Dear Miss Nug,
It is summertime. We are having lots of fun outside, in fields, in splashpads, and playgrounds.
Your independence is really starting to shine, and your language keeps improving steadily. I recorded some conversation with you last month and here are some of the things you can say:
“You want to catch? I want to hug you. There’s so many space here, inside my house.”
“It’s purple, yes. We can go to the beach with [friend’s name]. She can come in my car.”
Our family is having much more interesting conversations now that you can use so much language. It is easier for you to tell us what you want or don’t want, or how you are feeling. There are still some meltdown moments but those will keep happening even when you get older, it’s all part of growing up.
There is a cleverness skill developing too: you sometimes find little loopholes in parental direction or suggest novel ideas to things. It shows that you have excellent problem solving abilities and I am excited to see where that leads (we haven’t started board games yet but hopefully by the end of the year).
To that end, you have a great imagination, and enjoy pretending things and making up your own silly stories. Your love for reading has persisted, and we try to get you new library books on a regular basis. The age of board books is pretty much over—short stories are what hold your attention now.
Notably, we are in a phase where ‘potty language’ is endlessly funny to you, and nothing will convince you otherwise. So Mom and Dad mostly accept it and roll with it. Speaking of the potty, we consider you to be almost fully toilet trained now. Most of your business goes into the toilet, with very few accidents. You can even hold your pee if you need to wait to go.
On counting: you can count right up to twenty, though it takes some concentration and help to go right from one to up to 20. I don’t think you’ve started to understand math yet, but that’s fine, no need to worry about that yet. I do think you’re starting to wrap your head around time, with things like before and after starting to become clear… and “tomorrow” is a word you use a lot (with varying degrees of accuracy).
We are also impressed with your strength and dexterity too: you are fast and strong and well coordinated. We think you will take to more organized sports or athletics in the near future.
Much Love,
Dad
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This series of blogs is to catalog the memories, milestones, and reflections of parenthood. Perhaps one day you (the Nug) will be curious to read them! In the meantime, they’re a nice way for Dad to process this whole parenting thing. He’s a writer, so putting words out into the world is relaxing, therapeutic, and fun!
Images created with a Canva Pro License. Photography is my own.
