Two Year Letter

Dear Gabriel,

Last week we celebrated your second birthday. Somehow you are already 2 years old! Time has flown, it seems.

In April you started going to Sunrise Montessori. This has been a great change for you. You really enjoy your time at school where you wok on social skills and all kinds of cognitive and physical development. You love to do things for yourself, like serve yourself food.

Sunrise has been a great opportunity for you to experience a more structured day that still allows you to have some control over what you focus on. You even got to watch butterflies hatch.

You’re also learning about using the potty. You’ve used the potty successfully several times now, but you’re not consistent about it. We’re not pushing it yet, but the fact that you are interested in the process is good.

You had your first school pictures taken this spring. It almost seemed silly to get school pictures when you weren’t even 2 years old yet, but man are they cute. You look so darn grown up.

Lately you’ve been dancing and singing for us. You love to groove to a good beat, and you often grab something to use as a microphone (or use your hand) and shout “Duppa duppa day!” It’s so cute that Daddy bought you a microphone for your birthday. Now you can perform for us all the time!

Your language and vocabulary development has really taken off in the past couple of months. You talk a lot and can mostly tell us what you want with words now. You’ve been putting 2 or 3 word phrases together for a little while, like “socks and shoes” or “help please, mama.” This morning you came into the bedroom and said “I’m drinking milk.” Sentences!! Your daddy has more trouble understanding you than I do, but you’re getting clearer every day.

Just this past week you’ve started doing some two-foot jumps. And you’re still a dare-devil about climbing and jumping on things. There is very little fear in your heart, little man. You’re still fairly clumsy, though. It seems you always have a bruise or scratch somewhere from running or falling.

You’re still a good helper. You are great at putting your dishes in the sink after a meal, at throwing trash away, at putting dirty clothes in the laundry hamper, and helping load or unload the dishwasher and clothes washer and dryer. Sometimes you help sweep or vacuum around the house, too. Your teacher at school says you are a good helper there, too.

You pay a lot of attention to what is going on so you can try to understand how it all works. You love to play with trains, you love to do puzzles, and you love to read books. You like to build towers with blocks and to throw balls. And! You learned to open all the doors in our house, so nothing is off-limits anymore. Plus, you go into a room and close the door behind you, just because you can.

You’re growing up, my little boy. Keep at it. I love to watch you learn.

Love,

mama