You are two years and one month old. Your last two teeth are almost all the way in, which has improved both your mood and your toothbrushing. You've been sleeping until after 7am in the mornings, and it seems like you fall asleep every time we're in the car, so I'm wondering you're going to have a growth spurt soon. It would be nice if you would grow into whatever shape means that pants fit you. You look one of two ways in pants, right now. Either the waist fits you but the legs are too short, or the legs fit you and we have a pin the waistline to keep them from falling off of your butt. I'm looking forward to this summer when you're in shorts. Then we'll only have one measurement to worry about.
The snow is melted from most of the yard, except where it was piled up. Dad was outside this weekend trying to get some yardwork done. He fixed the spot in the fence where Arrow kept sneaking into the front yard, and he's halfway through fixing the latch on the back gate. It's time to start thinking about our summer project list, which is always distressingly long. Your summer project list so far contains things like, "play with the RC car," and "get the sidewalk chalk back out." Our project list has things like, "redecorate the living room," and "paint the railing on the mudroom roof," and "win the lottery."
You were around guns for the first time in your life, this month. We went to the UP for the annual family black powder shoot. It was also the baby shower for my cousin Laura, because nothing goes together better than muzzle-loaders and babies. Dad and I were both on shooting teams, and you watched from the sidelines with Grandma and Grandpa. You had your ear plugs in, and you would jump a little bit when someone fired a shot, but you were never scared. You said, "Bang bang!" and "Loud!" and you clapped when I hit one of the targets. You were your normal reserved self when we arrived at the camp, but by the time Laura and Nick had opened all their presents, you were having all sorts of fun with all the relatives. One of these trips, you'll be out of diapers, and then we'll have the fun of teaching you all about outhouses. Try to contain your excitement, please.
While we were in the UP, we stayed at the AmericInn. We swam in the pool both days that we were there, and I was talking to Grandma about a trip that we took when I was a little girl. We were visiting the southwest--New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada--and I remember that we would only stop for the night at a hotel that had a pool. You love playing in puddles and the sprinkler, and swimming in pools. I can see lots of hotel pools in our future. I wish that the lake at the Cottage was up to the beach, like it was when I was a kid. Hopefully we'll be able to stay at the Cottage a couple of times this summer (assuming gas isn't $78 a gallon) and go out in the canoe. We'll have to remember to bring the little paddle that Uncle Russ made for you. I suppose a life-vest would be a good idea, too. Or maybe we'll just strap your high-chair onto one of the seats.
I was happy to have the chance to see many of my cousins that weekend. I hope that we are able to give you a lot of time at the Cottage and in the UP. It's important to us that you grow up around family as much as possible. I hope that we are able to spend time with our friends and their kids here, too, of course. But I think that there's something very special about being able to be friends with your cousins, and I value my relationships with mine. You can tell by how many pictures of them appear below.
Love,
Mom
PS: Umm...no, really. I like my cousins a lot. For reals.
