It's True ... You're TWO!

My Darling Ezra,

Today, my precious one, you are TWO!



I've tried to figure out just exactly how two years passed me by and though I can't explain it, I can explain this : you are beautiful - you are a treasure - you are my baby.  You bless this family each and every day with your presence, your joy, your pleasurable nature and sweet disposition, and your brilliant sense of humor.  I can't get enough of you!



You are so precious, Ezzers.  You continue to be exactly who I envisioned you to be when I daydreamed about you in my pregnancy.  I envisioned a cute and bubbly little boy, full of life and love ... eager to bring happiness and giggles.  I dreamed you would have a touch of bashfulness, relying on your big brother in new situations and quietly sitting back to check it all out.  You are exactly that little boy.  But at home, oh my little one, you are a barrel of LAUGHS.  You are always the life of the party, eager to listen in on stories about yourself that I tell Daddy when he comes home, and always ready to make us laugh.  Sometimes I just look at you and explode into giggles.  You exude JOY, my love.  It is just a natural, innate part of who you are.  Happy.





I've always seen such happiness in your pretty face.



You continue to love your Boo-Boo Bear and you sleep with him every night.  Sometimes you just like to drag him around with you and he is becoming quite tattered.  He was a gift to you when you were born from the Newborn Ministry at our Church.  Now that we are moving in a couple months, your Daddy and I were talking about how special it is that you chose him to cling to at such an early age.  We feel like your first church will always be a part of your life through your Boo Boo.



You are just talking up a storm!  Every day you say something that I didn't know you could, and you speak in complete sentences and always end it with the persons name.  Some of the cute things you say that I hope you never grow out of (but I really hope you do, because I don't want you being 12 and talking like that) are: gwink (drink), cream cream (ice cream - although you just recently started calling it ice cream. Boo-hoo!), pase-pase (toothpaste), Wuvi (Levi), pamly hug (family hug), shooch (church), ring ring (earring) ... just to name a few.  Simply adorable!



The other day Levi stepped on a piece of glass and was in a lot of pain.  He asked Daddy to pray for his foot and you walked up to Daddy, stuck your foot out and said, "Dada, a pray me too pwease?" You little sweetheart!



You love to tell knock-knock jokes, though they never make sense.
You are obsessed with your "pack"and you often want two - one to suck, one to hold.
You do a killer impersonation of Cookie Monster.
You are the strongest kid I've ever met.
You stick your lips WAY out when you are mad and say "no".
You love church and cry when we drop big brother off at Awana on Wednesday nights.
You love to cuddle and want to be held a lot.
You are very sensitive and super sweet.
You love fruit and meat - you always avoid the carbs!
You tell me when you're going "tee-tee" and you pat your diaper.
Your favorite place to be is outside.
Your prayers are the sweetest in life - you cover your entire face with your hands!
You could be read to all day long.



You are a big Mommy's Baby and I love it!  Sometimes you just need your Mommy and that is perfectly fine by me. :)  My favorite sound in the world is when you say, "I love you, Momma".  You have the sweetest, highest, most precious voice on earth! And your kisses are just too much to handle. You get and give about a bazillion a day. :)



Your favorite thing to do at night is wrestle with your Daddy! When he walks in the door you take off running and screaming, "DADA! DADA!" and welcome with a big hug and a kiss.  It's one of your most favorite times of day! You also love playing silly games with him, exploring with him, and just spending sweet time with him.  You love your Daddy!



Your brother is your best friend.  When he's not around, you simply don't know what to do with yourself.  You boys have the sweetest friendship on earth and Ezra, I hope you always realize what an excellent big brother you have.  He loves and cherishes you beautifully, and he is always watching out for you.  You boys truly enjoy each other's company, rarely fight, and can make each other laugh unlike anyone else.  You have something special there, and I pray you foster and nurture that relationship all of your life.



Something I always want to remember and replay over in my mind is you in a diaper, running around the house with your fast little legs and curls bouncing up and down with every step.  You are the CUTEST little thing!  I just want to bottle this age up and take it back out every now and then.  Such a precious time.



You make THE funniest faces ever and you know it's hilarious.  You do this one where you look down and then wrinkle your eyebrows and look up with your eyes, and it absolutely kills us.



You are so brave, and you always have been.  If Levi can do it, you think you can, too.  That's why you were crawling at 5 months old!  You are such an athletic little thing - climbing things with ease and keeping up with the big kids.  You have adventure in your heart and the confidence to go out and do it!



Your newest thing to say is, "WAIT"!  When you don't want someone to leave you scream it.  When Daddy puts you down at night and you're not quite ready, he walks out the door and I hear, "Wait Daddy!  Wait Daddy! WAIT!" Haha!

You ate three bananas yesterday.  THREE!  You just kept begging for them all day long.  I'm going to need to start buying 3 bunches at a time, you little monkey.



You are always handing me things and saying, "here you go, Momma", and you won't leave until I take it.  The other day you needed Daddy to come fix something and you toddled in to where we were and said, "a little help here, Dada".  I just about LOST it!



You like to watch Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Oh, and on my phone you are always me to watch Pinky Dink Do that your brother thought you would like.  He sure was right!



Your hair is the most amazing thing in life.  When people see it, they can't help but run their fingers through it - even strangers!  It's the softest, curliest, little puff of freshly spun golden silk.  And it is SO YOU!  I call it your halo, my little angel!



This past week you have been sick and you have been throwing totally out of the norm fits.  I told your Daddy that you were testing out the whole terrible two bit!  You've been screaming, "No way, Momma! No way, Dadda!'  That lands you in Time Out and then you come out with your legs wrapped around my waist, arms around my neck as tight as humanly possible and you lay your head on my shoulder and say, "I sorry, Momma" in a soft little voice.  Too precious!  But goodness sakes,  the fits sure aren't as sweet. :)



I could go on and on with stories and Ezzers-isms that make you so lovable, but I just wanted to let you know how proud I am of you.  You are a brilliant little child, sweet as sugar, and so very loving.  You are an absolute delight to parent and I am humbled greatly to bear that privilege.  I am brought to my knees more than you know, thanking God for you, and praying blessings upon your little life - that you will always know how deeply loved you are, that you grow up to be a good friend to others, that you will become a man of integrity - honest and faithful. But most importantly, that you will hear God's voice at an early age and that your precious, most amazing little heart will be drawn to Him with a force so great nothing could tear it apart.



I say all the time that when I became a Mommy, I gained a greater understanding of the love God has for me.  I know I can't comprehend it fully, and never will, but I know that the love I have for you and your brother is unlike anything I have ever experienced. And my love, it does not even come close to how much Jesus loves you.  Know that and live that.  He loves you and has a plan for you.  Follow Him all of your days, my baby.  That is my greatest desire for you.



You are a special gift to us, Ezra Ray.  I love you to depths that transcend the ocean, and so fierce it cannot be tamed.  What a blessing your life is.  As much as I want to keep you my baby, I cannot wait to watch you bloom!



Happy Birthday, my Littlest.
You are my heart!
Love,
Mommy