June Cleaver Nirvana

I went to get Rhett up this morning out of his crib and announced to him, "Today is your birthday, you are two!" and he replied, "Happy!"

Happy Birthday Rhett. In honor of this most important event I am throwing out all attempts to blog in an unbiased, interesting and clever way and just get gushy.

You, my vanishing baby, are my third, my last, my easiest, my hardest and my most exuberant. You are my crazy, blue-eyed and redheaded buddy. How I love you, let me count some of the ways:
1. I love that you have red hair. Who knew genetic material could be so....recessive.
2. I love that when I say "my baby is crazy" it is not an exaggeration. I love that even though you were given the cliche'd role of third boy, you have made it your own.
3. I love (and am occasionally frightened) that I have found you standing on the kitchen deck, on the washing machine, on the dining room table, on your brothers' top bunk, top of our swingset and on the top shelf of your brothers' closet. I love that there is no slide too tall or climbing tower too difficult for you. I love that your adventurous spirit can't be squashed by the small detail of safety.
4. I love that you believe you are 5.
5. I love that you are a particpater. I love that you throw yourself into life with a contagious enthusiasm that oozes out of your hands, feet, dancing body, sparkling eyes and smile.
6. I love that you have a huge vocabulary, but choose to only pronounce 10% of it so we actually can understand it. I love that you randomly assign nicknames to words and then everyone in the family is following your lead. I love that you call all animals "cow" say "moo" and then laugh hysterically.
7. I love that you scream "I am not a baby" any time your brothers refer to you in that way. I love that you refer to yourself as baby around any adult. I love that you have shunned anything baby like sippy cups, booster seats, and baby toys. I love that you dearly cling to your binky, your evening bottle and afternoon nap.
8. I love your indignant independence. I love your uncontrolled dependence.
9. I love how you light up whenever the cat walks through the room. I love how you scream, "Abby" anytime a dog is within a 3 mile radius.
10. I love that you now lead me through my morning routine. I love that you run to the shower yelling, "showe, showe". I love that you pick out my clothes and thrust them confidently toward me. I love that you play hide and seek with yourself in the tub while I do my hair.
11. I love that in your world there is no stranger danger. I love how you play shy for the first 15 seconds of meeting someone and then extend your circle to include them instantly. I love how you flirt. I love how you identify anyone under 4 as "baby".
12. I love how you never walk, but always skip or run. I love how every trip to another room was an important one. I love how the same path is traveled, but new things are discovered.
13. I loved your name before you were born and love how now I can't imagine anyone else when I hear it.

Happy birthday Rhett...I suspect I will be calling you baby into your college years...so please cut me some slack.