Two Years. 730 Days. 24 months.

730 days? I don't even want to know how many diapers that translates into. I really need to be more proactive about potty training you since it is becoming readily apparent that I am a very lazy potty trainer. In theory you being able to go to the bathroom all by yourself is a great idea, but putting it into practice is much more difficult. Letting you continue in diapers seems so much more convenient when we are driving around town. And really, the thought of taking you into a public bathroom at say, the zoo, sounds so revolting I think I could keep you in diapers for a long long time.

Anyway, I didn't mean to start out this momentous second year post with a commentary on public bathrooms. Let's step back a moment and take it in. You are two! Seventeen more years until you go to college! How did we get to two already? Where did the time fly to? Two years ago you were this tiny screaming infant and now you are a twenty seven pound screaming toddler who can walk and talk and say hilarious things like, "Oh yes, airpane. Oh yes," when queried about what is in the sky. You can show us the football referees signs for first down, safety, false start, offsides, timeout and touchdown. The best one is first down because I taught you to throw some drama into it so you step forward and throw your fist out and yell, "Firs down!" It is SO awesome.

The breadth, depth and width of your obsession with Tasses/Thomas the Train has grown in the past month to epic proportions and while these posts tend to focus on your accomplishments, I will say I gave myself a huge pat on the back when I learned all the lyrics to the Thomas and his Friends song. You like to prompt me when I forget the line, "...down the hills, around the bends, Thomas and his friends." Your knowledge of the characters in Thomas astounds me. You know every single engine's name; even the minor characters like Henry. Your dad and I were so excited to give you your new train table this morning and it has not disappointed. You have been playing with it for the past three hours. You took a very brief break to eat some toast and now you are back at it circling the trains around the track that your dad and I set up last night whispering and trying not to drop the tracks since we were right outside your door. This morning you woke up and your dad recorded you as you walked out of your room to see the track. It was such a funny reaction. I had been expecting a high pitched yell of "Tasses!" but you calmly walked over to the table and started pointing out the engines.

A year ago you weren't even walking and you barely said Mama or Dad. Now you sprint from one end of the house to another and yell, "Bye Dad! Ove you Dad!" at bedtime. (The letter L is still non-existent in your vocabulary.) A year ago you still had to be spoon fed, made a mess of every single meal and found great joy in dropping food on the floor. Now you feed yourself, still make some messes but freak out when you drop food on the floor moaning, "Ohhh noooo." Or you will simply tell me, "So messy!" You caught a 12 hour stomach bug last week and when you threw up you just cried and cried, "So messy. Sorry Mama. Sorry." It broke my heart into about a bazillion pieces. A year ago you were still in your crib and now you are on the verge of getting a real twin bed. But I think the best thing about you becoming more grown up is the fact that you are so much more loving than you used to be. You will go up to almost anyone and throw your arms around their legs to give out hugs. You wrap your arms around your dad and me and announce, "Big Hug!" and then you hold my face in your hands and query, "big kiss?" before planting a huge sloppy kiss on my mouth.

We had a little party for you on Sunday to celebrate the twoness of you and amazingly the predicted thunderstorms did not materialize and the afternoon was perfect. The bright yellow leaves from the neighbors yard fell as you and your friends raced up and down the driveway and in and out of the garden. People sat on the lawn and the pimento cheese sandwiches were eaten and the juice boxes drunk and everyone sang Happy Birthday Dear Luke and I couldn't because I had a huge lump in my throat. When I finally got to hold you two years ago after my very long labor and I looked at your teeny tiny newborn face I could never have imagined the life we have now. I could not have dreamed how you would turn out to be the biggest challenge of my life and pretty much the best thing that has ever happened all wrapped up into one rosy cheeked, laughing, funny, little boy.

So big hug and big kiss little one. Happy Birthday.



Music: Nothing by Steve Foxbury off the Do Fun Stuff album. All proceeds from the album go towards Smith Magenis Syndrome research.