4 Years, 9 Months

My Dearest Little Dage,

You are growing into the most handsome young man, and it breaks my heart to see you growing up so fast. Dad and I divorced just over a year ago, and I feel like it's made you grow up faster than you might have otherwise. You are a resilient and fantastic little boy.

Ember can drive you crazy, but I see the love you have for each other in the majority of your interactions. You love to teach her new things, and encourage her when she needs a little support. You are the most amazing big brother, even when you're not getting along.

Academically, you're learning quickly and have caught on to addition and subtraction already! You've been learning to write letters (and have been writing your name for nearly a year) and I think you'll be reading before the end of this year. You'll start kindergarten this fall, and my old Mama heart isn't quite ready for that.

You're still an active young chap. You love to be the fastest and the best at everything, which is useful motivation when I need you to do something a little quicker. ("Can you beat me at getting your seat belt on?") Dad and I have been talking about getting you into some sort of extracurricular class, like gymnastics. Whatever you do, I know you'll excel at it.

I love you more than words can describe.

All my love,
Mama

3 Years, 2 Months

Hello my darling Dage,

My, how you have grown over the last year. You've become an outstanding big brother and help to Mommy. You love rock climbing (daddy built you a climbing wall in the garage!), running, reading books, being silly, and you love your sister. Your speech has gotten much better, and you are improving by leaps and bounds in many aspects of your life.

You seem to be growing all of the time, and I think you finally have all of your baby teeth in. Lasagna, pizza, pasta, beans, cheese and yogurt are some of your favorite foods now. You love to sing, and most often your songs revert to "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is your favorite show, and I've even heard you call me from your bedroom in the morning by "Oh, Tooooodles!!!"

You melt my heart on a daily basis, and I can't imagine my world without you.

All my love,
Mama

22 Months

Hello my sweet boy!

You have made so much progress in the last 6 months. You're quite the little chatterbox, though we don't always know what you're saying. I love to hear you say "hello" because you enunciate your l's instead of using a y sound. It's adorable. You've begun to understand about consequences, and you are pretty good at doing what Mama asks before getting what you want. The other day you wanted a brownie so badly and you were throwing a big fit over it. Finally I was able to talk to you, and you understood that after you ate your beans and cheese you could have a brownie. You calmed down and ate so well! (And you were rewarded with twice as much brownie as I had planned on giving you!) You still love to dance to any music that is playing, you love rock climbing at the gym (and you're really great at it, too!), and you love playing with your cars and trains. Some of your favorite foods are peanut butter sandwiches, toast, waffles, bananas, yogurt, cheese, and beans. You have 6 teeth now - the two front bottom, two front top, and two top molars which makes eating a little bit easier. I love watching you grow up and continue to become the sweet boy that you are.

With only 5 weeks left until Baby Sister comes, I have been watching how you interact with little babies. I have been so impressed with the love and care you naturally show to these little ones! More than once you have offered your favorite blanket to cover a baby who was drinking a bottle or laying on the couch. You love to stare at the babies and smile at them. You are going to be such a great big brother. I have really loved having the time to spend with you as my only child, and I truly hope you don't feel jealous when the baby comes.

A quick, fun story: Daddy has been teaching you to bow to people when you're introduced to them. We say "Dage, say 'Nice to meet you!'", and you bend at your hips and give a nice, deep bow. It's very cute. Last month at a Christmas party, you heard someone across the room introduce themselves to someone else saying "Nice to meet you!" and although it wasn't directed at you, you gave the best bow! Daddy laughed so hard and told everyone about it. You are turning into quite the gentleman! You are so helpful around the house; you've been helping Mama with laundry, putting your dirty clothes into the laundry basket, throwing away your dirty diapers, and sweeping the floor. We love catching little moments like these on video. I hope you get to see these videos someday!

I love you, my boy. Thank you for being such a sweetheart.

All my love,

Mama

16 Months

Hello my darling Dage,

You have grown up in the past several months! You're now walking, running, climbing, dancing, and singing. You love playing the piano with Mom and Dad, and you love music in general. Anytime music starts up, you start dancing! It's adorable. You have your two bottom middle teeth, but that's it so far. It makes feeding you somewhat difficult because you can't chew many foods still. Some of your favorite foods are cherries, peanut butter sandwiches, salmon, and anything that Mom has in front of her. You still love your bottle and your binky, and will throw a fit if you don't get any binky that you see. We have to hide them!

