Today

Dear Parker,

Today was so amazing.  Your mom had a conference until around 4 and you and I cleaned up the house.  Well, I cleaned and you got out all your toys and strewed them everywhere.  But, you were very cute and well behaved.  You read books to yourself for at least 30 minutes.  You were great.

Mom came home and you played with her for awhile.  You wanted to play doctor so you made her lie in the in the bed and you came back with your doctor kit and white coat.  You even made sure you had a notebook and pen to write down "important things."  You were very cute.

Then, we were going to run over and get some dinner.  When we got there we discovered that the Hamilton Towne Center was having a giant fair thing including the arrival of Santa.  You were SO excited.  There were carolers and you loved listening to them.  We walked around and picked up the free glo necklace and balloon, ate some dinner, got some candy and then waited for Santa.  You were unbelievably excited.  I actually almost cried because you were so happy.  There were supposed to be fireworks afterward.   We waited around for quite awhile, but then decided we needed to go home. You were pretty bummed. We got home took a quick bath and as we were getting your pj's on, they started!  We could see them from our porch, so we threw a blanket around you and ran outside to watch.  It was a great way to end the night.

I'm looking forward to the holidays with you.  You are so full of wonder and belief.

I love you more than you will ever understand.
Love,
Mommy

Sleepover

Dear Parker,

Last night you had a sleepover with your cousins.  You were so excited.  You were going to a concert first and you thought you were BIG stuff.  Two days before you kept asking if it was time to go to the concert yet. We met Uncle Stu and Aunt Lauren at the concert and you were such a big girl.  You were just like, "Bye Moms!"  We had to ask for hugs!   You had a great time.  But, Aunt Lauren said that you were scared of the smoke detector in the room you slept in and so you didn't fall asleep until 2am!  Yikes.  Then you got up at 8.  This did not make for the most fabulous of days.  But, we all made it through and now you and I are cuddled up on my bed watching Wall-E while your Mom is at her meeting.

I love you, bits.  I hope you always want to snuggle me and watch movies.
Love,
Mommy

Trip to the Dentist

Dear Parker,

This isn't going to be very long because I don't really know what I want to say about today, but I feel like it's something that I'm supposed to document.

We took you to the dentist for the first time today.  I suppose we should have taken you earlier, but we are neglectful parents like that. ;)  Anyway,  you were amazing and great!  I thought that you were going to cry or get all shy, but the hygienist and the dentist were both so amazing with you.  You got to wear little sunglasses when they shone the lamp on your face.  The hygienist pretended that the toothpaste was sparkles and she put them on your teeth with the brush,  You thought the sucky thing was hilarious.  I was just really impressed that you did so well and that they were so good with you.  You are often a pretty tough sell and they sold you.  I was very proud of you.

I was not as pleased with the potential retainer/orthodontics prediction, but we have at least a few years to worry about that!

I love you so much, baby girl.  I can't believe that you are big enough to really go to the dentist!
Love,
Mommy

Making friends 'n stuff

Dear Parker,

I am typing this from the deck with the sun glaring on my computer screen.  I am out here because you are playing next door with the neighbor.  She is 6 years old, in kindergarten and you adore her.  I'm not sure how much actual playing happens, but you seem to enjoy each other's company.  I feel a little anxious about you being over there by yourself as you are only 3 years old and there isn't an adult in the backyard, so I sit on the deck and sort of monitor.  Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I think you are still pretty little to be hanging out with such big kids by yourself.  But, anyway.  You just like having friends.  I hope that it works out and you can keep playing with her.  Right now they are trying to explain Girl Scouts to you.  It's kind of interesting.

Today, I went to Orchard's Parent Preview while you went to school in the morning.  I really like Orchard - particularly the lower school.  I think it would be a really good place for you.  I do worry about the music program as you get closer to middle school  The band program, at least, is pretty crappy right now, but I'm hoping that by the time you are in 5th grade someone else gets hired.  We'll see.  I suppose we can always supplement your musical education.  It does make me a little sad that you won't have the same band experiences that I had, but I think having a better overall education is worth the trade off.  While I say this I still don't know if you have been accepted or if they are going to offer us enough money for it to be a reasonable thing for us.  We'll just have to wait and see.  It's going to be okay no matter what ends up happening.

I went to your school to pick you up around 10:45.  You were in your centers and wanted to stay, so I just hung out with you for awhile.  It was interesting to watch what your day is like.  You were more aggressive than I thought you were, which makes me both a little happy and sad.  I don't want you to be aggressive, but I do want you to stand up for yourself.  It's a fine line.

We came home, took a nap and then went for a cupcake picnic.  We got cupcakes from the Flying Cupcake and then went to Holcomb Gardens at Butler.  You had SO much fun playing in the leaves, sitting on tree stumps and looking at the flowers.  You made a leaf pile and jumped in it, lied in it, took a "nap" in it and threw it in the air.  We played hide and seek in the trees.  You picked a million little berries, flowers and leaves to bring home to your Mom.  It was  a great time.

And now, you are home and sitting in the fort with 2 big girls.  I think this may have been a perfect day for you.  Here are some pics of you from today.

Laughing in the leaves

Sitting in your pile of leaves

Throwing leaves in the air

I love you so much, P.  I had a great day with you.

Love,
Mommy

Mish Mash

Dear Parker,

Okay, so now I have been writing this post for multiple days (weeks) and it’s all over the map.  These stories are weeks old, but I had written these little snippets, so I wanted you to read them later.  We are about to embark on a break together, so hopefully, I will write more soon!  Until then, here is your mish mash of memories...

