Dear Jed: toddler test

Dear Jed,

One of Auntie Lila's friends posted the following toddler test a while back and the idea is that we ask you guys questions and just have a bit of fun seeing what the answers might be. Well I did it then, and I did it a bit more recently and I thought it might be fun to document to see how your answers change over the years. So here goes...

Nov 2016: (Age 2+5)
What's your name- Jed
How old are you- 2
When is your birthday- not yet
How old is Mummy - 2
What's your fav colour- green and yellow
Fav food- biscuits
Fav animal- cats
Fav song- dance lady (meghan trainor's better when I'm dancing)
Best friend- daddy
What are you scared of- nothing
What makes you happy- music
Where's your fav place to go- slides
What do you want to be when you are older- music
What does love mean- love means love you

Jul 2017: (Age 3+1)
What's your name- Jed (and you got your surnames right)
How old are you- 3
When is your birthday- just right now
How old is Mummy - old
What's your fav colour- blue
Fav food- chicken
Fav animal- horsey
Fav song- when he hears the fire alarm (fireman sam)
Best friend- daddy
What are you scared of- a dragon
What makes you happy- a butterfly
Where's your fav place to go- to the barn (playbarn)
What do you want to be when you are older- a policeman
What does love mean- it means to cuddle

Dear Quinn: This age, 8 months

Dear Quinn,

I recently wrote a letter to Jed about how nice his age is at the moment and I wanted to write one to you too.

You are currently 8 months and it is the most gorgeous age.

You took your time waiting to sit up, but you seem to have wanted to wait until you could totally master it and now there's no stopping you. I even wake up sometimes in the night (about a nano second after you've stirred by the way) and you are already sitting up in your crib staring at me!

You are into EVERYTHING. You can't crawl yet, but that isn't stopping you, you roll, over and over and over again until you get to where you want to be.

You could spot the tiniest speck of anything on the floor, and it goes in your mouth in a heartbeat.

Your face lights up when you see people. Grandad Hill says that your face could brighten up a grey day. Your whole face changes when you smile, it simply lights up! Especially when you look at Jed.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the little babbles and sounds you make are adorable.

You can tell you are constantly learning and we can see you taking everything in and having a good old nose when something happens near you.

You are so determined, when you are struggling to get somewhere or do something you want to do, you just keep slogging away.

You are just so pleased with the world and everyone in it (ooh Elizabeth Bennet to Jane Bennet anyone?)

It's a funny age too, because on one hand it is so exciting to see you reach new milestones, but it is also poignant to know you are becoming more independent.

You are happy.
You are adorable.
You are curious.
You are determined.
You are resilient.

You like chewing books.
You are ticklish, especially on your tummy.
You love jumping and I do mean jumping in the jumperoo.
You always fall asleep in the car.
You love food!
Your eyes are still a lovely deep blue colour, but becoming more like the rest of ours all the time.
You are getting more hair, with a little tuft at the back (I wonder if yours will be curly like Jed's).
You are fascinated with Saxon.
You often seem bemused by Jed's antics.

You are 8 months old already and growing up too fast.

Love always,
Mummy x

P.s have just noticed there's a pair of Jed's pants in the background, as I'm sure you are already aware it's because he is constantly taking them off and leaving them anywhere! 

Dear Jed: This age

Dear Jed,

I had someone come up to us the other day in the supermarket, ask how old you were and say "ah isn't it the best age" and it got me thinking, because in amongst the daily battles, (I mean how many times do I need to ask you to find your shoes or be gentle with your brother before I lose my mind) it is sometimes easy to get a bit lost and not be able to see the woods for the trees. Because when I think about it, yes, this is such a great age... But boy, is it a seesaw of a ride.

For every boundary pushed there are countless more new things you're learning.

And

For every argument we have, there's a 100 conversations where you either remind me of something that happened ages ago (your memory is superb!), or create a whole story or situation that has me giggling, or just chat away enthusiastically.

