Our sweet, brave boy turned TWO this week. How is it possible that we have a two year old? We had the most special day celebrating our favorite little guy!
Tommy continues to brighten our life in every way and has added immeasurable joy to our family. He really is our missing piece and I cannot believe we have the privilege to call him ours. Being his mom is the best gift – it is such a delight to see the world through his curious eyes.
He has gone through more in his short 2 years of life than most people will ever go through in a lifetime – yet you’d never know it after meeting him. He is resilient, quick to love, oh so funny, caring, the best helper, strong, and pure sunshine. We continue to learn something new from him every day and waking up to his smiling face and big hugs is the sweetest feeling.
While we celebrate our two year old, I can’t help but think about Tommy’s birth mom a little bit extra this time of year. Because of her bravery, courage, and love, we are a family. Adoption is messy and sad and full of love and all of the things in between and my prayer is that Tommy grows up knowing how loved, wanted, and chosen he is – that he was born to make a different in this world, and makes life brighter for so many people every day. He is the biggest gift and it is a privilege to be his mom, one that I will never take lightly. While I can’t imagine what his first mama must be feeling, I hope she can somehow feel our love across the ocean – and a sense of peace knowing her bow is safe, adored, and the light of our life.
After the holiday craziness, we had a very chill day together just the 3 of us. (With his birthday so close to the holiday season, I think we’ll celebrate his half birthday with a party every year on/around the 4th of July.) He woke up to lots of balloons in the family room, took popsicles and a new book to school, had animal shaped cheesy pasta for dinner and a cake from Sweet Mandy B’s for dessert, and watched Cars 3. A perfect day in the life of a 2 year old!
To make the day even sweeter, we received the most thoughtful, loving, and generous surprise box of gifts from Tommy’s foster family in Korea. The love they continue to show our family is surreal – I think it every day, but they are true angels and will always be part of our family. We had so much fun opening the box together and found treasure after treasure hiding inside. I’ve never seen Tommy happier than when he opened that box!
Tommy’s Favorites
- Color: Blue and yellow
- Book: Too many to count! A few favorites right now: Bear Snores On, Bear Came Along, and You Belong Here
- Toy: Trash trucks/cars/trucks/trains/anything with wheels – especially Matchbox cars. His collection is 50+ deep at this point and he keeps tabs on all of them. He knows if one is missing and will stop playing until he finds it. He loves lining them up in organized rows (he really is our child!) and can almost always be found using the windowsill in our family room as his racetrack.
- Thing to Do: Race around the family room yelling “zoom cars.”
- Food: Baby corn, black olives, mashed cauliflower, cheesy pasta, apples, and anything dipped in ketchup.
- Show/Movie: Trash Truck and anything Cars related.
- Person: Happa (my parents’ dog, Hap, who really isn’t a person but should be!)
- Phrase: “Happa!” or “Zoom cars”
Happy birthday, Tommy. I love you!
