Sachs Press

Dear Oma and Opa,

It has been a very long time since I have written anyone a letter, but I think it is about time for me to write one. There are some things I would like to tell people about and you are good people to tell.

Well, first, I have started preschool. I think I have been there about four times now. I like going and playing with all the toys and playing on the playground. I don’t mind Mommy leaving; in fact, I hardly notice when she goes. But I am always glad to see her when she picks me up!

I have been learning so many, many things. I am learning how to pretend very well. I like to drive my Vega around on our road mat and make it go to the store, to the post office, and to the shop to get fixed. I go “psssht!” and it is all fixed up. I like Daddy or Mommy to drive a car with me. I also like to drive my trains around on the train track and have them pick things up and deliver them. With my big outside car, I drive around and visit the store for Mommy, and fill up the gas tank with the watering can. I like to get out the big yardstick and make a bridge or a diving board on top of some of my toys. One day I got all my Noah’s ark animals out and had them jump off the diving board into the swimming pool. Mommy even let me have some real water for them to jump in!

I am getting better at drawing, too. I can make faces now, with eyes and hair and noses and mouth and ears. I can also draw balloons. Nobody taught me that, I just figured it out for myself. I can’t write any letters but I can make an “I” with blocks or dominoes.

I still know my alphabet, mostly, and I can count all the way to thirteen. I can even count things you can’t see if there aren’t too many of them, like how many times I did something. When I am getting ready for bed I like to jump and jump on the bed while Mommy tries to get me dressed. It makes it really hard for her and that is funny! But now she tells me, “Jump seven times and then stop,” and she counts while I jump and then I do stop because that is fun too.

I can stand on one leg all by myself without holding anything. I can hop on one leg too but I have to hold on for that. But I am really, really good at jumping. I can jump over lots of big things and I can jump down off a high chair–but Mommy and Daddy tell me not to do that, so I mostly don’t. I am also good at running and riding a bike. I love riding in circles on the patio, especially when Daddy or Mommy ride with me.

I like to run between the clothes on the patio, too, when they are hung out to dry. It is fun to have Mommy come in and find me. She can’t see me when I am hiding between two sheets!

I am getting better at helping Mommy and Daddy with things. I can carry lots of heavy things. I help with the laundry by getting my laundry hamper and bringing it to the stairs and throwing my clothes down the stairs. Yesterday, I helped Mommy sweep the floor. She gave me the dust pan and brush and I swept the floor of the stroller cupboard. I made it all clean, all by myself! I even dumped the pan into the trash can by myself. Mommy was proud of me and told me I was doing a good job.

I am wearing underwear now. I am very proud of that. I do still make some mistakes, but only once a day, if that. I have new Sesame Street underwear that is my favorite now.

I also like telling stories. One day Mommy was doing something and I decided to keep her company by telling her some stories. She wrote them down so we could remember them and here they are.

The story of Lamby

Lamby was born, and he grew bigger and bigger, and he was a boy. He had lots of toys and he played with them. And that’s the story of Lamby.

The story of the teapot

There was a teapot and it was big. It had lots of hair. It tried to get the hair off but it was stuck. So the big mother teapot came and helped it get the hair off. And that’s the story of the teapot.

I also like making up songs. I can’t write them down here for you but if you ask me sometime I will sing a song for you.

So I guess you can tell that I am pretty busy these days, with all the stories and songs to make up and things to pretend about and pictures to draw and Mommy and Daddy to help. There is not too much time left over for being naughty so mostly I am not.

Oh, I also got a haircut today, and so did Daddy. I guess it looks okay. I have trouble sitting still sometimes, unless I am reading a book. Maybe I should have read a book during my haircut.

I am trying to think if there is anything else I should tell you. Well, I guess you know I am in Sunday School now. I like that too. We sing songs at the beginning and I think that is my favorite part. That’s the part I tell Mommy and Daddy about.

I think I need to go now and help Mommy make supper. She wants me to spin the salad in the salad spinner. That is the part I am very good at. So I will say goodbye now!

Love,

Isaac

Dear Great-Grandpa Al,

How are you doing? I heard that you have not been feeling so well lately. I know you are also sad that Great-Grandma is not here to talk to or write letters to anymore. Mommy and I are sad, too! I miss writing letters to her and having letters from her telling me that Jesus loves me. I wish I could sing “Jesus loves me” to her, and to you too.

But you can still read letters from me, Great-Grandpa Al, and so here is a letter for you! I would like to tell you all about everything but I am not sure I will remember it all, so I’ll just see what I come up with.

