Dear Bean…

Dear Bean,

I know that lately it has been loud and crazy at our house, thanks to a certain unnamed redheaded sister who throws temper tantrums and demands a LOT of attention. I know that sometimes Daddy and I don’t do such a great job of balancing our time between you and Gracie right now. We are really trying to do better. To speak kinder. To hug harder. To tickle more. Because even though Gracie is louder, you are just as important to us as she is.

I have loved spending the past week with you at vacation bible school. Hearing you lift your sweet, sweet voice up in praise just filled my heart to the brim. I loved watching you speak kindly to your friends, being so polite to your teachers, and sharing your fun treats and treasures from the week with Gracie when you got home. You are learning what it means to have God in your heart, sweet boy. It means acting with love in everything we do – big and small.

You are becoming such a big guy now, Bean Man. You just tell us when you need to go potty, and you go in there and take care of business all by yourself. I am so proud of you, too, because you are keeping your room so clean and neat every day. You are making your bed all by yourself and cleaning up every day. I can’t believe you are really using those toy bins I labeled and put in your room, but you continue to amaze me! You know just what goes where, and that makes me giggle because it is so much like your daddy. You are eating like such a big dude, too. It makes me so happy to see that big, clean plate at the end of our meals because I know that you are growing so big and strong! I can’t believe that we measured you at the beginning of the month and then again at the end and you had already grown more than an inch! You’re growing like a weed!

Getting big also means I get to see your little personality really SHINE through in all you do. And your personality is AWESOME, dude. Sometimes, Daddy and I sit up after you’ve gone to bed at night and just talk about how cool of a kid you are and how much we love you. You are saying some of the funniest stuff lately, too. It cracks us up! Just this afternoon you told me that you couldn’t go play outside because you were “exhausted.” Exhausted! I died laughing! You’re using some pretty big words these days, and what’s even funnier is that you use them correctly! You told me last night that you couldn’t eat your dinner because your stomach hurt. When I told you I thought it would feel better if you ate some dinner, you said, “No, watch…” and you put a bite of food in your mouth and said, “Now I’m sick again…” You’re a funny guy, Bean Man.

You make everything better, buddy. Every single thing is better because you are here. Mommy and Daddy try our very hardest to make sure you know how much we love you and how great we think you are. We’ll try even harder from now on. We love you from your head to your toes, big guy.

Love,
Mommy