The end (of the blog)

You're 2 years old now.

It's verging on impossible to try to encapsulate everything that has been or everything that will be in your life, but that's the kind of thing that people do when they get to the end of a book -- or blog. So here goes:

The last two years feel like forever and they feel like they went by in the blink of an eye. It -- you -- have been once of the most amazing experiences I can imagine.

But it really is just the beginning. It's a tiny piece of this unimaginable journey you're taking off on.

And I'm not going to lie to you, Nathaniel. This journey isn't always easy. You're going to face some struggles, some trials, some sorrow along the way. The trick is to realize that all of that is just temporary. No matter how insurmountable something feels right now, there will come a time -- sooner than you think, probably -- that it's over.

And the best thing you can do while something seems insurmountable is to lean on your family and friends to help you through it all. No matter what happens, your mother and I will always love you and we'll always be here for you. There's going to be times when you don't agree with how we're doing things and maybe even question whether we're really helping you -- but I promise you, we are here for you.

We are here to help you grow and to help you succeed -- but, most importantly, to help you challenge yourself and to help you really think and understand what's happening around you and why it's happening.

And we are here to help you enjoy this journey. We're here to try to expand your mind and ensure you get the benefits of all kinds of different experiences to help you understand where you come from and why that's important.

There's probably going to be times when your mother and I take things too seriously and maybe forget that you're supposed to just have lots of fun along the way. But don't worry, we usually get back on track pretty quickly.

We can't wait to see what comes next for you. We're astounded virtually every day by how you're growing and advancing.

Thanks for being our baby, Nathaniel. We love you.

Passing two years

We've passed the two year mark on two major fronts now ... birth and the two-year anniversary of Nathaniel's surgery. So it's a glorious day today.

His birthday was great: Oma, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Liz and her boyfriend Leo and, of course, Mom and Dad. Low key, but fun. The biggest thing he got was a tricycle (Huffy canopy trike ... he can't steer or anything until we take off the parental controls; until then, it's almost closer to a stroller). He really seemed to like the little bell on the handlebars. He's also a big fan of an Elmo book he got and a Richard Scarey (sp?) book. And he definitely liked the Elmo cupcakes we got instead of a whole cake ... he dug right in.

And last night, his surgery anniversary, went by quietly. Amanda made a nice dinner (she always thinks about this anniversary a little more than me, I think) and we had a little sparkling wine to celebrate. It really is something worth celebrating.

Anyway, I'm planning on doing one final blog post in the next couple of days, and that's going to be it for me. Hope some people had as much fun with all this as I did.