Of Course You Can!

Dear LittleDude,

This is the conversation we just had.


LittleDude (climbing into my lap with book): "Read, Mama?" (By the way, the book was your favorite: "Chugga Chugga Choo Choo")

Me: "Only for a kiss."

LittleDude (giving me a kiss): "I love you."

Me: "I love you too, LittleDude. Can I keep you forever?"

LittleDude: "Nope. I keep YOU forever."


I love you.
Love, Mommy

You Did It!

Dear LittleDude,

After weeks of trying, you finally pee-pee'd in the big boy potty today!

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Sleeping LittleDude or Ninja

Dear LittleDude,

Now that you've been down for your nap for an hour and a half, I think you might be asleep. Either that, or you've turned into a ninja. It's kind of hard to tell considering that you turned off your sound machine and monitor before removing your doorknob cover to break out of your room and then turned off your sound machine and monitor again once I put you back into bed. All this because I wouldn't let you sleep with your new fish tank in your bed.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Be Very Quiet... I'm Hunting Noodles

Dear LittleDude,

Thank you for teaching me that if you are unusually quiet while I am in the bathroom, you are probably digging last night's left-over lo mein out of the fridge. A new, more complex lock is now on my shopping list.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

As Observant as Mommy

Dear LittleDude,

I glued the helipad onto the roof of the whatever-that-building-is on your train table three months ago. That is why I'm giggling now that you've finally realized you can't take it off and hide it under the couch.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

No Sleep for Penguins

Dear LittleDude,

When you go to school tomorrow, I will go buy a separate timer for the inflatable penguin, polar bear, and Christmas tree in the front yard. Then I will program it so that your penguin wakes up at 6am (in case you wake up early) and go back to sleep at 10:30 when the other snowmen and snowflakes go back to sleep. That way, you do not have to run into the kitchen, crying hysterically,  and cry, "Penguin! Penguin, Mama! What happened? Wake up! Pin-gwiiiiiiin!!!!" while you drag me to the front door.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Mommy's Little Helper

Dear LittleDude,

I could be wrong, but from the conversation I'm hearing over the monitor, you are holding Daddy hostage in your room. It seems that he is not allowed to pick you up, hug you, kiss you, touch any toys, or do anything other than sit in the rocking chair. Let me guess. He's in there because you've closed your door to see your stars, and you need help with the doorknob when you want to come out, right? For future reference, it might be easier just to ask me to let you out when you're ready. On the other hand, I appreciate your efforts to keep everyone occupied while I finish cooking Thanksgiving Dinner.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Iffy Diction, Perfect Manners

Dear LittleDude,

You just came and grabbed my hand, telling me "Come on, Mom! Come get on the train!" Then you led me in the opposite direction of your ride-on train (which would probably break under me anyway) and led me into every room of the house until we got to your bedroom. That is where I discovered you were saying, "Come on, Mom! Come get my train!" since the Thomas engine you decided to sleep with last night was stuck under your bed.

Good job using your manners when I got it for you. That was a very good "Thanks, Mom."

I love you.
Love, Mommy

You Might Be Adopted

Dear LittleDude,

You just turned down a piece of my should-be-famous Chocolate Chip Pecan pie in favor of a Chips Ahoy cookie. Obviously, we need to work on this.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

A, B, C....

Dear LittleDude,

Right now, I am in my bedroom getting ready for our trip to the craft store today. Over the monitor, I can hear you playing with Scout, Boing, and your trains while singing. You are singing "A, B, C, D, E, D, F, G..." then it gets jumbled until you get to, "Q, R, S," and then it gets jumbled again until you end with "Y, Zeeeeeee. Now sing!"

You are the cutest kid in the whole world.

Love, Mommy

New Hair Product?

Dear LittleDude,

I admire your creativity, but maple syrup does not make an acceptable hair gel, nor does dipping you hair into to the syrup constitute good table manners.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Mr. Independent

Dear LittleDude,

If you want to take a bath, it is much easier to say "Bath," or "Take bath," or "Bath, please" than it is to turn on the water yourself & then climb in fully clothed while I get your toys fro the other bathroom. Also, the water is not as cold if you let me turn it on & wait until I tell you it's ok to get in.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Good Habit, Bad Tools

Dear LittleDude,

Please stop using my toothbrush and moisturizer to practice brushing your teeth when I'm not looking. You don't rinse the toothbrush very well, and the moisturizer tastes awful. Plus, it's kind of expensive.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Night Night, Vinci

Dear LittleDude,

This is one of those moments I wish DaVinci would magically be able to speak English if we fed him alphabet soup (a la Martha on PBS Kids). You want so badly for him to answer you when you tell him "night night," and it just doesn't quite cut it for Mommy or Daddy to answer for him.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Baby, Baby, Baby...Ooooh, Baby, Baby, Baby!

