Dear
Kaleb,
Today you are three years old! It’s
absolutely amazing how much you can talk now. You have the craziest imagination
and sense of humor. You are totally obsessed with any and all types of
vehicles…still. You weigh 30 pounds and are 38 inches tall.
You’ve developed your own preferences in
food which makes me realize even more how much you’re growing up. You won’t
just eat anything that we put in front of you anymore. You think tomatoes and
pickles are “disgusking” and refuse to eat them. You love fruits and a lot of
beans and peas, but you’re still not too fond of meat. Except chicken nuggets,
shepherd’s pie, and some fried shrimp. You could eat chicken nuggets everyday.
You also really like rice and beans, cheese, macaroni, “pasketti,” tortillas
(which you call quesadillas), gummies, hot dogs, and of course cookies and ice
cream. We’re trying to substitute fruits for desserts, but sometimes you just
want that cookie.
You are getting a baby brother in a
couple of months and I don’t know how much you actually understand. You know
that he’s in mommy’s tummy, but you’re really not interested yet. You like to
“poke the baby” and “lick the baby” sometimes, but you really just want to sit
in my lap. You told me the other day that you wanted to get in my tummy so you
could see Peyton. You’ve started acting like you’re a baby. You’ll say “goo goo
gaga” and want to cuddle up. It’s so sweet. Still, I’m a little nervous about
when he gets here. I want you to know that no matter what, I love you so much
and you’re the best little boy that I know!
Along with your fun new aspects, you’ve also
gotten into the “terrible twos.” You’re not really terrible at all…just
opinionated and slightly bossy. You like to say you’re the “little bossy.” You
think it means you’re the boss. Now that you know what you like and don’t like
and you’ve discovered the word “no” you’ve really been exercising your ability
to use them. For the most part you’re a joy to be around, but to be honest
there are days that are very trying. We really only have two main issues. You
hit and you say bad words. We’ve realized that hitting occurs mostly when
you’re angry, excited, or feel we’re not paying you enough attention. We really
try not to spank you when you hit because it sends a mixed message, but we do
send you to time out. You hate time out…at least you say you do. The hitting
got a lot better when we took away your trucks for a day and made you earn them
back. So now we’re focusing on the bad words. You like to say “We don’t say bad
words like butt, stupid, doo doo, and oh my God because they’re ugly. We don’t
say them.” But you say it A LOT. You also say you aren’t going to say bad words
as soon as one comes out of your mouth. We think it’s for attention so we’re
trying to ignore the behavior, but if that doesn’t work then spanking, time
out, or other punishments may be necessary.
Something else that has started (in the
last month or so) is nightmares. You wake up and cry out because you’re scared
of monsters and bad guys. We’ve pretty much cut out any show that could be
construed as scary in any way and we don’t play the game where you shoot bad
guys anymore. You have a Spongebob nightlight and that’s sometimes enough, but
sometimes you also need your fish and your pillow pet. That was Daddy’s idea.
In the mornings you say that your pillow pet kept you safe. Hey! Whatever
works!
One of your biggest accomplishments this
year happened in the last few weeks of you being two. You started wearing
underwear instead of diapers! You’re so excited when you go to the potty and
you look at us and say “I’m so proud to you!” You started preschool this month
and you love your teacher, Ms. Cindy. I’m so glad you like school! You really
are growing up and we love you more all the time.
Love,
Mama
and Daddy
