A letter to my boy, the April edition

I am participating (if you call it that... as I have not been very good with the actually doing it part) in a blog circle with a group of incredibly talented ladies/mothers/photographers/all-around-good people.  We are writing monthly (or quarterly, in my case) letters to our babies and including photographs.   So don't stop here... continue on the circle.


I obviously missed a couple months of letters somewhere.  I blame it on my inability to follow calendars-- and directions.  I hope Huck does not get these traits from me.

A couple nights ago I was looking back at some of the stuff on my blog and when I read my January letter I was:

1) transported back to January when my sweet little boy was kissing everyone, sticking his toothbrush in the dog bowls, biting each onion in the drawer, etc, etc, etc.

2)surprised at how surprised I was when I read all the stuff I wrote.  Like the stuff he was doing.  I was surprised when i read it.  Because I forgot it.  (holy crap, I feel terrible writing that).  When it happens, and it's amazingly funny to Husband and I, or we think Huck is some sort of boy-genius (not for any of those aforementioned things, I promise) I think I am going to lock it in my steel trap of a mind forever.  (obviously my mind is a steel trap.  Obviously I never forget anything....like writing a letter once a month)

3)Overcome with the need to document.  I was all, "OMG!!  I need to blog write now.  Or take a picture of something!"  I do report that this passed because it was very late and I was very tired.  But I am here writing for my little love, so it's a start.

So anyway now you know where I am coming from.  Feeling an urgent need to document the everyday happenings of our lives together.  Maybe that's where a lot of you all are.



Dear Little Love of My Life,

Sorry I skipped two months.  But I think you might not mind, and if you do I don't think you'd make me feel bad about it.  It wasn't done maliciously.

We've had a lot of fun this past month.  The end of March was Easter and your Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Kristen and Uncle Justin came to visit.  They brought you cowboy boots and a cowboy hate hat.  That was a typo, but I feel like maybe it was a Freudian slip (if you can make those while typing?).  You will wear your boots around, walking all bowlegged, acting all funny, but if anyone brings your hat around you, you duck down, put your arms up over your head, and cringe.  It's pretty funny.
You also had an amazing Easter outfit.  And by amazing I mean Grandpa-chic.  You had this great little bow-tie and a cardigan.  I don't know who said dressing little boys isn't fun, but they are wrong.  You can dress them like you want your husband to dress.  And little baby bow ties are fantastic.
You had your first taste of sweets at Easter.  It was a tiny little piece of coffee cake.  And you loved it.  But you loved the bacon more.  That's my boy.

You have become obsessed with shoes.  This may be my fault because I keep buying you more and more shoes.  I think you need more than a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of dress shoes.  And apparently you think you need to change your shoes multiple times before we leave the house.  But when you want to change your shoes after you are dressed, the pair you end up choosing always looks better than the pair I had on you to begin with.  You are a little fashionist-o, I guess.  However, I'm not so down with the fact that you always want me to wear shoes.  As soon as you wake up in the morning, you go pick out a pair of shoes for me to wear.  Don't you know your momma prefers bare feet? But I love how you walk around saying "shoes, shoes, shoes" until i give in and change your shoes.

You have also discovered the beauty of the step stool.  You use it to brush your teeth, take all the things out of the drawers, turn the wash machine off/on, get into the refrigerator, get into anything you shouldn't get into.  You discovered this one day and it completely changed your life.  You can now turn lights off and on, "do laundry", help with dishes, play with the silverware.  Oh, and Daddy helped you shave for the first time, which was about the cutest damn thing I've ever seen.  You thing you need to shave every time he does now, but I promise you can wait a million more years before you are old enough for that sort of thing.

I'm sure every mom (and dad) has one thing that they have always imagined doing with their children.  For me, it's cooking.  I've have always imagined that when I have babies (and I use the term "baby" very loosely, and for a very long time) I would have them in the kitchen with me.  Up until now, when you've been in the kitchen with me you have been in Tula, on my back, hanging out and watching.  But a couple weeks ago you figured out that you could push the chair in the kitchen up to the island and watch me cook.  And so I asked if you wanted to help.  And your sweet eyes got so big.  And help you did!  We made barbecue sauce and seasoning.  And we taste tested (as you must always do) and made a huge mess (that's what happens when a 16 month old stirs, right?  Its what I expected.)  It was so fun.  And it was my momma dream come true.  You are my dream come true.

I look forward to all the days with you my sweet sweet boy (tho you could sleep in now and then).  You are learning so much everyday and it is so fun to watch.  And so overwhelming.  And so "holy crap I can't believe this kid is my son!"  You and your dad threaten to make my heart burst on a daily basis.  I am just so in love with the two of you.


I love you
Maaaaaa




On a somewhat related note... I have an issue actually photographing my boy.  Mostly because I am so worried with getting the technical aspects right that I miss out on the stuff that's happening.  So  a lot of times I just leave the camera at home/inside/wherever and snap an iPhone photo because i don't have to mess with it and it's handy and I still remain involved in the moment instead of making sure i have everything set properly.  How do you balance getting the shots/being present/etc?  Or is this something that will come with practice as I get more comfortable shooting and know somewhat what setting I need to be on when I'm in a certain room, etc.  (Does that make sense?) Thoughts?  Anyone?



Next stop... the lovely Sarah.




Taking a walk with you.  You heard an airplane.

You figured out your chair allowed you access to the refrigerator.

The drawer with the pacifiers.  The pacifiers you would never use as a baby.  Apparently they are pretty funny now.

Oh, just doing some chores.

More chores.  This is how I clean the machine.