Dear LittleDude,

Why do you wake up and start repeating "Bay-beeee, Bay-bee, Baby" now? Are you trying to tell Mommy to come get the baby? Or are you singing a Justin Bieber song? Please let it be the former (even if that song is rather catchy).

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Bust my buffers!

Dear LittleDude,

Yes, that giggling you hear is your daddy and me laughing at you trying to break out of your room by banging your Percy flashlight against your bed rails. It wouldn't be quite as funny as if you didn't keep turning the flashlight on so we'd hear, "Bust my buffers! It's dark in here!" followed by your little giggles.

Love, Mommy

Little Action. Big Impact.

Dear LittleDude,

Today, small actions of discipline started making a big impact. Yesterday, if I said "no," you'd either listen or ignore me. If you ignored me, I would say "no" more emphatically or -- if necessary -- grab your hand, pull you away from the danger, take whatever curiosity your curious little hands had latched onto away, or whatnot. Then you would throw a little fit and move on. Today, I said "no," and your little face crumpled like the world had just ended because we disagreed on whether or not the dining room table really needed a silver crayon motif. This must be what your Gammoo was talking about when she used to tell me punishing me hurt her more than it hurt her.

I love you.

Love, Mommy

Eww, yucky!

Dear LittleDude,

Today, you decided you don't like raisins. Or maybe you decided you did. Here's what happened.

At the commissary this morning, you were anti-sit-in-the-cart and anti-walk. I tried bribing you with a sucker, but since our last trip to the commissary when I broke down and let you have a cookie from the package we were buying, you were also anti-sucker. So, cookie it was. You chose oatmeal-raisin from the bakery. I tried to convince you to go for the chocolate chip since those are your favorite, but the oatmeal raisin looked yummier to you. Maybe the raisins looked like big chocolate chips.

I knew you were disappointed the moment you bit into the cookie because your little nose crinkled up, you got that look on your face that says "Eww, yucky!" and you continued to be anti-cart. For the record, it is very difficult to shop for groceries with a 28-pound two-year-old hanging around your neck while munching a cookie and holding an un-opened sucker. It is even harder to shop for groceries while that two-year-old is spitting the icky raisins from his otherwise delicious oatmeal cookie down your shirt or picking them out of his mouth with his fingers and trying to shove them into your own mouth. Just so you know, kiddo, Mommy is not a huge fan of raisins either -- especially not half-chewed raisins (even if they were half-chewed by the cutest kid in the world).

The kicker? Once we got home and had lunch, you wanted one of the eleven remaining cookies. And you ate it -- and an extra -- without a whimper, raisins and all. So, you either like raisins, or you don't. But we're not going to find out which during next week's trip to the commissary.

I love you.
Love, Mommy

Trick or Treat!

Dear LittleDude,

Today we celebrated your first Halloween with Daddy home! You didn't want to wear the hood of your penguin costume, but we didn't mind. We were just happy to finally celebrate Halloween and go trick-or-treating as a complete family.

PawPaw, Lulu (the pink skeleton), and Gammoo came along, but Gammoo had to wait at the magic show near the entrance because her broken foot hurt too much to walk all the hills at the zoo. You seemed to have fun watching all the other kids in their costumes, playing the with the light-up bats I bought for you and Lulu, and holding out your bag for all the people to fill with candy, but you never said "Trick or treat" until we got back into the car and started driving away! (We'll work on the timing for next year.) It's okay, though. You did point out the water (because you wanted to go swimming), the ducks, a llama, the rhino, and the hippo. We didn't know that you knew how to say llama, rhino, and hippopotamus!

After trick-or-treating, we ate at Bob Evans. You were so hungry that the waitress had to bring you biscuit because you tried to steal one off a nearby table! Then, of course, you refused to eat your chicken strips and decided to sit under the table and play. I think it must be kind of a like fort under there. If that's the case, can I join you next time? I like forts!

I love you.
Love, Mommy