Happy Birthday to My Sweet Baby James!

Happy Birthday James!

Dear James,

This week you turned two!  Where o where has the time gone?  As we sat and ate our breakfast together and I sang happy birthday to you I couldn't help letting my mind rewind to two years ago when I was in the hospital with you.  I was just getting to know you and hold you for the first time.  You were so sweet and tiny.  I truly can't believe it has already been two years!

Here we are meeting for the first time

Now you are my little man... no longer a baby, but a big boy and a busy one at that!  We are having so much fun with you these days.  Overnight you have become a person, talking up a storm and imitating everything we say and do.  You make me laugh all the time... even when you are up to mischief... I still can't help but crack a smile.  You are such a sweet boy!  Here is one of our recent conversations.

You had your two year check up yesterday and you weighed almost 33 pounds and your height was 37 inches.  You are in the 97th percentile for height and the 96th percentile for weight and head circumference.  We love that you are such a sturdy boy!  You still eat pretty much everything we put in front of you and you never put up a fight when it's time for a meal.  You eat a scrambled egg for breakfast almost every morning and a peanut butter and jelly for lunch.  You love almost every kind of fruit and do pretty well with vegetables.  You also love yogurt!  You are doing pretty well eating with a fork and are starting to get the hang of the spoon.  "Sacks" (i.e. snacks!) are also a favorite and as soon as I put you in a shopping cart it's the first thing you ask for.

You are wearing 2T clothes and can even fit into some 3T's!  Shoes are nearly impossible to fit on your Fred Flintstone feet.  We have to buy you an extra wide, which is hard to come by in most shoe departments.  You just started wearing size 5 diapers... time to start potty training!  They are so big that they almost look like they would fit me!  We will attempt the potty this fall:)

You are all boy!  Your favorite toys right now are cars, trucks and more trucks!  Our playroom is quickly becoming consumed with every type of dump truck, digger, tractor and matchbox car you can buy.  It's really fun to watch your imagination develop as you run them around on the floor and have conversations with yourself.  Every time we go to Nana and Pop's house you run right out onto the porch and open their toybox to reach for a container of cars.  Then you and Pop play contentedly on the floor for an hour or more talking and having a ball.  It's so cute!

Some of my favorite phrases that you are using right now are:
Where Mama go?
Dada truck
Mama car
We're here (when we pull into anyone's driveway)
It's ready (When the microwave dings)
No, no, fall down (when I put you on our bed)
All done show (when we turn off the tv)
Oh dear (if something bad happens)
Baby's crying (when Ethan cries)
Oh cow (you overheard Daddy on this one lamenting someone missing a catch in a baseball game.  i.e. Holy cow)
Yuck poopoo (another one that Daddy taught you... lovely!)

There are so many more because you literally imitate everything we say now.  We really have to watch what we let come out of our mouths!  You even imitate the intonation of our voices.  It's hilarious!  Every time I get on the phone you run to the drawer to get your your play phone and start your own conversation.  I love it!

James, you are so sweet and fun.  Every time you learn something new I think, "this is my favorite age", but really I love them all.  It is an honor and a privilege to be your mama.  Every night when I put you to bed I tell you that you are my joy.  And I mean that.  Some days are tough and you give me a real run for my money, but truly you give me moments of such joy and laughter every day.

I pray that you will always know how much you are loved by God and by your family.  I pray that you will come to know Him personally from a young age and desire to give your whole life to Him.  May you be a strong warrior for His Kingdom.

Love to you always.  Happy Birthday sweet boy!

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  Then Christ will make his home in your heart as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

~Ephesians 3:16-19