Happy Birthday to my JD,

It occurred to me today how BIG you have gotten and how long it had been since I last wrote you a letter so here I am tonight...

You turned the big T-W-O last Sunday and as much as we knew the date, prepared for your little party and were ready to go, P-Daddy and I definitely had a moment together long after you had gone to bed that night. We were staring at each other, tears in our eyes, talking about little old you and how we couldn't believe you were two...already! And in true mama fashion (that I am sure you will grow to love, then hate, then hopefully love again), to lighten the mood I pulled down my pants (whoa-don't worry, not going to go too graphic here) to show P-Daddy the scar that was a part of bringing you into the world and giggled at how that was also two years old.

Tonight as I sit in our quite home, look over at your toys neatly put away I am thinking to myself how I cannot imagine my life, our life without those toys in it. And no toys would be here without you and I cannot my dear understand what life would be like without you. I mean I know there are many, many mothers who are out there feeling the exact same way too but it somehow feels really special to have that feeling about you.

You stand 31/2 feet tall now (seriously catching up to your mom WAY too fast) and proudly do you stand Mr. JD. You already have these muscles that are crazy big for just being a toddler. You have walked on your tippy toes for some time now and that has for sure contributed to your mean calf muscles...but it doesn't stop there! You have biceps and chest muscles too. May be because you try and lift the kitchen table at least three times a day (and sometimes succeed) or push heavy doors open when we are in public, or all of the other muscle man activities you decide are necessary to attempt in a days time...

You are talking now, a feat that P-Daddy and I weren't sure was going to happen any time soon. Oh but don't worry, cause we weren't. We knew you would speak, in English at some point, but as you do everything, we also knew it would be on YOUR time. You have ALWAYS been very vocal, but talked in your own language. You still do that and look at me in the most sincere way as if I am supposed to know EXACTLY how you feel about that particular sentence, so most of the time I tell you "exactly" and you seem to be happy with that (so far). But today, while grocery shopping I had given you your snack cup to munch on in your little grocery car while I raced through the store...low and behold you finished in the first 1/3 of the store and proudly stuck your little hand out of the car and pronounced "more, more, more" until I found the snack aisle and refilled your cup. Music to my ears son...MUSIC to my ears to hear your little voice telling me what you would like. Here's to hoping that the word "please" is next in line on the vocab list. :)

You are a "do-er" at heart. You have always been this way but your "do it allness" has really come out a lot lately. You show me around the house pointing to where things should go, like laundry and fans and humidifiers and your blankets. You are very perceptive and you really do know where everything should go. You also have started the routine of pointing to the table when I or P-Daddy is getting your food ready, kind of like "ummm...bring on the bacon"...but lets be clear, you only do the point when its something you are looking forward to. This, my dear, unfortunately is a rarity in our home. I cannot WAIT until you start pointing and saying "more peas mom, more peas PLEASE."

You are the best hugger right now. You LOVE giving people bear hugs, fully embracing them with your hands wrapped around their neck. It is so lovely that I tear up just thinking about it. You also give kisses ALL the time now. You used to be rather stubborn about this and wouldn't do it unless you saw fit but now you pucker up and walk over to whomever will kiss you in that moment. ..and I am pretty sure I speak for the majority when I say a big mmmmwwwwwaaa back at ya!

I can't write this letter without mentioning your love and devotion for electrical cords. The only time you throw fits (for now) is when I take an electrical cord away from you. They are your PRIZED possessions when you can get your little hands on one and you walk from outlet to outlet (supervised of course) plugging and unplugging and plugging and unplugging it in. You discovered how to take the outlet covers off, oh I don't know...when you were about 18 months old so at this point we just watch you with a very close eye and from time to time allow you to do your plugging and unplugging. Everyone joked that was going to be the gift of choice for your 2nd birthday. I think you seriously would have been elated, but P-Daddy and I said a big "NO" to that one. We have to draw the line somewhere Mr...and just so you know a head of time, this will not be the ONLY line we draw. :)

You LOVE yourself some Daddy. Pretty much whenever given the opportunity you will mention his name. And its always a babble story, then Daddy, then babble, then Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. And its DADDY, never Dadda. But for whatever reason I am mama, never mommy. I could CARE less what you call me though, I am just glad that I have a name in your book because for the longest time I too was Daddy. When Daddy gets home from work you RUN to see him and giggle and smile and embrace him as if it has been years!! I LOVE this and I know your Daddy does too. Its so fun for me to watch you love him and he love you.

You really do embrace "night night" time which I realized while GranBeck was visiting is really not that normal (but just for the record, "normal" is boring...never strive for this k?!). You really don't cry when we lay you down for a nap or bedtime, its normally met with smiles and a "bye." The other night, it was bedtime and you were drinking your milk and watching Sesame Street sitting in my lap "winding" down, and all of the sudden you saw your beloved "Dirt Devil" broom across the room and decided that you needed to have it, right at that moment. So you dropped everything, ran over to it and "swept" the carpet for about one minute. Then you put it back in its place, looked over at me and said "night night" and then looked at GranBeck and said "bye" and came over put your hands up for me to whisk you away to bedtime. Freaking precious child, you certainly do know how to pull at your mama's heart strings and me getting sleep is one way to do that! I do see this as unbelievable as you really didn't like to sleep at all for the first nine months of your life and for the longest time I still held my breath every time I laid you down for any sort of sleep. But I breathed a sigh of real relief the other night realizing that you too appreciate some down time in your life and do like to sleep. Thank you Lord JESUS for that...

As your mama I could go on and on and on but these moments really do highlight the little man you are right at this moment. You are loved by so many...I want you to always know this love.

Happy Second Birthday Son...I can't wait to celebrate many, many more years with you!

Love,

Mama