Dear Crew-

 While Bria is in dance, you, me, Dallin and Akarie walk a trail. Dallin and especially Akarie will go off trail from time to time. I never do because I like the cleared path. I don't want to walk into spider webs or get a tick. 

Last week you followed Dallin and Akarie off the path. I could spy you guys through the trees but I lost you at one point. Akarie came out of the trees and then Dallin. When I exasperatingly asked Dallin where you were, he shrugged and kept walking. In my mom voice, I demanded that he go get you. 

I then turned back around and started searching for you through the trees. I called your name, "Crew! Crew! Crew!" I was not scared or worried in the slightest, Crew. You had been out of my sight for less than a minute when I heard you start howling. At first I thought you were hurt because you were crying so loud. However, there wasn't enough of a pause between that initial cry and the next one. That pause is a dead giveaway for a hurt child. 

We found you 30 seconds later. You kept proclaiming, "I was lost in the woods!!!" through your tears. It was the funniest and cutest and most dramatic thing that I couldn't help laughing. Kid, you were "lost" for less than two minutes, most of which we could hear you! Of course we played the Frozen 2 song, "Lost in the Woods" for the drive home. I won't be able to ever listen to that song again without thinking of you.

You and Dallin are cute together. You call each other "best bunny." This started when Dallin asked if you were his best buddy. You misheard and proclaimed, "I'm not a bunny!" It's the sweetest thing to hear you refer to Dallin as your best bunny. We dropped Dallin off at school the other day. You waved to Dallin but he didn't wave back (due to the fact that he wasn't looking at you). You cried on the way home, saying, "My best bunny didn't wave to me!"

It's a good thing you're so cute because you are a stinker. I worry that I've spoiled you rotten. You get away with more bad behavior then you should. I'm not great at providing consequences for hitting or running away from me. You LOVE to run away from me and it is the worst.

I've really been treasuring you this year. This is really my last year to have a little kid. Your face still has some of its baby-ness left and I'll be sad to see it go!

Love you,

~Mom

Monday, October 18, 2021, 10:41pm

Dear Crew-

 It's been so long. I have a sticky with notes but I'm not sure if I have written about them already. I'm going to assume not. Sorry if I have already written about these things!

You have a dinosaur water bottle that you are pretty attached to, especially a few months ago. We simply refer to it as your "dinosaurs." We lose it a lot.

You've been obsessed with Avengers for a long time now. I'm not sure how you got into it. I think you stumbled on some YouTube videos. I got into the bad habit of letting you wonder around YouTube. It started because you wouldn't hold still for diaper changes. I was tired of the constant struggle. 

Then this past year, I've let you watch YouTube as I work in the mornings. Bria would be at preschool. You and I would hang out on my bed--me working and you perusing YouTube. I figured I was around and could stop inappropriate videos. Still. I know you're not watching quality programming and we've been working on reducing your time on YouTube. I'd love for you to watch Netflix shows.

Anyway, you started out by doing Hulk Smash. You would proclaim in a low voice, "Hulk Smash!" You would bang your fist on the ground and it was the cutest thing ever. Your favorite color is green thanks to that. Although your second favorite color is red. You've branched out to liking Spiderman and Ironman. Marshall is your favorite pup from Paw Patrol.

You've discovered Paw Patrol this year, too. You are the cutest. For the longest time you would refer to our Paw Patrol toys as "my pups." 

One of my favorite things is to ask you your name. You used to come up with different thing. Somedays you were Hulk Smash and other days Spiderman. For the past few months, you've been Marshall. I love this game and I ask you your name all of the time. Meanwhile, Dad never asks you your name and had no clue that your favorite pup was Marshall. I was just talking to Dad about this and he asked me, "Why would I ask Crew his name?!" Apparently only I do that. Ha, ha. I do it everyday though. 

You love to snuggle and have me hold you. This was more months ago but you would constantly walk up to me and proclaim, "Hold me!" This was cute and aggravating as it usually happened when I was trying to prepare dinner or get something done. 

You still nap and you need to be snuggled for at least thirty minutes after a nap. There's no point fighting this cuddle time because otherwise you are a sobbing mess. You need the snuggle.

We've been potty training your for about five/six weeks. You've been the worst! You do not care about potty training. You're fine wearing diapers. Dirty underwear doesn't bother you at all. Your potty training motivation is completely external. 

I've spent a small fortune on toy rewards. We would do a sticker chart and you would earn stickers each time you went to the bathroom. After you filled the chart, you got a toy. We ran out of toys a few weeks ago.

What's working right now is mints (you call them nips) and YouTube on the phone. I know, we're trying to cut down on that. But potty training comes first! I would not call you potty trained even after all of this time. You have some really bad days with accidents. Then you'll go three or four days with no accidents. 

I've been tempted many times to put you back in diapers. What stops me? When you wore diapers, you went poop on average 4-8 times a day! I've cried many tears from your lack of potty training motivation and mass number of poopy diapers. We tried potty training you back in March when you turned three. That was a clear failure. Thus, we waited until June. I'm done though! I would much rather feed you mints and YouTube videos for forever than deal with endless poop diapers. I can handle cleaning pee pee accidents over never ending poo poo diapers.

