Happy Birthday Mark

Mark, you're three today.  You are tough and helpful.  You like to help Daddy with handy man chores.  Grocery shopping with you is fun.  You're good at bringing June toys.  You are very sad (and tantrum-prone) when you can't stay at preschool like Scott, but you LOVE when you get to go.  I'm having a blast taking you to music class where you sing so sweetly and politely.  Until recently, you sang "Jingle Bells" as the lyrics to every song, but now you have quite a repertoire.  When you sing with us in Mass, my heart glows and I think God's does, too.

Your favorite book is Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever.  You are soaking up the vocab!   You go bananas for airplanes, swimming pools, and attention from extended family.  You said "thank you" for your birthday presents and we say thanks that you are part of our family.

Happy Birthday Junebug!

Last Friday, our little peach turned 1!  Her (still very 2 year old) brother pre-opened her presents and pre-smashed her cake for her.  Want to see her enjoy it anyway?

I thought so.

Our 4 year old

This is Scott. He turned 4 last week and it is a wonderful age! He plays out long imaginary scenes with his toys (like the tiny gorilla and dinosaurs he has here), he sings songs to June, he recites rhymes with his preschool teacher. He's charming. We have so much fun with our little guy. Happy birthday Astronaut Scott, we love you to moon and back!

Houston, we have a 2 year old

Marky is TWO! He loves airplanes and is pretty fond of helicopters, fire trucks, construction equipment with scoops, tiny birds, and sunglasses as well. He's a great little brother and copies Scott as much as possible: taking off his shirt when Scott does, walking silly if Scott does, crying if not allowed to climb where Scott is, and so on. Mark is usually the first person awake in the house and he's delightful in the mornings with his snuggles and requests for a milk cup. He's a great BIG brother, too, and very sweet to June, but I think the lack of focused attention has been a little hard for him. It's a little hard for me because I've missed rocking his little (big) self to sleep. I love watching those big eyes slowly close.

Dear son, I am so looking forward to more trips around the sun with you. We are so thankful you were sent to our family!

Scott is 3!

Oh dear Scott, aka "Groceries" aka "Laundry" aka "Superman",

Happy Birthday son!  We loved seeing your spirit develop this year.  You are bold!  You are smart!  You are the life of the party. Sometimes you're just overwhelmed with love for your own baby brother.  Most mornings when you get in the car seat, you first have to sing the Brothers Song to Mark.  You made this song up.  You sit on top of him in his seat, gently smack his cheeks with your open palms, and whisper "You and me, you and me, you and me" through gritted teeth.  (He loves this, by the way, as he loves most things about you.)  Do you know Mark's second word was "Scott"?  Before he said my name or Daddy's, he said yours! 

Right now, dear Scott, you love wearing costumes (see Dad's blog).  You love singing Molly Malone, but you change the words to make her a fish who sells tacos.  You love your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, and everyone who does or has lived in Apartment #8.  You are starting to say prayers, and you pray for your friends. Because you are little, your emotions can really overtake you.  I'm learning that when this happens you want your green alligator blanket or your grey blanket, you want to be held, and if it's really really bad you want to sit on my bed and be read to.  Tantrums are tough on you and on me, dear, but the way you want to be soothed is pretty nice.

I love hearing you make up stories.  You are always figuring out how things work.  And I love seeing your bravery!  You climb trees, you climb rocks.  And I adore when a freshly slept Scott comes to cuddle with me in the morning or after your rare naps.

Can't wait to see what another year with you brings pumpkin!

Love,
Mommy

One year old!

This weekend we celebrated the boys' birthdays.  My mom flew in for the party (she hasn't missed a grandson's birthday yet!), Karen and Daniel drove in, and we had friends over for cake, silly string, and a pinata.  I'm excited to show you photos, but first, a little love letter to our one year old.  (Scott isn't officially 3 until Tuesday, so he'll have his turn.)

Little Marky!  Darling boy, you've been part of Team Wagner, alive and growing, for one whole turn around the sun!  Though you still seem so sweet and babyish to me, you are robust and tough.  You climb onto every tricycle you find and like to practice walking while holding our fingers or the neighborhood children's shirts and shoulders.  You love making everyone laugh by shaking your whole body "NO!" or clapping "YAY!" during mass.  You're starting to be a little bit naughty by pretending to give your toy to your brother and then snatching it away, but you do still share your bottles, sweetheart.  You like to cuddle stuffed animals and your favorite yellow blanket from Aunt Bridget.  You ALSO like when all of the neighborhood kids jump into your crib at once and wake you up from nap time by playing trampoline, but I don't like that very much.  Little boy, you are a great new addition to our team and I'm so very happy you were sent to us.

We hope you love your cow toy (from Mommy and Daddy), new books and clothes (from Cap and Juju), snacks (from Aunt Karen and Uncle Daniel), sand toys (from Flash, Grandpa, and all the Wagner family and pets), and sweet google-eyed card and goodies (from Kelly).  You are the best little present we and your brother could have asked for.

 
Last week we made a new friend at the park and she took 1st birthday photos for us.  Check you out, little dude, with  your parents:

2 years old

Happy birthday Scott-man!  You are so big and brave.

Now I'm going to go fix some chocolate milk and give it to you for breakfast, because it is a special day.

One year and one day old

This weekend was wonderful. On Friday, my mom came to town to celebrate Scott's first birthday. On Saturday, we went to the coast.

It was beautiful. Rugged and stunning. We ate cheese and a savory tart and fed the pieces that fell in the sand to the seagulls, aiming for the fat gray gull with the soft voice.


Scott rolled down sand hills and rinsed off in the icy surf, laughing as the waves chilled his feet, then legs, then all the way up to his waist.


We saw a pumpkin patch and he explored.


We saw sheep and kittens and goats.

But it was not yet his birthday.


And then it was Sunday!


And he was ONE.

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We were just two "I"s, and then we were together, and then he was here and we were three.

He was tiny and nearly helpless. Nearly ... but he helped teach me strength, joy, and love. Because of him, I saw the peace of of the night, rocking and nursing while everyone else was asleep. And now he's big and sleeps all night. Now I get to remember the fun of doing somersaults and banging on a pan with a red spatula.


Happy birthday, big boy.
Welcome to this glimmering world.