Well, one thing I would like to tell you about is what is happening outside. It is pretty exciting. First, it is getting warmer and rainier. Some days are colder than others but on the whole, things are warming up. And on the bright, sunny warm days, I love to go outside and play. I like to dig in the dirt with the shovel Oma and Opa gave me. I like to ride my car around on the patio, or sometimes just run in circles. I like to talk to the chickens and feed them oats. I like to look at the flowers, or run next door and talk to our neighbors Paul and Ann. They have a football that I like to play with! I also really like to just do whatever Mommy or Daddy are doing. Whatever they do, I try too. I figure it must be something important to learn, so I need to try it.

Mommy has started a garden. She planted peas and lettuce and onions and garlic and spinach and shallots. The peas and some onions and lettuce are all poking up. We also have some flowers that look very nice: daffodils and tulips and there were some crocuses but they are done now and another kind that I don’t know the name of and pansies too. The pansies are just starting. And the cherry tree is also starting to have flowers. Mommy is very excited about the cherry tree having flowers–I don’t know why.

Mommy and Daddy also cut down a whole bunch of stuff, and then we all went to a place where they had lots of baby plants and we took some of the baby plants home. Mommy and Daddy say they will give us grapes and berries and nuts when they grow up to be bigger. But first we have to plant them. Right now they are in our kitchen staying warm because they are baby plants that would burn in the hot sun and freeze in the cold nights.

As for me, I just keep on doing the same things I always do, only a little better all the time. I am getting taller and stronger and can do more things with my hands. I can also talk about more things and remember things better. I am starting to tell little stories and sing little songs. I have a lot of things memorized, especially songs but also books.  My very favorite song is the alphabet song. I like to sing that one a lot and sometimes I will sing it when Mommy or Daddy don’t expect it, like at the store or while they are praying to thank God for supper. But I also like to sing Jesus Loves Me. Today I sang that while playing on the piano. Mommy was very proud, even though what I played didn’t really sound like what I sang.

I can build very tall towers out of blocks. I can play a tape in my tape player, and when it is done I turn it over and play the other side. (My very favorite tape right now is about Big Bird and the Orchestra. I like hearing all the different musical instruments play their different parts.)

I am learning to help around the house. A couple of days ago I helped Mommy make my granola cereal by stirring the granola in the bowl. Tonight I picked up all of the dried beans I was playing with and put them away without Mommy having to remind me. And I always like to help dust and vacuum. In fact, if I am not allowed to help vacuum, I am very sad!

I love to throw balls and play baseball. I can’t really hit the ball yet but I can throw it to Daddy and he hits it. I like to use Daddy’s tools but I’m not really allowed so instead I use my pretend tools. I have a lot of pretend tools but my favorite is the drill. I like to fix things with it.

I like to eat lots of things. We had hot dogs for supper tonight and I had a whole one but I also like hamburger and spaghetti and curried chicken and pea soup and rice and granola and eggs and mushrooms and pizza and blueberries and peanuts and marshmallows and carrots and lots of other things. There are a few things that I really don’t like: broccoli and lettuce and cabbage. I do try them but they just don’t taste very good, so I don’t take any more bites and if it is very bad I spit it out. But there is one thing that I would really, really like that I can’t have, and that is a bagel. Mommy says she will try to make one for me one day, but since I can’t eat wheat it is hard to make bagels for me. But I do so wish I could have a bagel. I talk about it a lot. Is there anything you really want that you can’t have, Grandpa Al?

Well, I really ought to go to bed now, so that I can get up nice and early tomorrow morning. I like to go in to Mommy and Daddy’s room and turn on the lamp and climb up on the bed and jump on them. Well, sometimes I just walk on them, but either way is fun. Anyway, I should go to sleep now. I love you!

Love,

Isaac

Dear everyone,

Even though Isaac can’t write his letters to Grandma Faye in the ordinary way anymore, I would still like to keep writing letters on his behalf. It is a good way to keep in touch with people and remember important milestones in his life. For a while I have been contemplating posting all his old letters to our website here, so that everyone could read them all, and now seems like a very good time to do that–so I have.

I think that Isaac will mostly keep writing to specific people, and mailing the letters; but I will also post all the letters here. If you’re reading through old letters, keep in mind that they are published in reverse order, with the newest letters at the top of the page.

If you want to leave a comment, you can, but I’d rather have an email (or a real letter!) from you. I hope you all enjoy reading and/or re-reading Isaac’s history, and what is yet to come.

Love,

April

Dear Great-Grandma,

It has been a long time since my last letter again, I know. Since it has been so long I will send this one right to Aunt Lucy through the computer and she can bring it to you sooner than it would come in the mail. I hope you enjoy it!

