Dear Moe (47th Month)

Hello, my sweet little puppy dog.  It is getting challenging to keep up with these letters every month, so I think I’ll write to you every second month, and we’ll go by calendar month rather than your age. Your next letter will come to you at the end of March, and will talk about all the things we did together in February and March. (I will likely also write you a letter on your fourth birthday, but like last year it will be less about what we have done and more about who you are.)

I didn’t write to you about Christmas in my last letter. You brought the joy to our Christmas this year, my love. It was wonderful to watch your anticipation build – you eagerly opened a new box on your advent calendar every day, and we read stories about Christmas (Mater Saves Christmas, and Olivia Helps with Christmas were two popular ones). You came home from Robin’s with great Christmas-themed crafts and a gorgeous homemade gingerbread house! She baked one for each of you. Noah was home from school that day, and asked if he could help you with yours. You both did an amazing job.

You were a big help with wrapping gifts – you enjoyed stepping on the wrapping paper to hold it in place while I cut it, and putting your finger over the paper folds while I got the tape ready. You selected the paper and gift tags for each gift.

You also gave your own gifts this year. We worked together to make some lovely Christmas ornaments that featured your white handprint on a glass ball, and I used markers to turn the fingers into little snowmen. I think people really liked them. I know we’ll treasure ours for many years until it’s time to give it to you for your own tree.

You managed a huge achievement at Christmas, my love, and left all your soothers in a little bowl for Santa Claus to bring to other babies. In exchange, he left you a second gift. I was so impressed with you. You picked the bowl yourself, and put the soothers in, and chose where you wanted to leave it (on the stairs, so he’d see them as soon as he came in the door). The best part is that you have not asked for a soother since. (You did actually ask twice, out of habit, but as soon as we reminded you, you laughed and said, “Right! I forgot!” and said no more about it.) As a celebration (and commemoration), I gave you a tiny little bunny rabbit stuffie and we named it Soother. I am so proud of you. The fact that you were actually sick at the time makes it an even bigger achievement.

We have reaped the benefits of you giving up your soothers. For one thing, it is so much easier to understand you without that plug in your mouth. For another, I think you sleep better because you can breathe better. And finally, you have been forced to learn other ways to settle yourself down.

Yes, we were sick at Christmas. You and I both had bronchitis and it was brutal. We tried antibiotics, but the infection was viral, so we had to just ride it out. We went through a lot of honey and watched a lot of TV. You only really got back to full energy and appetite in the last week or so. Robin was also sick with bronchial pneumonia, which meant that we spent a lot of time at home together.

Christmas, the excitement and gifts (of which you received many – such lovely things!), the lack of structure, and the bronchitis (yours and mine) all worked together to form a perfect storm that resulted in a terrible holiday hangover, in terms of your behaviour. The dilly-dallying, the badgering, and the whining were becoming pretty unbearable, especially at bedtime. You took dilly-dallying and emotional manipulation to whole new levels, small sir. We have worked hard (all three of us) over the past few weeks, and things are greatly improved. Our home is a much more pleasant place to be. Thank you for all the work you have done – I know you have worked hard, too.

Another big milestone for you was that we finally stopped the weekend afternoon nap. We dropped it in January during the period when bedtime was becoming exhausting, figuring that if you were more tired, you would fuss less. It has helped, for sure. It has also opened up all kinds of wonderful possibilities for playdates and outings. You attended an afternoon birthday party this month (Koen’s, and Monkey Around – you had a wonderful time), which would have been unheard of before.

We are still working on finding a routine for the day that helps you manage your energy. I tried the system my mom used for me - a designated quiet time in your room, where you have one or two toys and any number of books to look through. You play on your bed on your own for at least 30 minutes. I like the idea, but I don’t think this is for us. You don’t excel at playing independently when forced to, and it becomes a power struggle that defeats the point of quiet time. So I tried something new last weekend. We snuggled on the couch for an hour, watching Octonauts. We both got to rest, we enjoyed a really fantastic snuggle, and we both felt refreshed and ready to move on to the next activity. 

Finding a delicate balance with screen time can be challenging. We don’t want you to constantly have your face in the tablet or staring at the TV. Having you healthy has helped immensely. We have gradually reduced the amount of TV you watch, and are more strict about how often you can use the tablet. Some evenings, you elect to skip watching a TV show and instead have what I named a “reading extravaganza” where instead of the usual two or three bedtime stories, we read a crazy number like six or seven! I love these and am so glad you do, too. 

Another thing we are trying to reduce is our use of time out. We got some great advice from Robin, and we have been trying other discipline approaches with good results. We will still use time outs occasionally as a last resort, and we will count-to-consequence as a last resort, too, but we are working on less punishment and more dialogue, and for the most part, it has worked well. 

I have also tried hard to get out of the habit of constantly multi-tasking when I’m with you. I’m trying to be more present, focused on the moment at hand and on fostering moments of connection between us. Constantly multi-tasking - both physically and mentally - has been exhausting, and I didn’t realize how much I was doing it and how much it was draining me. I’m pleased to say that I have more energy, which I’m able to use to actually get things done at appropriate times. 

We have had a lot of fun over the past few weeks, Bean. Our adventures have included a sled-ride (you rode, I pulled) to O’Grady’s with a cab ride home, a playdate with Mistlegoo and Proon Joos (PJ's yarn winder was a huge hit), a morning of swimming at Bambi and Simon’s, a plasma-car obstacle-course adventure in Mark and Janine’s new (empty) house, and visits to the Canada Science and Technology Museum. 

