Fall Out Boy

Dear Connor,

You run all around the house now and while I love to hear the pitter patter of your little feet, I most certainly do not love it when you suddenly trip, fall on the floor and bump your head. And you seem to bump your head ALL of the time. If it's not from tripping when you run, it's from walking into the fridge door when I have it open. Or trying to climb onto the couch and slipping off. Or attempting to squeeze under the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs and then getting your head stuck under the gate (um, if you stopped throwing your toys through the gate, then you wouldn't have to try to squeeze under the gate to get them). 

There's a saying that you have to fall in order to stand up. It's true but I'm seriously considering wrapping you in bubble wrap to make your falls, bumps and bruises a little easier on you--and my nerves.

Love,

Mom

More Funny Business

Dear Connor,

Over the past week, you have done even more new things that make me laugh:

-When I Swiffer the floor, you grab onto the Swiffer and help me push it along. Thanks for the help, little guy!

-One day, I left you in my bedroom and went to the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom, I could hear you hurriedly running back and forth across the bedroom several times. When I went back to get you, you had opened one of Daddy's drawers, taken out all of his underwear, boxers and socks and stacked them on top of my nightstand. 

-It snowed this past weekend and you got to play in the snow for the very first time! You looked super cute in your big, puffy snowsuit. And your snowsuit was actually so puffy that you could barely move around in it. When you dropped your mittens on the ground, you tried to pick them up but you couldn't bend over so you ended up just flopping onto your tummy. Then, you couldn't stand back up, so you just laid there, flapping your arms and wiggling your legs.

-When I take pictures now, you like to run over to me to see the image playback on the camera. When we were at Gymboree the other day, a woman was taking pictures of her grandson and you just plopped yourself into her lap to look at the pictures she was taking on her iPhone. Not shy at all, are you? (By the way, I also find it funny that that obviously hip grandma owns an iPhone while your mother still uses an ancient flip phone)

-In the past few days, you have stopped letting Daddy kiss you. Instead, you make him kiss me! When I hold you and Daddy comes up to kiss you on the cheek, you push his face away and push it toward mine until his lips are on my cheek! What is that about? Daddy kisses me all of the time but I guess you think he should be doing it even more?

I can't wait to see what new funny things you do next!

Love,

Mom

Funny Business

Dear Connor,

If laughter is the best medicine, I will never get sick because you make me laugh all of the time! You are such a funny little guy and you do so many things that crack me up. For example, your latest thing is climbing into your toy box (which you barely fit into), sitting down in it and piling your toys on top of you. I once found you sitting in the box, buried under a bunch of Mega Bloks and leaning back with your arms flung over the side of the box as if you were in a hot tub.

Also funny is the way you constantly say "uh-oh." You say it when it makes sense (like when you drop your sippy cup on the floor) but you also say it when it doesn't make sense (like when I turn on the radio). One time, you were holding my phone when it started ringing. You exclaimed "uh-oh," shook my phone up and down several times and then put it to your ear (yep, you recently learned to put phones--both mine and your toy ones--to your ear. Today, I also watched you put the video monitor to your ear). And as an offshoot to "uh-oh," you just learned how to say "oh no" and you say it in such a dramatically low, sad voice that always makes me giggle.

Especially hilarious is how you now imitate everything you see Daddy and me do. When I dance to a song on the radio, you sway your hips from side to side and dance along with me. If Daddy and I burst out laughing, you open your mouth as wide as you can and laugh, too, as if you also understand the joke. And the other day, I was scolding Daddy and you went up to him, shook your finger at him and angrily said, "Da da da da da!" to him in the same tone of voice I'd been talking to him in. 

And finally, you have started to pick your nose and then stick your finger in your mouth. It's gross. But also kind of funny.

Love,

Mom

Getting Older

Dear Connor,

Aging is a funny thing. When you're a young kid, you can't wait to get older. Being older means that you can take on important adult responsibilities, stay up really late and eat whatever you want for dinner. But when you do become older, you usually wish that you were young again. Being young means that you have the ability to avoid important adult responsibilities, the energy to stay up really late and the metabolism to eat whatever you want for dinner without it making your jeans feel tighter the next day.

Many people get depressed when they turn 30. I didn't. But I was a little disturbed when I found a gray hair this past Christmas morning (merry Christmas to me!). And I was a lot disturbed when I threw out my back last week. I literally could not sit or stand up without your dad's help and I had to wear a menthol-scented Bengay patch that made me smell just like the menthol-scented senior citizens waiting in line at the Duane Reade pharmacy counter. I know I am a long way off from wrinkles, dentures and bingo nights at the YMCA but it was still a humbling experience. I felt helpless, embarrassed and very old.

When I was 16, I thought 16 was the best age ever. I could get my driver's license! I was allowed to get an after-school job! I was a junior in high school and could enjoy the privileges of being an upperclassman (the junior lounge! prom!) without the scary college responsibilities that seniors had. I remember thinking that I wanted to stay 16 forever. But when I was 16, I didn't have any stamps in my passport. I didn't have the recipe for the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies ever. I didn't have many of the amazing friends I have today, whom I met in and after college. I didn't have the appreciation for my parents that you only get when you move away from home and don't get to see your parents every day anymore. And I didn't have Daddy or you. So you know what? Bring on the gray hairs, the back pain, the bingo nights. I'm pretty glad that I have gotten older and that I didn't stay 16 forever.

Love,
Mom

Man of Many Talents

Dear Connor,

Daddy and I have been together for more than 11 years and one of the best parts of our relationship is that we're still discovering new things about each other all of the time. For instance, today, I learned that your dad can make delicious baked ziti AND do a hilarious impression of Cookie Monster. Any guy who cooks Italian food and imitates a big blue Muppet to make his family laugh is definitely a keeper.

Love,

Mom

Happy New Year!

Dear Connor,

We were sitting on the couch today and you kept blowing raspberries on my chest. Every time you blew a raspberry, you giggled hysterically and then looked up at me with your big cheeky grin. This went on for about five minutes and you laughing hysterically made me laugh hysterically, too. It was such a fun, happy, perfect moment and I hope 2012 is filled with many fun, happy, perfect moments just like it.

Love,

Mom