Dear Jack, my little Wonder,

Today you are 20 months old. You're taking one of your much-appreciated and long overdue extended naps. You're averaging an hour and half. You've even slept over two hours a couple of times. For my sleep-fighting catnapper, this is a welcome development. You need this rest. You wake up like daddy, though, a little grouchy and put out. As soon as you're fully awake, though, the show begins. You're so observant and now you're mimicking not only our words, but our mannerisms. You duplicate dances you see on television. Here are my favorites from the last month:

"I BROKE it!" (with your hand on your forehead in distress)
"Gimme a break."
"Jo-ohn! Jo-ohn! Daddy John!"

When I put food on your plate, or hand you a book, you sweetly say "Yelcome, Mommy." I think you are actually thanking me. Truly, my heart melts each time. I'm glad you're picking up your good manners early, and at home. This will take you far in life, farther than you may recognize until much later. Your dad is polite, and it's one of the first things I noticed about him.

Every day, it seems, you become confident with new knowledge. You definitely know the letters O, T, P, S, Q, A, B and M. You recognize 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10. You know and can name a triangle and a circle. You know purple, orange, and green with certainty. You're pretty good with blue and red. Yellow is a rare treat. You pull your favorite books from the shelves and say their names or a particular part that you like. One of your Sesame Street books has a page where Oscar the Grouch says, "Yucky!" You pull that book down and say "Mommy! Yucky! Yucky!" You pronounce it with disgust, just like Oscar would.

You've taken me by the hand, saying, "C'mon, Mommy. Naptime. Schweepy." You handed me a toy that was turned off and said "Won't work." You ran down the hallway toward me, pointing to your diaper and saying "Pee pee coming!" Every day, for much of the day, I marvel at you. You've always been so vocal, then verbal, but now you talk. You talk! You're picking things up so quickly.

You still prefer to be outside. It's been a little rough keeping up with you these days, but I'm doing my best. For this reason, I look so forward to spring. When we're inside for too long, we start butting heads. I won't use the alliterative description for kids your age, but I hope that we are getting some of this out of your system early. Your birthday is still a few months away. You are pushing boundaries. You don't know how to share. Well, you like to say "Share." or "Share, peese." before taking something from me. You lose your cool when you're with other kids your age. You love older kids, though. I can almost see your struggles to understand the situation you're in, the moment when you decide to give up and give in to your emotional response. It's hard being a toddler!

I know that each age will come with it's own challenges, but for each challenge, there is a gift. Your sweet kisses. You offer them freely. You make sure that if you give Daddy a kiss, there is one for me, too. One day last week, you were sitting on my lap when Gram came to pick you up. She stood in the doorway and you pointed to each of us, saying "This is Jack! This is Gram! This is Mommy!"

I've been thinking some about regret lately. I hope you don't have too many regrets when you're my age, but surely you'll have some. When I look at you, Jack, I realize that if any of the big things, or even a couple of the small things in my life had been different, you wouldn't be here. You're a grace I'm given to help me understand why things have happened or to accept their happening.

It's still an adventure being your mom.

Love,

Mama