A blessing

Dear Boston,

You're 17 months old and getting bigger and smarter and stronger every day.  Life is rapidly changing for you.  You went from sleeping in a pack n play (safe and sound I might add) to climbing out of your pack n play constantly and switching to a big boy bed.  In your new found freedom you're discovering how to play in your room in the dark and open your door and walk down the hall into Mom and Dad's room all by yourself.  You also recently just got over being really sick with Bronchitis and tonsilitis, not to mention Daddy went from playing at home every day all day with us, to being gone most of the day at work.  What I'm getting at is that a lot of things seem to be adding up to what has been a really hard day for you. 

  A couple nights ago you woke up 3 times during the night and today you woke up from your nap bawling and you couldn't be consoled for over an hour. This isn't like you at all.  We put you to bed and you went right down at your usual time, but you woke up only an hour later, again inconsolable.  Daddy and I tried to comfort you and tried to determine what was wrong.  Are you teething?  Your cry definitely sounded like a pain cry.  Are you overtired?  Sick?  Overstimulated?  Scared?  Uncomfortable?  Hungry?  We couldn't figure out what to do for you, so I asked Daddy to give you a blessing.  At this point you were still screaming and crying.  You never let me cradle you anymore (you're just too old for that) but I cradled you anyway in my arms, while you still screamed.  I told you that Daddy was going to give you a blessing and Heavenly Father would speak to you and not only that but he would take care of you and make you feel better.  I then told you to have some faith.  Daddy laid his hands on your head and you immediately stopped screaming and crying.  It was instant. 

  Daddy blessed you and you calmed right down and began to drift off to sleep.  Nothing we had done helped, no cuddling, talking, singing, or anything else we tried helped, but in that moment I know with all my heart you were connected directly with Heavenly Father and you recognized his spirit even stronger than normal.  You looked up at Daddy and I at the end of the blessing and we kissed you on the lips, walked you to bed and you've been out ever since.  The Gospel is an amazing thing, and that experience was another testimony builder that I'll hold on to.  I've said this to you before, but remember that the Spirit is familiar to you, it's ingrained in you and you know how to recognize it.  You're perfect and innocent right now, but as you get older I hope you remember to live your life in a way that the Spirit can speak as strongly to you as it did tonight and always offer you the immediate relief and comfort that it did tonight.

We love you Darling,

Love,

You and Dadda cuddled up when you were sick

Momma and Dadda

Loving the Ladies

Boston you love girls.  You're a big fan.  You like that they're usually a little bossy, and that they smile and giggle at you.  You like that they're sweet and give nice hugs and beijos.  I'm sure you think they're quite pretty (in fact you seem to gravitate toward pretty girls) but your favorite thing about them is,

ALL THAT HAIR!  You love hair.  You think hair is the most fascinating, wonderful toy ever.  I know I'm the reason you're so fixated with hair.  I ruined you as a baby.  I would let you play with my hair in your face, twist it in your fingers as you nursed or gather it up as you fell asleep, but this was before you had an insane grip.  This was back when I was a young, naive Mom of just a few months (I'm sooo much wiser now...wink, wink).  :)

The other day I unknowingly took you to hair Heaven.  We went to, Jump Sky high! This is a giant gym with floor to ceiling trampolines.  I knew you would have a great time and enjoyed watching you bounce (or mostly just run really fast) from one trampoline floor to the next.  But I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  The first hour of jumping was great, but the last hour you all the sudden were surrounded not only by trampolines, but little girls with bouncing curls.  The look on your face was priceless and I knew the thoughts going through your head were all about that hair, flowing everywhere!  I watched with a smile as you chased little girls and they giggled running away from you, but secretly I prayed you would never catch them.

I saw your little chubby fingers brush against locks of hair and I sighed with relief as the hair slipped from your finger tips, missing your grasp by mere centimeters. 

You're first victim of the day was a girl who looked about 10.  She made the mistake of laying down on the trampoline, with her blonde waving hair spread out.  You took action.  You grabbed her hair and hung on for dear life.  This had your pregnant Mom racing across the trampolines shouting "uh oh" as I tried to save this poor child.  After a small struggle I freed this little girl and you and I did the long walk (bounce?) of shame back to our bench.  Sadly this little girl was not your last victim.  You found many others.  Some were getting diaper changes, some were naive enough to actually lay down on the trampoline (don't they know attacks from above are so much worse?). 

You and I had lots of apologies to make that day which included a lot of soft hair petting to display your change of heart.  Mommy's apologies didn't involve me petting other Mom's hair, just lots of "I'm so sorries".  All the mommy's seemed to understand and surprisingly most people still thought you were quite cute in all your hair pulling, giant smile, run/bouncing glory. 

Love,

Momma