Dear Noah

Dear Noah,

You, my precious boy, are 20 months old today.      

I'm in awe of how fast you are growing up.  And how much you are learning.  

You're understanding us better and uttering lots of new words. 
    
I'm so excited to see you continue to learn and grow. 

But as your second birthday creeps ever closer, I feel myself clinging tightly to your little boyness.

I want to take in all the little things you do and say.

I want to savor these precious moments.
 
Because I know, all too soon, you will be a big boy.  Just like the wonderful boys I taught in my first and fourth grade classes. 

I also know that years from now, I will not remember these little things--they are so transient--and you will not remember them because you are so young. 

For these reasons and others, I am writing to you today.

I want to remember ...

• How you run your fingers through my ponytail as I'm carrying you around the house.

• How, at the top of the stairs in the garage, you hold your hand out to grab mine, so we can walk down together. 

• How you often say, "nah, nah," which in Noah speak means "more, more."

• How you love to play with my necklaces.  (Several of them have broken as a result, but I don't mind.  That's why I buy jewelry at Charming Charlie.)  

• How when you are finished with your milk cup, you throw it in the kitchen trash can.  

• How you blow kisses to me.

• How you come walking down the hallway after bath time, calling out, "Mama, Mama."

• How you blow your nose loudly into a paper towel just like daddy does.  

• How you walk in the door, returning home after running errands with daddy, and the first thing you say is, "Mama?  Mama?" 

• How you love to ride your Radio Flyer bike as fast as you can through the dining room, kitchen, living room and around to the family room.   

• How you say, "Yay!" followed by "Nah, nah" (more, more) after I've sung a lullaby to you at night. 

• How you admire yourself in your mirrored bedroom closet doors with a huge smile upon your face because you recognize that the shirt I put on you is brand new.  It's as if you're thinking, "Woohoo...a new shirt!  Lookin' good." 

• How you chime in, saying the word, "hush" when we're reading Goodnight Moon together.

I will treasure these sweet memories, these moments, my son.    

And years from now, I will remember, with tears in my eyes and a smile on my lips, just how wonderful it felt to be your mama when you were just a little boy.

Love,
Your Mama