A Letter to Patrick on the eve of his 5th Birthday

My dearest Patch,

Where do I begin? Well, let's start with tomorrow- YOUR 5th BIRTHDAY!!! Each year you've looked forward to your birthday more and more. It's fun for me to see you get excited to celebrate your special day. I know that not everyone celebrates every birthday but, when I was growing up, we always did so, I intend to always make your birthday a big deal. In our home, when it's your birthday, you have birthday powers. You decide what we eat and where we go and what we do. It's pretty special. This year, we're scaling back the party...at least I think we are...it feels like a lot less work but maybe from the outside will still look elaborate. We're keeping it simple and doing basically exactly what you asked for. It's a sleepover party...just without the sleeping over part. I hope you have the best time. <3 div="">

Last night, just before bed, you told me you wanted to lay on the couch and snuggle. You sure do know where my soft spots are! I let you stay up late and snuggle as I fell asleep holding you close. You jabbered a few things to me while I dozed off. I've been getting up to, as you say, "teach Chinese". I've been teaching VIPKID at 3 AM all week and have been extra tired. You suggested that we snuggle in my bed so, off we went after a short while snuggling on the couch. You brought me one of your stuffed toys- a monster you've named Silly Socks- and left him with me when you went to bed. I kept him with me all night and this morning you noticed that I still had him and said "Mom, I know you snuggled with Silly Socks all night". Yep buddy, I sure did.

A few days ago I lost my patience with you about something silly (my own frustrations and lack of patience regarding you learning to use the potty to go no. 2 all by yourself). I yelled. You cried. I felt horrible and cried too and apologized. You said in the moment that you were happy I was sad but later, when I apologized again and admitted that "Mom is far from perfect". You came close to me, looked up and said, "it's ok Mom. No one is perfect." You're so wise and quick to forgive. When we have an argument or squabble, we often both apologize to each other. It's something quite grown up that you've learned to do. I'm so proud of you.

There are so many wonderful things you're learning and saying and doing. You're pretty sweet with Maxwell and it makes me pretty happy to see you be interested in making him smile. Today you helped me make your birthday cake (and Yia yia's birthday cake). Maxwell was interested in participating too. I set him up on a chair so that he could get into one of the drawers and occupy himself with the items inside. You started playing with him and crawling under the chair. Maxwell was giggling and so were you. You're often playing little games with him like that. 

You are my boy and I'm so grateful that you're mine.

Happy 5th birthday! Thank you for making me a mom.

Mighty Maxwell

Maxwell just turned a year old while we were on a cruise down the Mexican Riviera. Then, boom, it was Christmas so, we haven't had the chance to properly celebrate him. Granted, the day we flew home, Auntie Ana and Uncle Brent joined us for lunch at a seafood restaurant at the harbor and brought him cupcakes and a sweet little gifty gift. Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to him there as well as on the last night of the cruise. I suppose technically, we did celebrate but, why not celebrate again? Really, I want to give him the chance to smash a cake and capture a cute picture. All the other times we've sung to him I've been the one holding him. haha.

Anywho, here are some of the things that one year old Max seems to enjoy:

-squeezing the back of peoples arms when he is being held
-bottles and binkies....we will begin weaning him of those now
-digging his fingernails underneath mine and pushing back on my fingertips/ into my nail bed. It's such a strange feeling for me but he consistently seems to enjoy doing it.
-he's starting to push things around and turns them into walkers. He's also started to let go and balance himself in a standing position
-he LOVES being tossed in the air and I have this one move where I flip him 180 degrees to face out. Then I throw him up while turning him another 180 degrees to face me. It's a fun one. I dropped him once. Not my best mom moment. Luckily, a mattress broke his fall.
-He says "dada" and "muhmuh". I'm not certain he knows what "muhmuh" means but it seems like he's getting the hang of it
-When he sees goldfish, he demands that he gets to eat some by grunting loudly
-Max has discovered our IKEA tent and tunnel and he giggles as he crawls through
-He's obsessed with the bath/water- he likes to splash when he's taking a bath, when Patch is taking a bath, when he can get to Dinah's water, any time :)
-Max loves to sit in the dishwasher door when I'm load and unloading. He's so "helpful".
-if he hears a good beat, he will often bounce/ dance
-loves to shake his head from side to side. We're not sure why but he does it a lot
-When he's tired or mad he likes to head butt or bang his head on the bed, couch cushions, and unfortunately, sometimes the floor.
-Max likes to snuggle and be held
-We've yet to put him in a pair of shoes and he ALWAYS pulls his socks off in the car. Always.
-He loves when people get in close to his face and then back away and get close again. He will show you how much he likes it with a big grin showing all 7 of his teeth.
-He appears to be a very social child and claps when others are clapping, smiles when others are smiling and talking (even if it's not to him)
-So far, he's proven to be a much more picky eater than Patrick (DANG!) but we're still trying purees so I can sneak in some veggies...little stinker
-For some reason, Max loves to grab Dinah's snout and while she's demonstrated a great deal of patience...I can tell it's wearing on her.
-If anyone gets down on the ground to crawl with Max, he lights up like a Christmas tree!
-When I'm doing laundry, he has a habit of going over to our renter's canned food items to re-arrange and play
-He's obsessed with the vacuum and mop. If either are ever on the floor, he will find his way over to push them around and play with them. He often gets easily frustrated for some reason but nevertheless still seems to enjoy.

Maxwell has brought a lot of joy to our family. He's been such a happy baby and we're lucky to have him.