Pajamas // Leyton’s Pajamas // Book (aff links) Photos: Rachel & Noah Ray
Dear Leyton,
Tonight is the night that you go to sleep a one-year old and wake up with your two-year old birthday. I have gotten teary eyed so many times today just thinking about it, because when they say babies don’t keep, they mean it. Your da-da and I were just talking tonight about how much you have changed just in the past year. I look back at your 12 month pictures and can’t believe how different you look!
And then I pull up your love letter I wrote you at 18 months and can’t believe how much your development has progressed even since then, wow! You still love balloons, dogs, and cars, but now your love for trucks… and specifically what you call “Duuuuuump Trucks” has even surpassed your love for balloons and cars. Every truck we pass, you have started saying DUMP truck!
You are still quite fond of your “kit” (what you call your blanket) but you don’t have to have it all the time anymore. You still love to stick just the corner of it with your thumb into your mouth to suck on when you go to sleep and you also do this sometimes when you want comfort if it’s raining outside with thunder that scares you or you are feeling sick.
We see your little personality coming out a little bit more every day. Mrs. Emily notices little things you do like wanting to set toys just so and asks me if that’s like me or your da-da. I, of course, tell her that comes from da-da and how you love to line up your cars end to end like a train and want them in a certain order. You are very picky about us moving one out of the line up!
Photos: Rachel & Noah Ray (affiliate links included)
You love to high-step when you run and your daddy jokes that you run like me…rude! 😉 Haha! Some of your favorite things to do are read books and point out all the words you know,  play on your water table, play chase around the couch, coffee table and kitchen island, and yell “Rawr!” at us like your “Rawr” leopard stuffed animal. Speaking of which, you basically go to sleep with a zoo every night. You have to have Ra-Ra the giraffe lovey, Moo the steer, Bunny rabbit, Kit and Rawr all with you to go to sleep…wow!
You have recently started to say “Ewwwwwie” which I assume you are getting from me, because I catch myself saying it now even though I didn’t realize it before. We see a spider web? I hear “Ewwwwie” or you see something spilled, “Ewwwwie” and the list goes on. You kind of wrinkle your nose when you say it and it’s pretty stinking cute. You’ve also started saying “poo-poo” so I’m kinda nervous between saying those two words we may find ourselves in some interesting conversations when in public soon, eek!
We lost your great-grand nanna this year after you had recently started saying her name, and you brought her such joy in the last few months when she saw you. When we went to say goodbye, you said nanna and acted as if you knew something was wrong. Even though you had been tired and fussy in the car after traveling, you were so quiet and sweet while we visited with her one last time.
You got your first hair cut last month and hated EVERY minute of it. You screamed and cried and I had to hold you still to get your trim, but man you sure looked like a big boy with your hair cut.
I think you may have your mama and dada’s sense of style, because you already love shoes. You love when you get a new pair and can’t wait to put them on. You love to put on your shoes and go outside with us, and do runs up to the park in your stroller with mama and then play on the playground.
Sometimes we go to a different park with a wooden train in it and a train track runs nearby it which you adore. I joke that you are my backseat driver because you’ve picked up things I say in the car and say them back to me. For instance, when we go over the train tracks, you’ll say “Bump, bump! or “No, no choo choo” if there’s no train coming by. If we accelerate, you’ll say ZOOM! and if we do something quick or that you don’t like, you’ll say “Woah!” I joke that now I have two back seat drivers to deal with in the car…you AND da da!
More than anything buddy, we want you to know how much we cherish you and I especially love our afternoons together playing chase or swinging on the swing or watering the plants. Although you can’t talk in sentences yet, you understand pretty much everything we say. You love to hear me say we are going to get the mail or water the plants and are typically very obedient.
You’ve even got some neat freak tendencies already! We started at about 18 months having you clean up your toys at night before bedtime and now you do it so well…we are so proud of you! Then, one of my very favorite things is your bedtime routine. We rock in your glider reading a book, and then sing The Doxology and/or Jesus Loves Me while you hold your blanket and suck your thumb.
You typically press your head up against mine while I sing to you and then you kiss me on the lips. Sometimes we’ll stand by a picture of you and me that da da had framed for me for our first anniversary after you were born, and I’ll sway with you side to side. I tell you that mama has loved you so much since you were that little bitty baby but Jesus loves you even more.
Baby buddy, your curly brown hair, long lashes, and funny personality are such a fantastic blend of your da da and me and we love that we get to see it come out of you more and more every day. Our love for you and the joy of getting to see the little boy God is shaping you into makes our hearts so happy. We love you, Leyton and can’t wait to see what this next year brings!
All my love,
Mama
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