a stamp on your hand and then started crying “no go home Mama” over and over. Luckily you and I get to go back every Monday for the rest of the school year.

Baby Bean

Dear Roman,
A topic that has been on your mind lately is that you are going to be a big brother! You talk about “Baby Bean” all the time. Sometimes you just say “hi” or “goodnight”. Other times you offer up your pacifier to Baby Bean. And when asked where’s baby you say, “In Mama” so we are pretty sure you are getting the concept.

What we are very sure of is that you are going to be a totally loving, gentle, generous and friendly big bro.

Baby Bean is one lucky baby!

Happy Birthday Roman!

Dear Roman,

This past year you became an independent, self sufficient toddler! You finally started sleeping through the night,  tackled weaning and separation anxiety, you’re talking, you’ve made friends and taken lots of classes. You HATE being at home, at an empty playground or basically anywhere that doesn’t have tons of stimulation and lots of other people/kids/faces. You are most content outside, on the move, where the action is. You’re a particular, independent, mild mannered, sensitive, generous little guy with the biggest heart of anyone we know.

So Happy Birthday to you…
Our cupcake connoisseur, swing obsessed, neat freak, book loving, cat spotting, guitar playing, two year old!

We love you more than you love your blanket (tag) and pacifier combined- and that is saying a lot!

xo,
Mom and Dad

23 Months

Dear Roman,
Your Dad and I can’t even believe how it is possible that we are almost parents of a 2 year old- a kid- a person, but when we look at you lately that is exactly what you are. Roman, you are turning into a self sufficient, caring little guy who we are so proud of. Here’s what you have been up to at 23 months:

Your motto should be something like “me do it” because that’s what we hear from you all day long! Forget any help, you are all about getting into your stroller or carseat, walking up and down the stairs, putting your own toys away, opening doors to get outside, cleaning up spills and crumbs and walking walking walking everywhere on your own.

Speaking of walking, a new ritual of yours has been evening walks with Dad. Every night when he gets home from work you guys take off on foot around the neighborhood. You love to pick up rocks, look for cats and of course you have to push all the cross walk buttons. One night you guys were gone for two hours because you both got side tracked downtown and ended up sharing chips and salsa at the mexican restaurant.

You are talking more and more each day. Still lots of jabbering and saying things that we can’t really understand, but between your own language we have been able to pick up more actual words. You like to talk about bikes and helmets, bugs, balls, friends and animals. You always point out if something feels “hot” or “cold” and you have been using the word “back” appropriately- either when talking about front and back or when walking backward. Also of interest is “sleep” and “awake” and colors although you usually call all colors black or green.

Current favorite toys are your little guitar and/or anything music related, a tee ball set your Dad got you that you love taking to the park to play with, crayons and pens, little toy cars and pretend food/kitchen toys.

I am beginning to see you pretend when playing. You’ll pretend to eat your toy food and give a bite to a stuffed animal sitting across from you. I’ve caught you a few times playing with a little toy car which you told me a friend of yours was driving in. Oh and you still will pretend anything and everything is an instrument. The other night while out to dinner you played a very good straw flute!

Summer Concerts

Dear Roman,

Every Wednesday morning you and I walk down to our neighborhood park and enjoy an outdoor concert. Each week a different band sings songs and entertains you and all your friends. It’s pretty much the best hour of your day since you LOVE music, instruments and dancing!

Here you are dancing with your buddy Evan and hanging out with Izzie.

22 Months

Dear Roman,

22 months feels a lot like having a two year old. You are all about doing things yourself or “me” as you say. When I ask you if you want to be held or walk back to the car you always choose the second even if a couple seconds later you end up asking to be picked up. You open doors, jars, boxes- you could pretty much get yourself out of bed, downstairs and prepare breakfast for yourself if given the opportunity. In fact you are able to get out of your crib! The first time you succeeded your dad and I were greeted with a good morning “hi” at our bedside from you. Needless to say we were a little shocked to see you standing in our room when the last time we saw you was the night before safe and sound in your crib. We’ve had to figure out some tricky ways to keep you from climbing out and finally found success with putting you in a sleep sack/sleeping bag thing which basically prevents you from using your monkey legs and feet! Score one for the parents!

