To Fin at 2.5

My Dearest Fin,

Time seems to be in fast forward with you boys these days - I can't believe you're two and a half. Before I know it, you'll be three!

Our morning routine is unchanged, you get up and come into our room and crawl into bed with Daddy and I and snuggle for a bit and watch some TV. You let Mommy and Daddy seep in a little more, but not too much, you really prefer for us to watch your shows with you :) Daddy goes and gets Mom's OJ and your milk and we chat a bit before Dash wakes up and wants his breakfast. Some days he sleeps until 8 and since you never sleep later than 6, we get some nice time in together.

You're retaining your title of greatest helper to mommy. You're quick to throw any clothes on the floor into the washer and help me get all the dirty diapers directly into the "diaper thing". The clothes part makes Daddy a little frustrated since he sometimes plans on rewearing (ew) stuff he puts on the floor. I think he's learning that clean clothes don't go there :)

Back to our routine. It's more fluid these days since Maya and Taylor became big sisters. Life is more difficult to coordinate with so many babies involved! We see your friends as often as we can and make sure we get to go on a few walks to the park and to the pool a few times a week. You still go to MyGym on Tuesdays and we just started a new preschool class on Thursdays. Your friends are all in it, and it's the first class you've done where Mommy can leave you. Although you wanted me to be visible in the waiting room during the first class so we'll see how that goes! On Fridays, we're back to having lunch with Mommy's friend Katie. You love her and you always beg her to come back to our house and play with you - and usually she does.

On the weekends we do walks with daddy and enjoy eating out. You're so funny with your pasta and burger diet, but I get plenty of fresh fruits into you during the day and you'll still eat baby food veggies so you do get some of those. We also do family movie night every Sunday. You love to sit in bed and watch movies with us and Mommy and Daddy LOVE that!

You're still a chatterbox. Some days I have to beg you to just give me a little quiet time. But you're so smart! You're also always listening so I have to remind everyone to watch what they say around you. We just returned from Topsail with your Uncles and I'm amazed that your vocabulairy didn't come back "enriched". You have total mastery of the alphabet - you can tell me any letter by sight and sound and vice versa. We're working on your writing and you're always asking me to help you write your name. Someday you'll appreciate the brevity of "Fin"! We're also working hard on recognizing your numbers, but you're not nearly as motivated with them as you are with the alphabet. Our potty training has stalled a bit, which is a bummer since James and Taylor are well on their way. But I know you'll let me know when you're ready - or at least I know you're very clear with me that you're NOT ready right now.

That's all for now my dear, I love you more than you know!

Mommy