You are fascinated by vehicles, especially anything with a siren, and tractors and are constantly on the look out for them on every journey. Like today, you were curious if we'd see any on the way to Knettishall and you came out with "Lila keep your eyes out for a police car or ambulance or fire engine (you get more excited as you go through each one) but not you mummy". I asked why not and you said "because you've got to keep your eyes on the road of course!" which made us chuckle. You then proceeded to tell Lila about when we saw a fire engine a few weeks ago on the way to see Rach and Max. You have so much passion for these things, it's a joy to hear you talk about them.

You like me to read you "a made up story in your head" at the moment, and you get so excited by all the little details and get me to add to it all the time. I love how creatively your mind works.

So although yes there are days when I feel like a broken record, or the biggest kill joy. I can't help it, on top of all the fun learning that is so important, I also do need you to eat some tea, or get ready for bed, or not squeeze your brother too hard...  (you always find your dad so much more fun) or that we've clashed more than we've clicked, I just wanted to write down how much I do love this age.

You can be stubborn, but I'm glad you know your own mind.

You can be easily distracted but you find interest in everything.

You can be sometimes annoyingly (sorry) repetitive but you are so passionate about what you like.

You can be heavy handed but yet also incredibly sweet and kind.

In short...

You are bright.
You are inquisitive.
You are cheeky.
You are hilarious.
You are brave.
You are a sweetheart.
You are confident.

You are three.

Love always,
Mummy x

Dear Quinn: Just enjoying the moment

Dear Quinn, 

It's just a regular Wednesday afternoon and Jed is at Nanny and Grandad's. So whereas normally when you nap I have to put you down so that my hands are free, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays I just sit and cuddle you and I love it! Yes, I could be tidying or something else... But that can all wait. This is what is important.

 You are so cosy and warm and your face is so smudgy and cute. You are getting so big, your feet are almost touching my knees, how did you get so tall?!  

I know that this won't last, one of these days it will be the last time. Soon you will be too big to fall asleep on me the way you do. Jed doesn't anymore. The idea of never having these sleepy cuddles again makes me sad. I hope I remember what it was like. So I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts and say thank you for all the gorgeous cuddles (same goes to you Jed!), kiss your little forehead, rest my chin on your head and listen to the adorable little sighs you make. 

Love you. Always. 

Mummy x

Dear Quinn: Your Christening

Dear Quinn,
        aka. Sweetheart, Dimples, Bright Eyes and Gorgeous.

So yesterday (or ages ago, as it's taken me a while to post this) 11th June 2017 was your Christening.

You won't remember it, but we've taken lots of photos to show you and I'll tell you about it, let me start now.

Just like Jed (well and me) you were Christened in Garboldisham Church. We were lucky to have a church full of family and friends from all over. Uncle Chris, Aunt Olivia and Thalia win the prize for distance travelled again as they came all the way from Dubai.

Daddy and I had picked a cute little outfit of navy trousers with braces, a white shirt and a cute bow tie. You looked very dapper. Lots of people said how cute you looked.

You were an absolute star, you didn't make a fuss at all, chatting away in your car seat and then didn't make a sound when you had the oil and the water on you. So many people said how good you were, and how lucky we are...which we are!!!

Afterwards we went to the village hall, now we couldn't make it look like a marquee for you, like your Dad did for Jed, as he's retraining, but we made it look pretty with lots of lovely balloons, flowers and games. You'll know soon enough how much I love balloons. Thankfully they were still flying high in the morning.

Mary made you a gorgeous cakes, we had some photos of you up and people wrote wishes for you and placed them in a jar. I'll add to it over the years, what started as a wish jar will turn into a jar of keepsakes of notes from over the years, that's my hope anyway.

I loved that our family and friends got to see you, and see your true nature, happy, smiley and so pleased with the world. You even fell asleep on Anne for a while. I didn't hear a peep out of you for ages.

As always, all the above was great, but it's the people and the memories that matter. Family is so important to me sweetheart, something I know you'll know as you grow up. I hope you always know how loved you are. I wish wings for you so you can go wherever you heart desires and roots too, so you always know where you came from and that you know the bonds of our family are strong.

Love always, Mummy x