Happy Birthday, Little Man!

Porter. On behalf of your second birthday, I want to give you a glimpse of your life.
1. Your Dad is your hero.  Right now, you both have headphones on.  You have one earbud, he has the other and your listening to music and playing the guitar.  A few days ago while we were building a bench, you decided to skip your nap (I wasn't thrilled), and brought out all your baby tools to the garage and worked alongside your Dad "building" the bench. Later that day your Dad said, "Chels. It just made my entire day that he did that."  We love you a lot,
2. I love how you tell me what you want in the form of a question.  You will come running up to me and say, "Do you want a Popsicle? Yes. Okay!" And then you will run to the refrigerator to get a Popsicle. It's like an entire conversation with yourself. I laugh every time.
3.  You're fearless Porter. I can tell you will probably be the kid who never backs down from a dare. You are jumping off of everything, climbing everything, and exploring everything.  I need eyes all around my head to keep track of you. But I only have two. So it makes the task exhausting.  One minute I am talking to a grown up and your playing in the dirt beside me, and then 30 seconds later you're climbing through the chicken coop (true story).  
4. You have a passion for life.  It's weird that someone so small could love life so much.  But your energy for life is undeniable.  I picked you up from nursery yesterday and your nursery leader commented, "He is quite the energetic one, isn't he? He sure does love life."  That comment made me smile.
5.  You do this thing where you run around and then purposefully fall to the ground and yell, "Oh! I'm okay!" and then start into a fit of laughter.  What's even funnier is that you have taught all of your friends that little game too. So when kids come over, everyone is constantly on the floor yelling. It's cute.
6. You love talking to us. Thank you for talking. You and I get along so much better when we talk it out. You learn words at a rapid pace.  You're so bright Porter.  You are naturally a smart kid, but you work hard too. And that combination is dynamite! 
7. You can hold your own. Alright, so you're a little stubborn.  If you want something, or think you have been wronged, you will not back down.  I have caught you in pushing or yelling at some kid who offended you. Sometimes the kids are much, much bigger than you and I get so nervous. But you are confident in yourself. Although I never condone losing your temper, I like that you are willing to stand up for yourself.  It's something that I lack. Stay confident.
8. Your face. Porter, you have the. best. faces.  You have a face for if you want something. You have  a face if your trying to ignore us. You have a face for if someone hurt your feelings. And you have the cutest face when your in your element or incredibly happy.
9. Speaking of incredibly happy. I can always tell when you are perfectly happy. You know, the kind of happy you feel when it's the best day ever.  When you get that kind of happy, you come up to me or your Dad, say Thank you and ask for hugs in the sweetest little voice. Oh Porter, I love you.   10. You love unconditionally.  One of my favorite relationships is watching you and Brooks. You get so excited every morning to see Brooks. And when he cries, you stop everything you are doing, run to his side and yell in his face, "OH NO! BROOKS IS CRYING! IT'S OKAY BROOKS!"  It may not help the situation with you yelling, but it melts my heart to see you tend to your brother. Stay a good big brother. I need you to be an example.
Porter. I could talk about you forever.  The love that we have for you is so strong. I feel so much joy knowing that you are ours forever.