Dear Yoshi,
Wearing Daddy’s Hat
Today is Father’s Day. To prepare, I decided I would ask you to tell me about daddy. Then, I thought I would write it out and give it to your dad. This is how the conversation went.
Me: Yoshi, tell me about Daddy.
You: He was eating kitty whiskers.
Me: What do you like to play with daddy?
You: I don’t want to, because I don’t want to!
Uh, that didn’t work. Sorry, Daddy.
Love,
Mom
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Dear Yoshi,
You have slept with a pacifier every night and nap for the last (almost) 3 years. As your third birthday approaches, we have been preparing you for the removal of the paci. We decided to have the “paci fairy” come visit. She was scheduled to come in a couple weeks after you got used to your new “big girl bed.” The paci fairy takes your paci, cleans it up, and takes it to the new babies in the hospital. She leaves you a present in place of the paci.
Well, she came earlier than scheduled last night when your dad and I couldn’t find your one and only paci. We searched high and low and then determined that it must have been the paci fairy who came and got the paci. We brought out a fairy doll we bought for the occasion and told you the paci was gone, but now you have this cool fairy doll, named Sparkle, to play with instead. You loved the doll, but asked for your paci still.
You took it pretty bad at first. You cried on and off for a couple hours. We had to do lots of cuddles and hugs, but you eventually fell asleep for the night without waking up crying for the paci. I was pretty impressed. You woke up today in a great mood with no mention of the paci.
While you were eating breakfast I went back to your room to get something for Zuzu, and guess what I saw? Your paci. Sitting right in the middle of the room in plain sight sitting on the floor next to a toy of about the same color.
The paci fairy works in mysterious ways.
Love,
Mommy
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Dear Yoshi,
Yoshi’s first swing, March 6, 2010, 8 months
One of your greatest joys in life is swinging. You would swing all day everyday if we let you. When we go to parks, you insist on swinging the entire time. You used to throw fits if we dared to suggest you play on other parts of the playground.
September 26, 2010, 14 months
To avoid drama, we try to avoid playgrounds with swings if we can help it. It’s kind of mean I guess, but we want you to enjoy yourself instead of have anxiety about swings the whole time. You like them TOO much, to the point that it makes you unhappy.
October 10, 2010, 15 months
We have a favorite park with no swings at a local elementary school. We go there almost every Saturday. The playgrounds are great, and there are shaded picnic tables good for feeding your sister. Across the field from the park is a pond and another play area that we have never visited.
Last Saturday, I decided we would walk down there and check out the pond to see if there were ducks. As we walked to the pond, I noticed the swingsets 100 or so yards away and panicked. Oh, crap. I knew if you saw them, our lovely Saturdays at this park would be ruined forever.
Lucky I saw them just in time. I artfully distracted you and turned us around before you saw them.
October 10, 2010, 15 months
I look forward to the day where you can make the swing go on your own!
Love,
Mom
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Dear Yoshi,
Some people would see this lapse in babyproofing as a reason to be worried their baby will access the poisonous cleaning supplies behind those doors.
I see it as a reason to worry that you are going to get upset because the latch is not applied correctly.
“Oh, no!! Fix it!! Need help!!”
Love,
Mom
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Dear Yoshi,
Lately, you like to pretend we are characters from your favorite books and shows. These are your favorites.
Busytown Mysteries
Yoshi: Sally
Mommy: Sally or Huckle
Daddy: Huckle
Zuzu: Lowly
I think you call me Sally (or Sal) more often than Mommy these days!
Skippyjon Jones
Yoshi: Chihuahua
Mommy: Mama Junebug Jones
Daddy: Skippy
Zuzu: Jujubee
Yo Gabba Gabba
Yoshi: Foofa
Mommy: Tootee
Daddy: Muno
Zuzu: Plex or DJ Lance Rock, (you can’t decide so you go back and forth)
We think Zuzu should be Brobee, but you adamantly disagree.
Robin Hood
Yoshi: Maid Marian
Mommy: Robin Hood
Daddy: Prince John
Zuzu: Clucky
Mickey Mouse
Yoshi: Daisy Duck
Mommy: Minnie Mouse
Daddy: Mickey Mouse
Zuzu: Goofy
Zuzu usually has to be a boy, because it seems there are only 2 girl characters in most things we watch. Why is that?
Milo and Otis
Yoshi: Milo (“Mano”)
Mommy: Otis (“No-das”)
Dinosaur Train
Yoshi: Shiny
Mommy: Mrs. Pteranodon
Daddy: Mr. Pteranodon
Zuzu: Tiny
Nana and Papa are visiting. Papa is the Conductor, and Nana is Laura the Giganotosaurus.
Hello Kitty
Yoshi: Hello Kitty
Mommy: Hello Kitty
Daddy: Hello Kitty
Zuzu: Hello Kitty
“4 hallow kikis!”
You love watching Hello Kitty videos in other languages on YouTube. It’s weird, but you don’t seem to find it strange at all.
Love,
Sal
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Dear Yoshi,
I’m sorry we lied to you.
The “music truck” is not just a truck that goes around the neighborhood to play music for us. Those kids running to the truck aren’t going over there to dance and listen to the music.
I hope you’ll forgive us.
