J is 2...We're in Trouble!

Dear J,

On your 2nd birthday, we're going to ask YOU to give US a present, ok? STOP GROWING UP so fast! Honestly! A blink ago, we were racing through the streets of Santa Clara, horn blazing, to get to the hospital for you to be born...and now, you're this amazing little person running around our life at the same 60mph that we were moving at on March 8, 2014. Already, your personality is way too big for your 33 inches and 22 pounds. You have a personality which has melted our hearts and makes us shake our heads, agreeing with what Papa always says, "We're in trouble."

It's so easy to forget that you're just two. You are so well spoken, especially when you're recounting something fun you did during the day. "I went to park. Did swinging." Or asking for asking for something, "Gummy bear please," (jeez, you love those gummy bears). Or the other night when you told Mommy, “Daddy get me out of bath. I be nice.”

So often we were told that when a younger sibling comes along, the elder does all the talking. Not with you. We hear your voice just as often as any of the rest of our voices sitting around the dinner table or echoing through the hall as you and E play.

You're so loving. It can't be said enough: you give amazing hugs. Even your brother tells me, "She gives the best hugs." There's nothing like the minute before putting you into your crib and feeling your little arms squeezing, feeling your deep breaths, and the smell of your hair. You're a physical person (ok, some call us 'huggers'), much like Daddy, and he’s stoked about having another one in the family.  

In particular, this powerful loving comes out when you're with E. How you will run his dirty laundry to the hamper. How you get him tissues if his nose needs one. How you zoom his cars with him. Or follow him around the house, a single step behind, belting out your renditions of the Frozen Heart. Or how you hug him. Or always ask where he is. Or hand him new books while he sits on the potty. We could go on and on and on, though it suffices to say that each instance of you demonstrating your capacity to love deepens our ability to do so.

That love extends to our dogs. Only other dog people will fathom how amazing it is to see your affection towards our red-devil dogs, even if you rarely remember which is Cody versus Bailey (in the end, they don't care either -- as long as you’re giving them pets with those crumb-laden hands). Many of the best memories from the last year are sitting back and watching your unabashed smile when Bailey gives you "kisses!" Or when you cuddle with Cody telling him, "Cody is a good boy." Or every night when you make Daddy read you and both of them a story before bed. It’s amazing beyond words.

Another head-shake-worthy part of your personality is that you're...how do we say this? Your will is strong. More often than not, you have a very specific vision of the world. Half-jokingly, we often tell people that you're an angel as long as we're doing exactly what you want, exactly when you want it. Truthfully, it can be frustrating at times. Like refusing to try any fruit except apple sauce or the fact that you tell Mommy, "No pony tail," the second she tries to pull her hair back. However, this will is also spectacular. You never give up on anything. Your vision of what you want is clear (or, at least, it's clear to you). It'll be our job to work with you to make sure to aim this toward the powers of good. 

You're incredibly beautiful (as in sometimes we look at you and wonder how you came from our DNA -- then we remember that Mommy was involved, so that explains it). Now, some people may frown upon the fact that we're going to praise you on your beauty. Fooey on them because you are one-in-ten-million, maybe one-in-a-hundred-million. Your dimple keeps you out of a lot of trouble, but your eyes are what truly captivate. One is hazel and the other is half deep brown. This split coloring is called a fractured eye. And the story that speaks to us is an old one about how people with fractured eyes are so beautiful that the fairy came and split their eye coloring to give them a single flaw. But it backfired because it made those people more perfect than they already were. 'Nuff said.

As we write this, it seems like we were mistaken at the beginning of this letter…we’re not in trouble. The world, J, is what’s in trouble…in the very best sense of the phrase. Because even at 2, there’s so much potential barely contained in your tiny frame that we had all better prepare ourselves as best we can now. In another blink, you’ll be an amazing woman taking on the world.

We love you so, So, SO much,

Happy Birthday,

Mommy & Daddy