You Say What You See

Dear Jordan,

Now that you are talking more, I find myself answering a lot more questions.  You want to know about everything and most of the questions you ask are hard to answer.  For example: "What is that house doing?"  The only way I can think of to answer is to say "It's just sitting there."  Today, you wanted to call the fire department because two birds were sitting on top of a building and "couldn't get down".  So, we called (pretend, of course!), because that's the only way you will be satisfied.

You also make comments about things...which sometimes are embarrassing to me.  There was a lady checking us out at the store who clearly looked like she has a hard time making ends meet.  You said to her, "Why do you have a hole in your shirt?"  And today when we went to the gym, the guy who checks us in has long dreadlocks and you said "You need to cut your hair."  I have to talk fast to make it not so awkward.  But you are so sweet and innocent that they never take it personally!

Grammy and Pappa are here for 8 months and you are loving all of the extra time with them.  We are so used to spending every second with them, like we do when they are on vacation.  It's taking us all a little bit to get used to seeing them at church and for an hour or so here and there.  It's going to be so fun to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and all of the fall festivities with them!

Jordan, my heart is to really try to share God's truths with you but I feel like I fail so often.  I pray all of the time that your heart will be soft and that you will put your faith in Him at a young age.  Despite my limitations and failures, He loves you so much and wants you to walk with Him.  He's more powerful than we can imagine so He can overcome my humanity.  I hope you know just how much Jesus loves you.

I love you too!

Mom

 

Summertime!

Dear Jordan,

Considering that it's been 2 and a half months since I wrote you, I would say that I let this slip my mind!  I hope that life can settle down enough to keep this up better.  You are so funny and I could probably write every day, but who has time for that?  :)

In the last letter, I mentioned that you were sick.  Well, you ended up being really sick.  You scared us one Sunday morning with a 105 fever and you were acting lifeless (which is the opposite of Jordan!).  So we ended up taking you to the hospital for tests.  Turns out you had adenovirus and another virus...the combination was rough on your little body.  You had fever for twelve straight days and it was a rough time.  We missed all of the beautiful spring weather and the day you got better, the storms started coming. 

Two weeks ago, we moved into our new house!  God really blessed us more than we deserved.  It's all grace anyways, but there are things about what He did that really showed us how much He loves us!  He gave us a house with a pool and you are such a little fish!  I love watching you learn and be brave enough to jump off the diving board by yourself.  Other than a couple of times, you have been obedient about not getting in without permission.  Dad let you flounder a little to let you see how important is that you obey around water.  We are very careful with that pool because it is so dangerous, but we are enjoying it this hot, hot summer!

Right now, you are into fire fighters.  Our van is the fire truck, our house is the fire station, and Dad is the fire captain.  You are full of imagination and always seem to be playing pretend.  I love watching you play and learn!

This week, Grammy and Pappa are coming to Norman and will be here for 7 months!  You can't wait to see him and every morning ask if they are coming that day.  You are starting to want to know what our plan is for every day so every morning, you sit in my life and ask "Mom, what are we doing today?"  You don't always like what we are doing, but you still like to know!

It is just about nap time and I'm trying to keep you off of your little brother, so I will go for now.  Hopefully it won't be so long before I write again!

I love you, buddy!

Mom

 

Oh, Yes

Dear Jordan,

You are so smart!  You constantly amaze your Dad and I with random things that you know.  For example, a car wash.  You know what a car wash is even though you've never been through one.  And you've designated one of Marcus' toys as a car wash that you drive your cars through.  You are learning shape and can count and you love to find "letter o's" on signs and in books.  I'm very impressed with how smart you are!

You also talk a lot!  You're to the point where we can hold a conversation with you.  One of my favorite things you say right now is "Oh, yes".  You say it all of the time.  "Jordan, would you like some milk?" "Oh, yes".  "Jordan, did you go potty?"  "Oh, yes, Mommy."

You LOVE your Dad.  You guys are best buddies and you can't get enough of him.  He plays with you all of the time and you get such a kick out of being thrown around spun round.  You love to play hard!

You have been sick this week.  Poor guy, you have a cold virus that we have been dealing with for four days.  Lots of coughing and you keep saying "Mom, I'm sick."  I hope it passes soon because the weather is beautiful and you need to get outside and play!

We've got a fun summer ahead!

I love you,

Mom

 

Your Own Drum

Dear Jordan,

The picture I'm attaching just describes you perfectly!  You do things your own way.  It's not bad...just different!  You are so smart and so sweet, but we have been struggling to help you be able to do that in a big group of kids.  You get so overstimulated and that causes you to wreak havoc.  But, thanks to friends and helpful teachers, we're starting to figure you out.  You need something to keep your attention so you can participate in whatever the group is doing.  At the preschool Honeybees choir, you played with a rubber band, but still were able to listen to the teacher.  I'm excited to see how you can grow in that area!

We got word in the past couple of weeks that we are going to have to move.  I'm very sad because I love living here and am praying that God will provide the perfect place for our family.  I tend to get a little obsessive about find the perfect place but God keeps telling me to wait and pray.  So I pray.  For you, I pray that we can find a home where you can be loud and rambunctious.  I pray that we can live in a home with a fenced yard where you can safely play the hours away, just like you do here.  You thrive on being outside and it is fun to let you go out and enjoy nature.

Speaking of nature, the other day your dad and I were watching basketball and we heard screaming from outside.  I ran out, thinking you were hurt, but you were screaming "Snake! Snake!"  It turned out to be a worm in your sandbox.  I'm a sissy when it comes to things like that, so your dad came out and held in his hand for you to look at.  You didn't want to hold it, even though I was brave and held it.  But when we left to come inside, you yelled "Bye snake!  I love you!"  You crack me up!

