two years, seven months, three weeks

Dear Zachary,

Sorry for the delay. It's been pretty busy around here since the school year ended. We are into week three in your toddler bed and I. Really missing your crib. Mommy and daddy (usually daddy) has to sit with you every night until you fall asleep. Some nights, it takes 15-20 mins, other night's, it's up to an hour before you are snoozing. 

What I wanted to write to you about this week is your rapidly developing sense of humor. Sometimes the things you say totally throw us off guard and we all end up laughing hysterically. For example, this past weekend I introduced you to Mr. Potato head. We were on Skype with Bobé and grandpa and you were showing them your new toy. You said "it's not mr. Potato head! It's misterrrrrrr....banana head!" I have no idea where you came up with that, but it made us all laugh. You didnt stop there. Mr. Veggie burger head, mr. Potato kugel head, mr. Sofa head, were more of the names you came up with, among others. 

It's so much fun to watch you play and to see your creativity and fantasy develop. 

Lots of love to you, my funny man.

Love, 

Mommy

two years, seven months, 10 days

Sweetest Zachary,

I'm so sorry I'm delayed on my letters recently. It's been very busy around here. Friday was your last day of school, but Mommy still has another week to go. Next week you'll be at Tata's work for summer camp at the nursery school there. I hope you have a great time. Here are a couple of pictures of you and your teachers this year. Mommy and Daddy are so grateful for them - they have been so patient and loving. I know you will miss them so much when you begin to understand that they will not be your teachers anymore. I wish you could stay with them, but in the Fall, you will be in an Early Childhood room where you will be for 2 years until you're ready for Kindergarten. Wow. Kindergarten is just 2 short years away...

 

Love you so much, my big boy!

Love, mommy

two years, seven months

Dear Zac,

As I sit here writing this letter to you, a day late, but on the day you turn 2 years and 7 months, you are having a hard time falling asleep. Again.

Now that potty training is pretty much done (no accidents in well over a week and pooping regularly in the potty both at home and at school), we are getting ready to transition you to a big boy bed. I keep thinking, tho, that even though you are past 2 and a half, you are potty trained, you can do most things independently, you are just not ready to be out of the crib. And I don't think this is a case of mommy isn't ready for her baby to grow up. I'm actually thinking, my big boy is just not ready to sleep in a bed without sides. Guard rails, bumpers, whatever, won't do it. You need to be in a crib.

Why do I think this? Where is this gut feeling coming from? I'll tell you.

Mommy and Daddy did such an excellent job training you to sleep in your crib that you can't sleep anywhere else. Except the car. And only if it's at least an hour or two past your nap time. (But considering all the struggles lately with bed time, it's no like your crib is actually that much easier lately.)  You seem to really only resist bedtime when I'm home alone with you which is beyond frustrating (like tonight). At least on nights like these, if you throw an "I don't want to go to sleep!" tantrum, I can at least keep you in your bed.

So, I don't really know what to do about your sleeping arrangements, though I do know when we get to California for our summer vacation, there will be no crib there...

I love you, my little active man. Sweet dreams,

Mommy

two years, six months, 3 + weeks

Dear Zac,

I'm sorry I wasn't home so much today. I know after spending a 3-day weekend together, it was hard to get back into our regular routine. Bedtime was particularly difficult tonight. Not because it took you a long time to fall asleep (it didn't take too long), but because when I was tucking you in, you grabbed my hand and said "I hold your hand so you can't leave me. stay with me mommy. sleep in here with me." This totally broke my heart, as you've been doing so much lately.

At times I wish we hadn't done any sleep training and continued co-sleeping past 4 months. Now, I just want you to be snuggling with us in bed until we all fall asleep together. You haven't fallen asleep in my arms since you were about 9 months old and I miss it very much. You just wanted (and needed) to be in your own bed, and you slept much better not being able to smell me all night.

We are just about done with potty training, and I know this whole process has made you feel both more independent and more clingy.  You now take yourself to the bathroom and don't really need any help there. You even clean out the little potty after you use it.

