A Half…

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Dear Noah,

Unfortunately, this monthly letter is coming a few days (okay, over week) late. But I wanted to make sure that I took the time to write you one. Now that I’ve gotten your baby scrapbook going, I look forward to writing this little letters and sticking them in your scrapbook so someday you’ll have them. This is probably not something you’ll be excited about in any way, shape or form until you’re much, much older, but nonetheless, it’s important to me that you have these. This letter is coming when you are exactly two and a half years old…just a mere six months shy of your third birthday. Man, you are growing up.

This month has been a big one. Big for you, and big for our country.

This month, you got your very first pet. A black lab named Tessa. I wrote an entire post about her and included a lot of photo’s so that you’ll always know who she was. She is becoming quite protective of you. A few days ago, your nap was interrupted by a bad dream. When I brought you downstairs to calm you down, you were still kind of freaking out and half-asleep. Tessa had been napping on the living room rug, and when she saw you were upset, she rushed over to lay her head on my lap and whined right along with you. When you stopped, she stopped. I think it really upset her to see you so scared.

We’ve had to stay on you about how you play with her, though. Daddy and I understand that you are 110% boy, but that doesn’t mean you can try to chase the dog with you plastic car. She isn’t fond of being chased like that. And even though she’s a dog and can play fetch, she doesn’t really understand the idea of baseball…so you shouldn’t keep expecting her to be able to swing the bat while you throw the ball at her. It just doesn’t work that way for dogs.

This month was also a really big one for our country.

You weren’t even thought of when Osama Bin Laden and his group of Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the United States, but I’m sure that as you get older and start studying American History you will read about it. (Mommy saved all of the newspapers and magazines from that day, so you’ll have them to look at when you start talking about it.) Osama Bin Laden was a bad and evil man. After 10 years of searching for him, the United States finally killed him. He was brought to justice for the evil things that he did. I took the time while all of it was going on to take pictures and write about everything that was going on at home. One day, you’ll be able to look back on it and read what REAL people were thinking and feeling in real time.

This was a really big moment for our country. One that, as I write this, American’s haven’t even fully grasped yet. I’m fairly certain that there will be repercussions for his death, and that will mean more war, more death, and more pain for a lot of American citizens. But I hope you never grow up and think that killing him was wrong and that the US made a mistake.

Politics are a complicated thing. Most adults aren’t 100% sure where they stand on most issues, and it’s especially complicated for children who only see black and white on things. Growing up, I don’t remember talking very much about politics at home. Your grandparents didn’t push those kinds of conversations very much, but I was always interested in current events and what was going on in the world. Daddy and I have already said that we want you to grow up in a home where you are taught right and wrong, and know what we believe…but are still able to form your OWN set of beliefs. We will never hesitate to answer your questions to the best of our ability. We may not always know the answers, but we’ll try our hardest. We want you to be well-rounded and educated…able to make the best and most informed decisions you can—both in politics and in life.

Since you’ll be growing up in a military family, I’m sure that you will feel very strongly and very proudly about the events that have taken place this last week. No matter what anyone argues, this was a success for the United States Military. A success that our family is very, very proud of. The things this man did are what took you daddy away from his family for so, so long when he was in the Navy. He went on deployment after deployment, and spent a lot of time overseas. And there are a lot of men and women who have fought for this country who never made it back home. And that’s the reason we rejoice and celebrate the justice that has been served.

As for your general growth and “well-being” the last month: you continue to form new and complete sentences. Your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds…you’re picking up on new words and phrases, and seem to really understand 99% of what we are telling you.

We’ve had to crack down on discipline lately. Your tantrums when you don’t get your way are kind of ridiculous. You have a flair for the dramatic (like you mommy…) and are a bit exaggerative when it comes to things. But it’s something we are working on constantly. And I still wouldn’t classify you as one of those “bad” toddler’s. You’re really very, very sweet and, for the most part, well behaved. You just haven’t quite learned that everything isn’t yours and everyone doesn’t always do what you want, when you want. But again, we’re getting there. You had your beloved Thomas the Train table and toys taken away a few weeks ago, after repeatedly taking the tracks apart and throwing them across the room. You seemed to think it was hilarious. Mommy and Daddy, did not. Especially when it’s usually mommy who has to go put the track back together. One day, I hope you have a son and you get to see what a pain those darn pieces are to assemble.

Last time I weighed you, you were an even 34 pounds. But that varies depending how many times we’ve changed your pull-up that day. Haha. Potty training is looming in your very near future. We’re still waiting for your little stomach troubles to sort out. But it’s coming…and very, very soon. We’re also going to attempt to make the transition from crib to toddler bed in the coming months. We haven’t had any trouble getting you to go to bed in your crib, and you have never once tried to climb out of it. But, I guess eventually you’ll probably need to move to a regular bed. But we’re not ready to cross over to that quite yet.

It’s still hard to believe that you’ve gone from this:

To this:

So quickly. It breaks my heart almost. But I love watching you grow. Love watching you learn and develop and grasp the vastness of the world around you.

You continue to amaze us, inspire us, and leave us speechless.

I sure do love you, baby boy.

Love,

Mommy