my lil man

Dear lil man,

How I love you :)

Your personality gets bigger and bigger by the day.

And SO does your vocabulary.

You make sentences now--and always tell us what 'Kie is doing.'

For instance,

"I make mess."

"I clean."

"I broke,"

"I scared."

"I silly."

"I funny."

"I cully" (I color.)

Sure, they're not perfect. But they're adorable.

Right now you're obsessed with puzzles and numbers.

All your puzzles are educational (of course)

and you know your numbers up to 8!

I'm so proud of you!

It also helps we have a big playmat with all the numbers and fishes of the sea.

So you seem them often and can point them out in different orders.

I may be biased, but to me, you're pretty smart.

You also love your football and soccer ball.

And constantly ask for them.

Another one of your many favorite things to do is talk on the phone..

and whoever I call or calls us, you try and guess who it is.

"Madoo?"'

"Big Daddy?"

"Elmo/Oma?" --Elmo and Oma's names are so similar.

I don't really know how you know Elmo, because we don't watch him.

But, it's cute nonetheless.

You are also obsessed with animals.

You make all the sounds.

The cutest is the cat and bird noises.

"Me-OW" 

And

 "tweet, tweet".

You also love cars,

anything with wheels really.

Trains, planes and cars are some of your favorite things.

You can hear a plane and motorcycle MILES away and tell us what it is.

It's a bit crazy how great your ears are.

I'm guessing you're a bit sensitive to sounds...

Everyday is an adventure--

you're always getting into something, climbing something, finding something...

and you REPEAT everything.

You're like a parrot.

But cuter, with no feathers.

One of my favorite things to do with you is when you climb into our bed and we go over different animals, cars and other various vocabulary words.

We use a lot of different apps on the tablet--that are 'yours'.

It's amazing how fast you adapt to technology!

We also use a lot of different coloring and drawing apps (not to mention the countless stacks of paper and coloring books we have).

Somehow you know how to color within the lines.

I could never do that--

so it's fascinating to see that you KNOW to do that.

Muchless do it.

Coloring and drawing is a big part of the day.

We definitely encourage it.

Luckily, washable markers are amazing.

You have colored on the sofa, but it comes right off.

You also know this--so you always have baby wipes ready to clean up after you say, "I make mess!"

Then there is cooking.

Cooking is so fun for you.

Since I cook most nights, you like to help.

You go to the island in the kitchen, 

grab your spoons and random utensils 

and I hand you some pots and pans to use.

You also pull up the ottoman or stool to reach what you need.

you're a bit independent.

You make me 'taste' your creations.

It's pretty cute.

As for eating, some days you eat like there's no tomorrow...

Your favorites are pastas, apples (appa-dees) bananas, broccoli cheese soup and tacos.

(Really you eat the chicken out of a soft taco and then the "tia" -tortilla)

Then there are days you're only into your yogurt and cheese..

and that's it.

You're too busy to eat.

You have things to do...

places to go and people to see.

Speaking of, we often have play dates.

We do at least ONE a week, but then there are weeks like this when everyday is filled with friends.

We also try to get you to one or two swim lessons a week.

Since we're in Texas where West Nile has ruled this summer--we have been avoiding the outdoor play.

But, we're crossing our fingers that a cool front comes and knocks out those suckers soon.

You do mow with your dad every week and I take you out dressed fully in long sleeves and pants (it's a sight to see on warm days) most early mornings.  I gotta be careful with you!

Oh and did I mention you locked me out of the house the other day?

We were coming back from Town Lake and I took you inside and left the keys in the door.

I went back to the car to grab our things,

and you had shut the glass door and the heavy door...

and bolted it!

I heard you on the other side saying, 

"I lock, I lock Momma!"

Yep, you did lock alright...

luckily for me, the keys were still in the door.

So I unlocked you quickly.

Now I know to keep the keys on me at all times.

Yes, I'm going to miss those quiet, solo moments we have together.

Those moments when you first get up and we snuggle on the couch while you eat your waffle and drink your milk.

You just want me to hold you.

Or those moments we lay in the bed together,

and you tell me to 

"Sleep momma, sleep!"

Or when you pat my back,

cover me with a blanket, 

or kiss my face a million times for no reason.

You're a sweetheart.

You're loving and caring.

(Albeit, a bit bossy)

When we take walks together as a family,

you always wait on me and yell for "momma, momma!"

Like, maybe I'll hurry up and catch up with you.

You also love your dad,

that's obvious.

Dad can cater to your wildness.

For now, momma is slowing down and tired.

(Pregnancy these last few weeks has me a bit slow.)

But, you know when you're scared or need love to come to momma.

You're my angel.

You're my love.

And I'm so blessed to be your momma.

I look forward to all the many more memories we can make together...

but for now I just want to write them down.

So I can forever re-visit them.

Until next time,

-HK-

riding the train

best buddies

beautiful Austin, Texas

one of your favotire outfits--you dressed yourself this day