You inherited the Cariboo board game from Mistlegoo, and we have greatly enjoyed it playing it with you. It has helped you with taking turns and understanding that you can’t win every time. It has inspired us to look for other board games for you. 

You have been so snuggly lately. One thing you love to do is pretend you are “a little puppy dog” and you make these adorable little puppy whining noises (much cuter than your actual
whining noises) and snuggle up to us and frisk around. It’s so sweet. At one point, you even lay on the floor and asked me to rub your tummy! You just want hugs and cuddles, and it’s wonderful that you are so affectionate with us. You are also finally able to lie down on one of us when we’re stretched out on the couch and stay there for a while, which has been really lovely. 

One of the reasons that we are treasuring the snuggly moments is that you are growing so fast. You hit some big milestones this month, my love. You graduated out of your car seat and into a booster during the same week that I attended Kindergarten Information Night. I’ll be registering you for full-day Junior Kindergarten in a couple of days. The information night was really helpful and I am confident that you are going to love school. 

You said something the other day that I wanted to record because I was so delighted by it. We have often spoken to you about chosen family and extended family. You were colouring at Mark and Janine’s during their “Come See Our Empty New House” get together (which we greatly enjoyed), and you suddenly looked up and realized that pretty much all the other guests were in another room. 

“We’re kind of far away from our team, Mommy,” you said. 

I love that you see all these adult friends who play such an important role in our lives as “our team.” I didn’t realize it, but that’s how I see them, too. 

Moe, I am amazed at your ability to express how you feel, to call me out on things, and to discuss solutions to problems. For an almost-four-year-old, you are incredibly patient, flexible, and understanding. You are generous, caring, affectionate and loving. Thank you for teaching me so much about myself. It’s an honour to work with you to do the same. 

I can't see if the grass is really greener because there are too many toys.

A recent blog post by a friend triggered a discussion on Facebook, which included a comment about how any time a parent says anything deprecating about life-with-kids, they immediately (and somewhat desperately) follow it up with something along the lines of, "but I love them so much, and it's totally worth it," almost as though they are trying to convince themselves. 

While this comment was made with tongue firmly planted in cheek, it coincided with some soul searching that I have been doing lately. And that led to a number of realizations. 

I have spent a lot of time in the last few months feeling incredibly envious of some of my child-free friends. Like, ridiculously, bitterly jealous. And I have gone through a number of things in the last few months that have had me thinking, "This would be so much easier to deal with if I didn't have Moe." 

If I didn't have Moe, I would have been able to spend as much time as I wanted at Reg's bedside, without worrying that I am away from my child for too long, or that I am asking too much of my partner. 

If I didn't have Moe, I wouldn't be sick so often, and I would actually be able to spend a sick day taking care of myself, instead of taking care of my child (who is also sick). 

If I didn't have Moe, I would have money to travel with my husband. 

If I didn't have Moe, I would have time and money for personal fitness. 

If I didn't have Moe, it would be easier to spend quality time with friends. 

If I didn't have Moe, my house would be cleaner and prettier and better decorated and I wouldn't feel overwhelmed by all our stuff. (This, by the way, is completely untrue.)

If I didn't have Moe, I could be selfish without feeling guilty. 

Every time those thoughts have surfaced, in any shape or form, they have been immediately followed by a huge blanket of shame. (And, as we all know, shame leads to self-loathing which leads to anger and bitterness, which leads to the Dark Side.) 

The shame comes from the fact that for years, hearing people complain about life-with-kids was a source of pain for me. I admit now, when people complained about life-with-kids (or particularly, life-with-very-young-kids), my thought/feeling process would go something like this: "Why do you get to have children, and I don't? I want a child so badly that I would never think those thoughts. I am more deserving of a child than you are."  Which of course led to the core belief that to be worthy as a parent, you must never wish you weren't one. 

I wanted a child so badly. I didn't just choose to have a child. I moved heaven and earth to have one. I wept and screamed and felt like someone was ripping my heart out of my body. I went through physical hell. I made a dear friend put her life on hold and then put her through physical hell, too. I remortgaged my frigging house. 

And through the entire journey, the people I love gave me incredible, amazing and unbelievable emotional support. My friends and family held me up through this struggle. 

So the shame that follows any thought about how life would be easier without Moe is also accompanied by the feeling that I'm letting down all the people who have supported me. I'm letting you all down by not being a good enough, worthy enough parent. I'm not worthy of being a parent, and I'm not worthy of your love. I'm not a good person. I don't deserve my son. 

I know intellectually that this is untrue. But I have developed this pattern of automatic thoughts that lead to these core thoughts, and they come from a place beyond intellect. 

So, tl;dr, instead of feeling envious of people who have kids, I'm feeling envious of people who don't have kids. And those feelings of envy trigger deep feelings of shame and worthlessness, which takes the envy and wraps it up in a chocolatey coating of anger and bitterness. 

I'm in the process of making some changes in my life that will hopefully curb the negative feelings I've been having around a number of other issues. It looks like one of the things I'm going to have to do is accept that feeling that the grass is sometimes greener is totally normal and human, and it doesn't make me a bad person or a bad parent. 

I'm working on changing a lot of bad habits right now. Changing several of those habits will help me change this one. It's all intertwined. It's a process. But this little piece of self-examination has brought the troubling core thoughts to my attention. And that is ultimately positive, because you can't change what you don't know is there. 

(And of course, I'm not sorry I had Moe. Of course I love him, and of course it's all "worth it," whatever that means. If you've read even one of the letters on this blog, that should be obvious to you.) 

