Dear Welles...
Dear Welles, How on earth are you already two? Someone tell me where the time has gone! It seems like just yesterday the nurses hesitantly placed you in my arms with looks of concern on their faces. Looks of concern that quickly turned to words of concern. Words of concern because someone had to break the news that you weren’t going to be the “normal” child we had been expecting. Yes, it seems like just yesterday that your new, and clueless mother, started learning some of the most valuable lessons from a little being who was just minutes old. While it all seems like just yesterday, the things you have taught your family are far more valuable than anything a professor could cram into a students brain through four years of grueling college courses. You Welles, have been the most influential professor here in our lives! And we thank the good Lord above that those nurse’s fears and concerns were spot-on. Thank you for not being the “normal” child we were expecting. Thank you for blessing our home with an extra chromosome and extra specialness!
Over the last year you’ve grown so much! Well, you’re still almost as short and stocky as you were on your birthday last year (those DS genes keeping you that way!) but your little mind and personality have come into their own and taken off!
While still incredibly sweet and passive, you demand to be heard when sister snags your toys away! Your vocabulary consists of about six words (ball, dada, mama, more, hi and no!), but you say those words with confidence and command. You have lots of little noises with clear meanings to you that mommy, daddy and sister have picked up on and adore.
You LOVE sharing. Never can you keep a sucker to yourself, always shoving it up to our lips and making sure we get a lick as well.
You adore all babies and kids. You can’t help but lay a wet-one on anyone that gets close enough! I’m pretty confident that they enjoy it almost as much as you do.
Your most recent favorite activity is tickling. You bum hop (your best way of getting around) over to your victim and tickle attack them with one hand opening and closing while making "kickle, kickle" noises! It's our favorite activity, too.
You’ve turned into a little tornado in the last few months, constantly into every cabinet in reach, toilet with an open lid and now, you even climb the stairs almost as fast as your sister! You lock yourself in the pantry on a daily basis and bang on the door while grunting until mommy comes to the rescue! I call you my little menace. And while it creates a bit of extra work, I love watching you curiously explore the world around you.
You adore your sister and taking the role of her number one fan. The love you two have for each other would melt any mother to a puddle. You bring out the absolute best in each other, which makes daddy and I so proud. We can’t wait to watch you as a big brother next year.
Our dearest Welles, you continue to teach and guide this little family in ways we never anticipated. Thinking back on those early days used to bring me guilt and pain when I remembered the shock and sadness I went through while embracing our new reality. Now when I reminisce on the beginning of our lives with you, it brings a giant smile to my face. If only your new mommy could have seen two years into the future. But then again, she had a lot of learning to do.
Happy birthday my dear, sweet, beyond loveable little TWO-year-old! We are forever grateful you picked us to be yours.