Here’s what else you have been up to this month-

You participated in the city of Kirkland’s 4th of July parade for the second year in a row. Last year your Dad, Pop and Poppi pushed you in your stroller but this year you rode on your trike (still being pushed by Dad, Pop and Poppi) all decked out with stickers and streamers and a patriotic bell- thanks to Grandma. You looked like such a big boy coming down the street with all the other kids and you loved the musical band that participated along side you in the parade!

You have been spending a lot of time at the park with Izzie- a girl you met last winter at Gymboree. The two of you had a connection then and have continued to be friends even though class has ended. The best part is that she lives two blocks away!  Roman, if I didn’t know better I’d say you were pretty fond of your little friend. You draw pictures of Izzie, sing songs about Izzie, pretend to call her on the phone, point out the street she lives on every time we drive by and at night you say goodnight to her. I’ve heard from Izzie’s mom that the feeling is mutual as she hears a lot about “Mo” Izzie’s name for you.

All day long you play with your toy instruments making up parades and marching back and forth. Sometimes if an instrument isn’t handy you’ll grab a random object and turn it into one. The other morning I got out of the shower and found you dancing to music on your bed while playing my curling iron like it was a trumpet. Something kind of cool that you do is pick out the sound of instruments in songs. We will be listening to a tune and you will hear an instrument and then name it or pretend to play it- you move your fingers to an imaginary piano, blow an imaginary harmonica and I have to say you do a pretty cute air guitar!

We have been eating out in restaurants again! This is a really big deal because basically since you were 3 months old you just could not handle being in a restaurant unless you were asleep. But now you get super excited to eat out. Once a week we meet Nana for a trip to the library and a trip out to lunch. Usually you aren’t really interested in eating, but you enjoy hanging out and watching everyone else eat. Hey it’s a big start!

You have been having a lot of little tantrums, crying fits and have been throwing things. 22 months old has been exceptionally emotional for you. I would normally describe you as a pretty mellow kid so watching you lose it over a certain blanket in your bed (you apparently did NOT want the blanket in your bed) or being given a certain snack (you wanted to eat chips when you were given raisins) is sometimes hard to watch. There have been lots of battles of will, lots of loving something one day then hating it the next, little patience for books and reading and oh did I mention lots of insisting YOU DO IT YOURSELF.

With the negative emotions also come the positive. You have started to express when you are feeling “happy” as you will declare. Everything you say seems to be two and three words at a time like “Hi Nana Baby” which is your favorite saying that you repeat all day even when Nana is nowhere in sight. And when you are feeling “happy” you are very affectionate. The other night I was rocking you and we were talking about our day. You leaned in for a kiss and I kissed your nose. “No Mama, like this” you said and pulled your pacifier out of your mouth and kissed me right on the lips. That one moment made up for all the other challenging moments we’ve had combined!

xo,

Mom and Dad

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

Dear Roman,
You are an original, an individual no doubt. But sometimes you will do something that makes me realize there is nothing quite like seeing myself or seeing your Dad through the mirror that is you.

This afternoon as we were walking down the stairs to head out for a trike ride you saw a couple crumbs on the floor. “Uh oh” as you pointed the tiny specs out. Then without pause you ran back upstairs, grabbed a broom from the closet and ran back to sweep them away. After you cleaned the floor you put the broom back, closed the closet door and joined me on the stairs as though nothing had happened. This is EXACTLY something your dad would do!

Sometimes at night while you are in your crib trying to fall asleep you will struggle with winding down. Chatting and throwing stuffed animals out of your crib, calling for your parents. You aren’t crying or upset, just having trouble shutting off your brain for the night. This is EXACTLY like your mom!

There is nothing that gives you more pleasure than entering a bakery with a pristine glass case filled with rows of sweet perfection. Your entire body smiles. Dad and I feel the EXACT same way!

Your cleaning habits, obsessive wiping, putting clothes away in drawers, putting books back on shelves, needing your hands clean- so totally your father.

Your picky eating, routine loving, particularity, slow to get going in the morning is just like your mama.

For better or for worse you have inherited or picked up some traits that are… well… like your parents. You will probably despise this notion once you are aware. But hey, at least we have each other.

Self Expression

Dear Roman,

You have found a love for art. These days one of your favorite ways to play at home is by getting creative. You’ll rummage through your supply boxes pulling out markers, crayons, chalk, tape, stickers and can occupy yourself by creating a masterpiece. I find you totally focused on a drawing often looking like this-

When I ask you what you are drawing you usually answer, “a baby” or “Izzie” which is the name of a girlfriend of yours.

I guess you are focusing on figure drawings.