I will try to remember some of the more interesting things that have happened over the last month. First we were all sick. I had an ear infection for the first time and that was no fun at all. But once I went to the doctor and got some medicine I started to feel much better and now I am fine. Mommy and Daddy were sick too and Daddy also got some medicine. They are pretty much fine now also, though.

Last weekend Mommy and Daddy went away on a trip and Oma and Opa came down to visit and take care of me. I really enjoyed having them around! They brought me new books and sang songs to me and they also gave me a balloon! Balloons are very exciting because they go up instead of down. So you can do all kinds of fun things with a balloon.

Then this weekend we went with my friend Ethan and his mommy and daddy to a place over the mountains. We drove and drove and Ethan got sick in the car. I was very sympathetic and held his hand to help him feel better. He felt much better when we got to the place we were going. He just didn’t like riding up and down in the mountains.

Anyway, so we went to a little house called a cabin. There were two bedrooms, one for Mommy and Daddy and me and one for Ethan and his mommy and daddy. We stayed in this cabin for the weekend. If you looked out the windows all you could see were lots of trees. We thought maybe we would see some bears but I guess they were all asleep so we didn’t see any. We did go hiking, though. I walked all the way up the mountain by myself (well, Mommy and Daddy held my hands a lot, but I really walked all the way up). When we got to the top we climbed around on the rocks and looked out at the other mountains around us and took some pictures. Then we walked back down again. I didn’t walk quite the whole way down but I did walk for some of it. I like hiking!

I also liked spending lots of time with Ethan. It was fun to play some little games with him and share my toys and draw pictures together and play hide and seek. My pictures are not very complicated but I am working hard on drawing straight lines and tiny circles. And playing hide and seek is really fun! Here is how it works: you close your eyes and cover them and count and then the other person goes and hides. Then you can open your eyes and try to find them. Once you find them, you switch! If you are like me you will hide in the same place repeatedly. That’s the easiest thing to do. But even if you both always hide in the same place that doesn’t mean you find each other very quickly. Sometimes it still can take a while.

Today Mommy and I walked to the bank. She had some money to put in the bank so we put on our coats and hats and mittens and she held my hand and we walked. I don’t like to ride in the stroller any more. I am a big boy and I can walk by myself. I can also do zippers by myself if they are started for me and I can put my pants on by myself. I like to do things by myself.

Oh, another thing we did that was fun was go to the pet store. We didn’t go to buy anything, just to look at the animals. We saw kittens and fish and birds and mice and gerbils and hamsters and geckos. I think my very favorite was the gerbil who ran around and around in his wheel. He went very, very fast but he didn’t get anywhere. I guess that is a little like me because I love to run around and around the house in circles. I don’t really get anywhere but it is a lot of fun to run. I especially like it if Mommy or Daddy runs with me. Sometimes they chase me and that is fun but it is also fun just to run together. Yesterday Mommy and I were running around and around and then we would stop running and go tickle Daddy, or give him kisses or hugs. We had a good time.

I can’t forget to tell you about the dentist! We went to the dentist last week. Mommy told me we were going to go and what was going to happen, so I had an idea about what to expect. It was a nice place with toys in the waiting room. After a while a nice lady called my name and Mommy and I went back together with her. She showed me her tools and let me hold a cup while she put water in it and then sucked it out again. She showed me how it tickled her mouth and offered to tickle my mouth with it too, but I declined by putting my hands over my mouth! Maybe next time! She also showed me how the chair worked but I didn’t ride in it. Maybe next time!

After a while the dentist himself came. He was very nice too. He counted my fingers and then my teeth. I opened my mouth very wide for him and was patient while he poked each tooth, and then brushed my teeth with some stuff. Mommy said it was something that would make my teeth strong and healthy. The dentist told Mommy that I was very good and didn’t cry like a lot of kids my age do. He also said my teeth look very good and healthy, and told us to keep up the good work. Then I got to pick out a ball to take home! It is a very bouncy rubber ball. I am only allowed to play with it downstairs because it is too bouncy for upstairs! It was a very good trip to the dentist and I will not mind when we have to go again, but we don’t have to go back for a whole year.

And that is all I have time to write tonight. I love you, Great-Grandma, and Mommy sends her love too. We will give you kisses through the computer, although they aren’t as nice as the real thing.

Love,

Isaac

Dear Great-Grandma,

Today it snowed! When we woke up in the morning the snow had already been coming down for a while and the ground was white. And it kept on snowing all day long. In the evening it turned into ice instead of snow but it just kept coming. It was very exciting!

