I am a couple of days late in posting this as Alexander's Birthday was on Friday, but sometimes life gets in the way of blogging, you know? When Rebecca and Christopher were little I couldn't stand the thought of them being two. My babies were growing up and I was deeply saddened by this. I did not want them to. I mourned all the passing days of their babyhood. Looking back I have to say, what the heck was I thinking? The best was yet to come (and go) and so I had no reason to be sad.

This time around I do not mourn the passing of Alexander's 2nd Birthday. Instead I embrace it with open arms (hard to type this with ragingscreamingtantrum in the background) my baby is finally growing up. It is not as though I wish to bypass his youth and go right for his driver's ed class and drive off to college and then get a job and a place of his own, but I am looking forward to not worrying about him getting into so many dangerous things. I am looking forwad to not having to have eyes on the back of my head. I am looking forward to not having the number for Poison Control in my Rolodex and I am looking forward to all the fun things I will soon be doing with him and I am looking forward to all the things we will soon be able to do together as a family.

I love that Alexander is two. Two is fun and cute and adorable and he is still a baby (in my eyes) without being the kind of blob of a baby that cries and eats and sleeps and does nothing much else. Oh yes, the first smile, the first crawl and the first steps are wonderful and I won't belittle any of those wondrous milestones. But in all honesty I am not a baby kind of a person. I love the toddler stage. I love the early language development, trying to figure out how to pronounce certain words. I love their little voices and the very big words that come out when they mimic you. I love the wonderment of their newly discovered world. I love that their imaginations are starting to soar. I love that they embody everything that is perfect with the human race and nothing that is wrong. They are loving, devoted and inquisitive and honest. I love that they have wonderful senses of humor and are learning how to use them. I love that almost everything excites them. I don't love their messes and their tantrums, but I can honestly say that is all I do not love. I love that their brains are like sponges and they soak absolutely everything up. I love their little foibles and idiosyncracies...

So, it is not with sadness that I wish the past two years farewell, but with a great joy that I welcome with open arms all the wonderful things yet to come. And they have already begun!