Time Keeps on Slippin'

Dear Sammy –

5 and 7. Wow. You are all little boy, all the time, and such fun to be around.

I’m sorry this is overdue. During the past 5 days, we’ve had playdates, family dinners, birthday festivities, pancake breakfasts, and all kinds of other frivolity that kept me from sitting own for more than a few minutes, much less write anything thoughtful. This chaos seems to be on an upswing, since one of your favorite people in the world (Uncle Larry) arrives tonight, and we’ve got something like 3 weeks’ worth of family visits starting right… now. Not to mention Easter, which happens to be your sister’s birthday, and let me apologize in advance that she’ll be getting the lion’s share of attention that day, but rest assured you will be well compensated in chocolate.

So. My boy. It’s been quite a month. You’ve been through a little bit of stuff, some evaluations of your person that confirmed you are a fantastic, smart, loving kid who got a bum deal with his ears that have made learning to communicate a bit hard. That confuses a lot of people, but we’ve got people who understand now and we’ll make sure you can learn and be understood at every level. We also found out you could a little help writing and pinching itty bitty stuff, so we’ll be doing a lot of arts and crafts this summer. On the flip side, you are amazingly good at puzzles and pattern matching in a way that completely surprised me. Perhaps that is the engineer gene your grandpa and I gave you coming out. I’m sure your Uncle Cody will be thrilled to know you want to build and fix houses when you grow up. I foresee your future summer job right there!

I want to thank you for the best birthday present I got this year, and that was your very special card. I love that you designed it yourself, planning the whole thing out before you started drawing. And that is the best rendering of me I’ve seen probably ever.

I think you had a blast over spring break, what with a visit from Thomas the Tank Engine, hosting 2 playdates, spending the night – twice! – with your grandfolks, seeing a puppet show, and a whole host of other things I’m forgetting in my still exhausted haze. Not every spring break will be this action packed, so don’t be thinking you’ll be heading off to Daytona by the time your 14, but I think we all enjoyed the week. And now that it’s over, I can’t help but think about how close it’s getting to summer. We’re living on fast forward these days.

You take it all in stride. Yes, you like routine, but when it comes down to it, you’re willing to try new things and go with the flow. That’s a reasonable balance.

And you’re welcome for that new Toy Story video.

Love,

Mom