Leprechaun # 2 is TWO!

Sweet Luke,

How I adore you, my darling not-quite-baby! Two. Such joy you've brought to our lives in a mere two years. Thank for every blessed moment.

Thank you for your innate sweetness and your natural exuberance for all things yummy - food, dirt, boobies and freezies, not necessarily in that order. How I wish I could capture and bottle the light of your smile, the sound of your unabashed and surprisingly robust laughter.

I wish I could freeze the little moments that make up our days together - at play (or war) with Matthew, rushing headlong into the backyard (shoes on the wrong feet, sweater undone) delighted to be free! How you remind me of myself. Of your uncle. Of childhood, period.

You are loud, Lukey Gavan. So loud. And so very, very present in every.single.moment. The world is not as quiet with you in it, but as predicted, it is seldom boring. You burst into your day, a room, our lives and it's virtually impossible not to take notice and grin. Impossible not to fall in love with you a little more.

Even when your temper (often) flares you make me proud. Proud that you can so clearly convey what it is that you want. Your grasp and use of language astounds and delights me, Luke. I love how you sing along and make up words to the bits you don't know. Love how your every movement is deliberate and sure. Love that almost every day, you find a reason to dance.

Thank you for cuddles every morning and for (FINALLY!) sleeping through the night. For missing nursing as much as I do. For waiting at the top of the stairs until I turn around and say, "Ready!" and then hurling yourself into my arms, laughing, trusting, breathless.

Thank you for loving Matthew as much as you do - for driving him crazy, wanting to be and do EVERYthing he does. It warms my heart to see the bond between you - brothers are built-in best friends, after all.

Thank you for eating anything I cook, but loving grapes and kielbasa best. For random "I want to hug you, Mummy!" moments that melt my heart and for trying so hard to wink. For not yet knowing how to blow your nose and for waving to each and every city bus that passes when we walk Matthew to school.

Thank you for not needing stitches (yet) and for reminding me to put on your hat before we go outside. For finding my keys and closing cupboard doors behind you. For screeches of delight when I run the vacuum and for "helping" me take out the recycling in your pyjamas, rain or shine.

Thank you for loving books so much you must eat them and for your obsessive need to wash your hands whenever we go someplace new or different. For thinking that brushing your teeth is fun and that cold medicine tastes delicious. For trying new things without hesitation, especially if there's a chance you may get hurt. Or dirty. Or both.

You are all boy, Lukey Pookers. And you are all mine. Thank you, most of all, for that. For choosing me and giving me these incredible moments to savour and rejoice over. You are my very soul, little boy. Having you to call my own, I am blessed beyond words.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Luke.

I love you.

Mama