My funny little Tobin,

I don’t know if I’ve ever met such a sweet, cuddly, lovable little guy.  You have been so generous with your love and hugs lately—big, two-arms-plus-a-head-nuzzle hugs.  They are just the best.  You love to cuddle in bed (anybody’s bed).  You blow kisses and tell people you love them all the time.

You’re not without your fits of pique, of course.  The other night you were trying to do something naughty and I stopped you, and you opened your mouth so wide and roared at me for a good ten seconds.  You were truly outraged, but it was such a funny thing to see that your dad and I had to struggle to keep from hooting with laughter.  I don’t mean to disrespect your feelings, sweetheart, but when a two-foot-tall person with little blond curls and pink cheeks roars at you, it’s hard to find it anything but hilarious.

You also said something to me a week or so ago, which I’ve already blogged on this site but I think bears repeating.  We were cuddling in bed, and I was trying to be quiet to encourage you to go to sleep.  You went on this long spiel about your Halloween activities, sprinkling an “I still love you” in there as well.  Then you leaned over, touched my cheek tenderly, and said, “I will always be your grandmother.”

Photo by Denny

I have no idea where you picked up that phrase or why you decided to bestow it on me at that moment, but it made me laugh so hard I completely ruined any calming-down we had thus far achieved.

You relished Halloween this year, from your costume to the candy to the decorations people put on their houses.  We made more than one special detour to see lawn decorations in our neighborhood, and you were sure disappointed when people began taking them down.  I bet you’ll love Christmas lights when they start going up on houses, but for the time being we’re stuck in the Thanksgiving lull.  It’s a fun holiday, but aside from an inflatable turkey down the street that’s not usually inflated, there’s not much in terms of neighborhood visuals.

You still love going to school to get your brother, although I’m having a harder and harder time getting you to vacate the big kid seat.  You’re allowed to sit in the big kid part of the stroller on the walk to school, but once it’s time to go home, you’re supposed to move to the little kid seat to make room for Miles.  That’s been a tough sell lately, especially when you’d rather be jumping in the leaf piles in the pick-up area.  Soon it will probably be too cold to walk to school, and the issue will solve itself.

Your favorite things to do right now are watch Curious George cartoons, run laps around the house (sometimes while shouting, “I’m Super-Tobin!”), read stories, destroy whatever your brother is working on, and jump on beds.  Your favorite books to read are the Spider-Man Storybook Collection (current top choices are “The Rhino’s Rampage” and the “Revenge of the Green Goblin”), anything from the If You Give a… series, Dinosaur Roar, and This Is Paris.  In fact, we picked your daddy up at his office the other day, and you walked past one of his coworker’s cubicle.  She had a print of the Mona Lisa hanging on her cube wall, and you looked at it and said, “Just like Paris.”

Photo by Gary Clarke

You’re so observant in so many ways.  You pick up words and phrases quickly and easily.  Recently, a snowfall started up while you were napping.  When you woke up, I held you up to the window to see it.  You said, “I can’t believe my eyes!”  A few days ago, you stepped on my bathroom scale, looked down, and said, “Not too bad.”  I’m glad you picked up a mostly-positive message, but I do need to make sure I’m speaking thoughtfully.  During my exercise this morning, you made an enormous mess in the basement, but you were otherwise great.  That is, you had fun playing as you made the mess and didn’t whine or beg me to stop to fetch you things.  After I was finished, I said, “You made a big mess, but you were still a very good boy.”  You replied, “I am still a very big mess.”

Your favorite food right now is pizza, and once a week or so I pick a slice up for you from the Hy-Vee deli.  You’re just about ready to order it yourself:  “One slice of cheese to go, please.”  You already have restaurant ordering down.  You hold the menu, peer at it, and say, “I would like…French fries.”

Photo by Gary Clarke

By next month at this time, I’m sure we’ll have a tree in our house.  You may or may not remember last year’s tree, but I know you’re going to love it this year.  And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to decorate it with more of an eye toward aesthetics and less toward not putting anything breakable within your grasp.  Last year our tree was pretty much nude from the waist down.  I’ll probably still have to be judicious in my decorating, but I hope we’re starting to move toward less wanton destruction in our lives.

You’re awfully forgivable, Tobin.  When I ask for a kiss, you give me two.  My lap doesn’t feel right without warm little you in it.

Love,

Mommy