The Beginning of the End (of the Pandemic)!

 My Dearest Evan,

You are such a busy 3-year-old these days! You still have a little kid talk which is so adorable. I barely remember Avery's so I'm trying to do everything possible to remember yours. You still love dinosaurs but you're quickly becoming a super hero fan. You love to call yourself Evan Big Dog or Evan Super (which is hard because sometimes you adamantly deny being Evan Stein). You're very much into your virtual preschool, Super Wings, your water table, and you're new puppy, Pascal! 

Yes, we got a puppy in January. You're pretty rough on him, laying on him and pulling him like a normal toddler so we have to keep a close eye on you with your dog but you love him so much and you're learning. He loves laying on your bed and playing with you (he thinks he's one of the kids). You don't like him jumping on you but you do love to do chores for him. You feed him, put him in his kennel, take him out of his kennel and let him outside, bring him inside when he won't come (you're good at that), and you even help Avery with her chore of picking up his poop in the backyard.

You're also in swim still and there's a little girl in your swim class with you. You help your dad drop your sister off and pick her up at school every day and you still nap like a champ. You're saying like "I'm not doing this" like your mom (oops) and you will start to run after making a couple of sounds (bwack, click). Haha, it's strange but super cute. You do a little jump in the middle of running too. Your favorite part of preschool is Thursday dance day.

I know that years from now, you'll wonder what the pandemic was like so here are a few things to document it for you....

• we didn't get to see family in person
• all clubs, including swim stopped for a while
• both of your parents worked from home full time for the first 4 months - then, dad stopped working full time so he could parent full time and mom started going back into the office a couple of days a week
• Cierra came to watch you and play with you 
• our evenings were free to spend at home together because everything was closed and we weren't supposed to be out near other people
• we started walking the bankrupt golf course near our house
• we began a new movie tradition on the weekends: one night was family movie night and one night was kid/parent movie night where we watched movies separately
• we saved more money than expected
• we got store bought items delivered to us in the car in the parking lot which was not the norm before
• we learned to use Air B&B
• Avery said her favorite part of COVID was all the time we spent together as a family
• Avery also learned some great computer skills when doing school from home
• mom's work paid for Cierra and some cool work from home gear
• we bought a bounce house to have fun while socially distanced
• you got private swim lessons
• all four of us got COVID in December but we survived
• by now, both mom and dad have had their first dose of the vaccine (a two-dose vaccine)
• we have plans to see grandma and pop in a month

I'm sure there's more and while there were a lot of bad things that happened during the pandemic, I want you to know that a lot of good came out of it as well.

At your three year old checkup, we learned that you're going to be short and stout when you grow up. You have been working on potty training and have peeing down but you struggle with constipation and are afraid of pooping on the toilet - we're working on that so you can start preschool in August and maybe even visit a few times before then.

You still suck your thumb some, you ask for tickles and kisses when I put you to bed, you often come into my room in the wee hours of the morning to sleep the rest of the night with me and you insist on cuddling on your own terms. You have a short temper. You have also caught on that I love the feel of your baby skin on your back and chest so you also rub it and say "oooo, soft skin" :) 

Here's your life in pictures right now.....

New swim outfit!

Checking out the turtles at Home Depot

Right where you belong!

Entertaining you while dad works out!

Ready for swim lessons!

Tired coming home from the Phoenix zoo!

New puppy!

I think you like tbe bounce house more than Avery does!

Leading the way!

New puppy - can't leave him alone!

oh my heart!

Dad's got you liking hummus - and you like to eat a lot of the veggies that he preps, especially cucumbers!

Homework!

Chillin'

Where are your pants?

It's a complicated process

Went looking for plants and found farm animals!

New park near our house - you LOVE this slide!

We rented an entire theater to see the new Tom and Jerry movie - you both loved it!

Playing your new game

Awwww

Dino model

Can't get enough!

New park!

You've gotten really good at riding your trike and your scooter, which you call a skateboard!

New BBQ place in town!

SNOW!

Head got too big for the old helmet - had to get you a new one!

Pulled out the water table again!

Helping me water my flowers

NOT having fun joining mom for her vaccine - we were there a total of 50 minutes

"Watching" Avery ride a horse

To the rescue!

Yard dice!

Pascal's first walk!

Making puppy chow!

Today is Easter and first thing this morning, we caught you hiding while eating your entire chocolate bunny in one sitting. And if that weren't enough, we caught you trying to take Avery's after we hid yours from you! You're a little rascal but you're just the best - love love love being with you and seeing how your mind works.

All my heart,

Mom