For Diego on your third birthday (otherwise known as the you’re-really-not-a-baby-anymore-and-I-already-miss-it birthday)
Posted on August 15th, 2010 in Betsy and Marco, Diego | No Comments »
Dear Diego,
If I could choose one word to sum up your persona in the past year I would choose undaunted or maybe even undaunteable even though that isn’t a word. You are, my son, adventurous and brave and I cannot think of a thing we threw at you this year that you didn’t attempt with gusto (except eating spicy food – sorry, Dad). We have so many fantastic memories from the past year that this letter will be only a brief glimpse.
You learned to do so many things by yourself this year and your mantra, if you have one, has been, “I CAN DO IT” and sometimes “I CAN DO IT MYSELF” accompanied by tears of frustration when we didn’t at least let you try. But you know, honey, many times you COULD do it by yourself and did – sometimes to our complete surprise! Your Dad and I are proud of all the little accomplishments we see every day but this year held some really big ones. The one that tops my list, at least, is swimming. You have loved water since your very first baths as a baby and have never shown an ounce of fear despite waves crashing around you or stumbling face down in the baby pool only to exclaim, “Mama, I’m swimming!” when I pulled you out of the water. Well, son, now you really can swim! One of the highlights of our summer has been heading to Nana’s after school for a swim before dinner. You are truly a little dolphin when you have your life vest on, but you’re now swimming pretty well without it too. You beamed with pride when your swim teacher said, “Congratulations, Diego! Now you have graduated to the next class where you swim without Mom and Dad in the pool.” You couldn’t wait to tell everyone that you’d “gradulated” in swimming.
Your second but equal love is bicycling and you are truly amazing at it. We gave you a Strider running bike for your second birthday and you were thrilled with the idea, but a little intimidated by the reality. It was a challenge though, and a big one, so you threw yourself into it and were soon cruising around the neighborhood. Of course, just cruising along walking then even walking fast wasn’t enough for you and you started picking your feet up and balancing a few seconds at a time. A few seconds turned into a few minutes and then (even though it scared Mom to see it), you began coasting down hills with your feet up whole blocks at a time. I had crazy visions of you careening into the middle of the street but somehow you always remembered to stop before (if only inches before on occasion) the curb. One afternoon you were cruising down the hill at “90 miles per hour” so to speak and you lost your balance, fell and scraped your knee pretty badly. Not only did you not cry , but you jumped right up, picked up your strider bike, pushed it right up the hill and rode cruised down again. At that moment, I saw your future career at the X games as clear as could be. Nana bought you a 2-wheel pedal bike for your third birthday and you rode off down the sidewalk your very first pass – no training wheels! I’m sure the biggest even of your 3rd year was the birth of your brother, Enzo. When you got home from school on the day we brought him home and you realized that Enzo wasn’t in Mom’s tummy anymore, you ran to the bedroom and peered into the bassinet. You were in absolute awe – he was finally here! From that moment you have treated him with love and understanding almost all of the time (almost). You often want to involve him in your play and share beyond your years. You are so eager to spend time with him that we have to watch and make sure you don’t sneak into his room and wake him up because he “wants you”. You are constantly translating his baby talk so we know what he wants, you stand up for him if we scold him and you call our attention to him whenever you feel that he wants or needs us. Your Dad and I couldn’t be more proud to have raised such a mature, loving and fair little guy
One of the best things about being 2 was that you could finally start attending Buena Vista Child Development Center. Your Dad and I visited your school long before you could actually attend there and we were thrilled when you became a student there. Ms. Amber, Ms. Sonia and Ms. Gloria are now 3 of the most respected and influential people in your world and your Dad and I delight daily in the lessons you’ve learned at school. You’re friends are all terrific but you especially love Love who plays with you and watches out for you with just a little bossing you around on the side. Highlights of your school year have included a field trip to Effie Yeaw Nature Center with Nana at your side, the trip to the Sacramento Zoo and a wagon ride to the Old Spaghetti Factory where you all went out to lunch together.
You have really begun to look after Baxter as he gets older and like to be the one to feed him his dinner. He sleeps in your room with you every night to keep you safe. He’s been having more health problems and you were very grown up and strong when you and Dad had to bring him to the veterinary hospital because he was having neurological problems. The vet that saw him thought he was recovering but wanted to make sure we left a light on for him at night so he could see if he had to get up and wouldn’t loose his balance. You took this advice VERY SERIOUSLY and still make sure we leave the light on “just a little” for Baxter when you are going to bed. You have really begun to love other animals as well and always make sure that you give Eclipse a pat on the neck and a “good boy” when you are riding him. You were the only kid that pet his pony while on the pony ride at the state fair and that made Dad beam with pride. At the petting zoo you were very careful to make sure that the more timid goats and sheep got some of your treats and didn’t just feed the pushy piggy goats that wanted all the grain to themselves.
Some of my favorite memories include a warm afternoon in Berkeley while your Tia Ellen was visiting. We visited the botanical gardens there and were resting on a sunny patch of lawn. You had a wonderful time rolling down the grassy hill with Dad and playing with Tia. At your Tia Maria’s birthday on Stinson Beach you and Ashley stalked the waves “hunting sharks”. I loved making cookies with you at Christmas time and reading book and singing every night before bed. I love that you are lightning quick when solving puzzles – definitely faster than I am and that you paint amazing abstract paintings with color combinations that delight me. You’re sense of humor, infectious smiles and uninhibited laughter delight me every day. I’ll leave you with your current favorite joke that you figured out almost by accident!
“Knock knock…”
“Who’s there?”
“Boo…”
“Boo who?”
“Why are you crying? (Except you usually say, “Why you cryin’?” in your Brooklynesque accent.)
Most of all, I love you just as you are with all of my heart. I can’t wait for all the fun that awaits us next year.
Love,
Mom