It has just started to be cooler outside.  So, we have been trying to play outside in the yard after school.  This is good both for you and your Moms!  You love to play tag, although you are very demanding about who is tagging whom as well as kickball and Frisbee.  For some reason, whenever we play Frisbee, you feel the need to place your Mom and I in specific places along the fence.  You then go to the opposite side of the yard and throw the Frisbee.  You can only throw it about a foot.  And we are much more than that away.  You get very upset if we try to move closer to you. It’s pretty funny.

The other night, for some reason, you insisted that you and Mom look at the sky for airplanes.  When I looked up, you got very upset.  You kept telling me that I could only look at the ground.  This evolved into you telling both your Mom and I to “snuff the grass.”  For some reason, you forget the word “sniff” and say, “snuff” instead.  It’s hilarious.

The other day I came to pick you up at school and you were playing with your friend Abby.  You were just walking around the playground, hand in hand.  You came up, gave me a hug and asked if you could go play.  I let you.  Then, you asked me to play with you.  Apparently, you were playing house.  Abby was the Mommy and you were the baby.  It was cute, but also interesting to see how you interact with other kids when you aren’t paying much attention to me. 

I love you, Bits.  You are becoming so grown-up.

Love,

Mommy

3rd Birthday

Dear Parker,

Yesterday was your birthday!  I think you had a great day.  We got up and around and headed downstairs.  We had laid your presents the night before so they were just sitting on the fireplace when you came down.  The day before we had gone to Target to spend your giftcard and you really, really wanted this awful Dora wheelie backpack.  We said no and you chose something else.  But that night at dinner while Mom was away, you said, “Can we go to the store and get that backpack?  We don’t have to tell Mom!”  So, I asked your Mom to stop and pick it up on the way home.  You loved it and were SO excited to have gotten it.  We also got you some books, cds and workbooks that we got at the Borders going-out-of business sale.

You had said that you wanted to go out to breakfast, so we went to The Uptown Café in Noblesville.  We got to sit at the counter and you thought that was so cool because you could see the chef cooking all the food.  Then, we went to the pet store and got all the equipment for your fish tank.  You were VERY excited, but a little bummed that we couldn’t get the fish right away.  You chose hot pink gravel, a pink tree and a pink treasure chest to go in it.  It is VERY pink.

Then, we came home and you played for a bit, ate some lunch and took a nap.  After nap, we had cake and ventured out to Chuck E. Cheese.  You had so much fun riding the rides and playing the games.  They had one of those elevated playground things where you climb through the tunnels and go down the slide.  You really like them, but you are not aggressive in any way with other kids and you get incredibly intimidated when you are in the tunnel and a big kid comes charging through.  I felt so bad because you just kept trying and then getting freaked out.  You wanted so badly to play, but they just weren’t letting you do it your way.  So, we rode on lots of rides and played lots of little games.  You had a really great time.

You with your birthday cake

 On the way home, we went back to the pet store to choose your fish.  You chose two pink and once green.  You told us their names were Kiki, Gigi and Mariah.  Wow.  That made your Moms laugh.

We got the fish home and settled in the tank.  They were a little shy at first but were zipping all over by the end of the night.  I’m still really nervous that they aren’t going to make it, but I supposed we will cross that bridge when we come to it.  I’m going to test the water tonight to make sure it’s still ok.

You with Kiki, Gigi, Mariah and their new home.  It's PINK!

Kiki (the green-ish one), Gigi (the one swimming to the right) and Mariah (the blurry one underneath Gigi)

You were very sweet.  You were eating cake (round 2) with Grandma, who had stopped by on her way to Uncle Stu’s, and you just started saying thank you to us for all the things we had done and gotten for you.  It was amazing.

I’m so hopeful that this next year is your best yet.  I’m hoping for more time with you and overall better health.  I love you so much.  You have changed our lives in such amazing ways and I am so grateful that I will always be your Mommy.  

I love you.  Happy 3rd Birthday.

Love,

Mommy

You take the good, you take the bad...

Dear Parker,

The last couple of days have really been a struggle.  Yesterday, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, so to speak.  You started screaming and throwing fits from the moment you woke up and continued until the time you went to bed - which was, as usual, a struggle.  It was incredibly frustrating.  I'm not a patient person and I know I don't deal well with you when you get like this, so that's something I need to work on.  I hope you help me out and get better.  Today WAS better - until bedtime.  You just don't listen in the bath and then basically refuse to go to bed.  It's just a really trying experience.  I hope this all passes soon.

On the bright side, you have been doing well at school.  Today, you were the only one of the kids in your class to correctly identify your letter of the week (E).  And you brought home a paper where you were supposed to circle all the "E's."  You circled them all, but also caught a "J!" Tonight, when you weren't going to sleep you kept telling me all the things you were going to tell Miss Chelsea when you go back to school on Monday. Then, when you had to go potty (after you were in bed of course),  we had a great time talking about the letters on my shirt.  You identified them all.  You're getting really good at letters!  You kept asking me what letter your friends' and teachers' names started with.  You got confused when I said that both Cassy and Chelsea started with "C."

The rest of your birthday present from Aunt Stacy came - a cash register.  You love it SO much.  You make us push the shopping cart around and then bring you the items to "check out."  We never give you money, but we always get change!  I wish real shopping was like that!  You also like to run the credit card.  At the end we have to put our items in our bags.  It's pretty funny.

So, I guess this is the best of times and the worst of times.

But, even in the worst of times, I love you more than you will ever understand (well, at least until you have a kid yourself.)  You are the most amazing little girl and I'm so proud of how you are learning right now.  Hopefully soon, I can be extra proud of your behavior as well!

I love you,
Mommy