January 2023

Dear Rykelan,

Happy New Year, kiddo!

With the new year came your new bedtime routine: Dancin’ Mater!

We had a child’s guitar that was Cars 2 themed, and Dad would play the (constantly out-of-tune) guitar before bed so you could dance out the rest of your energy before you fell asleep. You were still mostly wearing footie pajamas, so you’d slip and slide on the bedroom floor, flailing your arms and legs as you danced.

And sometimes, you’d just give up on dancing altogether and run circles around Dad (usually with Penny chasing you or trying to eat whatever toys that weren’t picked up).

I got back into crochet this month, too, and I made you a special blanket for your bed. You’d sleep with that and a giant stuffed dinosaur in place of a pillow.

Perhaps the most exciting change this month was school!

There was an opening at Early Head Start, so you got to start school in the middle of the month! You had the best teachers, and you’d eventually get so you didn’t want to leave at the end of the day when I’d come to pick you up.

We also have a video of you singing “Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa” (aka Papa) because you were excited to visit Grandma and Papa for my birthday at the end of the month. It’s hugely adorable.

You really started coming out of your shell, and it was so beautiful to see.

Love you bunches,

Mom

PS - photos coming soon