While I faithfully completed your monthly letters until your first birthday, I didn’t want to stress myself with the obligation of writing them into your second. Alina got a year – months 13 (which was the first love letter written on this blog) to her second birthday – and you got a year, too. I did, however, commit to #365siblings, which is a huge project and one I hope you will love just as much.
Even still, from your 12-month birthday letter to now, you have changed so much – and I felt it was utterly necessary to document your growth. This is my letter of love to my son.
Letter of Love to my Son
You are so athletic already. Is that super strange to say about a toddler? You have been walking for months now (started in your 9th month, just shy of 10), and can move in an all out sprint. Your little feet move quick, too, in addition to being fast. You love all kind of balls, especially basketballs. You love to slam dunk, mostly because you haven’t figured out how to throw it yet. But your favorite ball to walk around with and hold is the football. Don’t get comfy though – Daddy assured me that, if I gave him a boy, there would be no football players in this house. Sorry buddy.
Up until recently, I thought you were too “boy” to like books. Turns out, I have no idea what I’m talking about. This month has brought with it an incredible love of books. You pick one out, sit squarely in my lap, and peacefully enjoy mama’s voice humming along all the words you don’t quite know yet. This, my boy, makes me really happy. Like I tell your sister, books will open doors and identities that seem so far off. Love to read, my son! You will never regret the adventures of literature.
I take you to the doctor’s on Wednesday, so I’ll have to update this post with your height and weight. But you are one solid boy! Not huge, but very thick and solid. I can already see definition in your ads, which is insane, but not totally unheard of given your daddy’s physique. You are still, barely, in a size 4 diaper, wearing 18 months in clothes, and a size 6 in shoes. You FINALLY started to leave on your hats. Love that!
You pick up new words everyday. Currently, you love to say uh-oh, dada, mama, sissy, woof woof, leche and your all time favorite word – ball. You still do a ton of pointing, moaning, grunting and whining to communicate your needs. I try to reinforce sign language or word recognition with you, but in the moment, you just want what you want. It is usually when I am changing your diaper, and we’re alone, that I can teach you a new word. You sit still, very focused on my lips, and watch as a I pronounce the word. It’s the cutest thing. You have also found out how funny it is to scream like a crazy kid while we’re out in public and watch how stressed mama gets. That, my son, is not the cutest thing.
We don’t get the one-on-one time that I had hoped we could have, but when we do, we really connect. Perhaps it’s wrong of me to admit this, as I’ve only really heard moms equally compare the love they have for their children, but the love I have for you is uniquely yours. Whereas your sister is my spitting image, in personality especially. Whereas I understand the kind of love she needs, you are truly a challenge.
You challenge me to laugh. You challenge me to be goofy. You challenge me to loosen up and play ball. Books are great, but sometimes a boy just wants to play in the dirt. And you show me how good that is for the soul.
Thank you for being all that you are, my son. Every day that goes by, I become slightly more in tune with why God has chosen me to have you. You bring informality and ease into a personality that carries a lot of struggle and angst. You are teaching me that strength is a good thing, and we don’t always have to cry to get what we want.
Te adoro, my hijo. You are every bit of my favorite parts of this world.
Su Mama
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