A Letter to my Son on (or almost near) his 14th Month Birthday!

Dear Turner,

I began this letter much closer to your actual 14 month birthday.  But, as do most things in my life these days, it was taking me some time to complete it.  Last night I was determined to finish, being that your 15 month day is around the corner.  I sat down to finish typing and lost the whole thing.  Technology has a way of destroying us while, simultaneously, making our life better.
So here I am, starting again.
At 14 months you are described by "the book" I do not read as a toddler.  But, the fact remains that you do not toddle.  You take your steps here and there but you remain to be a crawler.   Your first attempt at walking was about two weeks ago.  You were standing at the table in the playroom.  You turned around and walked the five steps to me as if you had done that a thousand times before.  I was so excited I nearly threw an epileptic fit of applaud which I am pretty sure discouraged you from wanting to walk ever again.   Since then, you have walked across rooms, to someone, to get a toy, but always at random and often when I am not there.  Your steps are determined, though unstable.  I am a little surprised you are not a walker because you were so active and so mobile so early and when you walk holding onto my hand your grasp is so light that you mine as well not be holding on at all.  But, you my boy, seem to do things at your own pace.  You are like this with all of your tricks.  You perform them, master them even, then put them away for another time.  Clapping, blowing kisses, waving, I know you can do all of these, but you rarely do.  Ryder was very much the same way.  I suppose walking and talking will be the same.
You said the word ball at a mere nine months old.  At least we think you did.  After hearing it several times we thought you were also on your way towards talking.  We thought, perhaps, you would have the same gift of gab that Chase has, but it turns out you are in no real hurry to talk.  You much prefer the point and grunt and shriek approach to communication which seems to be a bit more frustrating for the rest of us than it is for you.  Your shrieks can be loud, real loud, and your points are in a general direction not at something specific leaving me having to guess.  Of course, we manage.
You use the word nana for what we thought was pretzel (which, like all Tovsky's, you love) but as it turns out I think means snack. I think I heard you say Ryder, more like "Ry-yer" and Uh-oh but you don't use any word very consistently yet.  The other day I am pretty sure you waved and said "bye-bye" at the same time, which actually blew me away.  And, other people have claimed you have said Elmo and Balloon.

You love books, particularly taking them from the shelf and surrounding yourself with them.  You also love your rocking chair and insist on sitting in it (or standing on it) while I read you stories.  You will rock back and forth with a huge grin then begin to climb all the while letting me know that do not need to walk to be completely agile and a little bit fearless.  Your favorite books are Moo, Baa, La La La, (and I am pretty sure you are trying to Moo every time I read it) Ready, Set, Go (your favorite part is watching the flower bloom) and Happy and You Know it! (where you stomp your feet on cue!) I know what your favorite parts of each book are because you always skip ahead, turn the pages rapidly until you get to the page you like best.  It's rare we read a book in its entirety.
We started a Mommy and Me class at Ohev.  It's great because it is right after we drop off your brothers and we have an hour to just play.  The class is just me and you and Nikki and Jagger so it is hardly a class with any structure.  But, still, it's fun and cute and good for picture taking.

You have 8 teeth, 4 on top 4 on the bottom, plus your mollars.  You seemed to have handled teething really well, though these last few months it would be hard to know since you have been plagued by what seems to be a never ending double earache and a recent case of strep throat.  My happy boy has been a bit less smiley as a result but hopefully this last dose of antibiotics will really help.
Your hair is getting longer and a bit more wild.  The curls keep coming in in a light brown and though you have a lot of hair, it is very, very fine.  Your eyes are probably best described as hazel and your right cheek dimple has a direct pull on my heart.
Your exczema continues to flare up all too often and though i still do not think it bothers you too much it is so sad to see your body, particularly your diaper area, so red.
You are a good boy with a wonderful laugh.  You seem to have a special admiration for Ryder and he for you and are also going through the phase of wanting to be with me all of the time.  I remember this mom-ument phase from your brothers and know, sadly, it will pass.
I marvel at you most days, most moments!  Your calm demeanor, your happy eyes, your adorable face.  I marvel at the boy that you are, the toddler you are becoming, and the fact, the unbelievable fact, that you are my son.  One look at you, and there is no question, despite hard days or troubled times, that we are so very blessed.  I could not be more proud.  I could not love you more.

