to Ari: an almost-big-brother

"smile for the camera, Ari!"

Dear Ari,

I wanted to record a little bit of who you are right now, before you makes this big leap from our only child to big brother. You are my sweet boy, my snugly little guy, my sweetheart. At playdates I have to monitor you, not to ensure that you don't hit or kick (okay, you have your moments, but they are rare,) but to make sure you don't over-snuggle the other small people, especially the babies. You love babies, and often will just say out of the blue, "remember baby Lucia, mama?" or "I LOVE to snuggle baby Wren!" I'm taking this as a good sign for the baby to come, though it is impossible to know how you will feel when it is your mama with a new baby.

:pocketing special rocks for your rock basket:

We had some rough spots this summer, with lots of tantrums and tears and frustrations. We struggled through and you came out the other side transformed into a little boy, speaking in great big full sentences, singing songs through word for word, cracking jokes and imaginating the days away. It's been quite miraculous really. Your favorite things to play these days are "boat" where you load up a cardboard box with everything you need for your big trip down the river, including your wooden spoon paddle and plenty of felt playfood (and today lots of musical instruments since you were going to a party,) and you head off. You catch fish and sleep in there and keep yourself entertained for a good while, which is such a treat. You also like to pretend to be animals- birds, snakes, elephants, jumping bugs, cats. You let me know which you are by saying "hi mama kitty," or "hi mama horse" and I know to only call you "baby kitty" or "baby horsey" for the next while. :showing off your "very fancy" silks and broach:

You are also an extremely active little guy, and your need for physical activity is great. You will happily run the 5km distance to and from our creek before bed including sprinting back up the steep driveway on our way home. We are noticing that you are so much happier and settled when you are getting lots of exercises and it is our current challenge (especially with me being sooo pregnant!) to help you meet these needs. I made myself a list to stick on the fridge reminding myself of the movements kids need for sensory integration and all the different sorts of activities that meet them. So when you are getting squirly and I can't quite pull of a 5km run, I can suggest some games with spinning and crawling and pulling etc to ground you a bit.


You are so in love with life my dear sweet boy. You embrace the world with such gusto, making it a joy to spend time with you. You really are good company. You love people and keep your introverted mama on her toes as you greet and chat up absolutely everyone that we pass by. You get a little offended when grumpy old men or flaggers at the road construction don't return your waves and greetings. You love mountains and animals and the moon and helicopters and working in the garden and books and trains and babies and flowers and music. You really love music. You love to drum and sing (oh! that singing! it is just the sweetest thing!) and dance and pick out the instruments that are playing in songs. You often wait to start dancing until the drums come in on a song and then you leap to life.

You also love to help us. You "wash" the dishes, cut soft fruit and veggies with a butter knife, pick our supper salad from the garden, sweep the floors and generally make yourself as useful as you can. And I am often amazed at how much you can manage to do.

:cutting zucchini without once getting "fusterated":

I think you will make a fantastic big brother. And, once this baby grows big enough to be a playmate, you will have such fun together, with you and your joyful, in-the-moment attitude leading the way. I love you my baby, my sweet big boy.