Leland is Seven

Dear Leland,

My itty bitty baby boy, you are now a big time seven year old. As you told me the other day, you're almost ten, so soon you'll be able to do whatever you want. (Not quite, sir, but nice try.)

A lot like last year, you still love all things Lego. You saved for almost a year to buy a Lego fire station. You spent several summer days running lemonade stands with Alden and doing extra jobs around the house, and a few months ago, you were finally able to make your big purchase. Now, you're saving up for a Lego Coast Guard Station and Lego hospital. You're also still very much into the Titanic. You read every book you can find about it and the facts you can recall are amazing. You also like learning about sharks and the ocean in general.

You are incredibly creative. You enjoy drawing, painting, and building. You're especially great at drawing fire trucks, army tanks, and really any vehicles. These days, you like to dance. Mostly flossing and dabbing (I wonder if you'll remember what these dances were when you're older and read this). You floss almost constantly, which is adorable (because you're my kid and most things you do are adorable), and also irritating (because for the love, can you just stand still?).

Two things you really, truly love right now are Jesus and your country. I honestly don't think I've ever met a 7 year old who loves Jesus like you do. You love praise and worship music, you pray every day, and you always want to know more and more about God and the Bible. And as for your country, you love anything with an American flag (you even requested a flag cake this year), and all things red, white, and blue. You like to learn about our government, laws, and history.

You made yourself a cross necklace out of Legos.

Your favorite foods are pizza, hot dogs, tomatoes, strawberries, and sweets. Your favorite colors are red and black. When you grow up, you want to be a firefighter or a "Coast Guard man." These are both very fitting, considering your desire to serve others.

Oh yeah, we switched schools this year because I accepted a position at Lake Ann Elementary. You are in the first grade in Mrs. Roper's class. You enjoy our new school, have made some great new friends, and have adjusted well overall. You say math is your favorite subject, and you are becoming quite the reader!

Even though you're a big kid now, you're still very much my baby. You still need hugs and snuggles and you want to be tucked in at night. You even need a nap every now and then.

I am so proud to be your mom. It is a pleasure to watch you grow up and I look forward to seeing all of the amazing things you will do in the future. I love you, my sweet boy.

Love, Mom

Olivia is TWO

Dear Olivia,

You are two years old! I apparently missed writing your 18 month letter (sorry), so there's a lot to catch up on.

In your last letter, I probably wrote about your lack of words. I was mildly concerned about your speech back then because you didn't say a single word at that point. But about a month later, you finally had a couple of words, and your speech has continued to grow ever since. At this point, I'd say you are right on track with your speech. You have lots and lots of words, and say several 2-3 word phrases.

You use your words quite a bit to share your opinions. You are very opinionated! A common phrase we hear each day is, "No like-a dat," along with "I have it!" And you have strong opinions about clothes. You definitely have your favorite outfits, and if I pick out something that you don't want to wear, you make your displeasure known. You love to accessorize your outfits, which is totally different from me. You like wearing necklaces and hats, and you LOVE shoes!

In September, I started a new job, and you started a new daycare. It has been a difficult transition for all of us because we loved Dawn so much. It took you quite a while to warm up to your new caregivers. Honestly, it took until about Thanksgiving before you really started talking to them and giving hugs. You've always been slow to warm up to new people, so I knew it would take time. But now you seem very happy at daycare (you never seemed UNhappy there; just not comfortable) and you love to give Miss Becca and Miss Liz hugs. They say you're a great snuggler and always in a great mood. We still miss Dawn though and talk about her often.

You were VERY excited to meet Santa this year. Every time you saw a picture of him, you would shout, "Yanta!" When we went to meet him a few weeks ago, you could hardly contain your excitement while we waited in line. I wondered, though, if you would actually sit with him, considering your shy personality with new people. But you did! You were a tad star-struck and just kind of stared at him, so Leland let him know that you might like some new Lego Duplo blocks.

Duplos are definitely a favorite toy of yours. You like small Legos too, but you're not really allowed to play with those yet. Some other favorite toys are cars, balls, and stuffed animals, especially a stuffed Iron Man that Grandpa Duck got you a while ago. You sleep with Iron Man every night. You love looking at books! You are still terrified of dogs - you like them from far away, but do not like to be close to them.

You are very into Minnie Mouse lately, so for your birthday I made you a Minnie cake, and you got some other Minnie gifts (like a giant Minnie Mouse from Grandma Jill and Minnie Duplos from Santa on Christmas).

Favorite foods include: pizza, cereal (frosted mini wheats and cinnamon life) with milk, pretzels, green grapes (and most fruit), and cheese.

You are a great clean-up helper these days! You don't like to leave daycare until you've helped clean up all the toys, and at home you like to empty toy containers and put the toys away over and over. You could teach your brothers a thing or two in that department. You also enjoy putting away the clean laundry, which your brothers are thankful for because it gets them off the hook.

Right around Thanksgiving, you basically potty-trained yourself. You started showing interest in using the toilet at daycare and stayed dry for a few weeks in a row, so we decided to try underwear. You've had maybe three accidents since Thanksgiving, and usually even stay dry at night (because you wake up 2-3 times to go at night). The doctor was quite impressed at your well child check up today.

You weigh 26.3 lbs (63rd percentile), measure 35 inches tall (78th percentile), and wear all 2T clothing.

Livvy, my precious littlest baby, you are a blessing to our family. You bring so many smiles each and every day and we all love you beyond measure. Your brothers still absolutely adore you and you love them right back. This makes my heart so happy. Happy Birthday, my sweet, sassy girl!

Love, Mom