Dear Neil (2 1/2 years)

Dear Neil,

You are two and a half years old now and you are such a toddler!  You are climbing and jumping over everything.  Everything is funny to you and everything is "no" or "oui"!  You are talking more and more every day, which is such a relief and a pleasure.  It's so cute to see you discover new words and some of the things you say are hilarious   You are our little french boy too, which is so funny.  Half the time I can't tell if you're speaking french or english, which makes it difficult to understand you and which frustrates you immensely, but when we do understand you it's so great to see your face light up in joy.

Your favourite sentence lately is, "un autre barn la" (another barn there)!  Every time we go for a drive in the country and you see all the farms you say "un autre barn la".  It's so cute how you say "barn" instead of "grange", so you're really "frenglish".

You continue to love daycare, which makes us so happy.  Sabrina is going such a great job with you and it's clear that you're learning and developing and growing so well.  You spend lots of time outside this winter, and it's so great to see how much fun you're having in the snow this year.  You can actually go sledding and climbing and build snowmen.  And you love it so much!

You love the barn with a passion, but you're still scared of the calves, which I find so funny.  The big cows don't scare you, but the babies do.  Strange!  But every day you ask to go to the barn, which makes daddy very happy :)  You love tractors and trucks and I know daddy can't wait for you to grow a little older so he can teach you how to drive them.

But gosh so much has happened in the last 6 months!  You went to New Hampshire and went swimming in the lake.  You swam so much this summer and loved it!  I think you're part fish.  You went to Santa's Village and met all santa's little elves.  You went to Cayo Coco Cuba in November with your best buds Noah and Zack (and John and Jojo) and had a wonderful time.  The plane ride down was difficult, but the return trip was great.  You celebrated Christmas in style, and it was so great to see you really enjoy Christmas this year.  Opening presents was such a thrill because you were so excited for every gift.  You were spoiled once again this year :)

You had your first real "accident" when one of the other kids at daycare pushed you into the bench.  Your forehead split open and you got a nasty gash.  Fortunately Sabrina knew exactly what to do, and you didn't need stitches.  You recovered quickly, but hopefully you don't end up with too big a scar.

You've become such a sociable little kid these past few months too.  You're open to meeting new people and it doesn't take long for you to be talking and laughing with them.  You love to give kisses and hugs, which is so nice too because for the longest time you weren't very quick at giving affection.

And so, dear Neil, I can't wait to see how you grow over the next 6 months.  It's going to be an interesting time for all of us, with baby coming in the next month or two.  I know it will be hard at first to share your mom and dad with someone else, but I'm sure you will love and protect your little brother and I know you're going to be a great big brother.

Until next time, little man.
xoxo