Dear Moe (46th Month)

Hi, sweetie. I’m pretty darn late with your letter; sorry about that. This past month has just gotten away from me in so many ways. 

I have been very tired and sad, but it hasn’t had anything to do with you. I hope you can understand that. I certainly haven’t been the happy, smiling Mommy you’re used to having around. But through it all, you have been a shining light. Thank you. 

It’s hard to believe that when I wrote your last letter, there was no snow on the ground. We have had so much snow in the past four weeks that our snowbanks are almost as tall as I am. The day of the first snowfall, you and I went for a lovely walk in the snow. You brought your little red shovel with you and shoveled up all the pathways as we walked. I remember that you asked if we could go to O’Grady’s, and I said we couldn’t because I didn’t have any money for O’Grady’s, and you said that was okay and offered to pay with the money in your piggy bank. It was very sweet of you to offer to treat us. You and I have been to O’Grady’s since then, my treat.  

You are a great little snow shoveler, and it is so nice that you finally understand that I want you to put the snow onto the snowbank and not pull the snow off the snowbanks and dump it onto the driveway. Snow shoveling is much more pleasant now that we understand each other. There were a few times last year when I nearly resorted to sticking YOU in the snowbank! 

It has been a month of Christmas preparations and getting excited about Santa Claus. Robin overheard some wonderful and thoughtful discussions between you and Gemma about Santa. You were concerned and hopeful about being on the nice list. You were also worried about Santa (and the presents) getting dirty if he came down the chimney. Santa sent you a video message from the North Pole, and you enjoyed confirmation that you would be on the nice list. Several times throughout the month you have asked to write a letter to Santa to make sure he knows you are on the nice list. 

You delighted in seeing the Christmas lights outside on houses on our street. There’s one house two doors down that has these great little light-up snowmen stakes that look like lollipops. You are enraptured by them, and love to recite the colours as they change. “Red…orange... green… blue… red… orange…” You still pronounce them “yollypops” and I love it. Our neighbour across the street put lights up in their tree and you immediately saw a horse shape in the way they had arranged them. I love seeing the world through your eyes. 

Aunt Janine and Uncle Mark came over to help us decorate the Christmas tree this year. You did a wonderful job, helping us. For one thing, we asked you to make sure that only non-breakable ornaments would be within reach of your cousin Caspian, and you took your job very seriously and ensured that the bottom third of the three was Caspian-friendly. The funniest thing, though, was what happened when you found an ornament that you really liked. You had no interest in putting your favourites on the tree - you just wanted to hold them and look at them for as long as you could. It makes sense - once they are on the tree, they are mostly out of your reach! I also brought out the Christmas village for the first time in years, and lit up a lot of the village pieces for the first time. You could not get enough of looking at the different little buildings, and peering through the windows at the scenes inside. It was wonderful to watch you. 

You have enjoyed helping us wrap and label gifts as Christmas grew closer. It was your job to pick the wrapping paper for each gift, hold the paper down with your feet while we measured it and cut it, and put your finger down to hold the folds in place. You also stuck the adhesive gift tags on each gift, which explains why they were all crooked and kind of randomly placed. (Nobody minded.) 

Our wooden advent calendar came out again this year, and you have greatly enjoyed the daily ritual of opening a little box and pulling out a tiny ornament to hang on the wooden tree. I’m going to enjoy this while it lasts - I’m sure it won’t be long until you figure out that there are chocolate advent calendars out there. 

You have been playing a lot with language in the past month or so. You like to create spoonerisms, or repeat a series of words with the wrong starting consonants. For example, if I say, “Please put on your coat,” you’ll say back to me, “No, I’m going to sput on my bloat!” and laugh at how silly it sounds. Unfortunately, these playful sessions often begin with name calling, “Mommy, you’re a (insert silly words here).” I keep trying to shift your energies away from the name calling and toward silly spoonerisms. You don’t even know what names you are using - most of them are nonsensical - but when I ask you if you would like to be called that name, you say no, which tells me that I don’t want to be called that name either. It’s a slow process, but we’re getting there. 

This past month, you completed your first sessions as a Komet Kid at gymnastics, and started your second session. You have a new coach, Galaga, who you like, but you don’t seem to have the same bond with her that you did with Pepe. It’s possible that it will come in time. One lovely thing about this new session is that Emma is in your class! Granted, we haven’t seen much of her because you have both been sick, but hopefully things will get back to normal in the new year. 

At the end of your first session, we were treated to a “gymnastics showcase” where we could bring guests to watch your class. You had a whole cheering section, with Aunt Janine, Uncle Mark, Granny and me. We were allowed to take photos, which was wonderful. It was so lovely to see how your confidence has grown in the past weeks. I look forward to marking the same kinds of changes at the end of this second session.    

Thanks to a special uncle with magical technical abilities, we’ve been watching a lot of Mike the Knight in the past month, and you have really finally gotten into the knightly Playmobil set that you got from Robin last Christmas. You love playing with the knights and the dragon. I really like the show, and much prefer it to your other current TV obsession, Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Having said that, though, it is awesome listening to you sing along to the Jake theme songs.

You enjoy singing, and in the last month, have really started to get earworms and show more interest in the songs you hear on the radio or on the iPad. You’ll ask who is singing the song, and what the song is called. We recently rediscovered our wedding CD and you love the song Storybook Love. 

You are also learning how to use a mouse, thanks to the Dinosaur Train website and its great series of games. I’m going to have to get you a nice little mouse that is a bit simpler to use than mine. I think it would help you to have defined buttons to push and a mouse that fits better in your small hand. 

