The Big 2

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Happy Birthday, Baylor!

Let's think back to a year ago, when you both turned 1. We had just moved a couple of months earlier to Illinois from Mississippi, and we were anxiously awaiting spring after a terrible Chicago winter. We were living in a college-provided duplex (with illegal pets) that reeked of cigarette smoke. (Otherwise, it was a great temporary home.) Your mama was pregnant with Charlotte, and her pregnant belly was just becoming noticeable. Your daddy was settling into his job teaching college students, and the previous day we had closed on our first house. Your Gampa and Gamma were visiting from Texas, and your Grandpa Case was staying for a week to help us with some improvements to the new home before we moved in. Neither of you had the greatest birthday because you both had ear infections. This was Baylor's sixth ear infection of the winter and Jack's fifth, and your Mama and Gamma had to take you to the doctor on the very morning of your birthday. (Unfortunately, that doctor missed Baylor's infection, which eventually got so bad that his ear drum nearly burst. That was a bad winter.) Because you were both feeling pretty crummy, our birthday photos feature you wearing only shirts, because pants evidently made you cranky.

Oh, wait, those aren't shirts, those are onesies. You were little guys.

You truly were little. And orange.  Evidently you were big fans of squash and carrots. You were big boys who were drinking cow's milk from sippy cups, and you were pulling yourselves up expertly and even attempting a few tentative steps. But mainly you crawled, and you were famously into everything. Who could forget the time that Jack zipped into the duplex's master bedroom closet and peeled paint off of the wall, ingesting several chips before his Mama figured out where in the heck he had crawled off to? Or how about Baylor's daily forays onto the shelf of the coffee table, where he would become lodged and start shrieking in fear and panic?

As much as she loved you then, your mother does not miss those days.

You didn't get a huge amount of presents for your first birthday, as you had absolutely no idea what in the world was going on, but you certainly made the most of the super-chocolate cupcakes your mother made. She was notoriously picky about what you ate in those early days, and this may have been the first taste of chocolate you ever had.

Baylor, after a few bites you starting behaving very strangely, shaking and jumping, like the sugar had been directly injected into your bloodstream. We still laugh about this. You have repeated this phenomenon a couple of times since, and always after a dessert.

Jack, it took you approximately .454 seconds to realize that this cupcake, it was good, and it needed to be shoved into your mouth in its entirety. Since then, you've never met a dessert you didn't like.

And now it's already been a year, and you are walking, talking, exploring, loving, discovering, learning, hugging, tantruming, cuddling two-year olds.

Today we'll celebrate your special day, your shared 2nd birthday, with more cupcakes, family, hot dogs, wrapping paper, and friends.

And let's leave the whining, temper tantrums, and ears-chock-full-'o-dirt at home, mkay?

We love you guys. You are, quite simply, two of the best things that have ever happened to us.