Dear Zealand at 28 months

Dear Zealand,

This month was a turning point for you. You finally seem comfortable, mostly, sharing your parents with Avery. Something within shifted and you no longer struggle with divided attention as much as you did in the beginning. You have been such a big boy, sweet to your sister and helpful to your mama. You like to point out that you are a “big boy.” And, you recognize when you are being a big boy by quickly following a nice behavior with “that was nice”- something I say a lot. Lots of the phrases we use with you become your own. Lately you have started to say, “well” with a long drawn out vowel sound – sort of like “weel,” in front of your sentences. Apparently I also answer many of your questions with a “well….” It’s the pause that I usually need to figure out in my head the best way to answer.

You also say, “that’s a good idea.” Another one is “we are just hanging out,” and “lets go check it out.” Something we both say to each other, that I am grateful caught on, is “I love you. All the time. Even when Mama is feeding Baby Avery.” I would say that to you over and over again during the tricky times with the three of us.

This month also marked the official beginning of the why phase. It had started earlier, but now we get whys all day long – why mama, why?

And, some things stay the same. You continue to be fiercely attached to your lamb blanket, “lambie” and your pacifier, which is known to all of us as “ba.” At least a dozen times a day you ask for “ba lamb” – it is a package deal. The tough part is you throw your ba lamb multiple times through out the day on the floor when you become distracted by something else. Sometimes I feel as though I spend at least a quarter of my day looking around for ba lamb.

You still love oatmeal in the mornings. And, you love the oatmeal song and you like to joke around by saying “oatmeal” as the answer to questions or you will just spontaneously say “oatmeal.” You also love to get a single bagel from the bakery at Whole Foods – sometimes even over a cookie. Although the other day I said you could have either a bagel or a cookie. You went with the cookie but as soon as you were finished, which was soon, you apparently forgot the deal and started to whine loudly for a bagel. Sigh..

You are still extremely active and a good climber, ball kicker, thrower, and over all dare devil. And, you still take a good 3 hour nap every day.

This month we all went to Kings Canyon for our now second annual Kubischta/Neel camping trip. You had a blast. The highlight for you was all of the bridges over the river system there. And, you were fascinated by the “broken bridge” – a bridge near our campsite that was closed for repairs. Grandpa Richard even filled his hat with rocks so you could throw them one by one off of a bridge near Muir rock. On the way back to the campsite you would ask again and again where the next bridge was going to be.

I am so happy that family life has become joyful for you again. Already you are learning how to be a good big brother to your sister. When I was pregnant and worried about how it was going to be for you, for us, one thought that would bring comfort and a smile to my face was thinking about how lucky Avery was to have you as a big brother. I thought about how fun, silly, and adventurous you are and how much fun it would be to be your sibling. You make life so much fun for all of us and I am pretty sure Avery will think so too.

We love you Zealand.