We have had some lovely moments in the past month, darling. But it has been a very hard time for me due to Grandpa Reg’s illness. His health has been in decline for the last month or so, but this month it declined very quickly. He entered palliative care in early December, and I spent most of my time at his bedside. That meant that you didn’t see much of me in the evenings and that Daddy did dinner, bath and bedtime on his own with you most days. I tried to keep things balanced and not be away too often by spending time at the Perley during the day while you were at daycare, and not being away too many evenings in a row. 

It was very difficult for me to explain to you that Grandpa Reg was dying, but I did my best to make you understand what that means. Of course, you are not even four years old, and while you understand the words, it will likely be a while before you understand their meaning. I did my best to prepare you and explain things to you in a way that was realistic without being traumatizing and comforting without being untruthful -- Grandpa Reg was such a big part of your reality that it seemed unfair to keep it from you. 

At bedtime on December 18, I gave you the little red cardinal stuffie that you gave Grandpa Reg last year. You asked me why it was yours, and I said because Grandpa Reg didn’t need it anymore because he died. We talked about it a bit - you asked some really great questions and I did my best to answer them. I told you that we could talk more in the morning, if you wanted. 

The next morning, you told your Daddy, “You know, Daddy, Grandpa Reg died.” 

“I know, buddy,” said your Daddy sadly. 

I asked you how you felt about that. 

“Good,” you said laconically. “Because we can still visit Grandma Joan. She didn’t die.” 

And that weekend, you asked again, so we went. And you asked to see Grandpa Reg’s empty room, so I showed it to you. And when I asked you how the empty room made you feel, you said, “Not good, Mom.” And we went and visited Grandma Joan and you insisted on staying until the PSW came to take her for a bath. And you gave her a lovely hug when we left. 

As I left the Perley that day, walking hand in hand with you, I was very sad, but also so very proud of my wonderful little boy. 

Eulogy

Moe, I'm ten days late with your letter. I haven't had the time or energy to write it. But I did write this.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Yumi, and I grew up in a little house on Southgate Road, right next door to Reg and his first wife Nina. He was recently retired from Bell Canada; she was British war bride who won my heart with her cooking and liberal use of butter. I spent more time at their house than I did at my own, and when I was 8 years old, I asked Nina if she would be my grandmother. She said she would, and drew up official paperwork and everything. And although the agreement doesn't mention Reg's role at all, he became my grandfather whether he wanted to or not. They took their roles seriously, and so did I. At my sister’s wedding, and later at mine, Reg and Nina were the honoured grandparent guests.

In many ways, Reg was a man of few words, but at the same time, he was a wonderful storyteller. He told stories about growing up in New Edinburgh, skiing in Rockcliffe Park, attending Lisgar Collegiate and taking the streetcar to Britannia to attend dances at the Lakeside Gardens pavillion. He told stories of going overseas in wartime, of his service in India with the RCAF, of meeting Nina in an English dance hall (she told him he couldn't dance and he knew right away that this was the girl for him), and of their war-ration wedding feast. He spoke about raising his family, his work for Bell Canada, and his experiences in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s. He told many proud stories about his sons – including Bruce's diving career, and Bob's ability to make and fix anything with his hands. He spoke with delight about his grandkids Philippe and Stephanie as they grew from small children into adulthood. And I know that one of his biggest pleasures in the past year was attending Phil and Katrina's wedding. It was wonderful that he was able to share in your happiness, and Phil and Katrina, I know that having him there made your happiness complete.

Reg also told stories about the lifelong friendships he developed with his neighbours, in the many places he lived. While it was never the focus of the story, what often came through was how generous Reg was with his time and help. He often went far above and beyond any call of neighbourly duty. I am sure a lot of people here can think of examples. One that comes to my mind for me was when he taught my sister how to drive.

He kept the ancient laws of hospitality alive and well. He offered food and drink to anyone who came into his home, and was genuinely disappointed if you didn't accept it. When I was little, he was my pusher of cookies and ginger ale. Years later, my husband Jason and I had to explain that as much as we would LOVE to drink everything in his liquor cabinet, one of us had to drive home. He made the best gin and tonic out there. Even after he moved out of his house, he still kept chocolates and other goodies in his room to offer visitors.

He was incredibly, overwhelmingly generous. So generous, in fact, that it was almost impossible to take him out for dinner, even for his birthday or Father's Day, because he would insist on paying. Jason and I had to learn to be really sneaky and pay the cheque during a trip to the bathroom mid-meal. If you were out shopping with him, you had to be careful what you admired because he would buy it for you.

Reg loved taking care of people. He loved being needed and being helpful.

He also had a huge love of life, and he shared that love with everyone around him.

He was passionate about his hobbies and interests. Golf, jigsaw puzzles, stamp collecting, and photography are just some of the things I'll always associate with him. We shared a love of photography and often went on outings to take photos together.

He was passionate about travel. Whether it was a Sunday drive within the city, a day trip to explore a nearby town, or a voyage across the ocean, Reg loved to travel. Between his service with the Royal Canadian Air Force, his travels with Nina, and his late-in-life discovery of the cruise lifestyle, Reg was a very well traveled man. In the past decade alone, he travelled to Alaska, the Yukon, the Rocky Mountains, Nova Scotia, the Caribbean (twice), the Panama Canal, France, England, Italy and around the Mediterranean. I was fortunate enough to go with him on a cruise to the Caribbean, and I will treasure the memories from that trip for the rest of my life. We went swimming with stingrays together. It was his idea. When he cruised with Lyla a year or two later, she nicknamed him the Energizer Bunny because most days, his energy outlasted hers!

