Happy Birthday, Finny. Your dad, brother and I have had so much fun years getting to know you in these last two quick years (and now MJ too).
What can I tell you about yourself on this milestone? You live large. You run, jump, fall, hug and kiss with all you've got. We don't often wonder how you're feeling - you wear it all on your sleeve. You sleep with tons of animals snuggled up around you in your bed. You want to use the potty - but you only want to stand up (this is a problem on lots of levels). You love to play pretend - and you've got a huge imagination which includes mixing animals, cars and people from different toys and coming up with some new pretend places. You sing quietly to yourself a lot. You don't say too much (your brother likes to talk for you and you don't seem to mind), but I know you're going to have a lot to say when you're ready. You love stories - right now your favorites are How I Became A Pirate, Richard Scary's Best Story Book Ever, and The Hug Book. You often fall asleep holding a story and laying on an animal.
Yesterday when you woke up, you crawled in bed with MJ and I and I had so much fun watching you with your sister. For all your energy, you held her tiny hands and rubbed her arms gently, just enjoying this quiet, special time. You and she are going to have a special relationship - I can see what a good big brother you are already. She's going to need someone special to look up to - and I have no doubt that it's going to be you. You'll be the one to make sure she knows how to wrestle, how to make mud pies, how to drag race her bike (into the fence). She'll learn how to stick up for herself because you'll show her how to be tough. And she'll actually be strong, because she'll know how much you love her (and that you'll be standing right behind her when times get tough).
You LOVE Seamus. I hope that through the years and all the ups and downs that siblings have with each other, you never lose your devotion to each other. You and Seamus really spend all your time playing together in the yard or in the sun room - sometimes there is bickering - but mostly you two just love to be together. In fact, I took you and MJ to a well visit at the doctor two weeks ago and we left Seamus with Aunt Katie to have a nap. When we got home and Seamus woke up from his nap, he came tearing downstairs asking very anxiously "Is Finny OK?" And no matter how much I assured him that you weren't sick, he just wanted to see for himself. He found you in the sunroom and Katie and I heard him say: "Finny are you OK? I'm glad you're OK." And although we didn't see it, I'm pretty sure that you had a little hug.
I don't know what you'll be like as you grown up - whether you'll be a professional biker, a pirate or a cowboy. But I do know that these two years have gone so fast - that somehow it never seemed like you were ever a baby. And I know that your arrival into our world (which was very wild and fast) has forever changed us for the better.
Aunt Katie goes to New Jersey tomorrow and you have been so blessed by this special trip with her. Yesterday, when she and I were getting ready for an adult outing, you kept finding her and bringing her outside. You just wanted her to be near - it made you feel good have you in your sights. I hope you have lots of memories of this time as you grow up - of reading stories and playing puppets - of our long walks and good night kisses.
This morning I got a wonderfully long cuddle when you got up and as my mother would say - it filled me up for the day. Someday, when you're old enough to read all these entries, I hope you can see the story of a family that loves being a family and loves you so very much. Happy Birthday, Mr. Finn. We're going to have a great day.
