Dear Great-Grandma,
In this letter I would like to tell you about some of the things I like to play with right now. My most favorite thing to do is to read books and listen to Mommy or Daddy (or anybody else) read to me. I am not sure if I would let them read to me all day, but maybe most of it.
My second most favorite thing is to listen to music. There are a couple of music tapes that I especially like but any music will do, especially if it is Mommy or Daddy singing to me. We almost always sing at mealtimes to thank God for our food (sometimes we just say a prayer instead, but I like the singing better) and if we forget I remind Mommy or Daddy that we need to pray, and I say “Amen” at the end.
There are some other toys I like to play with, too. I like puzzles. I am good at the kind of puzzle where each piece has its own place and they don’t get all muddled and mixed up in the middle. I like playing with magnets on the refrigerator. I also have a chalkboard downstairs that I can write on with chalk, but I don’t have any alphabet letters for it. Mommy says that would be fun. I can recognize the letter “B” sometimes, and I always know the letter “O” although sometimes I call it an oval.
I like to cuddle with my stuffed animals, especially Lamby, but also my big white dog and my hedgehog puppet and Mommy’s puppy from when she was little and Daddy’s bear from when he was little.
I like to play with Duplo blocks that fit together and make towers. I am pretty good at fitting them together although I still can’t make my towers go very high without some help.
I love to ride my cars. I have a car downstairs and a car outside. They both have horns that beep and steering wheels and the wheels go “round and round!” There is also a remote control car that Mommy and Daddy let me play with sometimes. I am not very good at making it go where I want it to go, but at least I press the buttons and have a good time.
I like to hammer on things, and I like to help Mommy and Daddy with what they are doing. For instance, sometimes I carry things for them, or pick things up and put them where they are supposed to go. Or if Mommy is vacuuming I love to try to vacuum too. Sometimes she even lets me use the real vacuum, with it on, but not very often. But it always makes me very happy when she does let me. More often she lets me sweep with a broom.
I also like to run around in circles. It is fun just to run and run sometimes. I really like it when we go to the playground and I can run around there, and swing, slide, and climb. I never want to leave the playground!
I know so many things now, Great-Grandma! I know lots and lots of animal sounds–sheep, cow, horse, pig, chicken, rooster, mouse, duck, elephant, lion, bear, goat, monkey, owl, and probably some more that I can’t think of just now. I can name some shapes, like star and circle and oval. I know a bunch of color names but I don’t usually get the colors right. I can name most of the things in my Big Book of Words.
I can talk in sentences. If I drop my book on the floor, I say, “I dropped it, book!” I can tell Mommy when Daddy comes home: “Daddy home!” or when he goes to work: “Daddy work!” I can tell you where things are: “Pumpkin floor,” or “pumpkin table!” and I can also ask where they are: “Pumpkin, wheya you?” (Pumpkin, where are you?) Another think I can talk about is things that are off and on: “Light off, light on.” I know that stoves can be hot. “Hot stove! Dane-jous!” (dangerous). Another important thing I can do is ask for things. “Mommy read it, book!” A lot of times she says, “Say please,” so then I say, “Peese!” and she reads my book to me. I also know my name. If you ask me what my name is, I can say, “Name Idaac.” So you see, Great-Grandma, that I am really learning to communicate. It is nice to be able to tell people what I am thinking, although sometimes when I get upset I forget about being able to talk and I just cry or whine. Then Mommy has to remind me to “use words” and most of the time I can stop crying and tell her what I’m upset about.
Well, Mommy says it is time for me to take a nap now. Sometimes I like naps and sometimes I don’t. Twice now I have skipped my nap. Mommy says she is not ready for me to give up naps yet so I guess I won’t, but they waste an awful lot of time, don’t you think? Do you take naps, Great-Grandma? What are they good for?
I will write to you again next week. I love you!
Love,
Isaac