Almost 2 1/2, my Hayes

Tonight I started to go through stuff for a garage sale. I had an enormous box of Hayes' old clothes. And I'm not going to go into detail about how sad we got. It happens to everyone, I'm sure. I told CJ I would keep a small pile of 'sentimental' clothing items from his baby stage. Well every outfit I picked up, looked over, and started to fold to put a garage sale tag on, CJ would say 'but he wore that....", or actually, my favorite was when he got off the couch, ran over to grab an outfit looking for the matching hat and pants that were tied up with a complete memory CJ spilled out. I knew right away it was the wrong outfit. And it was, but I held my tongue;) I hate the phrase you get from strangers 'it goes sooo fast, enjoy it!' Yeah, I know, it does. That's super true. Which is probably why I hate hearing it. Also though, because it's confusing to me. Because sometimes the DAYS literally couldn't go longer. I look at the clock thinking I need to probably start dinner, and to my surprise, it's only 10am. That being said, it has been a fast 2 1/2 years. I've had two pregnancies, a 55 hour labor, another c section, breastfeeding and cuddling and long nights. But it went SOO fast. There I go! But I'm writing about my 'kick joe' tonight. Hayes, you might not even know why we call you that. But when you were in my belly, you kicked HARD. No surprise. But this was my first baby to carry in my belly so I assumed that was normal. You kicked in the same spot, SO hard, for those last few weeks, that the feeling has never completely come back. It's still numb. That's insane???! But we had no first name for you. We knew your middle name was going to be Joseph after your wonderful grandpa and great grandpa who you would never get to meet. But no first name decision yet. So we called you 'kick joe' because that's pretty much all we knew you were like:) As a 2 2/2 year old, you are still feisty! You are the most unique little guy. You can focus for long periods of time, look anyone in the eyes with your gorgeous blue eyes, say please, thank you, and good to meet you..without ever being prompted. You are so polite. You listen close when you need to, but talk up a storm about nothing and everything. You say hi to everyone you see and ask the mailman if you can have a hug, but yet you are quiet and reserved. You aren't afraid to hit me in the face when your temper flares, but you are learning to come to me quickly and say sorry on your own and ask for a kiss. You are learning to love to laugh. I knew this HAD to come at some point. It's too hard to live in this family and not laugh:) You get excited to see your sister in the morning, and still love your uncle Adam like you guys were brothers:) You ask to play with your friend Maddox and Titus and you have a crush on Addison at school. You are kind to animals and still love music and sleeping...at night, but that stops early in the morning and you are you are ready to go! You are teaching me so much, just by being you. I am constantly asking God how to parent you, how to be patient with you (hehe I'm working on it), and what kind of lessons I can learn/grow from as I am blessed to be your one and only mama. I love you with everything I got, Kick Joe! You're the best, and you're mine!