Monday, February 23, 2009

Darling Cash,

Your birthday was a couple of months ago and here I am finally getting around to writing you your letter. As you may have noticed I've been pretty busy with your new baby brother, holiday hectics, a move to a new house, and such. A few weeks ago I was sitting at the table eating lunch with you and your sister, baby Oscar sitting in his bouncy seat on the floor. I watched you eating your peanut butter sandwich, a grape jelly beard appearing across your chin and cheeks, and suddenly I realized that I missed you. It occurred to me that the new baby and an attention-demanding older sister had forced you into a "middle-child" role, perhaps a little overlooked. New babies will mix up the family dynamics, you know, but I've been trying to be better at making time for you, my sweet boy. We've been reading books, painting, playing with trains, and baking. And I feel re-connected to you and it's good.

You have learned very quickly how to talk (chalk that up to your chatty older sister) and although you speak well for one so small, your diction is very slow and deliberate: "Can. I. Have. Cookie. Mom?" In the recent months you have also developed a voracious appetite, especially for "treats". I have to be careful because if you know there is a cookie or candy anywhere in the house, you will raid the cupboards, even if that means climbing atop precarious, make-shift towers which I'm always convinced will topple and send you crashing to your untimely demise.

When you're not trying to satisfy your sweet tooth by way of a death wish, you are happily following around your older sister, not unlike a puppy dog obediently trotting after his master, and you love to be her little human photocopy. Where Maggie used to simulate Daddy and I, you shadow Maggie and repeat her every move and even spoken word. She is your best friend and you hold her in high esteem. You gladly wear her dresses, leotards, slippers and gowns and even though you unwittingly play princess tea-party more than the average boy, you also have a healthy love for tools, trains, cars, trucks, and sports. You'll just get brownie points later in life for your inclusive upbringing which is surely giving you advantageous insights to the female psyche.

Favorite things in your life right now include: elephants, anything chocolate, music (especially the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Hey-O"), dishes that include potatoes, hats, dinosaurs, the movie Horton Hears a Who, and baths. Also you share with your sister a love of shoes that borders on an obsession.

Cash, I love you so much my little son. Although when I first got pregnant with you I was hoping for a sister for Maggie (probably because my own childhood memories consist of happy moments playing with my sisters), I am so glad to have gotten a little boy. You and Maggie have a close bond no less special than that occurring between sisters, and now with a little brother that you will soon be able to pal around with, I know that you will cultivate a loving tie to him as well. Family is the most important thing, Cash, and I just want you to know that whatever else you may have in this life, you will always have a family that loves you more than anything.

Love,

Mom

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful kids and beautiful pictures.

sarah said...

thats so cute!! :) i hope we get to see you soon so Scarlette can join in on all this fun!! :)

oh and PS its called snow.. see here
http://jsleiterman.blogspot.com/2008/03/great-minds.html

Bringhursts said...

I tagged you. See my blog for details.