And he was incredibly passionate about Joan. His intense devotion to her touched everyone who saw it, even if it was also driving them insane because he was breaking quarantine rules to be with her or pushing her chair with a sore back, or even better, with his scooter. I am so pleased that he found love again so late in his life, and I'm convinced that Joan is the reason that he made it to 93. Joan, thank you for bringing him so much joy.

Reg was pretty... particular and liked things a certain way. He kept a dozen toothbrushes and alternated them every day. Whenever I packed him for a trip, I would suggest he bring one, he would insist he bring five, and we would compromise on two or three. He was a sharp dresser who took pride in his appearance. But getting him to part with old clothes - even those that were worn through, ill fitting and unworn for more than a decade - was an exercise in patience and perseverance. Frequently, Lyla and I would have to attack as a team. He liked to have at least six different brands of breakfast cereal from which to choose. He loved pie and ice cream - he had a real sweet tooth and strongly encouraged it in others. He was not afraid to speak his mind. And, as the staff here at the Perley can attest, rules were merely guidelines, and they were really for other people. I can recall a day trip to Kingston that we did together. We were doing a guided tour of the City Hall and despite the tour guide's insistence that we stay on the designated route, he kept sneaking away to see if he could find where he had installed the telephone lines 40 years before. It wouldn't have been so bad, but we were the only people on the tour, so his sneaking wasn't terribly effective. If you called him on breaking the rules, he would just smile serenely and maddeningly. I am convinced that for a long time, his deafness was somewhat selective.

Reg was an amazing combination of funny and clever, loving and sweet, stubborn and maddening, and kind and generous. He was a loving father, a proud grandfather, a devoted husband, and a wonderful friend. He has been a huge part of my life. I will miss him terribly.

Thank you, Reg, for teaching me that family is not limited to people who share your blood. I love you very much. When you and Nina moved into that house on Southgate Road, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

I would like to close by acknowledging one other person. Lyla, you have done more for Reg in the past ten years than anyone in this room will ever really understand. Through whatever life has thrown at you, Reg has remained your first and highest priority. Thank you for everything you have done for him. He was so lucky to have you.

Dear Moe (45th Month)

Hi, sweetie. Another month has flown by, and we’ve had a lot of fun. It isn’t as easy to find weekend adventures in late fall when the cold is here but the snow is not, but we’re doing okay. We’ve been going to museums a lot. 

We’ve had post-gymnastics playdates with Gemma and Emma and their families at the Canada Museum of Science and Technology, and we went as a family to see the Frogs exhibit again at the Canada Museum of Nature. You were eager to show Daddy the frog that looks like a “puddle of frog” and to show him how well you can play frog golf.
 
It has been such a pleasure watching you do gymnastics every Saturday morning throughout the fall. Your confidence is soaring and you clearly enjoy the class. It has been wonderful to watch your skills improve. (I think you have a bit of a crush on your coach, Pépé, but I think all the other boys and girls in your class do, too. You even like to put your pencil crayons into the spiral spine of a notebook, because that’s what Pépé does with her pen.) It was without hesitation that I signed you up for another session. I hope you have the same coach, but even if you don’t, the others all look great.

We had a lovely, if wet, Halloween this year. You helped me carve the pumpkin, making all the decisions about how the face should look.

You had two different costumes. At day care, you were Buzz Lightning, thanks to some awesome PJs handed down to us from Aunt Kimmy, along with the coolest of space ranger wing sets. The highlight was definitely when, a few days before Halloween, Uncle Ted and Aunt Jen visited while wearing THEIR Buzz Lightning costumes. That was, in your words, pretty cool.

Your costume for trick or treating was a labour of love. With help and advice from Daddy and Uncle Ted, I made you a fire truck to wear. I had a bumper, headlights, a real flashing light that spins, not to mention a ladder, a hose and a tactical axe. You were a hit, and I was really proud. (Your grandmothers have both made such awesome costumes for you over the past few years that when you said you wanted to be a firefighter for Halloween, I felt I needed to step it up a notch.)

You are enjoying your candy haul this year. Your favourite candies are Rockets, and you also enjoy a good lollypop (or, as you say it, “yollypop.”) 

You express yourself so well, darling. One of your favourite things to say is, “Did you ever see…” and you finish the sentence with a silly suggestion. You’ve asked if we’ve ever seen a banana jumping in a tree, for example. It’s a lot of fun.

At one point you were looking at a book with Daddy, and you pointed at one of the characters and asked what was wrong with him (he had spots on his face). Daddy said he was sick. “With chicken nuggets?” you asked. We assume you meant chicken pox.

I’ve been working hard on teaching you your numbers up to 20. You have 1 to 10 down (and have for quite some time), but 11 to 20 are much harder, mainly because they don’t make sense! (Shouldn’t it be one-teen, two-teen and three-teen?) I’ve written them out on a piece of paper and we work on them together during dinner. We’ll keep it up.

There are a few pretend games you like to play at home. You like to “go on a journey” – you’ll find some kind of portable receptacle (your Halloween treat bucket, for example) and fill it with all kinds of stuff, and then lead me around the house until we find the end of our journey. Then we inspect and play with the supplies you have brought. Then we pack up again and go “home.”

You are also a fan of gathering all kinds of toys and things on the couch with you, including your bumblebee flashlight, and asking me to turn off the lights in the living room. Then you are “camping.” Sometimes Daddy will build you a fort where you can camp, too. We’re going to try taking you camping for the first time this summer – I’m not sure if will match your expectations, but I think you’ll still enjoy it.