Last week I was able to start working part time in order to spend more time with you. We get to be together on Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday of every week! This week we took a trip to the zoo with some friends. We'll be doing that pretty often because you seemed to enjoy it, especially when the animals were up and moving around. Hopefully you'll learn a lot as we walk around and talk about the different animals.

Now that we're all home every other Friday, we are planning to start taking more trips out of the house. You love being outdoors! We've taken you camping a few times, and have a couple more camping and climbing trips planned this summer. You love climbing, just like your Mom and Dad, and you're a natural at it!

I'm hoping you start talking soon, because you seem to get frustrated when you can't tell us what you want. You've gotten good at pointing and leading me around by the hand, but words would just be so much easier.

I miss you when I'm at work, but I'm certain you're having fun at the day care. See you soon!

All my love,
Mama

P. S. I almost forgot to mention - you're going to be a big brother at the start of next year!

6.5 months

Hello my sweet Dage,

It has been a while since I've written. To be quite honest, I forgot about my letters to you. I hope I will remember from this point forward to write to you often.

You are more than 6 months old now! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was in the hospital, anxious and waiting for you to be born. And then you were in my arms, the most precious thing I have ever held. Thinking back over these six months, my heart is filled with love and joy. I remember sleepless nights, exhausting days, sweet snuggles, and a longing to be with you at every moment. There have been massively poopy diapers and spitup on my Sunday clothes. You've peed on our friends and splashed bath water everywhere. I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Each moment with you is a gift from our Heavenly Father, and I'm so grateful for the blessing that you are in my life. I've been back at work for 4 months now, and some days I really struggle with that decision. You are attending Kid's Castle during the day. They take really good care of you there. I work from home every once in a while, and am able to keep you with me on those days. You are such a great baby! There are very few times that you aren't content, and in most cases when whatever problem you're having is resolved you are immediately happy again. You love people, and you love standing and jumping. You're eating most pureed foods, but you didn't like apples last time we tried them.

Daddy has been in Hawaii for the last 3 and a half weeks, and during that time you started saying "Dadadada". I sent a video to Dada, and he was so proud of you! We both love you so much and are so excited to watch you continue to learn and grow.

All my love,
Mama

34 Weeks 1 Day

Hello my little babe. 

We are about 6 weeks away from finally meeting your sweet spirit. The days are getting more uncomfortable and the nights are becoming less restful. I often wonder what features you'll have... Dad's nose? My eyes? How big will you be? I can't wait to find out.

Yesterday a friend of mine threw a library themed baby shower for you. We have so many books to read to you! I look forward to spending time at bedtime and throughout the day reading to you and watching you learn through these books.

You are moving so much these days (and nights). It's so fascinating to picture what moves you are making now and imagine you making the same moves once you are here. I love these moments I can share with you, just you and me. You are so precious to me. 

I love you, my sweet boy. 

All my love,

Mama

29 Weeks 3 Days

Hello my darling boy!


We are now into the 3rd trimester. Time has just been zooming by! I can't believe we have less than 11 weeks until your due date. Dad and I bought your crib and dressers last weekend. We set them up on Saturday night, and got the sheets and bumper pads and everything all put together. It's adorable! We can't wait for you to come (except that we can, because you still have some growing up to do).


Since the last time I wrote, we've done a lot of fun things with you in mind. We visited all of your grandparents in Utah over our Christmas break. Great-grandma Louie (Grandpa Russ's mom) held a baby shower for you and your second cousin (my cousin Lisa is having a baby girl). Lots of my relatives were there, many of whom you probably won't have much of a chance to meet since we live so far away. Grandma Fern also held a baby shower to have her family and all of my friends come celebrate you. (Fun note: my 5th/6th grade teacher came to the baby shower, which is pretty neat after all these years!) We decorated onesies for you to wear, and they turned out so cute! You are going to be one stylin' baby. Also, you are so spoiled.


While Dad and I were in Utah, I caught a cold. I usually get over colds pretty quickly, but it's now February and I am still sick with they same cold. I guess that's one of the downsides of being pregnant - once you get sick, you stay sick for what seems like eternity! In case you're wondering, the doctors think I have GERD (acid reflux) which causes heartburn and coughing. Through it all, I keep remembering how much I love you and how much I do not regret this decision. You are the light of my life, little one. Don't you ever forget that.


All my love,
Mama