Thirty Eight Months!

My sweet little girl Bowen,

Here we are at 38 months, and I'm still in disbelief. You're definitely not a baby; you left your toddlerhood behind within weeks, and now, my love, now you are A KID. You remind me of this often and with ease, "I'm a big girl, Mama! Big girls jump! Big girls can paint with finger paint!" You often tell Baden, "When you're a big girl, you can eat candy too." You crack me up, little one, and I'm having such a good time with this new chapter.

We've had a really fun month. We had a fantastic Christmas together with family, and finished up the winter break by spending a lot of time as a family and definitely getting the downtime that we needed. Christmas was such a blast. You woke up at your normal time and yelled at the top of your lungs that Santa had eaten the cookies that you made for him, and that the reindeers had eaten the carrots! You were thrilled to see this, as you'd so lovingly laid out their meal the night prior. You enjoyed opening up your presents, and were very helpful in opening Baden's for him too. You were quite gracious about the whole thing, often commenting of the things that Santa had left for everyone else. You got a big kick out of going to Christmas dinner, as you always love any event where you get to see your extended family and look forward to it a lot. This holiday season was the most fun so far; it's the first one where you really understood the loveliness and magic of all the events surrounding Christmas.

Your vocabulary continues to expand hugely by the day, and I love hearing you say things like, "Awesome!" and seeing you express your pleasures for every day life. Every single morning you ask me what we're doing today when you wake, and often the reply is greeted with "yipee!" I love seeing your happiness at life, and I'm thrilled that taking notice of the little things is paying off with you.

We've finally returned to our regularly scheduled life, and it's full and busy and fantastic. You have school twice a week, swimming once, and your first ever session of gymnastics. When I took you to your first gymnastics class the other day I felt a bit weary - all of the other kids had obviously done this already and were walking in with confidence and sitting at the designated spot. I walked you to the door, you said your goodbye, and off you went! You told the teacher your name and joined right in! It was incredible, my baby. I was so proud of you, of your confidence and your willingness to just leap into something new. We're enjoying our new semester full of learning and playing, and of course are still also finding time for fun stuff like charity and the aquarium. At this point you're leading me around the aquarium and like to show me around. You bounce around exclaiming "I'm SO EXCITED!" and don't hesitate to ask an aquarium guide why the penguins aren't in their house. You've began walking up to kids at the store and asking their names, and in turn telling them yours. Seeing the ways in which you've come out of your shell in the past few months is absolutely one of my favourite parts of seeing you grow up.

This month you also shed the last of the diapers. Your potty training journey has been a really interesting one. You pee-trained yourself about a year ago. One day I told you to pee in the potty, and you did. From then on you were out of diapers in the day without any issue at all. Shortly thereafter we noticed that you didn't have any issues sleeping without a diaper. Generally you didn't pee in the night, and on the rare case that you did need to, you woke up. Both your dad and I were absolutely thrilled with this, because you obviously have a stronger bladder than both of us combined! The only bit remaining was the poo diaper. You absolutely refused to poo in the potty, instead asking for a diaper and playing with your trains as you went about your business. One day shortly after Christmas I let you know that Santa had taken your diapers back to the North Pole so he could deliver them to other babies who needed them. You seemed to understand this. The first few times in the potty were tough and there was a bit of crying involved, but lately it's been great! You're very proud of your poo, often even asking that I photograph it to show your dad. You're still asking for your "treat" after you poo in the potty - a bite of the gingerbread house that you made with your grandparents for Christmas over a month ago. I must say that I'm really looking forward to that thing being gone! So, now you're fully out of diapers. Last month the dadus, this month the diapers, and here I have a grown up little girl.

This month your favourite things to eat are both "baby" - baby oranges and baby tomatoes. You polish off a pint of those tomatoes in one sitting and never tire of them! You love eating apple with cinnamon, so long as you get to sprinkle the cinnamon yourself. You still love a good cup of warm milk in evening, and your breakfast of choice is a bowl of "warm" rice crispies. You love being a helper and a mama, and never shy away at the opportunity to help me unload the dishwasher, or fold some laundry. You're getting good at returning your things to your room when asked, although you very often request that we do it with "teamwork." Some days are challenging and tough, as with any three year old that is learning their voice and struggling for their power, but at the end of the day watching you grow is the absolute best thing in the world.

Being a mom to you is learning to let go a little more each day. All the time I let go of this little tiny thing that I grew to the child and person you are becoming. Every day you learn something new and shed a little piece of the baby I once knew. I'm not going to look back in sadness, but only forward in joy.

Happy 38 months, Bowen Naomi!

I love you forever,

-Your Mama