Letter to Jarom: Month 69

Dear Jarom,

Today you turn 69 months! It's the second to last day of kindergarten and I can't believe the school year is over already. You have learned and grown so much over this school year. You told me this morning that you will be sad when school gets out. I'm glad you love going to school and I hope you always feel that way. Education is so important. You are starting to read really well. You read a 1st reader to me last night and only needed help with a few words.

We've been letting your hair grow out the last couple months and we'll shave it for the summer. It's gotten so long that I can put a ponytail on the top of your head and I was even able to french braid it! You thought that was pretty funny but I must say it'll be nice not to have to do anything to your hair once it's shaved.

We had a fun Memorial Day. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Funk's for a BBQ and played in the backyard. They got out the croquet set which you've been wanting to play and you had a great time playing it. You weren't too bad either. For awhile you were even beating me. You are very athletic and love to be running around and playing ball and such.

You broke your first bone this month. You were in Grandma and Grandpa Funk's backyard and playing with a metal wagon. Somehow you got your finger pinched in it and the nail bed turned black and blue but you didn't really complain about it. About a week later I noticed it was really really swollen so I took you to urgent care. They took an x-ray and you'd broken off the tip of the bone. You get to wear a splint for 3 weeks but you haven't complained about your finger hurting at all. We'll see if you keep your fingernail.

It's going to be such a fun summer. Already we've played with homemade fingerpaint and Daddy and I made you lightsabers out of pool noodles which you are very excited about. We love you so much.

Love, Mommy

Letter to Alex: Month 30

Dear Alex,

Yesterday you turned 2 1/2! It's hard to believe you're only 2 1/2 because sometimes you seem older than that. Your vocabulary is ridiculous and you enunciate so well. You're starting to count and read letters - well, you know O at least. You know your colors and animals and their sounds. People are constantly commenting on how smart you are for such a little guy.

You have become very clumsy lately. You fall down all the time and are covered in bruises and scratches. I heard that when you go through a growth spurt you can become clumsy - let's hope that's what this is. Even with all the clumsiness you are still getting around really well at the park. You love to go and climb on everything and run around like Jarom. It's amazing the difference a year makes. You couldn't do much more than go up and down stairs at the park last year. This year I don't have to worry too much because you're turning into a monkey like your brother!

You love to play with Jarom and your other friends. You play Star Wars and Mario Bros. and whatever else everybody is playing. We made a fort out of your bunk bed and you boys thought that was so fun. Jarom even rigged the flashlights for "electricity!"

You caught your first fish this month. Daddy took you fishing and you caught a blue gill, which you pronounce "bwu gee-ew" and when we ask you how big it was you spread your arms wide and say, "this big!" You had a great time and I'm sure you'll be doing more fishing with Daddy soon.

You are such a sweet boy and so fun to have around.

Love, Mommy

Letter to Megan: Month 9

Dear Megan,

Today you turn 9 months! As always, this past 9 months has gone by much faster than the 9 months before. You are sitting up really well now and rolling all over the place. I put you to bed facing one way and you're always somewhere totally different when you wake up. You are just over 17 lbs and nearly 28 inches. You are getting so big and you're not going to be a baby for very much longer.

You are such a happy, content little thing. Everybody thinks you are so adorable and that you should be a baby model. I think we'll keep you for ourselves, though. You've been a little fussy lately because you're teething. All four of your top front teeth are trying to push their way through your gums. They haven't succeeded yet but it won't be long. But usually you're all smiles and giggles. You've even started saying "mama," "dada," and "baba."

You love to play with all your little toys - especially the chew toys. And you love to watch your brothers and other little kids as they play. And your brothers adore you. Sometimes they ask if you can sit downstairs with them while they watch a show. And they always want to hold and feed you. You're starting to eat puffs but can't quite get them in your mouth yet so Jarom and Alex always want to help you. You're doing a lot better at eating baby food. Sometimes I even give you a little of what we're eating - sweet potatoes or applesauce or bread. You get so excited when it's time to eat. You kick your little legs and you laugh like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory.

You enjoy the park. Sometimes you just sit on a blanket and play with your toys and watch the kids playing. Other times you sit in the swing and you really like that. We took you to Murray Park and I wanted to see if you would like the spinny cups they have there. I put you in and spun you around and you just giggled and giggled! You might end up being a bit of a dare devil.

You are such a sweetie and we love you so much!

Love, Mommy

Letter to Jarom: Month 68

Dear Jarom,

Yesterday you turned 68 months. You only have one month of school left and I can't believe it! I love to watch you run from the car up to the school with your backpack bouncing behind you. You get what are called BUG Bucks at school. The BUG stands for Being Unusually Good and when you get so many you can get different prizes from the BUG store. For 15 BUG Bucks you can get a Jackling Elementary t-shirt and this past month you decided to save up your BUG Bucks, instead of spending them every week, so you could get a t-shirt. And you did it! I was so proud of you. It was your first experience saving up for what you want.

You are getting really good at reading and spelling and sounding things out. You made all our names out of blocks and thought it was the coolest thing. We got some fun books from the book fair at school - I don't care what you read as long as you want to read. So we got Power Rangers, Lego Star Wars and another Lego book as well as LMNO Peas which I picked out but you and Alex both really like.

 You had a great time celebrating Easter. You love decorating the eggs. You love hunting for eggs. You love eating all that candy. Part of me wanted to just let you eat it all at once and make yourself sick so you didn't want to eat any more candy. But I didn't. You got a new suit to wear for Easter and you look so grown up and like we should ship you off to boarding school or something.

You are very creative. You are always making things out of blocks, or your food, or making artwork of some kind. You are obsessed with Angry Birds (even though you've never played the game) and loved helping me make an angry bird pizza for dinner this month.

You are very outgoing and have a lot of friends. You love having people over to play. You like playing in the bathtub with Alex and think it's cool when daddy gives you a bath because he gives you awesome hairdo's!

You are such a great kid and I love watching you grow.

Love, Mommy