Happy Birthday to You!

Brady, Aidan & Gavin play in their new house from mom & dad

Aidan, Brady and Gavin are turning two today! It is amazing to think that just two short years ago, i was enormous and my water broke sending curt and i on the ride of our lives! Recently we took the boys to the park after dinner (it was moderately cooler) and I said to him "Just think, a year ago the boys couldn't WALK! Now we are trying to make sure Gavin doesn't go home with someone else!" The leaps and bounds by which these boys have grown is always startling and amazing to me.

Who the boys are today:

Aidan - what? Are my shoes on the wrong feet or something?

Aidan: Our oldest son. You are a dare devil, you are a momma's boy in the best sense of the word, you take forever to eat, but you eat pretty much anything all the time, you love having your back gently tickled when you wake up (as well as your tummy tickled before you go to bed!), you LOVE your rabbits and take them nearly everywhere we will let you, and you seem to have a deep seated need to be carrying multiple things with you all the time. I love your sweet giggles and your funny hats, how much you love to stick stickers anywhere you can and that your first action with a marker was to sit and draw on yourself, the way you ask us to wipe your hands while you are eating and how much you love to accessorize with hats, shoes, and sunglasses.

Brady gets ready for the party!

Brady: Our middle child. You are probably the most sensitive to how we respond to you. You are mischievous in the best sense of the word, you are funny, you are the family narrator and you are getting better at that every day, you KNOW that you are funny and you are becoming more confident every day as you become a little boy. I love your hair that sticks up all the time, regardless of how long or short it is, how you instigate play with me ("Mommy fall down" as you push me so you can crawl on top of me for snuggles), how you ask about all of the family members and friends (and their pets) whom you remember so that you can get a run down on their day because you love them, how you laugh that guttural, adorable laugh, even if you are just making yourself laugh, and how you freely give your brothers kisses just for fun.

Gavin can't BELIEVE Elmo came to visit him on his birthday!

Gavin: Our youngest son. You are one of the strongest kids i have ever seen. You are passionate and energetic, you love to dance and listen to all types of music, you love to figure out how things work, and you play by yourself very well (sometimes too well - we want to play with you!), you are loving and snugly and have the most outrageous laugh! I love that I can see your back muscles, that you love books as much as I do, that you love tickles and kisses and even when your passion takes over, I love that you are passionate. I love how much you love animals, and your push and ride airplane (with spinning propeller), and Elmo (or ernie, bert, oscar, etc whom you have mastered their names).

For all three of these boys I am at once excited and petrified of when they will eventually go to school or day care. What if other kids are mean to them? or they don't feel included (even by their brothers one day)? or school is hard for them? or a girl (or boy) they like doesn't want to be their friend? what if (ok, so i probably need to say "when") they grow up and don't "need" mom and dad any more? What if they don't live long enough to fulfill my hopes for them - that they are able to live a long and fulfilling life as adults doing whatever will make them most at peace and happy?

On your birthday, mom and dad wish you all the joy you bring us and more. Happy 2nd Birthday Aidan, Brady and Gavin!