Saturday is Beckett's 2nd birthday. And I've been stressed out about this birthday email for weeks. This time it wasn't putting together the collage that had me worried. Beck is a natural in front of the camera and I would be hard pressed to find a bad picture of him. The thing I'm struggling with is the words. There are just no words that I will ever be able to string together to describe Bucky. Words will simply not do him justice.
I stopped to think about how my mellow, laid back baby has changed into a crazy, full of life toddler over the last 12 months and I was filled with a combination of amazement and pride - and fear. You think I'm kidding... Beckett has done things (and now says) things that leave me slack jawed. After 3 big brothers there shouldn't be anything a new child can do to shock us, but he does. Time after time after time. A few recent examples:
- I had to tell him the other day to stop using Willow's tail as a rudder
- We *still* have cabinet locks on every cabinet in the kitchen because he refuses to stay out of them
- After playing with Zane in the toyroom for a while, they both came out with blue specked teeth. Bob asked Zane if he was chewing on a crayon, which he vehemently denied. So Bob asked Beck the same question and he looked his dad in the eye, said "Yep" and grinned a devilish grin
- There have been more than a few times we've had to race onto a football or lacrosse field this fall chasing after a streaking (luckily clothed) toddler
- He will not, however, no matter how much we yell at him, leave his shoes on in the car
- He. Does. Not. Sit. Still. EVER
- He loves anyone who will talk to him and will give perfect strangers a high five or a hug or his friends
- There is no fear of anything in him. He doesn't fear heights, being upside down, water, or loud noises. And I'm not sure he feels pain.
Beckett thinks he's 4 years old. Or maybe 6. He has more confidence than the typical 2 year old and really believes that if his brothers are doing something, anything, then he can do it too. He colors and runs. He throws balls and plays with cars. He sits on a big chair and uses a big fork. He insists on squeezing out his own ketchup. He is a mimic of everything he sees and hears. He is a sponge!
One of the big changes in the last 6 months or so is Beckett's vocabulary. He talks all the time. Loudly. And if he's saying something and you aren't listening, he will say it over and over and over again. Bob and I have been blessed with early talkers and Beck is no exception. He knows more words than I can count and uses them in sentences and paragraphs and stories. He's very communicative. I love listening to his take on certain words, like Bocker for Spencer and of course Bucky for Beckett. He sings, which is the most adorable thing EVER. He knows his ABCs and some numbers. He will tell you what sound any animal makes.
Even with all the changes, he is still one of the happiest little dudes I have ever been around. He always has always, from the time he could work his little cheek muscles, had a smile on his face. You can wake him from a dead sleep and he will simply sit up and say "Hi!".
I know I have mentioned this before, but God really knows what he's doing when he matches up squishy newborn babies with their parents. He somehow knew that Bucky would take a special kind of family. He's not for the faint of heart. Without some prior "breaking in" he might just have broken us! But in God's knowing way, Beck was the perfect fit for our family. Our grand finale.
I know we are going to have some very high highs and some potentially very low lows with Beckett this year. I know he's going to hit the terrible 2/3's early because he has done everything early. And given his ability to shock me, I'm sure some of the things we are about to encounter with sweet Bucky will be impressive. But I also know that at the end of the day, he will wrap those chubby little arms around my neck and insist on a hug and a kiss. And for all the times I look at that little brown-eyed, blonde-haired boy and shake my head in disbelief, I will thank God for sharing him with us. For he is grand indeed!
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