19 months of laughter

July 14, 2018

Dear Isaac Karl,

I was just gone for a week, at camp with some kids from church, and when I came back, it seemed you had grown a month older! You are such a big boy, impressing us more every day. Your latest endearing skill is that you have started singing along with songs. Grace sometimes gets upset, declaring, “That’s my song!” But she doesn’t own all the songs, and you are claiming some for your own! Usually it is just a few words here or there, and all of the long notes (not yet on pitch). You love to sing How Far I’ll Go from Moana (Grace’s favorite movie, and so also yours). I’ve caught a recording of the two of you singing it after bedtime together… so cute. You like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and today you were singing Ring Around the Rosie. (You’re very good at, “all fall DOWN!”)

Check out that air!

You are very pleased with your newfound and ever improving ability to communicate. You delight in having successfully communicated your need. If your words don’t work, you will simply push us toward what you want, interrupting whatever we are doing, and very adamantly making sure we are located such to provide for you what you want (which is usually a bar or goldfish crackers).

 You are quite good on your feet, and I gotta tell you kid, no one runs as cutely as you do: quick little steps, like a ballerina tiptoeing across a stage, grin on your face, and arms up and flailing and bouncing about. I won’t tell any of you friends, but I call you “Twinkle Toes” when you come running like this. You are So. Stinking. Adorable.

Cracking himself up, typical!

One very frustrating thing about you is that you love to eat, but will not eat anything I make for you, except peanut butter and jelly (only open faced), applesauce, or occasionally pancakes. For you, it must come out of a package for you to eat it. And so, what I can consistently get you to eat at home is: goldfish crackers, breakfast bars, fruit twists, yoghurt, applesauce, peanut butter, pancakes, and sometimes berries. Someday I hope you will appreciate what effort I put into making you good, healthy food!

Things you love: balls of all sorts, cars and other rolling vehicles of all sorts, books, climbing

stairs (at the playground you climb the stairs, walk over to the slide, and then turn around and come back down the stairs, then repeat), riding your Y bike (you are getting very good and very brave!), building and especially knocking over block towers, climbing on mommy and daddy, shoes (putting on shoes is your favorite part of the day, and sometimes you even sleep in them), wearing your red hat, and keeping up with sister. Speaking of which, you have been really interested in the potty recently, because we’ve spent so much time working on it with Grace. So you eagerly tell us you want to potty, insist that we take down your

Eating something Mom didn't make...

pants and put you on the potty, you sit there a while, smiling, then you point to the toilet paper, carefully wipe with it when we give it to you (we’ll explain later that this isn’t necessary for you as it is for Grace!), put the paper in the toilet, flush, move stool over to sink, and wash hands. You are SO proud of yourself for doing so well with the potty. Now if only you would actually GO in the potty!

Things you don’t love: water and sand. Too bad, because these are Grace’s current favorites. But you want nothing to do with either, except, thankfully, for baths. You are quite content to stand on the sidelines and take everything in, without getting wet at all.

You are a happy kid, by and large, and amazingly adaptable, chill, and go-with-the-flow. Though

Racing matchbox cars at Museum of Play

you are still learning how to be patient when you can’t get your way right away, you don’t complain about much. You approach things with caution, checking them out bit by bit, but once you’ve decided it is okay, you are fearless. You love to sit back and take things in for a while before jumping in, but you will, eventually jump in. You laugh – a lot! – and adore everyone in your family. You love being held, but you also love to be on the go. You are so kind, always willing to share, and you love bringing Grace her toys. If we ask you to give something you have to Grace, you almost always immediately hand over whatever you have to her. You love her so – and she, in turn, adores you! You two are best friends. We hope you always will be.

You are, in short, a delightful little guy, and we are loving seeing your beautiful personality blossom and grow more each day. We love you so much, Isaac Karl!

                                                                                                Love,

                                                                                                Your mama