2 years and 9 months old

Dearest, sweetest little monkey,
Wow, you are getting so old! Just stop for a second would ya? Stop and slow down so I can savor all your cuteness even more than I do now. You will be a big brother any day now. I know you will be so sweet, you already love your baby sister so much. Just last night you had me lift up my tank top ("open her up mama") so you could give her lots of kisses and hugs. Then I heard you tell her, "I love you baby sister", which melted my heart. After smothering her, you told me "close her up mama, so she doesn't get cold" :)

Mama and baba are SO proud of you little man. This past month has been a complete change in your getting you to sleep routine. I thought I was going to have to lay with you until you fell asleep forever, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. But this month, you have proved me wrong. I lay with you for a bit, then move to the floor (where I can do some prenatal yoga) and then I tell you I am going to the bathroom. Some nights, you don't like this and follow me out. I put you back in bed and stay a bit longer. But most nights, you give me a big luscious kiss and hug and that's it. You put yourself to sleep! It is AMAZING!! I really can't believe and am knocking on wood because I don't want you to regress. I have found that if I can get into bed by 8:00, it makes the whole process go a lot smoother and faster. Go Kekoa!

You still end up in our bed, sometime in the night. You were still calling for me to get you, so I told you that mama isn't coming anymore. If you want to come in our room, it is fine, but you need to come in by yourself. You still cried for me a few times, I turned the volume down on the monitor, and you eventually came in our room by yourself. Now, you not only come in, but you bring your two favorite stuffed animals, Paulie and Didi. Then you go back in your room and grab your candle and water bottle. It is really cute. Not sure what will happen when baby sister is here, but we will figure it out. We love snuggling with you, so we are totally ok with you coming in our room. Mornings are still the best snuggly time, you would snuggle all day if you could. I love how you crawl over to give your baba the biggest smooch in the morning. This is quite a change from even a month ago when you wanted only mama in the mornings.

You have also gotten back on the potty, thank goodness. You go #2 on the potty, but we are still working on #1. You just don't want to stop playing. The chocolate chips (one for going pee, two for going poop) don't always work when you are playing. I have set timers, but that doesn't always work either. Sometimes you just tell me you want to put the diaper on. I am not pushing it right now, with the baby coming.

You are such an amazing boy. You blow me away each and every day with the things you say, the things you learn. You are SO much fun right now and I am so lucky I get to spend my days with you. You love playing with mama right now too. "mama, you want to play with me? "...gets me every time. We play farm animals, all the farm animals have a mama that goes with the babies. We also play trains and cars. Your favorite time to play is when you wake up from your nap. You just love sitting on your bed and playing in your room for a long time. I love it too, especially right now. I know I won't have so much time to play when baby sister is here.

You are on fire with letters and numbers. You get super excited when you see one you recognize. It is thrilling to see you so interested and loving to learn. You are also learning how to organize. I have organized your tubs and it is important to you that your toys go in the correct tub. I have explained to you that this way we can find them. You will even point out, "mama, baba no put my car in the right place." It is pretty funny. We both agree that we need to teach baba where your toys go! :)

You are now a champ at taking off your shoes. You come right inside, go sit on the carpet, take your shoes off, and then put them in your shoe basket. You also like taking your jacket off and putting it in your jacket basket. I hope you will always want to be organized, since I know it has been a challenge for me my whole life.

Routines are very important to you. You love reciting your morning routine to me, "get up, go pee pee, eat breakfast, go somewhere, come home, eat lunch, take nap with baba." In the evenings, if you are tired, and your routine is thrown off a little bit (like I haven't flossed your teeth), you have a complete meltdown. I know, I feel so blessed that oral hygiene is so important to you. You won't go to bed without your teeth being brushed and flossed!

Mama and baba know that we are the luckiest parents in the world to have you as our son. We love you so much little monkey!!
Thank you for being so sweet and teaching us so much. We look forward to each and every day with you.

love you,
mama