My Dearest Littler Prince,
How are you two already? Where has the time gone? And why is that we constantly find ourselves asking unanswerable questions about the passage of time? For, surely, while these days have been lived, and lived well, there is no accounting for where they have gone…
You have come into your role as little brother in these past few months. You know how to get under your brother’s skin and you often do so just to watch his reaction. You laugh at his antics and egg him on, much as he does to you. You hold your own, that’s for sure. You adore him, too, of course. You immolate the way you see him playing. You parrot words back to him. You ask for him first thing in the morning and then follow him around.
There has been a word explosion recently. Counting. Colors. Names. Your pronunciation of things still has a ways to go but you have no qualms about calling things out and asking for what you want and need, even as the Queen and I struggle to decipher the toddler code.
Oh, toddlerhood. The triumphant return of the toddlerocracy under the rule of a new tyrannical toddler… This is also a role you are quickly adapting to. Demands and tantrums and making sure your whims or at least heard if not always catered to. You had a good teacher in this, of course. The Little Prince ruled the toddlerocracy well. You, having taken over the prime position, will also do well. Perhaps it is wishful thinking on our part, the Queen and myself, the Jester, to hope that your rule is shorter than your brothers…
I am excited to see you grow. I am excited to watch you learn. I am excited to see what the future has in hold for you, you bruiser, you jumper and climber, you explorer of all the things.
We used to say (and still do) that your brother doesn’t have a quiet bone in his body. So far it seems that you don’t have a gentle bone in yours. Not that you are mean and certainly not that you intend to be destructive. You just are. You are strong and boisterous and have no clear definition of personal space and that leads to bruises, mostly on the people around you. You don’t need a splash zone so much as a bump zone.
You’ll get there. You’ll get the hang of this life thing. I have no doubt about that. You are thriving and it is a joy to be along for the ride.
Love you,
Matticus, The Jester, Daddy