So Daddy went and found a sled, and we went sledding. I was pretty excited to go sledding. Mommy pulled me for a while on the sled. At first I sort of slipped backwards when we went up a hill, but then I figured out how to hold on better and I was okay after that. We got to the big hill and Daddy took me down just a little ways. I kept saying, uh-oh! uh-oh! I really wasn’t sure about it. I didn’t want to go again. Then we did go down again, all three of us, and I really didn’t want to sled any more. I didn’t like it. So we went home, except I didn’t want to ride on the sled and I kept tripping in the snow so Mommy had to hold me… I was really happy when we got home again. I like the snow but I especially like it when it is outside and I am inside watching it!!

But I don’t need to talk about that any more now. Instead I will tell you about last Thursday when I visited preschool. Mommy walked down there with me riding in the stroller all bundled up. When we got there we unbundled and went into the classroom. I washed my hands because that is what they like you to do when you get there. Then I looked at everything there was to see. There was a teacher there and some other adults helping and there were eight children. I could not count them because they kept moving around (I had other things to do anyway) but Mommy counted them for me.

In addition to all the people there were many things to play with. There were all kinds of toys. Some things were small versions of things Mommy and Daddy have, like mops and brooms and pans and things. There were also cars and blocks and puzzles–and books! But the very most exciting thing I got to do was paint. There was an easel and there was paper on it and I got to wear a smock and paint with a paintbrush. They had paint pots in a tray and I would pick out a paint pot and put it on my tray and then paint with it for a little while and then put that paint pot back and get a new one and paint some more. I painted for quite a while and then I got paint on my wrist, which I didn’t like, so I washed my hands and then I painted some more. After I was all done I washed my hands again and took off my smock.

Another fun thing they had there was a big wooden thing that was like a bridge if it was one way and like a boat that rocked if you turned it upside down. I liked it both ways–climbing on the bridge and rocking in the boat with the other children.

After a while it was time to clean up so I helped along with everyone else. I put toys back where they were supposed to be. Then we all sat in a circle and sang some songs with the teacher. Well, she sang and we did the motions. I did the motions too! Then the teacher told us a story and we helped her tell it. It was the story of the Little Red Hen grinding grain and baking bread. None of her friends wanted to help her with any of the work but they all wanted to help eat the bread! I didn’t know the story so I couldn’t help tell it but I enjoyed listening.

After the circle time we all read books by ourselves for a little while and then washed our hands and it was time for snack. Mommy and I decided it was time to go home then since they were having muffins and my muffins were at home. So we said goodbye and went home to eat muffins. But we got to take my painting! I really enjoyed my morning at the preschool and I think Mommy did too. She was there the whole time but I didn’t pay much attention to her. There were too many other things to do. The teacher was really nice, too.

So I might get to go there in the fall and that would be very nice. I think I would learn a lot and have fun playing with the toys and the other children and the teacher. I don’t think I would miss Mommy too much because I see plenty of her and I am never worried that she won’t come back. She always comes back.

I am starting to like to color so I will include a paper I was coloring on recently. It isn’t very fancy and I can’t say it means anything–it is just something that was fun to do with a crayon, but you may have it to look at if you’d like.

Also, I had a corn tortilla with beans, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, black olives, cheese, and yogurt for supper this evening. Actually, I had one and a half. Then I had some chips. And I drank my water out of a cup with no lid. Daddy says I am growing up too fast, but I think I am just right and I think Mommy agrees with me, but she might be just a little bit sad about it. I don’t know why. Do you know?

I hope you enjoyed watching the snow today. I know I did!

Love,

Isaac

Dear Great-Aunt Lucy,

Mommy says maybe I should just call you Aunt Lucy, but I am not sure why. I asked her if she didn’t think you were great and she said, no, she did think so, so I don’t know why she is concerned. I will leave it the way it is.

As you can tell I am writing you a birthday letter. I hope you are having a very happy and special birthday. Are you doing some fun things today? I had a birthday recently and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I had cake and candles and lots of presents and many people visiting me. It was really neat! Mommy says birthdays will get less special as I have more of them but in the meantime I should enjoy it. But I hope you are enjoying yours even if you have had more than me.

Well, guess what happened this morning! It snowed! I have seen it snowing before but this is the first time this winter that it has snowed enough for me to play in it a little. Already it is melting away but this morning Mommy and I went out and stomped around in it. I drove my car in it, too. We made lots of footprints, and then we made some snowballs, and I looked at the little bitty snowflakes, and we also built a tiny snowman. He is so tiny that he wears a leaf for a hat.