Today is Good Friday and this weekend we celebrate Easter.  I'm excited to see how you grow in your understanding of who God is and what He has done for us.  You know who Jesus is this year so that's a great start!

I love you, buddy.

Love,

Mom

 

Izzy

Dear Jordan,

You are my little spit-fire!  You are definitely learning more self-control, at least at home.  And I'm learning to keep my temper in check.  Sometimes you need to lose control and express your anger and my job is to help you learn to deal with it and not just get angry at you.  Especially when you are tired, you can lose control, but it never helps the situation when I lose control too!  You've learned to "Take a chill pill" where you grab an imaginary pill and put it in your mouth.  It helps you get to a point where you can take deep breaths, which always help!

The hard thing right now is when you are with friends.  There are two types of friends.  There are the ones who are scared of you because you either push them around or they don't know how to tell you to stop (or are too nice to clobber you!) and the ones who fight back.  If they are your size, it's a free for all!  You don't ever hit or push to be mean, you just like to play rough and still need to learn that not everyone enjoys that.  So, we're going to start working on that to help you. 

The good news...there is Izzy!  He is your best friend.  He is so patient but doesn't take it from you either.  You two are great buddies and I love that you have someone special who loves to be with you too.  You and Aftyn play well together too but since she is in a different class, you don't see her as much!

This next week we get to spend with Grammy and Pappa at Aunt Katie's house!  Aunt Katie is marrying Uncle Ryan next Saturday so we're going to spend the whole week before getting ready and you're going to play with Pappa as much as you can.  I know they are excited to see you and Marcus and I'm excited to see you with them again.  And before we know it, they will be here with us for six months!  It's exciting!

Today is a snow day so everything has been cancelled.  We have yet to see snow, though.  That always happens!  So funny!

Well, little man.  I love you so much!  You are a great blessing to me.  I look forward to watching you continue to grow and mature.

Love,

Mom

 

Sickness

Dear Jordan,

We have been spared most of the winter from all of the yucky illnesses that other families at Trinity have suffered from.  It's been a blessing, especially since I had surgery and am still recovering.  But we have made up for it in the past week!  Your brother has been fighting a cold and you got strep throat.  Your body responded the same way it always does to illness...super high fevers!

You woke up in the middle of the night and were sad so I went in and you had a fever.  You woke up the next morning with a 102.6 fever and throughout the day, continually spiked fevers even up to 104.8.  It was really scary for me and exhausting because I didn't know what you had.  I was afraid that if you had something contagious, like the flu, that I would give it to your brother so I spent the whole day running back and forth between the two of you and washing my hands every time I had to help him.  I keep taking you to the bath tub to soak you in lukewarm water (which you hated!) and the whole day you sat and stared at the tv.  Just not yourself at all!  But despite your misery, you still keep saying "Thank you, Mama, for helping me."

Finally your dad took you the doctor and we discovered that you had strep throat.  You were already feeling better by early evening.  At one point, you said "Mom, can you turn the tv off?"  So I did, and you got up and walked around the house, just kind of looking at your toys and the other things in your play room.  You finally played a little and then said, "Mom, can I have a bath with hot water?"  Of course!  You are almost completely recovered and we are so thankful that we live in a country where we can take you to the doctor and get you medicine to make you feel better so quickly!

The day before you got sick, you had your three year old appointment.  Last year, you lost it during your well-child check so this year, I found someone to watch Marcus and we went, just the two of us.  You were so great!  You were scared to do things but you did everything you were asked.  You said "Thank you, doctor" to everyone (including other patients!) and at one point you said, "Mama, thank you for bringing me to the hospital for a check-up".  I was still not sure of what you would do with the shot, but you laid there and watched her give it to you.  You cried for just a second and then you were fine.  I was so proud of you!  You really have grown into such a polite and calm little boy.  You have your moments, but I can see big changes in you.  I will continue to pray that God will get ahold of your heart and transform you to be like Jesus.

I'm glad you're feeling better.  When you hurt...I hurt!

I love you,

Mom

 

Happy Third Birthday!

Dear Jordan,

You have been looking forward to today for five months!  I'm not kidding, since your first friend in your class had her birthday, you've been arguing and begging for your birthday to come.  And it's finally hear and little guy, you birthday-ed yourself out today!  You went to the gym with me and announced to everyone we passed that you were three and it was your birthday.  We played outside.  We wore silly hats.  We ate Mexican food....you tore it up!  You opened presents.  You had at least one meltdown.  And you ate cake.  In fact, your dad gave you one last piece of cake before bed and you just had to put your hat on.  It's almost as if you had to squeeze every last ounce out of the day.

Buddy, that is how you live your life.  You are passionate..  You play hard, you fight hard, you love hard.  Your energy level is incredible and now that you know how to talk, you ask a million questions.  But nothing you do is more special to me than your snuggles and how you tell me and your Dad that you love us.  You are so sweet and kind that it makes it easy to forgive the fits and the exhausting moments.

You have made great strides this year!  You have really learned a lot of self-control.  Sometimes when we see you start to "lose it", we will tell you to take a breath and it helps.  Well now, sometimes I will watch you play and you get frustrated, and then you stop and take a breath.  It's amazing to watch you learn and grow.

Speaking of playing, you have the best imagination.  I never know what you are picturing in your head while you play with your trucks and set up little tracks for your trains to run on.  Sometimes, I feel like I could sit and watch you play for hours.

Buddy, the easiest way to say this is: "I adore you."  You are a one of a kind, special boy and a gift to our family.  I love everything about you, even the hard things because that is exactly who God created you to be.  He will take those stubborn tendencies and fiery passions and make you into a man you loves God and can serve him whole-heartedly...which is how you do everything now!

I love you and Happy Birthday!!

Mom