Happy Birthday, Busy Bee!!

My sweet boy is TWO!  Last year, I was very emotional when he turned one.  This year, I'm excited and I'm proud, but it's not as bittersweet for me.  I've thought of him as not-a-baby since last year, so at this point, I'm just excited as he learns something new or masters another skill.  Last year, I wrote Busy Bee a letter on my (old) blog (which, by the way, I'm inspired to go find and read...and maybe re-post here?), and it's a tradition I'd like to keep up.  So, without further ado, here's what I want to say to Busy Bee:

Dear Busy Bee,

You have grown so much in the last year!  I've been looking back at your one year birthday pictures, and you looked like such a baby still!  You're not a baby anymore!  You're a full fledged toddler.  You amaze me every day with something, be it saying something you've never said before or doing something you've never been able to do before.  What fun it is for me to watch you grow!  Right now, you love Sesame Street (you say it "Ess Street"), Curious George, cars and trucks,  wooden puzzles, numbers and letters, and making "trains" and towers with blocks - or anything else.  Your trains are essentially just lines of things - two or more blocks, cars, or other objects that you line up next to each other.  "Mama, I make a TRAIN," you tell me every time.  I love your enthusiasm and your excitement about it.  You love to go outside with me to water the flowers or check the mail, and now that the weather is turning a little bit cooler, we're staying outside for a wagon ride or to kick your ball.

You are seriously beginning to try my patience.  I talked to your grandpa on the phone yesterday after a particularly trying morning (you got two spankings before lunch!), and he reminded me that you are starting to go through the process of asserting your independence, so that some day ( a LONG time from now, please) you will be able to start your own family.  I want you to be able to do that, but we're going to have to work on helping you ways of asserting yourself while still obeying.  I know I'm not perfect, and I'm not going to get every situation or response just right, but I promise you that because I love you, I won't let you get away with much.  Your papa and I want you to be the very best you can be, because we love you, and we want you to learn how to be a grown up that will glorify God.  That is our legacy to you.

But before you think that I don't love every day with you (even if it's true that I don't love every minute - it sure isn't easy to discipline you), I should make sure to tell you that yesterday afternoon and evening you were very agreeable and we had lots of fun.  We went for a wagon ride, played with bubbles outside, came inside for a bath - which you loved - and then you played nicely while I made black beans and tacos for supper (that's one of your favorites).  You ate all the food on your plate (a rare feat these days) and we took a handful of M&M's outside on the deck for an after supper treat.  You L.O.V.E. chocolate, which you say "choc-ate" and usually have a very small, sly grin on your face when you say it with a very sing-songy voice.  We went inside to watch Wheel and then, instead of the usual Jeopardy, you requested we watch "Baby Muh-guck,"  which means you wanted to watch a DVD of PraiseBaby ("muh-guck" is the way you say music right now).  You snuggled contentedly on my lap for the entire half hour and it was soothing for my soul to be in harmony with you after a long day.

You won't know how much I love you until you have kids of your own and you have to make all the hard choices Papa and I are having to make right now.  Like your grandma says to me, "I love you bushels and tons and buckets and barrels, " and like Big Nutbrown Hare says to Little Nutbrown Hare, " I love you to the moon...and back."  Happy birthday, my precious sweet potato pumpkin pie!  (You giggle when I call you that!)

With love and many prayers for you this year and always,
Mama