two years, three months, three weeks

Dearest Zac,

This week we welcomed another new member to our little family.

ELMO!

Oh my, how excited you were when we found him at Nordstrom after buying you a new pair of sneakers. Your face lit up and we just couldn't leave him there.  It was the cutest thing. We saw Big Bird and Grover and Cookie Monster, too, but your excitement for Elmo was just too cute. You carried Elmo around the mall hugging him under one arm (and eating his eyeballs). Mommy and Daddy have never seen you so happy about a doll.

Elmo sat with you in the stroller and "wanted" to be strapped in with you.

Elmo "wanted" to sit next to you.

And tonight, Elmo "wanted" to pee in the potty.  This made mommy very, very happy.

"Elmo go pee-pee on Zachary's potty! Elmo has to wait for the pee-pee to come OUT! Oh look, Mommy! It's coming! Oh nooooo, there's no pee-pee in there!"

Apparently Elmo doesn't know how to pee. 

Anyway, I'm very proud of you for all of your efforts on the potty. Twice this week you woke up in the morning with a dry diaper and peed on the potty. Today, you resisted, but that's ok. Actually, you resisted just about everything today...

Tomorrow we can try again.

I love you so much,

Mommy

two years, three months, two weeks

Dear Zac,

I am absolutely loving spending this week with you! We are both off from school/work and have been taking advantage of our time together. We have gone to the Natural History museum with friends, run a bunch of errands, had friends over for brunch, slept in, taken long naps, baked muffins and cookies and visited a good friend in New Jersey. We've played with trains, read books, rolled out play-doh, built tunnels, painted, and colored with crayons. We've watched a ton of "Elmo's song" on YouTube. You have pointed out every triangle, every "Z" and every helicopter you see.

We started our week together by spending the day at Micki's house with your brand new baby cousin, Twila. It was heart-warming to see how gentle you were with her. And you weren't jealous at all that I was holding her for so long. You were also very excited to spend time with cousin Willow, so I get that was a good distraction for you.

I know that you will be fine going back to school next week, but mommy could really get used to staying home with you.

I'm going to savor these next few days at home, enjoying your company, hearing you come running from wherever you were, calling for "My mommy! My mommy!"

I love you so much, my Zachary.

Love,
your mommy

zachary's first report card

"Zachary is a happy, confident, and independent child who join us every morning with a positive attitude. After he hugs his father and says goodbye, he gives a smile to his teachers and says, “Good morning Astrid." He also looks for friends as soon he comes in and asks, “Where is Phoebe” or “Where is Trudy?” He then immediately begins his daily routines by saying, “I need to close the door.” Then he gets his green bag from his cubby to put all his belongings inside it. When he hangs up his bag he says, “It is heavy; I did it!” While he is completing all of these steps, he talks with his teacher and narrates all the actions that he is doing, for example, “I bring a banana, apple sauce, etc.,” “I need to open the refrigerator,” “I put my basket right there,” and ”I need to work.”
Zachary chooses his own activities and enjoys working in all the classroom areas. He matches and recognizes the primary and secondary colors. He sorts shapes, strings beads, puts together puzzles, connects the tracks of the train, paints, pastes, stamps, transfers dry beans, pours water, and so on. At lunch time, Zachary sets up the table by getting a placemat, plate, cup, and a napkin independently.
He is very friendly and enjoys working alone and with his friends. Zachary is also very affectionate and will hug his friends and teachers during the work cycle. We very much enjoy working with Zachary."

two years, three months, one week

Dearest Zachary,

It's been another week of solid sleep, pleasant mood, great eating, and hilarious conversation.

Of course, there has been your usual occasional defiance. "I don't like it" and "I don't want to" are often heard coming out of your mouth.

You've been naked a lot more recently because when I try to get you dressed in the morning for school or at night for bed, you usually assert yourself saying, "I don't want to wear that! I need to pick one!" And then you proceed to empty the contents of your drawers. Eventually, however, you do end up "picking out" the same pajamas mommy and daddy already laid out for you.

It's important for me, and for anyone else who cares for you, to understand that when you say, "I don't want to", you really mean "I don't want to do it right now. If you give me a few minutes, or some incentive, or some reason I should do it and not you, than I am more than happy to oblige."

Last night the following conversation took place.

Me: (on my knees) Zachary, your sweatshirt is dirty. Please take it off and put it in the hamper.
You: I don't want to. Mommy do it.
Me: Mommy will help you take it off, but then you need to put it in the hamper.
You: I don't want to. Mommy put it in the hamper.
Me: But Zachary, it's not Mommy's sweatshirt. Please go put Zachary's sweatshirt in the hamper.
You: It's MY sweatshirt. (And then you ran to put it in the hamper)
You: I did it! (With a big smile on your face as if it was your idea to put it in the hamper in the first place).

I keep being reminded of that scene from My Big, Fat Greek Wedding where Tula's mother and aunt are trying to convince her father to let her go work at her aunt's travel agency. In that scene, the women plan to have the father think he came up with the idea on his own. And in the end, he does think the plan is his, and the women praise him for it.

Sound familiar?

I love you, even though it takes you 10 minutes to put on your shoes.

Love,
Mommy

"thank you for dinner, tata"

We have dinner with Tata and Baba every Friday night. And after dinner, Tata drives us home.

Tonight, as we were pulling up in front of our building, you said, "Bye-bye Tata. Thank you for dinner. It was very very yummy!"

You are just absolutely delicious.

two years, three months

Dear Zac,

I am so happy to have last week behind us. You are back to your usual happy, energetic, cooperative, well-rested, and secure self. You say "good night mommy. see you in the morning." in your sing-songy little voice and you go to sleep. You sleep through the night and wake up a reasonable hour, happy. You let mommy go to the bathroom. You let mommy make dinner. You let mommy walk out of the room. And you don't come screaming and running after me. I am really so very happy that last week is over.

And I still have no idea what was actually wrong.

However, this week, mommy and daddy (and tata) have noticed another tremendous leap in your verbal skills. You are engaging in complete conversations, you respond to questions, you are using dozens of adjectives, you talk about the future.

Today, you and Tata were talking about your cousins. You listed them all nicely, and then Tata asked about the baby in Micki's belly. She told you that the baby was going to come out soon and asked what you are going to do when you see the baby. "I give the baby kiss!"

Tonight, after your bath, as we were putting on your 'jamas, I notice that we are running out of diapers. I said "Zachary, we only have a few diapers left. What are you going to do when we don't have any left?" You thought for a moment and then responded "I wear underpants!" I followed-up with "Then where will the pee-pee go?" You said "I go pee-pee in the toilet!"

I like to believe that you know what you are saying, and that in a couple of weeks, we can start to save money on diapers. And spend more on laundry.

Happy 27 months, my big boy.

Love,
Mommy