Happy Birthday, Buddha-Buddha

To My Little Ry-Guy,

When you were born, you had chunky cheeks, lots of hair and a temperament that announced to the world that you weren’t fooling around. You were all business.

But you were born into a family that was anything but all business. When you met your big sister, you somehow understood that first few months of life weren’t going to be easy, but we loved you. We loved every last ounce of you. We also knew that even though you may not be ready to show your inner goofball, it was inside, waiting to come out.

You prefered peace and tranquility, so you became our little Buddha-Buddha.

As the weeks went by, you slowly found your place among our family.

You got yourself a job, and finally started pulling your own weight. (No, of course he didn't have to get a job, but the picture was just too cute to leave out!)

You started to come into your own. You were our silly little Ry-Guy.

You learned to love hanging out with your big sister ...

... that is as long as she wasn’t trying to squash you.

Weeks turned to months and you learned to roll over,

Sit up,

Feed yourself,

Crawl,

Stand up,

and eventually walk.

You’ve grown so much and come so far in the last year. I can’t believe that just 12 short months ago you were so small and so helpless. Now you are running around and playing like nothing can stop you.

Happy First Birthday, Ryan. Your Daddy and I love you very much.