25 April 2011

you and i. / my sunny sidekick.


a casual friday photo shoot. plaid shorts are my fave.


benjamin bunny all ready for easter sunday. look who got a haircut this weekend!

hello my darling boy.

you are 32 months old today. i can hardly believe how thirty-two months can flip my whole life around. as though life before you was a black and white movie with no sound. with you, my life feels completely high def, technicolor, surround sound; full and joyous. it's hard to explain motherhood and how it's made me feel entirely whole. i can't wait to see what the next 32 years are like.

the last little while i've been jotting things down (wildly) on a clipboard in hopes to gather my thoughts to help me sum up your big personality in one small post. an almost impossible feat, i realize. but i will do my best.

you are ever playful and love playing pretend and being silly. (i am convinced that joy is watching your two year old laugh at his own antics.) you get what is funny and like clowning around, trying to make us laugh. (you are so cute when you are pretending to be a big person.) we play chef and you utilize the little hotpads when picking up your 'hot' pots and pans. you like swapping from your fireman hat, to your train hat, to your cowboy hat - all while sporting your sunglasses. i like the way your imagination is growing. the other day you found a loose gold button from daddy's sport coat on the shelf. you handed it to me and said, look mom! a gold coin! like captain hook! you like sprinkles in your yogurt and still love blowing bubbles in your drinks. (it's hard to stop you after our hospital experience.) 

horsing around with daddy is high on your priority list, so is helping mom. and if you're not helping, then you are insisting on doing it all by-self. you also throw mini fits when i attempt to sweep, start the dishwasher, open the front door, turn off a light switch or unload the laundry without your assistance. what could i possibly be thinking?? you are the best little sidekick. i like hanging out with you. one of my favorite after-nap rituals (yes, you still take naps! knock on wood.) is watching oprah together with a bowl of dry-cereal on your lap. we chat about what you dreamt about and then you'll climb all over me and laugh hysterically when you get to mess up my hair. usually driving your trucks through it. i have no where to go, so letting you build a rat's nest with my hair is worth all the laughter i get to absorb. you study my face and i study yours. daddy still tells me how much you look like me. last tuesday, i taught you about butterfly kisses.

you enjoy having learning time together in the mornings after a round of curious george. we have enrolled in mini made-up activities each day to keep ourselves busy. and it's working! i'm amazed at how eager you are to turn off your show when i tell you it's activity time. your eyes light up and you are so happy to learn. i am grateful i get to be your first teacher in life and am striving to make learning fun so you'll never want to quit.

watching your developing language is miraculous to me. you stun me with not only new words, but these phrases you come up with! after i figure out what you just said, i can't help but smile (and wonder where you came up with it). you say things like, hmmm.. let me think... and which one's your  favorite, mom? and then to yourself, which one's your favorite, benji? and at dinner, i'll drink the water in my cup. not the water in my bath. and oh mom, you're soo funny. and when trying to master a task, this one's kinda tricky, am not sure how. and when you drop something, oh rats! and while at a traffic light, red means stop! green means we can go! and then there's always hey mom, come here, i have something to tell you. the funny thing is you never really tell me anything, you just need some company. you tend to mix up you and i and interchange them often. still, magically, your meaning always gets across somehow. and to me, it makes sense as you and i are cut from the same cloth, hearts beating as one. as the proverb goes, a mother's heart is always with her children.

you are good at details. there are little things you do and little ways of doing them, i wonder which of them will stay with you as you grow up. you are such a smart boy. after our easter egg hunt yesterday, we had a picnic of jelly beans and m&m's together. daddy and i laid in the spring sunshine (finally!) while you went around hiding all the plastic eggs again. you continued to hide the blue, pink, orange, purple, yellow and gold eggs in the same spots they had originally been left in (blue egg on the fence, orange in the bushes, yellow in the flower beds..)!

you love music and sing i am a child of god and edelweiss by heart. most nights i can get you to sing them to me. other nights you just want to snuggle after stories. you still love sleeping with your entourage of animals and matchbox car of choice. lately the red pick-up truck is your favorite. you say goodnight to each of them by name when i tuck you in. i hear your little voice having conversations as i squeak the door closed and leave you in your moonlit room.

the best thing is
i love you. and you love me.


easter egg hunt 2011. best apres-church activity ever.

shop update / if you ordered a mini diary last week–or late last night!–thank you so much. they are waiting by my door, all packaged up. b and i will be taking them to the post office today! they should arrive in 2-5 days. benji is going to love helping put them into the drop box one by one. am hoping no one is behind us in line. happy monday.

11 comments:

Emily said...

Really sweet - I love reading your thoughts about being a mama.

joy said...

Such amazing words Marta! I'm hanging with my almost 6 month old baby boy and am so touched by your thoughts on yours!

Christina said...

Thank you for sharing the stories of your sweet boy. They remind me all over again why I'm completely enamored with motherhood. What a perfect way to start my day!

Anonymous said...

wonderful post. what a treasure. xo.

Hil said...

What a cutie-pie. I love when you talk about your sweet little Benji. You are truly such a wonderful momma. I love that he is talking more and more each day... kuddos to you for remembering to write some of those phrases down. Those phrases fade and change so quickly that is so fun to have a reminder of things they use to say.

p.s. love the haircut! he looks like such a big boy.

Susan said...

So touching...he will treasure this when he is older.

Leslie said...

Absolutely delightful. Thanks for sharing.

J, K, L, and D said...

Oh, how I love this post. And it reminds me to keep plugging through these hard baby days (like just a few minutes ago, when my 4 month old screamed so hard that she made herself throw up. Sigh.)...

Gives me something to look forward to...thank you. :)

Erin {pughs' news} said...

I love these posts about Benji. They're so sweet. And what a wonderful way to document the little things!

Amy said...

it's amazing how a 30 pound toddler can become such a best friend.

thanks for sharing words i so often cherish about my own son. :)

Tammie said...

Handsome and adorable!

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