We’ve been busy gearing up for Christmas. For one thing, I asked you to help me make room for the toys Santa is going to bring by choosing some of your older toys to give away. You’ve been surprisingly flexible. We keep a box in the hallway, and occasionally you’ll bring something over to it and say we should give the toy away, usually “to Caspian.” You have made some great choices. I’ll suggest a few more after Christmas.

There is one new thing in your playroom that takes up a lot of space. A friend of ours was selling his mini trampoline, and I couldn’t pass that up. It’s a great way for you to burn some energy, practice the skills you are learning at gymnastics, and for me to get exercise, too!

We still visit Grandpa Reg every few weeks, but I’ll tell you, it’s getting more challenging. He is getting so tired that he often goes for a nap right after breakfast, which is when we come to see him. We’ll try again this weekend, but it may soon be time for me to do most of my visits with him on my own in the evenings. Also, because he is less responsive now (his hearing is pretty much gone), I don’t think it’s quite as enjoyable for you. But you do speak warmly of “going to the Perley” and we have lots of little rituals when we visit.

You’re a pretty fantastic kid, you know. You are sweet, caring, thoughtful, mischievous, silly, and a lot of fun. You are fiercely independent, except when you aren’t. You are loving and affectionate. And we are living up to our family mission statement of always being invited back. It’s easy when you are so charming.

We love you more than you could ever understand, and are so very happy to have you in our lives. Thank you for being so awesome.

Dear Moe (43rd and 44th Months)

Darling Bean, I missed your letter last month, but will make it up to you with an extra-long one this month. So much has happened since we got back from Maine, it’s hard to know where to begin. Let me see what I can tell you.

September brought some changes to day care. Ben has moved on to go to kindergarten, and Emma moved to another day care closer to her brother’s school. That leaves you as the oldest of the day care kids. You and Gemma play together beautifully – Robin is stunned at how well you two get along. You have been begging for me to organize a play date for you two. You love the two littlest additions to the day care crew – Margo and Kilianne are just babies, only a year old. You dance for them to make them laugh, and you love entertaining them.

The other day you said to me, “Mommy, I just love babies.” I said, “I’m so glad, sweetie,” and then you said, “I wish we could have a baby in our house.”

You have started role-playing with your stuffies. One of them (usually Lambie, or another small one) will be the baby and then you designate others to be the mommy and the daddy. Once, when you had determined that Rilla was the mommy and Foxford was the daddy, I asked you who Rumpus was going to be. You looked at him and said, “He’s the other daddy.” I’m glad you’re so flexible.

You are wonderfully curious. You ask constant questions, and we do our best to answer them honestly and without being terribly dismissive. Of course, you know this, and often ask lots of questions when you are trying to dilly-dally. Sometimes you ask questions to which you know the answers as a form of secure routine. And then there are the times when you just keep asking “Why” because you are cheeky and you know it eventually drives us nuts. But overall, it’s wonderful that you are so (mostly) genuinely curious about the world around you. You certainly make us think!

You are very affectionate, and it’s delightful. You give awesome hugs, and often ask to snuggle with us. You love giving and receiving hugs and kisses, and are so very cuddly. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can, because I know it won’t last forever. I hope you’ll always be cuddly, though.

Health-wise, we ended up at CHEO in the middle of the night a few weeks ago because you had croup. You’ve had croup before, and usually we just wrap you in a blanket and bring you outside in the night air, but this time, every time we went back in, you would start coughing again. Also, between coughs, you had this terrible wheeze that we’d never heard before. So we packed you up into the car and went off to the emergency room at three in the morning. You were a trooper. They gave you a steroid to help with the inflammation. As a nice side effect, your eczema was pretty much non-existent for the next few days.

There is another health issue that has been plaguing you for some time. Little man, you get so bunged up, it’s tragic to watch. You can get so constipated that you actually become feverish and listless. You are active, you eat a balanced diet with lots of fruit and veggies. We’ve tried coaxing you to eat oatmeal by putting chocolate chips in it. We’ve tried cutting up prunes, but you feel they are too squishy. (I can’t really blame you – I find prunes too squishy, too.) When we realized that you had only pooped without a suppository a couple of times over the past two months, we had to make a change. Enter a President’s Choice prune-cherry juice blend, doctor approved. You get a small glass every day, and every day after dinner (or before bed), you spend a mandated five minutes sitting on the potty. It's often longer than that, as we let you play on the tablet while you sit there. Things are improving.

It doesn’t help that you are the slowest, most easily-distracted eater I have ever seen. (This basically means that you are a normal three-and-a-half year old.) There are meals where we have to coach you through just about every bite, and bargain with you over how many more bites you need to eat before you can leave the table. I knew this would happen eventually – it isn’t that you aren’t hungry; it’s that there are so many things you would rather do than sit down and eat. In an effort to make mealtime more pleasant for you, we have removed your booster seat. You sit on a thick book of feminist history, tucked under a cushion.

People are constantly commenting on how well you speak. You have a great vocabulary, and overall, your speech is very clear. You have come up with some pretty complex sentences. It’s wonderful to see you mulling over your words and being able to express yourself so well. We do sometimes get into trouble when you answer questions without thinking the answers through. You’ll answer “no” or “yes” without really thinking about it, and then will express great frustration when we aren’t able to read your mind.

We have had great fun together over the past weeks, Pookie. We said goodbye to summer on a very windy day at Mooney’s Bay when we climbed a big hill and flew your pirate kite. You were more interested in digging on the beach, so it took some convincing to get you up that hill. But I think you were glad you made the climb. You especially enjoyed when it was time to climb back down… you rolled most of the way while giggling happily.

