Dear Connor,
This month, you’ve turned from our mildly inquisitive, always-happy little dude into a full-on toddler, complete with flailing tantrums and crocodile tears. Part of this could be because we moved to a new house, and part could be because you’ve been sick with a cough and runny nose for literally months now — not to mention that you’re about that age, anyway.
You’ve been especially clingy for a couple of months, but you’ve really ramped it up this month. When you want up, you want Mommy to stand up and hold you on her hip. Then you’ll point in the direction you want Mommy to take you, and if Mommy doesn’t want to go that way, that can sometimes be enough to send you into a toddler tailspin. Then you’ll arch your back, either making a dive for the floor or headbutting Mommy (or Daddy) in the mouth or collarbone. We’ve learned to let your tantrums run their course, and we’ve gotten better at avoiding them altogether, but it’s a learning experience for everybody.
You love to run around our new house! There’s so much more room for you to explore, and so many more doors and cabinets to open and close. You love our sunroom (you call it the “nuh-noo”), and you’ve discovered that it’s one way to get outside.
At first, you didn’t like it outside. Mommy took you out the back door, through the garage, and you wouldn’t get down off of Mommy’s hip. You had zero interest in running around the yard like little boys usually want to do. But when you realized you could get outside from the sunroom, and go there on your own terms, suddenly it seemed like a splendid place. You still don’t stay outside long, but you get very upset if Mommy denies you your outside time after dinner (even though we’ve only been going outside for a few days now, thanks to the nice spring weather finally showing up).
You also get to go outside at your new daycare! New daycare is great — you love it! You go on Mondays and Thursdays, and you get to see your babysitter, who works there. (If she didn’t work there, we might not have known about it, since it’s in a church.) We don’t send you on Fridays, because that’s Worship Day, when the pastor of the church comes in and sings songs about God with all the kids. Mommy and Daddy don’t believe in God, so we’re not comfortable with having you learn about God without us there.
Other than the God stuff, though, your new daycare (we still call it “school”) is awesome! You feed yourself, and you nap on a cot like the other kids, and you do fun arts and crafts, and you play on the playground, and you’re always happy and content and sociable — at least, that’s what your daily reports home say. Mommy and Daddy are so glad you’re getting to socialize with other kids your age, and learn new things that you might not have learned by staying at home.
The teachers at daycare say that you talk more than any of the other kids your age, and Mommy believes it. You say well over 60 words now (Mommy’s started to lose count), and you still sign every now and then. You say “help” when you want something just out of your reach — and sometimes it’s something you’re not supposed to have, and you know it! You’re also saying “please” a lot more often, and stringing words together, like, “cheese, please,” or, “no bye-bye?”
There’s always things that Mommy forgets to put in these monthly letters to you, but we hit on most of them, anyway. Mommy realizes that you’re a little person with feelings and likes and dislikes, and that sometimes the world is confusing to you. But we’re trying to respect you, and teach you, and guide you… and we definitely love you.
