Emilio - 3 years

Emi, you are 3 years old! It sounds so much older when I say it, but you are still a little guy to me!!

It has been a huge year for us. I can officially say I nursed you for almost a full 3 years! It wasn't easy, and most especially at the end it was very challenging, but we made it through.

We also went though a very difficult month just before your birthday. You started having night terrors, and I am not sure who they terrorize more, you, or us! you were waking up every night without fail, sometimes even twice or 3 times in the night, screaming your lungs out, running around in the house, kicking and running into things... a pretty scary sight for a parent. Your Opa even flew here all the way from Mexico to give us a hand and effectively tried to distract you. And after that, and making sure you weren't over tired at night, watching your sleeping and peeing patterns, we finally went back to normal. But it was a tough month! complete with pediatricians and even psychologists!

So we had some bad stuff going on, but the rest of the year was so great with you. Things that you do now:

- You talk INCESSANTLY. You see your brother chatting away, so you will do the same thing on and on even if your conversation doesn't make any sense. Even if it is tiring sometimes to follow all you say, it is great to see how your language abilities have gone through the roof. People who haven't seen you in a month or 2 always comment on how well you can communicate now. 

- You still love your brother more than any of us and it is so sweet. I hope you two always love each other this much. You are always copying your brother, trying to do everything like he does, and give it your all to get his attention. If he laughs at you, you are on cloud 9. Very sweet!

- You are very good at sharing and listening. In general, you are very well behaved. You make a good side kick because you are generally good at staying close and being a happy guy.

- You are now sleeping very well. Sometimes you wake up early at around 5.30 a.m. and that is tough, but if I lay down on the couch with you downstairs and give you warm milk, you can sometimes fall back to sleep.

- You are very smart, independent, helpful, and tidy.

- You have a heart of gold. You are so so sweet, you like to look after your brother, you constantly give us hugs and kisses, and even love on your stuffies. Even strangers at parties always comment on how loving and friendly you are. You are such an extrovert!!! You love social situations, meeting new people and that just energizes you.

- You are also very sensitive. Sometimes it is hard because it is basically impossible to get mad at you. If we ever get mad at you about something you did, you immediately pout and cry and visibly get your feelings very hurt. So we can only stay mad at you for a couple of seconds until you break our hearts too :( .

- You are an amazing dance. You follow rhythm so well, and have some amazing moves. I love watching you dance and you just live for music. 

- Our biggest challenges right now I would say, are to teach you to use your words effectively, rather than hitting, pushing, yelling. And to encourage you to be yourself. You are so obsessed with your brother that sometimes you copy bad habits, or in the case of dancing, you don't realize how much better than your brother you are!! you don't realize that you should just keep your own style!

I could go on for pages about you. You are just a sweet sweet, friendly, and very considerate little guy. I hope your heart remains untouched as you grow older and that your love for your brother only grows.

We love you so much our little guy, we can't get enough from you!

Mom

Paulo - 5 Years

You are 5 years old Paulo!!

This year we had a birthday Party at home with some of your best friends from school - Harrison, Dexter, Luc, and Liam. We did tie dye shirts, you played hockey outside with daddy and we had cake, it was lots of fun!

Things you can do now at 5.... Pretty much anything. You are doing really well in school and you have only said you didn't want to go a handful of times in the 2 years since you started. You are doing really well in reading, writing, and you quite enjoy math.

Some of your favourite things to do are: riding your bike, playing soccer, Lego, Knex, Magna Tiles, and pretty much any building toy. 

One of my favourite thing about you is that you are very creative and resourceful. You may not paint the most "eye pleasing" picture in the traditional sense, but you are a very resourceful boy. You almost never get bored. As soon as you start feeling inactive you start looking for things to build, make, create. 

One of the great things I have discovered in you in these 5 years: you are a really "well behaved" boy (for lack of better terms). You are a good listener, aggreable, and self-controlled. We can usually give you our reasons for a certain decision and you will understand and follow our lead. You understand so much now that you are like a mini adult, and we realize now we really have to watch what we talk about (death, pain, illness, or anything bad) because you really understand it and take it at heart. 

You are so good, I feel like I can really trust you. Lately, I can trust you and your brother to go outside and play in the street and you know to stay where I can see you from the window, get on somebody's lawn if a car is coming, and to look after your brother. You often seem annoyed at his being all over your face, but you actually take good care of him. You comfort him, you help him catch up with us, and you even tell me to go tend to him if he is crying or upset. 

Most of all, you are a kind boy, you are intelligent, you are precocious, and loving.

I am so proud of you and who you have become. We love you immensely and feel a great responsibility to keep that precious heart and brilliant mind expanding.