We said hello to autumn with a special play date with Emma at the apple orchard. You had a wonderful time picking apples, playing in the hay, and munching on apple cider donuts. It was also really nice for you to see Emma again. We were so glad it worked out.

We don’t often get together with your buddy Koen, but when we do, you have such a great time – and so do we! We had a play date last month that included drawing roads on the driveway with sidewalk chalk, sharing cinnamon fish cookies, playing with Hot Wheels, and reading stories.

One of your favourite things to do on the weekend is visit Daddy at his store. You love looking around the kids’ section (and pointing out things you’d like Daddy to get for you!), playing with some of the toys (it’s the only time you are allowed to touch stuff in a store), being allowed in the back room, and of course, seeing Daddy at work. I’m trying to teach you that a visit to Daddy’s store doesn’t mean a new book or toy, but let me tell you, Daddy isn’t helping much! He really enjoys being able to let you pick out a new book.

We started doing a weekly gymnastics class at Starr Gymnastics, and you absolutely love it. It is much more engaging and enjoyable than the one we did through the community centre last year. Your coach is called Pépé (they all have wonderful silly names like Bubbles and Ziggy) and I sit happily on the sidelines while you work with her. I was pretty nervous during the first class because a lot of little ones were crying for their parents, but you did so well and stayed the course and didn't get upset or worried. I was incredibly proud of you. You are a wonderful listener, you are great at doing “the motorcycle” when you land, and although you aren't super excited about jumping into the foam pit, you're getting less timid about it. I love watching you try new things. Even after just a few classes, your confidence in the gym has improved a lot.

Halloween is just around the corner, and this year I decided I wanted to make your costume. (Grandma made it last year, and Granny made it the year before. I figured it was my turn.) This is the first year that you have chosen your costume, and you very emphatically stated that you want to be firefighter. I didn't think that was quite exciting enough, so you're going to be a firefighter with a twist. It's been great fun building your costume, and you are very excited about it.

Of course, not long after Halloween, it will be Christmas, and you and I have been working on a plan for that. You have decided that you will let Santa take all your soothers in exchange for a SECOND gift from the North Pole. And for the first time, you have a very specific gift in mind. You have requested the Thomas the Tank Engine Mega Blocks Diesel Works set that you saw in the back of your Day of the Diesels book.  Unfortunately, I don't think Santa will be able to find that exact toy, but he's got something just as good that we think you are going to love. I sure hope we're right! (And I hope you stick with your plan to give Santa your soothers.)

We've been very lucky and had some great visitors this past two months. Aunt Marsha came down for a weekend especially to see you, and you had a great time with her. She came with us to gymnastics, and we went for lunch at O'Grady's together. She brought you a very special gift... a Furbee. You love your Furbee, which is great, but we can't get it to stop talking like a Valley Girl, which isn't great. Aunt Marsha is very lucky we love her.

Grandpa Will and Grandma Anne also came down for a weekend, and we spent a great Sunday morning with them. They brought you your own camp chair, as well as a bee flashlight and a pair of binoculars that look like a dragonfly. You were over the moon! All three gifts are a huge hit. (Aside - I love how your pronounce them “ga-noc-u-lars.”) But the best gift was the time they spent with you. You love them both so very much. You love hugging Grandma Anne, and Grandpa Will cracks you up.

We did a bit of travelling over Thanksgiving and went to Toronto for a “ba-caytion” (another great pronounciation) to visit Tia and Tio and Isabel. You did so well sleeping in a strange house, and you fell in love with Pippa and Sadie, the 12-year-old yellow labs. They were so calm and just love to be pet, so you obliged happily, whenever you could. Unfortunately, you are still allergic to dogs, so we were dosing you with Benadryl quite a bit. Also, you pet Sadie so much that you got a blister on the tip of your finger. Between the Benadryl and the exposure, things got a bit better over the weekend.

You played very well with Isabel and Aiden, and were so sweet to Caspian when he and Aunt Natalie and Uncle Darin visited for Thanksgiving dinner. But the best part of the weekend was watching you become totally mesmerized when Tio Rodrigo played the guitar. We were joking that he's never had such a willing audience! You asked him to play again and again, and loved every song. You danced to the blues, and even played a bit yourself with a small, blue electric guitar that used to belong to Aiden's big brother Raven. I think it will be important to continue with gymnastics, but I may look at some kind of music class in the next year or so.

  

We visited a great new temporary exhibit together at the Canadian Museum of Nature. It's on until the spring, and I think we'll be going back many times. It's all about frogs! You adored seeing the real frogs in their habitats, and we played “find the frog” in each case. You also loved watching the waterfalls in the habitats. We had great fun playing “predator mini-golf” and you really enjoyed the interactive about the sounds frogs make. It was a wonderful museum visit. We both left very happy.

Fall has been a great season. You've greatly enjoyed helping Granny rake the leaves on the front lawn. Today we had a playdate with Amelia at her house, and you even raked their front lawn! (And then you and Amelia tossed leaves into the air and laughed together and it was so magical that a neighbour stopped to tell us it made his day.)

We have some really sweet rituals. At bedtime, when Daddy holds you and hums the Imperial March, you insist that you get to hold this glow in the dark ball that Uncle Ted gave you. Daddy and I started calling it the Ood ball because we had just seen that episode of Doctor Who, and now you call it the Ood ball, too. The other day, the glowing was starting to fade, and you said, “Oh no! It's running out of ood!”

You're saying some fantastic stuff these days.

One evening, I told you that it was almost time for dinner. You asked if you could go play in your playroom. I said you could, but just for a few minutes.

