Happy Month 55, Connor!

Dear Connor,

You are a joy through and through. My predictions about four are coming true with force, and this is making everyone in our house feel good. Regularly, you perform small gestures of kindness and I love it. This past Saturday, we attended a show at the zoo. As a thank you for your participation in the show, you received a sticker. You gave it to your friend Zoe because you thought she would like it. That was just nice, Connor. No other word for it. This doesn't mean that occasionally you're not just mean for the fun of it, but mostly, you choose to be nice.



Often, I learn something special about you because someone points it out. One night, Zoe came over to play and before she got there, you were enjoying a take two in your room. You see, you were nap-free, and had taken something from Helen, and when I told you to take-two, you picked up an eraser and threw it at your dad. Mostly, your dad thought this was funny, but he also thought it more appropriate to tell you not to do this than to allow it, so to your room you went. Zoe arrived, you and your dad talked and you came downstairs, and then you came right up to me, stomped your feet and shouted "I'm MAD!". I'm used to this, and grateful that this is what you do rather than throw a tantrum because, dear Lord, I think the times you have thrown a tantrum number few than the fingers on one of my hands. And those times are not fun. Just ask your Aunt Linda who was here for the first of these and saw me in possibly my most inept parenting moment ever. In any case, when you did this, Zoe's mom (a psychologist) commented that she liked how you were using your words to talk about your feelings. Of course, she was offering nice words of encouragement while I was busy saying "I take it you're mad because you had to sit in your room for two minutes because you threw an eraser at your dad's head. Is this the case?" And of course, when the situation was spelled out for you, you laughed a little, stomped your feet a few more times, and then ran downstairs with Zoe to have some privacy. And the two of you didn't even destroy anything when you were down there, which just goes to show that you're a pleasant person to be around these days.



Several puppet shows came to life this past month when your au pair gifted you a puppet theater that she built from scrap lumber in the basement. She is seriously gifted in the art of turning junk into stuff. This particular show was about flying animals. Look closely and you'll see pugsley in the photo below.



You also have turned the corner on being helpful, and truly help out in the kitchen. On pizza night this past month, I was running late from work. And of course, this is bad because you and Helen need dinner at 5:30. Not 5:35, as your dad found out when he was a few minutes late recently and the two of you began begging for every morsel of food in sight rather than waiting just a few minutes for dinner to reach the table. In any case, I gave you some dough to work with, trying to buy myself a few minutes of veggie chopping and you actually rolled out and tossed pizza dough. You even set up a system where I would give a ball of dough to Helen, she would flatten it a little, and then you would roll it out into a usable pizza crust. You ended up rolling the dough out for everyone's pizza, not just your own! You've always been excited to help in the kitchen, but now I think you actually save me more time than you cost me in clean-up later! Soon, you'll be cooking me breakfast in bed I bet!



You can cruise down the mountain on a green trail. After just two days of ski school, you can successfully ski, turn, stop, and avoid objects in your path. You even advanced a level midday on your second day of lessons. You love skiing, and enjoyed a special trip to a nearby mountain with Daddy and a friend of yours and his dad. A great time was had by all, as I understand it.





And do you know what else happened this month? I had your curls chopped off. All of them. For a while now, you've been annoyed when it comes time to comb your hair in the morning and after bath because it's too tangled. Well, no more, my friend. We went to the barbershop and Annie cut it pretty close. You were excited to take some of your hair home, which was then released into the yard for birds to make nests with. I miss your curls, but I know they'll be back soon. But my goodness don't you look old now?



We released your worm farm. Although really, it was more my worm farm since I'm the only person who bothered to keep the soil moist most of the time and feed them. The trouble with the farm was that we were out of food. We watched about 20 worms hatch, but our container was meant for 6 worms. Only it was the middle of winter and how was I to choose between all those worms? So I let them all stay in their little box, but once we got a nice warm Spring day, you released them into the garden. I'm quite glad to see them gone. You were a big hit with the neighbor boys when it came time for the release.

You've begun to really enjoy the boy next door, and it's been really fun watching the two of you. Seems like whenever one of you runs out onto our shared driveway, the other one is shortly behind. This could make for a very fun summer!

I cross my fingers daily that our whole family stays in the mood that has dominated the past few months. It's been easy enough that I have been inspired to plan a weekend trip to stay in a caboose, something I'm sure you will love.

Love,
Mommy