Happy 2nd Birthday to My Baby Boy!

It's funny, looking back.  Clayton James Epp was born May 3rd, 2010.  He was smaller than my daughter, who born three and a half years earlier.  The birth was easier, and the labor was slightly shorter.  He started sleeping through the night at around six months, whereas my daughter didn't sleep all night until she was 2.  He wasn't colicky like she'd been, and he was just a sweet-natured, good baby boy.  I remember thinking, my angel has arrived!  I had my tough-as-nails, stubborn little girl and my perfect little boy.  Life was grand!

Then, as he got older, I saw him change.  At about a 1-year-old I started to see his sweet-natured temperament turn a little bit ornerier.  He started hitting his sister, stealing her toys, and later on, talking back.  Although we can't always understand what he's saying, he'll point at you when he's mad and rant or scream.  I'm actually afraid for him to speak full-fledged sentences...time-out and spankings will for sure become a regular occurrence at our house.

He used to kiss and hug me lovingly, now he swats or sticks his tongue out at me when I try to love on him.  When I just want him to cuddle, he wants to rough-house or wrestle.  He wants to bang trucks into everything he can, and stomp around in every mud-puddle around.  He's a full-on boy, and honestly I couldn't be prouder.

While I joke about him going from being my sweet angel-baby to my rough-housing little monster; I honestly wouldn't want it any other way.  Like his sister, I'm starting to see stubborn, hard-headed mannerisms coming out.  He's going to have it his way, and he's going to be a fighter.   

While I miss the hugs and the kisses...he's going to need every ounce of that fight in him for the world we live in today.  Clayton James, I thanked God the day I brought you into this world, and I thank him again today for the adorable little young man you are becoming.  Happy Birthday!