I haven’t been to a certified Doctor in years, but I get regular check ups from Dr. Xol, so I think I’m good.

Lucky us! Tia Eli and Sas came over to spend a day/night with us! The two of you had a blast and Tia and I can’t stop laughing when we’re all together. It was 24 hours of firsts! It was the first time Sas went into a pool! He’s only done kiddie pools before this. He was hesitant, but he did a great job of kicking his feet and playing in the shallow end! Another first was that you swam without any assistance from mom for the first time! Last summer I could barely keep my hands on you! You kept jumping into the water and pushing my hands away so you could do it yourself, but I was (mostly) too scared to let you do it. I let go a couple of times last year, but not for too long. This day, the only thing I did was keep you out of the deep end! You’re turning into a little fish. Let me just say that of course you are wearing floaties. You just turned 3! I’m not crazy! Ok, the last first (follow along) is Sas taking a bath in a big bath for the first time!! We needed to rinse off after swimming and we tossed you and Sas into the bathtub together. He loved it! Such a great time. I’m hoping we see a lot of this action this summer! We love our time with Sas and Tia Eli!

Every year around this time we say good bye to pop for anywhere from 4-8+ weeks. This summer, the tour is just 5 weeks, but because you’re older now it’s a little more difficult for you and pop to say good bye. You’re such a great sport though. I’m not sure how much of it you understand, but you do your best to hold it together. Pop has the hardest time leaving, but moments like this last breakfast, are special to all of us.

At this moment we were having a serious conversation about plumbers. You’ve always been bright. Especially gifted with language and vocabulary, but these days you are on another level. Now you sit me down and say, ” I want to ask you a few questions.” “Mom, how do you drive with a little person in your car? Mom, how do you swim with Sharks? Mom, what do fish eat?” I mean. Seriously? You literally just turned 3. I cannot imagine what is in store for either of us if this is how it begins. You really might rule the world. It was just a mustard seed of a thought before, but now. Now it is very clearly possible and likely. Either that or a fantastic journalist. Tata says I used to ask questions all day long too, but I’m betting I didn’t start this early! Go Xol. Go Xol!

You don’t know how lucky you are to have had your life touched by this woman.

Your pop and I have toyed with the idea of legally adding the name Rebel to Xol Victoria, but the jury is still out on that. The two middle names don’t flow. For now, I playfully refer to you as Xol Rebel sometimes. Bob Marley has a song called Soul Rebel…”I’m a rebel, let them talk, Soul rebel, talk won’t bother me. I’m a capturer, that’s what they say. Soul adventurer, night and day. I’m a rebel, soul rebel.” Anyhow, it’s just a play on words you see. This is a perfect yoga embodiment of one of the many sides to my little Xol Rebel.

Speaking of tea… One day we were playing tea and you asked me what color this tea pot was. I said, “Hot pink”. You replied with an “Oooh ooh. Ouch ouch!” I asked what was the matter and responded very matter- of-factly, “You said it was hot!”