Happy 2.5 years, Jack!

Beautiful Child, right from the moment you were born,
you opened up my heart, my soul, you're beautiful.
Tender and sweet, both in your crying and your sleep,
you radiate a sense of hope, you're beautiful.
Sara Groves

Has it already been 30 months?! Really?? Two and a half years, seriously? That's staggering to me, but then I look at my passionate, energetic, silly, talkative (yes, really! after all our speech challenges), and fearless son and realize that it feels like he's been a part of this family forever.


His favorite activity for the last six months has been "pay wun-in-in-in-in" (playing running) and it basically involves yelling "SET! DOH!" and taking off with a grin and both little wings curled up & swinging side to side. Today, he wanted to play running-in-in outside in the beautiful warm sunshine, and shouted: "Mama, CHASE me! GET me!"


Jack adores the water and regularly asks "Pay Wah-wer, piece!" And it's not really "playing water" until he's soaked to the skin and covered in suds...


He *loves* his food, would be thrilled to eat 10 meals a day of "nolalolurt" (granola & yogurt), and regularly downs 12 peanut butter crackers to and from Brooks's preschool. Here he guards his applesauce bowl like it's the loot of Fort Knox...


He loves "Lon-Den" and "Sooes" (knee/nursery rhymes "Trot Trot to London" and Banberry Cross), especially with Aunt Sissy - who has a very spunky horse.


All little boy, this fellow can turn anything into a sword, and LOVES the pirate and knight dress-up costumes best of all...


(This next shot makes me feel like we've already fast-forwarded a decade)... Everything sports related is - to Jack - playing "Auh-bun" and football is still a favorite. Jack is still whipping his arm around and throwing a ball better than some much bigger kids.


Jack loved playing in the snow last month with Daddy & Brooks.


He spends hours every day chasing Brooks


And he loves to make Baby "Shishish" laugh in her bouncey seat or on her playmat...


Momma loves to tickle him, because he laughs hysterically, always screams "Stop" and then shouts "more"!!!


We play hard and sleep hard around here... and this one almost always starts and ends nap-time with books. It's a regular routine to find Jack sacked on in this chair outside his room at the top of the stairs where he's fallen asleep after sneaking out of bed for one more story...


I still can't seem to part with his curls, despite the occasional jokes about raising Samson. I just LOVE them and this sweet profile...


and I just love Jack, all 36.4 pounds, 37.75 inches of him.

Jack, you bring more joy and laughter and thunderous noise to our house than I ever thought possible. I can't wait to see you grow into the man that God wants you to be.