"'The time has come,' the Walrus said, To talk of many things:"

 "Of shoes- and ships- and sealing-wax- 

of cabbages- and kings-

and why the sea is boiling hot-

and whether pigs have wings.'"

So says Lewis carroll's "The walrus and the carpenter" which actually does not occur in his "Alice in wonderland" despite being in the animated disney version, which is also why it took me awhile to find it because i was looking in the wrong place. i digress. this isn't about me.

these are the words that have been banging around in my head for a long time. somehow, and i blame may for being the craziest month, i never posted about thing one's birthday last year. or the year before. i don't know how that happened as i know i have photos that were supposed to go on here of the cakes and the smiles and the sunglasses and and... heck! i'm so sorry. my deepest apologies. 

so, thing one, the one who made me a mama, whew. 

how can you be 21 and legal now? 

you came out hollering and the nurse said, "wooooooweeeeeeeeeeee, do you have a temper! where did you get that!?" dada and i looked at each other and shrugged. no idea. but i'm glad for it, because you were a tiny puddin'pop, small and mighty. you turned into someone who knows how to stand up for yourself and others, who gets fired up when people are treated badly, who drags others to get the help they need. i know you say you're not the mom friend, but you kind of are. we are proud of you.

we love your art, especially now that you don't draw on the walls (as much) and we see the joy it brings you when you get it right. we love that you sing along in the car on road trips. we love that you empty the dishwasher unasked. we love that you get excited about skull shaped ice cubes. okay, everyone in the family loves those, but it doesn't negate the fact that we like that it tickles you. we love, and are constantly surprised, when we turn around and you've snuck up right behind us. we love that you are an individual and that you don't merge just to do what everyone else is doing and we love love love that you don't follow along with others' dumb choices "just because we're adults and we can." so proud. you have no idea. nooooo idea!

we love that you're learning to cook and that you're getting better at cleaning up afterwards. we love your patience with these awful dogs. we love your zero tolerance of siblings in your room but the fact that you'll still share the twizzlers. we love that you dive in to help, whether it's hauling puppies down a hall for a stranger or ninja-ing food pantry items around with pap. thank you for being kind and respectful, especially with those who you can tell are having issues, whatever they  may be. you are a treasure and a delight. we love being your parents. thanks for blessing us.

happeeeeeeeeeeeeeee birffffdaaaaaaaaaaaay toooooooo yooooouuuuuuuuuuuu!