dear pratt.

dear pratt,

you're growing up so fast. it's making my head spin. literally.

tonight you were crawling as fast as you could down the hallway towards the front door. your daddy was behind you and when you stopped long enough to look back...you'd see him, laugh...and then crawl even faster just giggling away.

daddy started saying, "bye bye pratt" and waving to you. and as clear as i've ever heard it...you said, "bye bye."

you're such a sharp little boy. tonight at dinner, daddy and i were talking. and i guess we weren't paying as much attention to you as you would have liked. you let us know about it by whining.

this is weird for us because it's something you rarely do. the things that would typically cause you to whine...like being sleepy or hungry...instead of whining, you stick those two middle fingers in your mouth. we all know what that means...and voila...problem solved.

well, tonight, you were mad. and fussy. and whiny.

and so when you started it up, we both knew there was nothing wrong with you. and so your daddy said in his most stern voice, "pratt. there is nothing wrong with you. we are right here. you are okay."

and i promise that immediately you understood. i think it was his voice. the change in his voice.
you are totally into your books. when we get on the floor...which is where we spend most of our time these days, you always go to certain books. i'm funny about taking care of books, so right now, the only ones we really "play" with are the board books. you love them. you love to "turn the page" for me. you're a good page turner.

we love you more than you'll ever think humanly possible. until you have children of your own. it's then you'll understand how we feel. and how everything we do...we do it with thoughts of you. always trying to make the right decisions. always putting you first. always thinking of how things will affect you.

so as you get older, and think i'm the most horrible mom in the world...always know that i'm doing my best. i know i will fail you. and i hate that. i'm not perfect. but i promise that i'm trying.

i love you little pumpkin.