Last week I had my check-up at the doctor’s office. It was kind of fun. I was very cooperative and opened my mouth wide and let the doctor look in my mouth and ears and eyes. He listened to my heart and poked my belly too. He was nice and funny. Mommy asked him some questions and he said I am healthy. I am almost three feet tall. I didn’t have to get any shots this time. I am very glad because I don’t like shots at all. They hurt. Do you ever have to get shots, Great-Aunt Lucy? Do you cry?

The day after my doctor’s appointment some people came over for supper. It was my friend Joseph, the boy Mommy used to babysit. It was fun to see him! I didn’t really remember him, but we had a great time playing together. His big sister was there too. She is either seven or eight years old, I am not quite sure exactly. We ran around and around and played with toys and listened to music and read books while all the big people sat and talked. I think we had more fun than they did but Mommy says she enjoyed it. I guess as long as we all had fun it’s okay, huh?

Speaking of having fun, Mommy is thinking about putting me in preschool in the fall. She and Daddy have to talk about it some more but she thinks it would be fun for me and also a good experience. She says I need to interact with other kids and have some new experiences that I don’t have at home. I don’t know what “interact” and “experience” mean but they sound like they might be okay. I would like to play with all the toys there. We are going to visit on Thursday and meet the teachers and see what it is like. I really like playing in the nursery at church so I’m excited about it.

Has it been very cold where you live? It was very, very cold here. One day Mommy said we shouldn’t go outside at all because it was too cold. Another day we did take a walk but Mommy bundled me up very warm and then put a blanket all over me so I couldn’t even see. I didn’t mind because it kept me nice and warm! We didn’t stay outside very long. Daddy also made a heater for the chickens. He put a lightbulb inside a flowerpot and put it in their coop. He says it helped but I am sure they were still cold out there. But they are okay and it is warmer now, so that is good.

Well, I wish you a happy birthday, and so does Mommy! I wish I could bake you a cake but Mommy doesn’t let me use the oven yet. So you will have to pretend that you have a cake from me with candles that you can blow out. I think that is the best part of a birthday. Every time I see a picture of candles I try to blow them out.

Love,

Isaac

P.S. This is your birthday letter but you can read it to Great-Grandma if you want to. I will probably wait until next week to write again so I have some new stories to tell. I will tell about going to visit the preschool.

Dear Great-Grandma,

I hope you are having a good day today. I am not doing quite as well as usual. My mouth really hurts because I am getting some new molars, and it is making me very cranky. I don’t like to take my medicine. I’d rather play with it but Mommy won’t let me. So I am not very happy today. However, I am writing to you in the hopes that it will cheer me up to tell you about some things that have been happening.

Well, not a lot of exciting stuff has been going on, but Oma and Opa did come to visit me on Sunday. That was nice. Opa sang lots of songs to me and so did Oma. And they both read books to me. It was good to see them. I showed off my counting skills while they were here. I counted to thirteen and then I skipped around a little and then started in at twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three… I think I could have kept going but everybody was laughing so I stopped and laughed too.

I also played the bugle for them. Did I tell you I can play the bugle? Well, I can, all by myself. I put it up to my lips and buzz them and a bugle sound comes out! It is not the prettiest bugle sound ever, but that doesn’t matter. So I practiced bugle for them. Mommy set up a music stand for me and put a practice book on it and I turned pages and played the bugle in between. I can’t read the pages but that doesn’t matter. I really enjoyed practicing! I also played the recorder a little bit but I started to chew on it so Mommy took it away.

I have been reading and reading and reading some more, and then I have Mommy or Daddy or anybody else who is available read to me for a long time after that. I don’t think I have any favorite books right now. I just like them all. Well, maybe I like the song books best. I really, really like to listen to Mommy and Daddy sing.

I also am into building towers right now. I can build a pretty tall one. Then it either falls over or I knock it down. And then I do it again! That keeps me busy for a while. After I get tired of that I can put my long, long train together and run it around and around the track. It usually gets stuck somewhere and I have to help it out but I don’t mind doing that. I am a good train engineer.

I am thinking about learning to use a potty. There are a few things I have to figure out first, but I am working on them. It’s hard to put pants on. There are too many places to put your legs. I usually get both legs in one hole and then it is pretty impossible to walk. I also need to learn to pay attention to when I need to go. I am not very good at that yet. And sometimes even when I do know, I don’t want to stop what I am doing to go. It helps when somebody reads me a book. I am almost always up for reading a book.

Hmm, I don’t have a lot to say this week. I can tell you about a few of the foods I like to eat, I guess. Bananas are pretty high on the list of favorite foods. All fruits are good. I also really like bread and muffins. Mommy makes special bread and muffins that I can eat since the real kinds make my tummy hurt. This week, she made me ginger snap muffins! They are really yummy and she says they don’t taste weird at all, even though they are made without any wheat flour. Maybe you can ask her about it.

