Dos

Today is Clay's second birthday, Happy Birthday Clay!

Clay hosted quite the shindig on Saturday, with nine small children running or drooling (or both) all around the house. Considering the close quarters (those nine were joined by about twenty "chaperones"), things went surprisingly smoothly. Everyone played nicely, shared toys, and all-around had a great time. Clay was even honored by an international call from his great aunt, Martha, who was basking in the sun of St. Thomas.

I suspect that this is the last "easy" birthday party we'll have for quite some time. The setup was as complicated as cleaning the house, putting out his toys, and letting the cattle roam. Of course, we had huge help from the Ritners, who came up early and helped clean and decorate. To top it off, Scott's parents provided the balloons (an instant party hit for the under-five crowd) and picked up the pizza -- so things could have been much more hairy without the extra hands.

In addition, everyone was very generous in their donations to YoungLives. We don't have a final tally yet, but we'll be sure to share when we do!

So, last night I was taking Clay up to bed and as part of the going-to-bed ritual, I announced that everyone should say goodbye to the "1 Year Old Clay" as he would officially be "2 Year Old Clay" in the morning. As soon as said this, I felt my chest tighten and the panic rise in the back of my throat. Clay was going to be two! Twenty is just around the corner. Getting ready for bed took extra long last night, as I spent at least an extra twenty minutes with him, reading, snuggling and making shadow puppets before bed.

As unsettling as it is to see him grow up, I can honestly say that I have a lot of peace about it. Too many times in my life, I've let opportunities pass by -- not making the most of my time. Not with him, though. I've been very cognizant that his childhood is fleeting and I've made an effort to make the most of it. It's not been perfect, but it's gone well. I really want to look back on his childhood and have confidence that I've taken advantage of every opportunity to invest in his (and his brother's) life. So, year number two was fantastic. Here's to year number three being even better!

And where did this streak of maudlin come from? Criminy.