Yesterday was an emotional potty day for us. We were out all day and you clearly needed to poop. (you said so about a dozen times) Hours of back and forth and finally I gave up and told you it was ok to wait and poop at home, which you did.

Today you were home with Daddy after school. You announced needing to poop and went by yourself to the bathroom and did. We are so proud.

The next project we'll tackle is transition to the big boy bed. We have already started the conversation and you know it's coming. And you're excited. As soon as school ends, we'll give it another shot.

Love you, pumpkin.

Mommy

"I need cough syrup"

Last week you had a pretty annoying nighttime cough. You would be coughing for 20-30 minutes non-stop in your sleep. We started giving you cough syrup during the day and within a few days,  the cough was gone. And so we stopped giving you cough syrup. 

Here's the conversation you and I had in the bathroom yesterday. 

Zac: I need cough syrup. Could I have cough syrup, please?

Me: No, you don't. 

Zac: I do. Yes, yes, I do need cough syrup. 

Me: You don't need cough syrup, Zachary. You're not coughing. 

Zac: (not missing a beat) *cough cough* I coughing now. I do need cough syrup. 

Fantastic. 

two years, six months, (almost) three weeks

Dear Zac,

I can't wait for you to stop telling me what you know you're supposed to do and actually just do it. 

When mommy says stop, I really do mean stop. It is not enough for you to just tell me that you know you should have stopped. And yes, you fell down a flight of stone stairs in Central Park last Friday because you were not listening. 

I've had days of nightmares now. Each time I watch you fall over and over again. Each time it ends worse than the day it actually happened. Though there isn't a bump, scratch or bruise on you (miracle?), in my nightmares you land at the bottom covered in blood, head to toe.  I'm sorry. I don't usually write so much about my fears about raising you, but this week's been tough. 

I worry when you'll grow out of this impulsivity. Obviously your feeling of invincibility will last several more years (someone recently joked that it could last well into your twenties! Yikes!), but at some point you will need to be aware of putting your body in real danger. 

This week was a good week in terms of taking walks and trusting you won't run away. You prepare me before each walk and say "I walk nicely. I hold Mommy's hand to cross the street. I don't run away from mommy. Or I sit in the stroller with straps." I hope you won't need too many more reminders about not running into the street. You've been very good about waiting at the corner for the light to change. I think we're ready to move on to "look both ways before crossing", though in NYC you need to walk half way into the crosswalk to see if anyone's speeding through. 

Please keep your body safe, little man. I really can't handle more scares like last Friday. 

Be safe, pumpkin. I love you like crazy. 

Love,

Mommy 

two years, six months, one week

Dear Zachary,

Sorry for all the potty-related letters lately. I promise there won't be too many more. I am just SO proud of you for all your potty accomplishments!

This week we are really working on the poop-training. To say that you are not having an easy time would be am understatement. You know when you have to poop and you know what you have to do, but when it comes to sitting on the potty and getting it done, you freak out. You would rather hold it in that have an accident and tonight, during the two hour back and forth to the potty, you told me "the poop doesn't want to come out. It needs to stay in my butt!" Finally you couldn't hold it in any longer and you did sit on the potty long enough for it to all come out.

Yesterday mommy went to your school for your spring parent-teacher conference. Your teachers love you so much and are really very happy to have you in their class. You are excelling at math and language skills. You count items accurately and can read short 3-letter words by sounding them out. You are always happy and curious and your teachers commented on your healthy attachment and that you never cry for me. You eat well, nap well, and play nicely with the other kids. You spend a good amount of time testing limits and exploring your own strength. They laughed as they explained to me how many plates and glasses you have broken... Yikes!

I hope you always love school this much and that I can keep up with you this summer!

Lots of love,
Mommy

Spring report card!

I'm a very proud mommy! Your spring report card came last night. I can't believe it's almost summer. We love your school, and your class, so much. I wish you could stay in the Turquoise room next year...