“Can you come with me?” you asked. “I need a friend down there. And you don't cook.”

One night, about half an hour after you had been tucked into bed, you called for me through the monitor, saying, “Mom? I have to tell you something!”

I went up to you. The important information? “Mom, I think fish don't have feet.”

The other day, Daddy was rushing you along in the morning so you could get out the door to daycare on time.

“Daddy,” you said, “I thought I was being a good boy and not dilly dallying?”

“Yeah, buddy,” Daddy told you, “You are being good. It's Daddy who lost track of time this morning and who was dilly dallying a bit. Sorry for rushing you.”

“That's ok, Daddy,” you told him, “it happens sometimes. I still love you, you know.”

And we still love you, all the time, more than we can even express. Thank you for being such an amazing little boy, so full of love and humour and personality. Every day I ask you what your best thing was that day. In this life, you are our best thing, hands down.

Dear Moe (42nd Month)

Hello, Pookie Bean. What a month it’s been! 

You are officially three-and-a-half now, and you are tons of fun. It has been an exciting month and a wonderful summer. 

We started the month with a day trip to Iroquois to visit Bambi and her mom. You greatly enjoyed our trip to Prehistoric World, which is a 1-km walking trail dotted with life-sized cement dinosaur statues. You still talk about it and ask to go back. After the dino walk, we had a picnic at the Iroquois Locks. We chased seagulls, watched the locks open and close and saw the boats go by. It was a lovely day. You happily gave Bambi’s mom a big hug before we left. 

We have been lucky enough to have Aunt Natalie and your cousin Caspian in town for a few weeks. Uncle Darin came with them for the first few days. While it was obvious that you weren’t delighted to suddenly share our attention with a baby, you did really well, and love to entertain Caspian with funny dances. He loves to bounce up and down, so you do that too, and you both laugh together. It’s wonderful to watch. You have also been pretty darn graceful about watching a number of your toys being passed down to your little cousin. Although, when we found that some stickers I bought you were somewhat subpar and you suggested that we give THEM to Caspian because they “aren’t very good,” you may have missed the point. 

This letter is so late because we’ve been away and it’s been a busy time since we got home. We spent a week in Wells Beach, Maine. We stayed at a beachside cottage (or a “little house,” as you called it) with Granny, and Aunt Janine and Uncle Mark stayed in another cottage across the way. It was a wonderful vacation. The weather was perfect, you were a total trooper on the drive there and back, and we got to spend time with some of our favourite people. 

On the night we arrived, we were greeted by Evan and Megan, who you adore. We had a lovely evening with them, although bedtime was a bit of a challenge. You were pretty keyed up and you were sleeping in an unfamiliar place. I’m pleased to say, though, that you were an excellent sleeper for the rest of the trip. 

The next morning there was sand play on the beach with Uncle Mark. You both devised a good system whereby any castles on the right side of a line in the sand were fine to be demolished and any castles on the left side of a line in the sand were not to be touched. It worked out well, you demolished many castles, and had a lovely time. Then Aunt Kimmy, Uncle Luc, Caleb and Noah arrived for the day and your cup ran over. Not only were they awesome playmates, but they brought you a slew of amazing hand-me-down toys that pretty much blew your mind. The highlights were the Dinosaur Train and a set of Buzz Lightyear wings and bracers. Oh my goodness. You were absolutely delighted. It was really lovely to see you play with Caleb and Noah. Caleb in particular took a real shine to you and helped you into your wings, played ball with you, and invited you to hang with him. It was also so gratifying to see how huggy Noah still is, even at the age of six. It gives me great hope that your wonderful affectionate nature will stay with you a while longer, even as you get older.   

You did very well in Kittery at the outlet malls, both in terms of your behaviour and your haul of new clothing. We got you some new pants, a whack of socks, a fall shell coat and a winter coat that you liked so much you insisted on wearing it one evening in the cottage. How you didn’t melt away remains a mystery. 

The best times with you on this trip were really the simplest times - sometimes we were doing things I remember doing as a child, and sometimes we were creating our own memories. Digging holes on the beach. Blowing bubbles for you to chase on the cottage lawn. Walking to the boardwalk, and visiting the Beachcomber, where you scored a shiny red firetruck with an extendable ladder. Sitting on the cement outside Forbes, eating ice cream. Standing outside the Goldenrod in York Beach, watching the salt water taffy being made. Sharing a lobster roll with you. (History repeated itself - I barely got any!) Standing on the sea wall, watching the waves crash against the rocks. Hearing you exclaim, “WHOA! Did you see that one? It was a big one!” with every wave. Watching you fly your pirate kite by yourself. Standing with you in the water as the waves lapped at our feet. Riding the trolley while eating fried clams and french fries. Watching you fall in love with showers. Our meal at the Ogunquit Lobster Pound where you were given a cookie bigger than your head.  

You shared a bedroom with Granny, and while I don’t think she’s used to getting up that early, I know she greatly enjoyed seeing you first thing in the morning. Aunt Janine and Uncle Mark loved seeing you in the evenings when you were at your most cuddly. You were completely freaked out by seaweed and would not walk on it. But you loved when Aunt Janine carried you and made “squishy noises” when she walked on the seaweed. 

You napped every day. You didn’t have a single accident. You behaved beautifully. We simply adore travelling with you. 

Thank you for a wonderful “bacation,” darling. It was magical, and so are you. We love you so much and you bring such joy to our lives. I talk about Wells Beach being my happy place, but really, my happy place is anywhere with you. You made my happy place even happier by being there.