I love you so,

Mommy

The call for Nana!

For a boy who has very few words Turner has a way of communicating that is irritating if not effective.  He points and grunts and shrieks and usually gets what he wants, eventually.  Lately, he will call for nana.  A nana, by logic, we thought was a banana but after enough bananas were thrown to the floor to gather apes we figured it must be something else.  You may think he was asking for a grandmother, but since both of his grandmothers are Mom-Mom we quickly crossed that off the list of possibilties.  The only thing that seemed to bring a smile to his face and a silencing to the shrieking was a pretzel.  So, we thought, nana meant pretzel.  And, we would respond to such a calling with a rod for each hand.  As it turns out, however, I think we are only part right.  I now think nana actually means snack, which is not such a bad derivative of the word, afterall.  He will call for nana, and though he still loves pretzels most, he is also happy when he hand him yogurt melts (another favorite) or any other snack that is in his sight.

Snow Blow Me a Kiss!

We were amidst the snowiest winter in Philadelphia's history.  Week 2 of February and we had already had over 70 inches of the white stuff with a large percentage coming that past week.  The weekend prior it had snowed about a foot and a half over night.  At the time, it was the most snow we had seen in years, giving us the feel of a Winter Wonderland as the once naked tree branches glistened from their just frozen frosting.  The snow was light and fluffy and though kids could still play in it, clean up was not so bad, not that I had anything to do with clearing our driveway. A few days later there was a blizzard that made the one prior look weak.  We had so much snow that now, nearly five weeks later and many days with spring like temperatures there is still some snow remaining!  Early in March now, it is possible we could still get more.

While all of this snow was falling from the sky.  While Chase and Ryder were making snow angels and Todd was inhaling a mix of oil and gas emitting from the snow blower, Turner began blowing kisses.  He does this.  He will hit a milestone quietly thinking no one will notice.  But we do!  He blows kisses now.  Sort of.  He can,  He has.  But, he doesn't.  In a fashion that reminds me of Ryder, Turner has a tendency to do something new, and then not do it again for some time.  Months from now he will perform all of his tricks but for now he just gives us glimpses of what he is capable of.

The Boots Look Navy...

I bought two pair of purple boots.  I have three sons, yet I bought two pair of purple boots.  We had zero pair of snow boots and since we are amidst the snowiest winter in history, we needed snow boots.  Grateful for the last minute, since it is the only time I get anything accomplished, I needed boots on Tuesday for Wednesday's pending blizzard.  At the shoe store there were exactly two pair in the size I needed.  Both pair were purple.  Well, really they are navy boots. Navy boots with a lavender strip across the top.  But, as a mom to boys it was hard to not see it as purple.  But, they needed boots!  My choices at that moment were either I buy them purple boots or they needed to wear the fire chief rain boots to play in the snow that they have worn all the times before.  All the times before, however, were not not blizzards.  They were not even blizzards if you combine them together into one snow storm.  Wearing rain boots in a flurry with a dusting is ok, wearing them when the snow comes to your knees is another whole story.  So, I bought the boots.  The purple boots.  I n some light, or in no light, it looks silver, or light blue.  Or maybe it doesn't.  Todd was not appalled by the boots, he was surprised I described them as purple.  The boys did not notice.  All Ryder saw was the red lining inside and he was happy.  When they wear them, their snow pants cover the purple and they just look navy.  But, I know.  I know that I have three sons and two pair of purple boots.

But, at least they got to play in the snow.

(and, just for the record...our boys so prefer the beach!)