But I will eat most anything. Tonight Mommy made chicken in curry-coconut sauce over rice noodles, with green onions. I like to eat the onions plain. We also had clam chowder for lunch and I ate that all up pretty quickly. I love hamburger, and olives are very good, and so are most beans. Corn is good, especially the corn Mommy froze herself. Rice is always nice. Grape jam is very good. I eat it on rice cakes or crackers. I really like chips and cookies but I can’t always have them. Cake and chocolate and ice cream are REALLY good but I almost never get them. Lately I have been eating dates, since my Aunt Sarah left them at my house. And eggs! I will always eat an egg. Elise keeps on laying one egg a day, and the other two chickens just sit around and eat food. Oh, well. We would like more eggs but you can’t make a chicken lay an egg, says Mommy.

Well, I am going to go build a train track now. I think I am a little cheerfuller now that I have written to you. Mommy says cheerfuller is not a word but why would I care about that? If you know what I mean, why wouldn’t it be a real word?

Anyway, time for me to go be an engineer. Here is a big kiss for you!

Love,

Isaac

Dear Great-Grandma,

Happy new year! This is the third year I have been alive in. It doesn’t seem very different from the last year so far, and I don’t remember the year before that. But a lot of very exciting things have happened over the past few weeks.

First, I got to come see you. Do you remember? I gave you some kisses. I was kind of scared of your oxygen tubes but after Aunt Lucy took them off then I realized that it was okay so I gave you a kiss. And we sang lots of songs to you. Well, I didn’t, but I listened to the songs. I really enjoyed that.

Also, I got to spend time with Oma and Opa and Uncle Darren, and with lots of other people I don’t get to see very often. Aunt Joyce and Uncle Chris and Aunt Lucy and Uncle Harold and Great-Grandpa Al and Uncle Don and cousins Kyle and Derek. We had supper at Aunt Lucy and Uncle Harold’s house. It was very nice, although I was kind of tired and grumpy.

I got to visit Daddy’s grandma in Chambersburg and his cousin and aunt. I also spent the night at Daddy’s other grandma and grandpa’s house in Maryland. And then, after all of that, Daddy’s mommy and daddy and sisters all came to visit us at our house! There were six extra people in our house. It was a lot of fun because they all played with me and read books to me and laughed at all my jokes. When you ask me how old I am, I say, “I’m NO!” I know the answer is supposed to be “I’m two” but the other way is much funnier. So that’s what I say.

I also got to open a lot of presents. They were for Christmas and my birthday. I learned about the baby Jesus and the angels and the shepherds, and I got to open Christmas presents. I got some books and some music and some trains and a doll and two teddy bears and my goodness I don’t even remember all of it. But it sure was fun to keep opening presents. I even opened some other people’s presents. I am kind of sad that now there are no more presents to open.

Also, I am two years old now! I had a birthday and people sang “Happy Birthday” to me and I had a cake with two candles and I blew them out. It was a chocolate cake and actually there is still some left. It is very good. My aunt Sarah made it without any wheat because wheat makes my tummy hurt. So instead of wheat it is made with rice and tapioca some other things. What do you think of that?

Well, so those are some of the exciting things that have happened recently. I think my favorite toy from Christmas is my train set. It is wooden. There are lots of train tracks that fit together in different ways. I put them together on the floor so they make a track. Then I carefully put the train on the tracks. There is an engine and a lot of cars. Actually there are a couple of engines but usually I just put everything together in one big train. Then I start the engine. It has a battery that makes the wheels turn, and I press a red button that makes it turn on and it pulls all of those cars around the track. I love to watch it go around! Sometimes I stand and spin around while the train drives around the track, and sometimes I set up the wooden trees that came with the track, and sometimes I just watch, and sometimes I go to another room and just listen to the train go. If Mommy goes and turns it off I run and turn it back on. The train has to keep running!

I should also tell you some of the things I am working on learning. My talking is getting better and better. Today I was spinning around and making my pants fly like a flag (I was not wearing them) and I said, “Pants are flying!” I also was pointing out the things that were driving on the road when Mommy and I went to the store together. “There’s some bus! There’s some car!” Mommy says I am confused about “count nouns” and “mass nouns.” I have no idea what she means by that.

Also, I can count to twelve, and sometimes even higher, without skipping any numbers. I used to skip “five” a lot but now I don’t anymore. I think I can get to “fifteen” without any help sometimes. And I know pretty much the whole alphabet now. I get mixed up about some of the letters, especially “K” and “X” and “Y”. They all look alike to me. But I more or less know all of the letters.

