Forty One Months!

My little Big Girl Bowen,

Spring has sprung and we're truly enjoying everything that the season has to offer. We got a little extra time during spring break to enjoy our surroundings, and then wholeheartedly went back into the swing of activities, school, and the regular business of the school year.

This month you seem to suddenly have gotten taller, louder, and even funnier - if that's possible. A break from activities has given us a chance to get to other fun things - you built a birdhouse with your dad (with tools!), we went downtown for the St Patricks Day parade, we've taken on longer and tougher hikes, and even biked around the seawall! Lately your dad has taken you out walking, where you walk Sandwiches yourself and don't even sit in the stroller! Having all this time to spend as a family has been a blessing and we're so lucky that we get to live the way we do.

To me, the older and bigger you get, the more tough it is to reconcile you're littleness with the girl you're becoming. I love my little girl Bowen, who says "gobbles," and asks for "a hug, a kiss, and an Eskimo kiss" each time we depart ways. But you're also turning into the girl who corrects your dad when he says, "bugs" instead of "insects" and a little girl who walks into gymnastics class on her own without a look back, and basically a girl that is learning to be herself more each and every day. Being your mama is teaching me that parenting is just a matter of letting go a little more each day. I'm here, giving you the best foundation that I possibly can, but what you do with that will happen on your own out in that big world. What's really scary is seeing how fast it's all going. And I also kind of wish you keep saying "gobbles" forever.

This month I've let you take the lead on your interests, and when something strikes your fancy we love finding out about it at the library. You're starting to know how to find things, and you know that the librarian is always there to help. Since we're moving a beehive into our garden soon, we've started learning a lot about bees and their lifecycle. We found a couple of bee books at the library, and have been familiarizing ourselves with their lives. You've been asking me daily when they're coming and are really excited to go sit with them and watch them - now that we've made it clear that they aren't the type who wish to play. You watch our windowsill seedling closely, telling anyone who will listen about how seeds grow and about pollination. With the wet weather in the last few days, you've been excited to see the worms returning, and stop to touch each one and say "good morning!" on your way to school. I adore your fascination with nature and hope it never wanes. When we drive in the car together, you absolutely love talking and have taken to asking me all the things I see out the window. In turn, you love describing what you see, as well as telling your brother all of the interesting narrative of our drive. I see so much of me in you and it's fascinating.

I love who you are and I love who you're becoming. You teach me more every day.

Happy forty one months, my love!

I love you forever,

-Your Mama

Forty Months!

My little Bowen Naomi,

What a fun and exciting month, little girl! We've done so much and learned so many things and this exciting adventure continues. Three and one third looks a lot different than just three, and I'm sure it's very different than the three and a half we have coming up.

This week we're heading into spring break, so as well as having some time off of school coming up, all of your usual activities are winding down. This set in swimming you were a Minnow, and started out with your usual intense love of water and splashing around. The progress you made, my love, was incredible. You didn't fear the pool by any means, but we were told by your lovely teacher Daniel that in order to pass the level you needed to float both on your back and front - you had to stay underwater for five seconds! Since you weren't keen at all to get your eyes or nose in the water, he worked long and hard with you on this endeavour, and slowly, you got more confortable. Your "gobbles" helped you overcome the fear of getting water in your eyes, and eventually we added a nose plug to guarantee that water wouldn't go into your nose. Eventually, after much prodding, Daniel just dunked you fully into the water and you've never looked back! Now you love getting your head the in water, and accomplished the huge feat of floating on your stomach with your face in the water. We're so proud of you, baby Bowen! On the last day you were thrilled to show us your report card and told everyone with joy in your voice that you were no longer a Minnow, but now a Guppy! Way to go, my love! The ending of your first set of gymnastics class was just as exciting. As the class prior to your was ending, and we watched the other kids jump up to the stand at the front of the gym, raise their hands way up in the air, and recieve applause from the teachers and kids as their report cards were awarded. I was a bit weary of how it would go when it was your turn, as you tend to shy away from too many eyes and attention being soley focused on you. I came back early to watch your class go through their own report card award ceremony, and couldn't hold back the tears to watch my incredible little girl recieve her own applause and report card. When your name was called you ran up to the podium, jumped up with no hesitation, and raised your arms high in the air to recieve your applause and report card. You faced your peers and then turned around to face the parents and get your picture taken. You smiled and beamed with pride and it was an incredibly moving moment. You'd done it, and I'd never seen you prouder! It was so inspiring and incredible to watch the huge evolution that you'd made in just a few weeks of this new activity. You truly surprised me, my little monkey, and I couldn't tell you enough how proud I was of you. Now we'll have a little break where we can enjoy outside and our beautiful city, before getting back into the last bit of school and the spring set of swimming and gymnastics.

