Happy birthday, Nicholas!
I can’t tell you how hard it is to believe that you’re already two years old! It literally seems like yesterday that you came into our lives (a little early to be sure but healthy which was all we really wished) and not so long ago that we had your first birthday party.
It doesn’t seem so long ago that you were this helpless little thing… we had to carry you wherever you went, everything you ate came in a bottle we had to feed you, occasionally dress you, and do just about everything else for you. Sounds a lot like your little brother Alexander, eh?
Now we look at you and can’t believe just how big you’ve gotten and how talkative you are! It wasn’t enough just to start speaking…no, no… you had to be our little overachiever who actually started stringing them together into meaningful sentences. The mornings are usually a litany of daddy, bye-bye, truck, work and the evenings where Mommy goes to work is greeted with mommy, bye-bye, work. It seems that every day that passes has a few new words added to the vocabulary. It may well be the bigger trick to get you to occasionally be quiet but then Daddy has the same problem so don’t worry about it too much.
Not only has the breadth of vocabulary been growing at an impressive rate, the creative application of it has grown as much if not more. You certainly know who your baby is and his name as well as yours when you decide to own up to it. OK, every kid right now is baby but we all know who your special baby is. The fact that you love your little brother and he absolutely adores you is touching in more ways than you’ll ever know. But even with that, I don’t think we were quite prepared for this one incident where you engaged in some seriously explosive flatulence (as in THE SMOKING LAMP IS NOW OUT THROUGHOUT THE SHIP!!!)…and then got this sly smile and and angelic look on your face…and then tried to blame the baby for it!
I guess that’s something we have to work on in the coming year so that the future years may be less painful for you. A word to the wise: we aren’t quite as dumb as you may think we are! If you keep that in mind when you’re making mischief and own up to what is truly your doing, we’ll get along quite fine. We’re pretty good at identifying the perpetrator by process of elimination. In this case identifying the point source of the explosion by sound and smell was pretty much instantaneous and trust me on this one, you didn’t have to be the CSI dude to lay an air tight (ugh, horrible pun!) case for prosecution. It’s a process that’s much easier when we know we didn’t do it and Alexander wasn’t anywhere near ground zero!
For what it’s worth, it was far worse for Daddy when he was growing up. Bill Cosby was quite right about this…at least with two or more children involved, there is some element of doubt and you have to engage in evidence gathering and discovery to get at the truth. The fact that you figured that out at an early age and tried to exploit it to your advantage is one more sign of you being an overachiver in the cleverness department. You see, Daddy never really had that option…as an only child, there really wasn’t any doubt as to guilt when the charges were laid (Gramps once told me that the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) tends to be applied the same way so he was already pretty comfortable by extending the concept of we already know you’re guilty so all we’re deciding are the terms of punishment to our family tribunals).
Even when Uncle Ben and Aunt Meghann came along, Daddy was far too old at that point to try to pin things on them…and besides, he was always being blamed for their mischief as well. Not that he’s at all bitter about that or anything but I’m going to try to refrain from dropping the hoary old but you’re older and should know better line on you. I did know better…but when there were two of them on opposite sides of the house and only one of me…well, you’re just not going to win when the chips are down and explanations are required. That’s the part about being the big brother which stinks on ice…having to defend the indefensible for things you didn’t actually do. Being the first kid also means that your parents are trying all sorts of nifty parenting ideas on you and then getting it right on the subsequent children. But on the bright side, you don’t tend to end up with hand-me-down clothes and toys… 🙂
But you’re getting a free pass on this one because honestly, it was so darned funny seeing that smile and you trying desperately to pin the crime on Alexander that frankly we couldn’t help but roll on the floor laughing until it hurt. Very clever…but we’re on to you now! 🙂
Walking and climbing certainly haven’t been a problem for you for quite a while and is the main reason for that jungle gym we built in the back yard. If we didn’t have it, you’d probably be climbing the walls and everything else. Oh, wait a minute…you actually were! You come by it honestly, at least. You remind me of the truest words ever spoken by one of the wits on the back of the EPCOT trams that take passengers to the ticket booths from the parking lot: you have parked in the ENERGY parking lot…ENERGY is that thing that your kids will have at the end of the day but YOU WILL NOT!.
But even the simple things show how far you’ve come in two years and never ceases to amaze me. A few months ago, you started carrying your clothes to the hamper in your bedroom and chucking them in after a bath (and wait for the obligatory yay, Nicholas and when it didn’t come quick enough, you were more than willing to clap your hands for yourself…you’d certainly earned the ovation!). And now bath time is a ritual of collecting the pajamas, drawing the bath, playing and splashing in it, getting dried off after it, a hug and a kiss (or several), turning on the ducky night light, brushing the teeth, and then into the hamper the clothes go. Even when Daddy might think about missing a step…you never do!
Another thing that is a joy to see is when you’re playing with other children. It’s obvious that you love being around them and your sense of sharing and fair play is quite remarkable given your age. I know of people many times your age who have problems with being nice to others but it seems to come naturally to you. If you need proof, we’ve seen you in action at the play area at Triangle Town Centre…and we’ve been awfully proud telling the other parents that you are our son.
But the thing I’ve found most interesting is that you’ve managed to balance a fiercely independent streak with the occasional curl up in the lap for a cuddle. Most people never really hit that sweet spot but you’ve certainly perfected it.
It’s hard to believe you’re two years old today. It really does seem like yesterday to us. When you’re our age and you have kids of your own, I’m sure you’ll understand what we’re feeling right now.
Tonight’s fun was a run round Chuck E. Cheese riding the rides, eating a bit of pizza, and then riding the rides some more. But mostly it was some time to relax a bit from the rigors of real life and just enjoy your birthday in advance of the official party.
