all of which you have been going strong, my bug a lug.

oh, monsieur le bug, it’s so very hard to believe that you’re two today. this is the big year-the year that the baby completely disappears from your face and i am left realizing that you’re a kid instead of just my cuddle bug.

when you showed up two years ago you were already a force to be reckoned with-the nurses all called you bruiser, and honestly, you looked like a little bull dog puppy as much as you did a big baby boy.

we should have realized what we were in for the minute the midwife picked you up and you threw yourself backwards and she almost dropped you-because as much as you’ve changed, you’re still exactly the same. you still throw yourself into things (both literally and figuratively), and you’re still a bruiser, except these days it’s mostly you who end up with the black and blues, and only occasionally an innocent bystander.

but in classic bug fashion, you recover far quicker than mama or daddy do, and soon you’re off running, jumping, and laughing as if nothing had happened. and we’ve discovered that that’s just you-it doesn’t matter if you’ve screamed your way through a time out, fallen off the couch, or slammed your head into a piece of furniture: a kiss from mama and a bit of a cuddle and the world is set right again.

this is the year you’ve come into your own…your own trucks, your own tractors, your own obstinate boyness, yelling “NO! NO! NO!” almost as often as you point out said trucks and tractors.

and i’ll give you this-from day one (which was 2 years ago today, in case you didn’t realize) you’ve done everything with enthusiasm. you play, scream, fight, run, explore, and experience everything as much as your little self can stand to, and that’s not a bad way to live your life.

you’re a crazy man, but you’re our little man, and as you hit the big 0-2, we realize that our family could never be this wonderful without you.

so happy birthday, my bug. i can’t wait to see what the next year will bring.