This month we've started to work in the garden again, and sharing this love that we have as a family with you is really exciting. You've been helping me plant all the seedlings, and while you get a bit tired of having to wait so long for those slow little seeds to pop through the soil, you're enthralled with the process. You've been outside with me a lot, getting our beds ready for planting and helping move the worms around the garden. You love picking them up and moving them around the various beds, narrating all the while. We talk a lot about how amazing gardening is, and I try to explain it all to you as we go. You love hearing about compost and the importance of the incredible wormies, and relish reciting these details back to me. We've also gotten outside for some hiking again lately, and you seem to be more keen to stay in your hiking backpack. In these moments when our little family is in the forest, with your on your daddy's back and your brother on mine, my world is complete. We're out there all together and close and seeing the beauty of our mountains and trails, and in these moments I feel like everything in the world is absolutely as it should be.

My love, sometimes when we're walking somewhere together you stop suddenly pointing up and yelling, "Mama! LOOK!" to show me a giant flock of birds soaring above. You often exclaim that things are "SO BEAUTIFUL!" and you seeing the beauty and magnificence in this world makes me feel like somedays I'm getting this parenting gig just right. You're picking up on our beliefs and values in seeing the beauty of the world and I'm grateful to have this time to teach you such important lessons that you'll hopefully carry with you for always.

My girl, you are tall, fast, kind, and smart. You are firm about "my body" and tell people to please not touch you when it's unwelcome. You remind me that you like to wake up slowly, and sometimes need extra time for lots of hugs and cuddles. You're fiercely strong and motivated and a day doesn't go by where I'm not in awe of everything you've become in such a short time. Tonight as I put you to bed, I was once again taken aback by just how long you are. You came from inside my tummy not too long ago, and now I stare at you, several feet tall and with the personality to match. You're my sunshine, Bowen Naomi, and each day spent together is truly a gift.

Happy forty months, my amazing little girl!

I love you forever,

-Your Mama

Thirty Nine Months!

My big girl Bowen,

Thirty nine months, baby! Life with my little preschooler is funny and different and never fails to make me laugh. This month your communication skills have continued to boom, and often times you say new things out of the blue that leave me wondering where they came from. You are as cute as ever and your personality continues to develop and shine through.

This month we continue to enjoy winter and our busy schedule. It seems like we all thrive with this routine and predictability, and you often begin your morning by asking what day it is and what we'll do today. During weekdays you say, "Yipee!" when you learn that you're going to school or swimming, or gymnastics. I've been making a big point to enjoy some downtime also. This past weekend I gave you the option between going out to the library or relaxing at home in PJs and you quickly chose "laxing" - I think that lately it's important to have days where we don't rush out the door.

At school you're learning a lot and continuing to come out of your shell. You are always happy when I pick you up and I absolutely adore the time we spend together walking home with you chatting away about what you ate, sang, learned, read, played. At swimming lessons you are a "Minnow" and absolutely adore your teacher as well as every second of the lesson. You've perfected your back float, but are extremely hesitant to put your face in the water. I know that once you'll get it you'll have it forever, but for now you seem in no rush to try it out no matter how often we practice in the bathtub. At gymnastics I watch you be such a big girl; you're learning so fast and keeping up well with the kids who are much bigger. You love doing flips and stretches and jumping into the huge foam pit! It's crazy to see how far you've come in just a few weeks.

Suddenly you've learned how to stall at bedtime, my little monkey. We're at the point, finally, where I'm putting both you and your brother down in your own room at the same time. Lately you've been finding reasons to get out of bed - you're missing a particular stuffed animal, you need to pee, you forgot to say good night to daddy. It's funny to watch you try and push your bedtime back as long as possible. You take absolutely every opportunity to tell me that you love me, and I will never ever grow tired of that. You're a little ball of love - you love everyone around you and like to show it with your great big hugs.

Three is incredible. Three is hide and seek, and huge hugs. Three is loving school, swimming, and gymnastics. Three is tall tales and knock-knock jokes. Three is really long days and nights that pass too quickly. Three is "I love you so much, Mama" and also crossing your arms, pouting, and storming off to your room. Three is loving your animals and taking care of them like a wonderful little mama. Three is baking dinosaur cookies and then running around the house with them yelling, "RAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRR!" Three is chasey-chasey and running all the way home from school. There is yelling "home sweet home!" when we pull up in our driveway, and pretending to be a cat for hours at a time. Three is wondering where the heck time has gone and how you could be such a child so fast. It's tear-inducing to go back and look at pictures of baby-you and wonder why, how it all went so fast - too fast?

But alas, you grow, you change, and our days together are full and beautiful. I'm grateful for each and every one.

Happy thirty nine months, my precious Bowen Naomi!

I love you forever,

-Your Mama

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

Bowen: 48/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013"

I'm a big cousin! 

Bowen: 47/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Birthday girl! 

Bowen: 46/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013"

The best little baker ever!