Let me see, what else can I tell you about? Oh, we have a Christmas tree. We went and cut it down together and then we brought it home and put it in our living room. It drinks water and we put lights and decorations on it and it is very pretty. I helped to decorate it. In fact I am still helping to decorate it. I take the decorations off and then put them back on. I put lots of red Christmas balls together in one section. I think it looks very nice. I am proud of helping.

Actually, I really like to help with lots of things, at least some of the time. For instance, I help Mommy with the laundry. She brings the laundry basket to the top of the stairs and then I throw the clothes downstairs, one at a time. I also like to help open and close doors and drawers for people. I will always gladly carry a bag for you if it is not too heavy for me. It is good to help because it makes people happy. I have noticed that. And I always politely say, “Thank you Isaac!” whenever I help someone, because that is what they say to me so I think it must be the right thing to say. Isn’t that polite of me?

I hope that this letter helps you to be happy. I like to help people be happy and laugh, so here is a tickle from me to help you laugh. Tickle tickle! Just pretend I am tickling you with my fingers. I love you!

Your great-grandson,

Isaac

Dear Great-Grandma,

Well, it has been so long since I wrote to you that I don’t even know what to say. The reason I haven’t been able to write in so long is that Mommy, who helps me to write the letters, has been spending every spare moment studying for her class. Don’t ask me what her class was about. I have no idea. But anyway, now she is done so we can write another letter to you.

I think the last letter I wrote was before we went to see my grandma and grandpa in Mississippi. Those are Daddy’s mommy and daddy. They live down there in Mississippi and so does my Aunt Roberta and Aunt Sarah and a dog named Lady. I had a wonderful time at their house. There was always somebody to read me a book or play with toys with me or help me put a puzzle together or listen to me talk. Everybody is very nice and they all like me a lot. So it was a good week.

But now it is almost Christmas! Mommy and Daddy have been singing Christmas songs to me and we are going to get a Christmas tree on Saturday. I like the lights and the wreaths and the candles and I like hearing about baby Jesus. I don’t really understand what’s going on but I am learning the words and someday I will put it all together.

I really like singing. I am not very good at singing myself, yet, but I always want Mommy and Daddy to sing to me. When they sing to me I learn the words, so then I can ask for the songs I like. I like the one about “Behold, behold, I stand at the door and knock knock knock” and “Climb up Sunshine Mountain” and also “Jesus loves me.” I also like the song about the three little kittens who lost their mittens, and Jingle Bells, and lots of other ones. What are your favorite songs, Great-Grandma?

I am learning so much right now. I can count to 12 without skipping any numbers–sometimes. I can recognize and name about half of the letters in the alphabet. I can take my pants off and put them on again–sometimes. I like to try to comb my hair and I am pretty good at putting my shoes on. And I am really good at talking. I use whole sentences now, like “Open the door” and “Read a book” and “Where’s the Mommy?”

One of my favorite games is “Chase you!” which means that I take off running, and Mommy or Daddy has to chase me around the house and catch me. Then they tickle me or throw me up in the air or something fun like that. I really like it. Sometimes I pick who it is I want to chase me. I say, “Chase you Daddy!” if I want Daddy to chase me. Opa was visiting yesterday and so I had him chase me. “Chase you Opa!” I also really like to tickle Mommy and Daddy. “Tickle tickle tickle!”

Oh, yes, it was Oma’s birthday yesterday and we gave her some presents and sang Happy Birthday to her. Mommy says that in two weeks it will be MY birthday. I am looking forward to that. She says I will be two years old. I am only one year old right now and so two is a whole lot older.

Do you remember about our chickens? Well, the chicken we named Elise is laying eggs now, and they are really yummy! We get one egg every day and sometimes it is hard to decide how to use it. I like to eat them for breakfast. Mommy likes to use them to cook things like cookies or bread. Daddy likes to fry them up and eat them all in one bite. Gulp!

Well, what else can I tell you? I am getting some new teeth. These are more molars. I don’t know why I need more molars and I really would rather not have them because they hurt and make me grumpy. I think they make Mommy grumpy too but I don’t know why they would do that. She says she thought I was two before, but she was wrong. What do you think she means by that?

I am growing up, little by little, Great-Grandma. I am learning about doing things by myself, and getting help, and how to be naughty and how to be good. I am learning to tell stories and to sing songs and to count and read books and someday I will learn to write letters all by myself, but not yet. I am pretty happy to be a little boy although it is hard to always hear “NO!” all the time when I am doing something especially interesting. I hear that word a lot and I say it a lot too. Do you hear that word? Does it make you mad, too? I don’t know why we should have it. It doesn’t make sense. Maybe someday I will understand.

