Key in my pocket, lump in my throat

Sweet Henry,

You kept waking up at 5 am and coming into our room to play. I am not going to like you (or much else for that matter) if you keep doing this. So Daddy and Jayson went to Hippo Hardware to find us a skeleton key that would fit our old fashioned door locks.

They found one! So locking your room has been our answer to getting out of bed too many times or too early in the morning (and also the occasional violent lash or car thrown at your sister's head).

I always think of this when I am walking away from your locked door.

At night, you can't climb back into your crib so we put the mattress on the floor. The hope was that you would see the locked door and then go to bed yourself. Yeah, right! Instead you play with your cars until you pass out mid-brmmmm somewhere on the floor, and then we quietly come in and put you into your bed  much later.

Typical of the new sleeping arrangement.

The pass out positions we find you in are adorable. And BONUS!, I get a little mid-slumber snuggle time between picking you up and laying you in bed. Mmmm.

Note the truck at your head.

But now.

It is really time to get you a new bed.

We have been talking about it for a while but something about the thought constricts my breath and makes my knees weak.

You are growing up so fast, I almost can't stand it. You are the littlest boy I will ever had and you are getting so BIG!

Next month you will be turning 3.

Learning the ropes but hopefully not shaving quite yet

 You talk in complete sentences and count to 30 and haphazardly beyond. You can sing songs, do puzzles, and tell stories. What you know already is astounding!

Learning your way around a vacuum

And I swear your body grows every stinking day! Your shoulders are now wider than Lucy's and I can't guess from one week to the next where pants will hit the bottom of your legs. You keep saying "Mom, look at this trick," when you can reach something new with your extend-a-arms.

I didn't have to roll these pants when I put them on today.

No way can I keep calling you my baby.

The days Lucy can pick your costumes may also be numbered.

So it is more onward and upward. With me shedding more than a few tears on the way.

I love you my sweet Henry.

Please humor your strange mama as I hug you a little tighter, and we keep your ragged crib just a little while longer.

xo,
Mama