"Zachary is a very attentive child who notices the differences in his environment. When new materials are placed on the shelves, Zachary becomes intrigued and will attempt to use the work. If he is unfamiliar with the process he will ask for help. Zachary is very observant during our walks; as he notices when we are heading back to the school will state, “We are going back to school now!” or “Turn in here, the school is right there (pointing) as we cross the street.” Zachary is independent and in the process of toilet training. He is able to pull his clothing up and down without help and change his clothing with little assistance. He is able to verbalize when he needs to use the toilet and often states to a teacher, “I need to pee, okay (pointing his index finger)!” or “I’m going to pee now, in the toilet (pointing). Zachary is able to recall information that occurred in the past, “I bumped my head on the toilet at home and I have a boo-boo and I cried” and during a visit to the playground he stated, “I fall down on the ladder and was hanging and I cried.” In times of excitement in the classroom, Zachary scatters his work and when asked how we treat the materials he states, “We need to be gentle with the work because it can break, then we have to put it in the garbage and we won’t have any more work to use (pointing)”. This shows his ability to recall, process, and verbalize possible outcomes. He is very interested in letters and numbers. He knows the sounds of ten letters and is able to match objects with their beginning sounds. During an ‘All About Me’ a parent was reading a book and Zachary said, “There’s a Z for Zachary.” He can recognize all of his classmates name cards. Zachary enjoys matching numbers and quantity with minimal help. He recognizes the numbers from 1-9 but gets a little confused with number 6 and 9. Zachary has been a pleasure to work with this school year and will be missed dearly."

two years, six months!

Dear Zachary,

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY! Today, you are officially two and half years old!

And it was a big day for you, too! I've been writing a lot recently about potty training and today you really hit a milestone: you ASKED to go to the bathroom to poop at school. You have no idea how proud I am of you. And how relieved that you figured it out. Well, today you had it figured out at least.

This past weekend we celebrated your half-birthday with a trip to Riverside Park on your new tricycle (thank you, tata!) and wearing you new tie-dye peace sign helmet. We rode (or rather, pushed you) in the park for about 20 minutes and then stopped at an ice cream stand for your first taste of ice cream, a chipwhich that you shared with daddy. The ice cream was hard and over-frozen and you only ate a little bit, but you liked it and will gladly eat more then next time we treat you to some. (probably at Ben & Jerry's next time) Daddy was disappointed that the ice cream wasn't better quality, but I assured him that you won't remember how your first ice cream tasted.

Here's a picture of you on you tricycle followed by a picture of you and your first ice cream. I'm looking forward to many more moments like these this summer!

I love you,

Mommy

two years, five months, four (ish) weeks

Dear Zac-Zac,

This will be a short letter because you are having a very difficult time falling asleep tonight and you've been calling for me on and off for over half an hour now.

I'm not sure what's been going in for you this past week, but tonight is not the first night it's taken you so long to fall asleep. Actually, a few nights ago it took you well over an hour to fall asleep. And you were up just a few hours later.

Are you getting sick?
Am I spending too little time with you?
Is potty training too rough?

I hate to hear you struggle so much, exhausted from your little day...

This week I really wanted to blog about how affectionate you've been recently, how you hug me randomly and say "I love you" without prompting. Without me saying it first. Hug you snuggle on the floor and pretend to "sleep on mommy". How you hug your teachers and your friends' parents of your own volition. How "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me" are integrated completely into your vocabulary and I rarely have to remind you how to ask nicely. (Tonight, I forgot to put your fork on your table and you asked, immediately, "mommy, can I have a fork, please?" And you were sincere, not whiny.) I'd like to think mommy and daddy are modeling that behavior for you, but I know we have your school to thank for reinforcing it.

You are still not asleep, an hour and 10 minutes after I said good night the first time. You have, in the past hour, "accidentally" kicked the side of your bed and needed lotion and kisses, had cold feet and needed socks, needed a different color on your night light, and, of course, pooped. I'm hoping the latter event was what's been keeping you up tonight and you'll be fast asleep soon. I know I will be.

The weekend is coming soon and I hope we'll make up at least a little bit of this lost sleep.

Good night, sleepy head. I'll see you in the morning. I love you.

Mommy