Love,
Mom
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Dear Yoshi,
Before you were born, your Dad and I had three cats (crazy, right?). Whenever we would open a can of tuna, the cats would weave in and out of our legs hoping for a taste. Whenever we would do any sort of exercising like yoga or kickboxing, the cats would think we were playing and would weave in and out of our legs. Every time we wanted to take a step in both situations, a cat was there to trip over.
That’s what it is like with you when we are trying to get ready to leave in the morning. This morning, we had our weekly playgroup. I got you and Zuzu ready first, and then put Z down for a nap. Then, I got ready.
As I moved about the house, you were constantly at my heels (or toes).
As I made coffee, you saw Zuzu’s ultrasound picture on the fridge and told me the story of going to see Zuzu on the ultrasound (in OCTOBER–how do you remember these things??). As I went back and forth from the sink to the coffee pot, you were there to trip over.
“You making coffee? You putting sugar in your coffee? You making oatmeal? What was that sound? Zuzu’s waking up?”
As I brushed my teeth, you stood an inch from me, telling me all about how Daddy brushes your teeth as you acted it out with your finger as a tooth brush.
As I put on deodorant, “you are putting that in your armpits. where did your armpits go?!”
“Where did daddy go? We going bye-bye? Where we going?”
As I chose clothes, you begged me to wear my flowers dress so we would both be wearing dresses. You begged me to wear my flowers flip-flops to match your flowers flip-flops. I put on a black sweater. “Where’s your grey sweater?”
“Zuzu’s waking up? Zuzu is coming too? Where did daddy go? What was that noise?”
Everywhere I stepped, you blocked my path. You were seriously slowing me down. For the first few minutes, I tolerate it okay, and say “Excuse me, Yoshi.” Then, I sent you on errands across the house just to get you away for just a minute. The cost of the clean q-tips I sent with you to the trash were worth the second of peace it provided me.
“I not take my water. I leave my water here. I take my kiki. Oh, here we go. What was that sound?”
By the time we are ready to go, I’m ready to call it quits and stay home. Even though we were late, I took a deep breath and headed out the door. There’s never a dull moment with you!
Love,
Mom
P.S. No, you can’t have a cat.
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Dear Yoshi,
I just asked you to go get me the remote. This is what happened. I took notes.
—-
Yoshi: “Me want to watch Dinosaur Train.”
Me: “okay, will you please get me the remote?”
Yoshi: “okay!”
Heads to get remote, but finds a strip of paper from the sticky part of an envelope on the way
“It’s a band-aid for me! It’s tape! I fix your broken chair.”
Puts strip of paper on chair.
“You sit on this chair yesterday. We eat pizza yesterday. Daddy put tape on Yoshi’s dress yesterday.”
“Jingle bells! You sing jingle bells?”
We sing two rounds of jingle bells together.
“Fix the table!”
Removes strip of paper and puts it on table.
“Oh, here we go! Now it’s fixed now. Fix the remote!”
Removes strip of paper from table and puts on remote.
“It’s broken now! Now, here we go!”
Hands me remote
—-
Took you a minute, but you got there.
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Dear Yoshi,
Last week, we went to the mall for dinner and to walk around (your little sister wouldn’t stop crying so I thought a mall walk in the moby wrap would help her calm down). Do malls still exist when you are reading this? Hmm.
You were being especially whiny because we went to a mall with no play area. To keep you happy, we kept telling you that after we eat, we’ll take you to a toy kitty store. You have a pretend kitty store you go to all the time at home, so you were thrilled at this prospect. You talked all through dinner asking to go to this kitty store.
After dinner, we headed to the Disney store. Your favorite movies right now are the Disney movies from the 60s and 70s: The Aristocats, Lady and the Tramp, and Robin Hood. You love the part of Lady and the Tramp with the Siamese cats. You often sing the song when you are playing. “Fee are Siam weave don’t peas” (“we are Siamese if you don’t please”).
We went in, and you went right past the princess stuff (yay!) and headed straight for the stuffed animals. We showed you the stuffed Siamese cats from Lady in the Tramp and the little Maries from Aristocats (you have a big one at home). Calmly, you went back and forth to each shelf. You would pick up the kitty, look at it, and put it back. Then, you’d do the same thing to the other kitty. Occasionally, Simba from Lion King would enter the mix. You were so calm we thought you were bored, so we left to the other toy story across the way. The minute we entered the new store, you started begging to go back to the “Fee are Siam kiki store” even after seeing a giant Hello Kitty display. We went back, and you continued your routine until we made you leave.
For the next few days, you asked repeatedly to go back to the “Fee are Siam Kiki store.”
You’re funny.
Mommy
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Dear Yoshi,
Sometimes you and I play this game where we shorten words to their first syllable and laugh. Mommy becomes Mom. Yoshi becomes Yosh. Kitty becomes “Keek.”
I don’t know if you do this because of the game or if we started the game because you do this, but you often shorten words. This morning, you were talking about a “diap” (diaper) and yesterday you said “peep on the pot (pee pee on the potty). It reminds me of one of my favorite movies from when I was a kid called Newsies. “Headlines don’t sell papes. Newsies sell papes.” Part of me worries this will become a bad habit to break, but mostly I find it funny. I think that’s why you do it. It almost always gets a laugh.
“This is for the newsies!”
Love,
Mom
Posted in Letters to Yoshi
Yoshi and Zuzu 