Nicholas James turns 2

My little boy, the baby is now 2. I can't call him the baby and I can't count his age in months anymore. He does still nurse himself to sleep and he still speaks Nickeneese but he's growing up before my eyes. When Daddy comes home he does an adorable little dance and chants "Dayee Dayee Dayee." Then he squats down and pops up into a standing position. He crawls all over Daddy and balances on his shoulders, trying to wiggle his love all over him. My special connection with Nick is the way he loves to bring me books and sit right in my lap and speak Nickeneese to me when I ask him what things are in the book. He often shakes his head when I ask him to say something and just points. He has this hilarious thing he does where he squints his eyes and purses his lips in a world weary expression when he knows he's been caught. Then he tips his head to the side and gives me his best smile. It's a far cry from the fearful "busted" expressions my girls have always shown when caught with their fingers in the honey jar or an opened package of rolo's in the checkout aisle at Target. Nick seems to know that if he smiles I'll just melt. Fortunately for me, he's the only one.

Yesterday was a great birthday for the little guy and I am sure I thanked Jody for agreeing to "one more" at least three times. He started the day a bit early but it got him into Mommy's bed for a little while and then Kait made him a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. I topped it off with scrambled eggs and oj and he ate his fill. All of us spent the day singing different "Happy Birthday" songs to him and asking him to show us how old he was. He would either shake his head or say "oooono" translation "I don't know" or squint and purse his lips and walk away. Despite spending the better part of two weeks coaching, coaxing and begging, Nick never even tried to hold up two fingers and say "I'm two." That's his personality, you just can't make him. He has recently started talking about babies. It's fun. He says "beebee, beebee, beebee."
In the afternoon, we made a german chocolate cake with all three children on the kitchen counter, sneaking bites of every stage. When I tried to get the cakes out of the pan, they stuck. GRRR, but lovely little Birthday Boy was there to grab handfuls of tender warm chocolate cake and stuff them in his mouth. I still managed to put the cake together but labeled it the homliest cake I have ever made. Eden was scandalized, telling me that it looked delicious. Jody proclaimed that he'd rather have a tasty ugly cake any day. It confirmed to me that it was, in fact, the homliest cake I have EVER made, and quite tasty to boot. We made homemade pizza and homemade icecream and Nick opened his gifts. It was really, a perfect little family day. I felt that Nick's birthday was properly recognized and was fun for everyone else to boot.
In summary, we are so happy to have Nick as the littlest in our family. He makes us laugh every day, makes me want to squeeze and hug and cuddle every hour, and makes Eden and Kait want to scream every minute. Thank heaven for little boys!