Letter to Samuel: 25 Months

I wasn’t planning to write monthly updates after Sam’s second birthday, but there are just so many moments that I want to remember. And so here we go. Sam’s 25th month.

Likes: Music. You love to sing and dance and march through the house with a drum strapped around your neck. | Water. We started swim class this month. And you love it! You are the only kid in the class who will jump into the water without holding Mommy’s hands. | Art. Coloring, painting, holiday craft projects. You are currently into it all. | Stickers. You have become very, very good at your sticker books. We love to sit on the couch and match the stickers to the correct pages. | Work. You still love to help with projects around the house. This month, you helped to paint your baby sister’s room (the color “purkle”) and hang crown molding in your room. | Frisbee. It’s actually Lucy’s frisbee, but you are surprisingly good at throwing it!

Dislikes: Baths. You now prefer “showers.” Which is fine with your pregnant momma because it means I don’t have to bend over the tub to wash your hair and your toes. | Walking. You would much rather run everywhere. And it’s often difficult to get you to hold my hand while crossing the street. You think it’s much more fun (and funny) to clasp your own hands together. | Leaving the house through the garage door. You now request to go out the “back” and “meet Mama” at the car. | And, as always, you strongly dislike when I tell you it’s time to come inside. You say “no, play outside, please” no matter if you’re covered in mud with a runny nose and cold, rosy cheeks.

Favorite Foods: Cucumbers coated in Ranch dressing; naan bread with hummus; sausages and bratwursts; tacos; and all things pasta. Also, juice. You now often request “juice” instead of water or milk. I usually dilute it, and, fortunately, you don’t know the difference. You also often request “mac and cheese” for lunch. Not to mention “cookies” “candy” and “happy cake.” Oh, you’ve also figured out how to open the freezer and have been caught several times with a carton of ice cream and a spoon.

Favorite Books: Little Blue Truck; Muddy Paws; Goodnight Construction Site; Kisses for Daddy; Little Quack’s Bedtime; and Trucks (a lift-the-flap book). We read between 3 and 5 books together every night. And sometimes you continue reading to Ricky and Baby after we turn out the lights. You’ve also become much more interactive during story time. You pick out the “big duck” and the “widdle duck.” You tell me that “Pop” is driving the tractor and “Pete” is driving the mail truck. (Ironically, our mailman’s name really is Pete.) Oh, and that the dump truck is filled with “poop.” (We have Pop to thank for that reference.)

Favorite Toys: Your “doc” kit; the “pizza” set for your kitchen; Legos and wooden blocks; your train table; cars and trucks; and your Little Tikes car that you “pack” and take on trips around the house — you say “bye” and then announce “I’m back.”

Favorite TV Shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake the Pirate. We allow you to watch about three episodes per day, and one of these two is always your pick. In fact, you now know most Mickey episodes by name: “Minnie picnic” “Mortimer” “Donald airplane” and “Pluto moon” to name a few.

Communication: Your vocabulary is expanding at an incredible rate! You say new words every day, and I can no longer keep track of how many words you know. It’s amazing to have real conversations with you and to have you respond to my questions and to hear you tell Daddy about our day when he gets home from work. You also now speak in short sentences. Like “dog collar off” (when you reminded me to remove Lucy’s collar before putting her in the car) and “throw money in water” (when you told Daddy that we threw pennies into the fountain). You almost always say “please” and “thank you” and “I welcome,” which makes me one proud momma. While riding in the car you say “I see bus … pumpkin … tree … bike.” You say “Momma, watch” when you want my attention and “Ricky, look” when you have something to share with your best stuffed buddy. And sometimes you respond with “yeah” in this deep man voice, and it’s hysterical.

Sleep: No real complaints here. You are typically in bed by 9pm and awake around 7am. You nap between 2 and 3 hours every afternoon. And you rarely put up a fight. But we do have a challenge to tackle in the very near future — operation ditch the binky (which you currently only use for naps and bedtime). I am not looking forward to that one.

Sam, you continue to impress us with your memory and entertain us with your imagination. I can’t wait to see what adventures await us!