Dear Benjamin,
Today you are turning three years old and according to
everything I am finding on the internet, you are no longer a toddler and you
are now a pre-schooler. Seems like you already know this, because when I refer
to you as “baby”, you quickly correct me by saying “I no a baby! Nico a baby! I
a child!” And according to you, now that you are 3, you are a “growm up”
Oh Benjamin. Our family consisted of just your dad and I
(and Pellet and Cali) for so long and then you surprised us. It still seems so
surreal that we now have this new life that is full of laughter, cries, squeezes, poop,
trucks, rocks, cars, emergency vehicles, car seats, character cups, emergency
bathroom runs, bruises, stickers, whistles, cuddles, story times, etc. These last three
years have been so much more intense and in a way more fulfilling than all
those eleven prior.
You teach your dad and me so much about ourselves and
provide plenty of opportunities for us to grow as parents and as individuals.
You are one determined, independent, strong-willed child, which makes
everything so intense. But you also have a sweet and shy heart. By now, I am pretty much able to figure out when you are
crying for attention and when you are legitimately crying because you are hurt
or scared. I can tell the level of happiness that you are feeling just by
looking at your eyes. Seeing you cry breaks my heart, especially when you are
crying because you are being a 3-year old and we are being the parents. You
always get me good when you stop crying and say “my tears went away. I make you
happy now?”
You are smart. Boy are you so smart. You are intelligent.
You have a fantastic memory and are able to tell us pretty much the location of
each of your toys at the drop of a hat. You grasp even the tiniest details. The
way your brain functions blows my mind. For example, you specifically asked us
to invite a little boy from your class to your birthday party here at the
house. Once I agreed to invite him, you said “his mommy too”, of course I said
his mom would come too. And then you said “his mommy handsome, she come to
party too”.
You surely inherited both your dad’s and my recessive
genes when it comes to negotiating. When we say “pick 2 cars to bring along”
you quickly, and by quickly I mean within one second of us finishing the word
“along”, you reply “no, 5” so then it starts “pick 2” “I piiiiiiiiiick 3” and
of course you end up picking 2 and we move on. You are willing to negotiate
everything, from the number of books at bedtime, to the number of bites of
whatever you are eating that may not be your favorite, to how long you get to
stay outside.
You’ve learned to ask for permission to watch videos on
the phone. For the longest time, you’d ask for the phone to look at pictures.
Which you would. For a bit. And then you’d quickly find that YouTube Kids app
and launch whatever PAW Patrol or PJ Mask video you first saw. Now, you still ask for the
phone to watch pictures – because you love watching pictures and you know how
to make the iPhone do those stories, which I still can’t figure out. But after
a little while, you come and find us and say “I watch bideo please?” So then we
talk about how long you will watch “you can watch videos until it’s time for
breakfast (or time to get in the car, or go downstairs, etc.)”. And once you
agree, then we turn it on.
Music is your favorite. You love your Monday music class
at school and have learned all sorts of fun stuff like playing the drums, the
tambourine, the music spoons and the triangle. You can’t be in the car without
listening to Nico’s Kindermusik. You ask for specific songs that you like, and
you know those by heart. It only takes playing the song one or two times for
you to learn the words. You sing throughout the day and you make up words to
familiar tunes. Sometimes you even make up tunes. When "Plablo" comes and plays
the piano, you sit right there with him and play along. We have all sorts of
music shakers all over the house, seems like you always need to have one nearby
to make music. The moment your dad's Spotify playlist comes on with his beach music and jazzy tunes, you start dancing!
You are turning out to be an awesome big brother. I could
sit and watch for hours the way you and Nico make each other laugh, or the way
you play in the tunnel or in your tent. When he is getting into something he’s
not supposed to, you quickly yell “no ma’am Nico! No ma’am” (I’m convinced that
there must be a little girl at your school that’s constantly being told “no
ma’am” by your teachers). Of course more often than not, you decide to hog all
the toys, but you are slowly learning to share with him, or like you say “share
to him”.
Happy Birthday, Monkey Monks. I can’t believe you have
been part of our family for only three years and already three years, both at
once. I love you so much more than whatever I can capture on this post.
I love you always,
Mami
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