Although you've started going poop in your Pull Up in the morning. Where's your sense of hygiene, kid?! Dad and I haven't braved nighttime potty training. You always wake up with a VERY full diaper and now Pull Up.

You say some cute things. Your talking is not the greatest. The pediatrician said that a stranger should be able to understand 80% of what you're saying. Um, yeah, that's not happening. You say "Giggles" for "tickles." My favorite is that you say "hugs and misses" for "hugs and kisses." 

You lost your second toenail last month.  (You lost one last year, too. Your sisters and brother haven't lost a single nail.) You dropped our laptop on your toe. Ouch. Your toenail took FOREVER to fall off. Meanwhile, you kept snagging your partially uplifted toenail on EVERYTHING. You cried so much over that dang toenail. I told you that you were going to lose it and you did not believe me. 

When the toenail was hanging on by a thread, you kept dislodging it so that it would stand vertical on your toe instead of horizontal. We tried to bandage it but that only offered so much protection. The second time the nail went vertical, I quickly tore it off.

Your toe distressed you quite a bit without the nail. The first two days it looked gnarly, all pink and puffy. When we asked you what happened to your toe, you would exclaim, "It's turning pink!" You said this as if the color was the problem. Your toenail is slowly growing back. I still ask everyday about your toe just to hear you say, "It's turning pink!"

Personality-wise, you are proving to be determined and headstrong. You are my only kid who figured out how to buckle himself into a five point harness carseat. This is nice but also bad when we start driving before double checking that you've buckled yourself in. You and Akarie are very similar in personality. Dad gives me a hard time about our blonde-haired children because you are hard to parent. 

 I love you, Crew. You've been a fun kid. Fun and hard. You do cause a lot of trouble and have broken a lot of things. Thankfully that's calmed down a bit. The only trouble you've been in recently that I can think off the top of my head is that you have drawn on the wall a couple of times.

I love you,

~Mom

Dear Crew-

 You have no interest in potty training. I'll put underwear on you and in five minutes, you want them off. On the bright side, you have gone on the potty. On the not-so-bright side, you can sit on the potty for well over ten minutes, happy as can be but not going potty at all. Of course you want me to stick around with you.

I am at my wit's end with you. I am not exaggerating when I say that you go poop at least five times a day. It's only 1:26pm and I just changed your FIFTH poopy diaper. It makes me want to cry. This has been going on for weeks. Not only is it expensive, but it's gross. I feel like I have a newborn. You go the teeniest amounts of poop ALL DAY LONG. 

You are not independent at all. Up until Friday, I was getting you changed. You would not put on clothes. You take off your shirt and run around bare chested most of the time. I had never seen you put any article of clothing on your body. You are a month away from three!!! On Friday, I decided to refuse to dress you. For while you run around shirtless, you are adamant about wearing pants. My strike worked and for the past few days, you've been getting yourself dressed.

You've also become quite violent. Hitting is your number one way to solve your problems. Timeouts don't seem to phase you. I'll stand you in the corner (you don't stay on your own). The minute your timeout is done I'll tell you, "Now don't hit." That statement sparks something in you and you'll hit me.

You do have cute moments. I love hearing you say words because you mispronounce things in the most adorable ways. Captain America sounds like Cap Cap. You call Bria, Bow. 

We snuggle every morning as I work and I love that. 

Bria is obsessed with Taylor Swift's music video for the song, "Me!" The beginning features a snake. While you like the music video, you do not like the snake. The minute I say I'm turning it on, you'll run away and hide until the snake part is done. Your siblings like to tease you and hold you in place and force you to watch it. You handle this so good naturedly (laughing and pouting) that I allow it.

I love you, Crew,

~Mom

P.S. I reread the last letter I wrote you and have some updates. You currently go down the stairs on your bottom. You can go really fast that way. After the "landing pad" (the kids call the landing a landing pad), you hop down the last two steps.

You are obsessed with super heroes. You discovered them through YouTube. 

In connection with your obsession, you only wear two things. You either want your Hulk Smash costume or your "spider suit." Your spider suit is a spiderman sweater I got from Once Upon a Chile for $2.50! You don't want to wear anything else. Oh, you will wear your Avengers PJs. I'm the most indulgent mom and humor your wardrobe choices. I know only too well that this stage won't last forever.

While writing this letter, you came over to me and let me know that you have a poopy diaper. How do I stop this?! I'm in serious despair.

Everyday Bria comes home from the bus, you run outside to meet her and give her a big hug. The bus driver will yell, "There's Spiderman!" or "Here comes the Hulk!" It is one of the most adorable sights to see you two hug.

The funny parts of you running out to meet Bria is that you don't like the grass. You used to stop your run to walk hesitantly across the grass. Now you avoid that grass altogether and walk the long ways around the car on the driveway.