Love,

Isaac

Dear Great-Grandma,

I’m sorry that I haven’t written in a while! I think it happens sometimes that I wait too long to write, and then there are so many things to talk about that I don’t know where to start so I wait even longer. Well, anyway, here I am again and I don’t know what I should tell you first!

Maybe I will work backwards. Today Mommy made bread for me. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet but it sure looks good. I should explain that wheat makes my tummy hurt and it is very hard to make bread without wheat, so it is really something special to have homemade bread from Mommy. This is the first time she has tried it and I think she did a pretty good job. She makes lots of things for us, like granola, and yogurt, and bread, and good things for supper. I really like it when she makes spaghetti or pizza. Those are two of my favorites. I also like tuna sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly.

We have been raking leaves outside. I like to jump in the piles! Mommy says it must be an instinct because nobody told me about jumping in leaf piles, I just did it. It just seemed like a good idea, you know? I also help Mommy put the leaves in the trash can so she can carry them to the road. Then a big vacuum cleaner truck comes and sucks up all the leaves! It is really amazing.

Mommy was sick last week. She had strep throat. She had a fever and didn’t feel good, so Daddy stayed home one day and took care of me. On Friday we went to the doctor and I got a flu shot and so did she, and she also got some medicine to help her feel better. And now she is all better! That is amazing too. Daddy and I have not gotten sick yet and I hope it stays that way. Mommy thinks we will probably be okay since we haven’t gotten sick yet.

We have some chickens! Their names are Beulah, Bertha, and Elise. They are in a cage in the back yard. Beulah and Bertha are the white ones and Elise is the black and white one. None of them lay any eggs. Mommy says they don’t get enough light right now. I think maybe I should take a flashlight out there for them so they can see to lay eggs. Do you think that would be a good idea? The chickens are funny to watch but sometimes they aren’t very nice to each other and I say, “No no, chickens!” I learned that from Daddy.

We didn’t celebrate Halloween but we did go to a party with our church friends and we all dressed up in costumes. I was a baby duck and Mommy and Daddy were the mommy and daddy ducks. I think Mommy has some pictures so maybe she can send them to you somehow. I liked being a duck and saying “Quack, quack!”

I am sure there are other things that have happened but I am forgetting them all now! So I will tell you about some things I am learning lately. I am learning the alphabet. I have lots of alphabet books and so it is sort of a natural thing to want to learn what they are all about. This morning in one of my books I recognized all the letters up to “G.” I got that one wrong because it looks a lot like “C.” I also like to point out “Qs” and “Ss” everywhere we go, and the letter “O” is also a nice easy one. That is the first one I learned because it is round like a circle or an oval. I can draw circles and ovals, and I drew a whole bunch of tiny circles and ovals today. I am sending one of my pictures to you. I hope you like it.

I am learning to take care of myself, too. This week I took my pants off all by myself for the first time. Mommy made suggestions but she didn’t help me, and I did it all by myself! I can also finish taking my shirt off if you get my arms out for me. And I can sometimes put my shoes on, but I usually don’t get them on the right feet. Another thing I am learning about is cleaning up. I know that sometimes it is good to put my toys away, so I am learning about how to do that. I like to help Mommy sometimes. (Other times it is kind of annoying that she wants me to help. Why can’t I just play when I want to?)

I am also learning about how things work. I can put a tape in my tape player and press “play” and it plays music! I also have a little workbench, just my size, that I like to take apart and try and put back together. Actually, I like to take all kinds of things apart, if I am allowed to. Sometimes I can get them back together again, and sometimes I can’t. I really like to do buckles. Buckles are a lot of fun. I put them together and then Mommy takes them apart and then we do it all again.

Oh, another thing that I do every day is go wake up Mommy and Daddy. They are always in bed when I wake up, so I take my stool and carry it to their room, put it by their bed, and climb up onto it and into bed with them. I say “Good morning! Wake up!” and then one of them wakes up and comes and plays with me. The other one usually stays in bed. I don’t know why. I never want to stay in bed once I wake up. It would be a silly thing to do because there is too much to learn about!

Next week, Mommy says we are going to drive a long, long way and go to Mississippi to see Daddy’s mommy and daddy and two of his sisters. I am excited. I like riding in the car and I like looking at pictures of Grammie and Grandpa and my aunts, so I will be very happy to see them and show them all the things I have learned. I can show off my good table manners. I eat with a fork and put my napkin on my lap, and wipe my face with it when it is messy. (Well, sometimes I do.)

Okay, I am going to go play with my blocks now and build a tall tower. So I will write to you again later. I hope you have a good week!

Love,

Isaac