Dear Patrick,
- Your father asked you not to kick the back of the passenger seat in the car. So, you softly touched the back of the seat with your foot and asked, “is that ok?” over and over again, experimenting with different pressures. The line between “touching” and “kicking” is very thin, and you are determined to find it.
- I believe you know your left from your right. Of course, it is 50/50 chance, but I ask you most mornings when I put your shoes on your feet, and you have gotten it correct every time! (Reminder: it is important to say “correct” - not “right” - when trying to teach this or it becomes a routine from Abbott and Costello…"Yes! Your left foot is right!"
- One of my favorite quotes you’ve said this month is: “The reindeer came to the cave of the elf bears and it made the elf bears really angry. You have to watch out for elf bears.” Please, please watch out for Elf Bears.
- Your father swears that you will do anything if we ask in a robot voice, which forces you to become a robot yourself. Frankly, the idea that you can mimic a robot’s cadence is extraordinary. (I mean, you still believe that a question mark is an actual person named Mark.) How is it possible that you can pretend to talk like a robot and do it so well?!
- One evening over dinner, you announced that we are a family of dinosaurs, and that you are a “Milk-a-saurus.”
- You love to build a fort (or snake house) out of pillows. You can do this for hours and regularly destroy all of our couches and beds.
- I received a frantic text from your father on the morning of Thursday 12/19 as he was dropping you off at school that said we forgot "the sprinkles," and that (in all caps) “I don’t have time for sprinkles!” I told your dad not to worry; that delivering the school Christmas party sprinkles were scheduled for the next day. But, oh how it made me laugh thinking about how much our text messages have changed over the years.
- Michael flew to Greenville from DC for Christmas this year and Omi and Pop came too, which made for a wonderful holiday! You seemed to “get” the idea of Christmas and Santa, and we have a great video of you seeing your presents and the "eaten" cookies for the first time. One of my favorite moments was when your father and I sat on your bed (with you in the middle) taking turns reading “Twas the Night before Christmas.”
- You asked for a blue scooter from Santa and he delivered - even though you can’t actually ride it yet. You received a loud talking/shooting robot from Gangie and Big that you absolutely love. Pop found matching remote control helicopters that in truth entertained your father and uncle for hours. And I was impressed by the “I Spy” book from Ed & Jenny that you can “read” in the car and on quiet mornings alone. You are good at spotting the items and I love how proud it makes you of yourself. A successful Christmas!
- After Christmas, I took you to Macon for a few more fun-filled days with your grandparents. We kept you busy with trips to the planetarium, a creative “football/soccer/baseball” game that we played down the hallway, the "Rascal House" Omi made, the “skating rink” around the dining room table (another Omi invention), the Macon Museum of Art (where you climbed on the same Caboose that Michael and I played on when we were your age), sliding down the stairs on your tummy, “statue hunts” in the outdoor mall, rain walks, the Go Fish memory game, Dr. Seuss stories by the fire, and the Bass Pro Shop, which was Pop’s idea. (As an aside: I hope that when you are my age, that “going home” to visit will be a re-energizing, relaxing time for you just as it is for me with my parents. I hope it will be something you look forward to doing. I hope you will feel supported, strong, appreciated, important and loved in our presence always. Home should be a haven.)
- Cooper took a vacation this month for almost 5 days - we lost him. But due to homemade signs your father made around the neighborhood, Coop was located just a few houses down on Chick Springs Road in beagle paradise. It was a New Year miracle to find him, that sweet old (thirteen - almost fourteen year old) dog!
- In Macon you slept on a twin mattress in the corner of your room and loved it. I don’t know why I thought there would be a problem, but as always, you are so adaptable and easy. You did have a bad dream on the last night we were there, and you called out in the middle of the night. I ran to your room to assure you that everything was fine, expecting that I might need to lie down next to you. But you took my hugs and told me you were “fine now” and then went back to sleep, assured that all was right in the world. What a strong, calm, impressive little man you are, Patrick Byrd.
Love you,
Mom
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