KURT'S BIRTHDAY

Dear Kurt,

Happy Birthday!!

To celebrate the day you were born we woke up and the girls helped you open your presents. And by helped, I mean they mostly just opened your presents for you.


Then you played your new game, madden, on your new tv and ate breakfast, which mostly comprised of bacon.

For dinner we dined out with some friends. Something super fancy. In-n-Out. Yum.

For dessert we picked up a bunch of chocolate lava cakes from Dominos. Double yum.

I just hope you enjoyed your special day. I am grateful that you were born. You are an amazing, smart, hard-working man and on November 25, 1985 the world became a better place.

I love you so much. Happy birthday.

Sincerely, Lori

SWIMMING IN NOVEMBER

Dear Kurt,

You took the day off today. You did so because you were misinformed and thought that Brooklyn's Kindergarten musical was today.

Fine. I was the one that misinformed you.

Anyways, since you had an evening off we decided to do something fun. We asked Brooklyn what we should do. Her answer was quite predictable. She wanted to go swimming.

 
Now swimming in late November can be a little cold, even in Arizona. So, we settled on the next best thing: hot tubbing.

And a little swimming... you decided to offer Brooklyn a dollar to jump in the adjacent swimming pool. She walked around the pool looking for the best place to enter the frigid water and then just jumped. You had to run her back to the hot tub after cause she was freezing cold. 

Then it became a game. You jumped several times. Brooklyn, Molly, and I jumped together, much to Molly's dismay. The poor girl didn't know what she was getting herself into.

Then we just hung out and played around. It was fun and scratched the Brooklyn's swimming itch. Now she will either be good until next summer or she will want to do this every day.

My guess is it'll be the latter.

Anyways, I love you. Thanks for being a fun dad.

Sincerely, Lori

POTTY TRAINING

Dear Molly,

You did it!!!!

After weeks of touch and go potty training and days of no diaper and you holding it for impossible lengths of time till you had a diaper for nap or bed time, you did it. You peed in the toilet. 

We were sitting at dinner and all of a sudden you got that look in your eye and said "I go potty." This happens 20 times a day without you actually peeing at all, so your dad and I just kinda rolled our eyes and said "okay, go pee in the toilet."

As soon as you were gone your dad asked me if I thought you would actually go one of these times. I laughed and said "maybe when she's twenty." 

Next thing we know you are yelling from the bathroom "I pee! I pee in the potty!" This was new. Usually you just sit there and say "I'm done!" And I tell you that you can get up and then you wipe and flush and wash your hands, for no good reason, because you didn't really go. 

But this time I could sense the difference in your voice. I ran in the bathroom and sure enough, you peed! I yelled and screamed and did a happy dance. 

Brooklyn and your dad ran in wondering what the deal was. They didn't believe you actually did it. But soon we were all whooping and hollering with joy. 

Then you got a check mark on your potty chart and some candy. 

And now I sit here and laugh at how such a silly thing like peeing in the toilet can make me so proud and happy. But it does. It really does. Motherhood is crazy like that.

Good job, Molly. I love you. And here's to this not being a fluke thing.

Sincerely, mom

REID PARK ZOO

Dear Molly,

This morning we set off to the zoo with our friends, Tara and Sophie.

You love animals. You can play the whole "What does a snake say? What does an elephant say? What does a fox say?" game all day long. So, a trip to the zoo for you is like a trip to the candy store for most little kids.

Reid Park Zoo is a small zoo. Perfect size, really, for a couple of two year olds.

We got there early enough that the animals were active and some were finishing up there breakfast.

The monkeys were whooping loudly and swinging from vines and poles. The otters were swimming and diving. The bear was moving from food pile to food pile eating just the carrots. The tortoises and the giraffes were snacking. The elephants and the flamingos were fighting playfully.

And the whole time you insisted on riding in a little umbrella stroller. 

You did get out a few times. 

You watched the monkeys.

You chased the peacocks. 
 

You played the drums.

You danced on the stage.

You got soaking wet in the frog fountain.

And on the way home you and Sophie held hands.

It was such a fun little morning. I'm glad you have such a cute little friend you can play with.

Sincerely, mom 

CAST BE GONE

Dear Brooklyn,

Today was the day we have been counting down to. Today was the day you were able to get your cast off. 

Eight weeks ago today, you fell off the monkey bars at school and broke your arm. That was a rough day. 

But today was exciting. 

Except for the 5 minutes we had to hold you down and actually saw the cast off, and the 20 minutes after that when you realized the skin on your arm was dead and hanging there and we weren't suppose to just scrub it off.

Other than that, it was a good day.

And the best part: swimming!

 

As soon as the doctor handed us your brace and gave us instructions for the next few weeks and months and sent us on our way, we were knocking on Jordon's door with our swimming suits in hand.

You were hesitant to let your arm touch anything. You kind of held it off to the side for a long while. You paddled with your left arm. You used your left arm to climb out of the pool. You wouldn't use your right arm to save your life.

 

But, slowly and surely, you got your groove back. You put your goggles on and swam. Like, really swam. With both arms. 

 

You loved it. Just like you always love swimming. It was so good to see you happily gliding in the water. 

 

I almost feel bad that it's the end of the swimming season and our swimming days are numbered. I'm just so happy you didn't fall off some monkey bars months ago at the beginning of the summer.

I love you, Brooklyn. And, I'm glad you are happy and healthy again.

Sincerely, Mom

OUR LITTLE HELPER

Dear Molly,

You are such a good little helper.

Whether it is putting the dishes away or helping making food or cleaning up toys, you are always asking if you can help. Especially if something is new or exciting.

Today was no different.

As soon as you saw us get out the nails and hammer you were right there to help. First, you handed your dad the nails and soon you begging him to let you swing the hammer. 

Although we went through several more nails because of your "help", you were so cute trying to help your dad.  

I hope this is something you never grow out of.

Thanks for always giving your dad and I a hand. I love you.

Sincerely, Mom

NEW CAST

Dear Brooklyn,

Today we went to your doctor's appointment so Dr. Valencia could check on your arm.

They took x-rays and then your dad checked you and Molly's reflexes while we waited for the doctor to come in.

The news from the doctor was both good and bad. Good: because you were ready to graduate from your full cast to a short cast. Bad, because they would have to saw your old cast off.

As soon as you saw the saw, you freaked. You tried to get away so I put you on my lap and held you while they sawed the cast off. It was a little traumatic so I promised you some ice cream if you were brave.

Once the cast was off you wouldn't move it and you were freaking out a little bit about not have anything on it so I held it still for you while they cleaned your arm and got ready to put the new cast on.

About ten minutes later your arm was decked out with a shiny new, pink cast. It was beautiful and you were finally calm.

We set an appointment for four weeks to remove this cast and we were off to get that ice cream I promised you.

I think that ice cream made it worth it. Ice cream pretty much fixes everything.

Now, maybe tomorrow you will try bending your elbow a little bit...

Sincerely, Mom