D's Big Day

It's hard not to compare the kids when they reach big milestones.  I have a pretty good memory of what Adam and Alex could each do when they turned two, and it's pretty easy to see that Dylan isn't there yet. 

He's smaller; we often refer to him as our little runt.  But that makes it easier to still carry him around when he needs it.

He's a whole lot quieter and doesn't talk yet.  That makes every grunt and growl momentous.



But I often remind myself that it isn't about how he stacks up against the other two.  It's his little life, a fact he set out to prove by being born a redhead.  He isn't Adam or Alex.  He's just Dylan, and I wouldn't have him any other way.

To celebrate his big day (now 10 days ago...), Kirk and I planned to take him to the zoo all by himself.  What we planned meant just without his brothers.  Thanks to the weather, what he got was all. by. himself.  We literally saw two other families at the zoo.  D got front row viewing for each of the animals, and with no other background noise to fight against, we could hear his all his excited little squeaks.  We could let him down to wander at his own pace.  We could let him take his time to cautiously approach the snoring elephant.

Despite the rain and cold - two of my least favorite things - the day was perfect.

Taking a picture with his phone.  I can't believe that my little non-verbal 2 year old knows that phones are for taking pictures with.

Listening intently to Daddy.

Happy to have a new stuffed tiger as a birthday present.

His party was still a bit in the future, but we wanted to let the other boys in on the celebration, so I grabbed a leftover cupcake from a friend's earlier party, and stuck in two candles.  D had no idea what to do with them.  After some coaching, he blew them out.  And he was hooked.  I re-lit them and let him blow them out four more times.



Happy Birthday to our Dyl-Pickle, our Arma-Dylo, our Orangutan, our Little Runt, Big D, Little D, Baby, Dyl, and of course, to Dylan.