Happy Birthday, Paul!

Two years and one day ago I was huge pregnant and at the doctor's office. He heard a "hiccup" in my baby's heartbeat so he put me in a hospital room to be monitored for a couple of hours. Then he went home.
Although he claimed he didn't forget me, Adam and I are pretty sure he did. When he came to work the next day he said, "Okay, I guess we'll get this baby out since you're here!" I was excited and Adam was disappointed. He really wanted Paul to be born on his own birthday, June 20.
Today, June 17, is Paul's second birthday. Our lives have changed drastically since he was born.
I quit work; no more teaching, at least for now. I used my time nursing him to also hold Claire in my lap and read her books.
When he was little, I strapped him in the Baby Bjorn and put Claire on the monkey leash and took them both to the zoo. I started taking both kids to the library when Paul was about two months old and we still go every Wednesday at 10:30.
You can also find all three of us at the Museum of Science and History or Candleridge Park. It's hard to find us standing still, unless it's nap time.
Paul is just as sweet and compassionate as his sister, but he is also a completely different child. His favorite toys are balls. Every day he carries a different one around as a security blanket and a toy. "Ball! Foooootball! Pooooooooool ball!" he shouts.
The boy is also a shoe-lover. You will rarely see him barefoot. He even wears shoes to bed. I used to put him to bed barefoot, but then he fell a couple of times trying to reach a pair late at night, so now I make sure he has a pair on when he goes to sleep.
Pair of shoes is a relative term with Paul. Unlike Claire, who always wore hers on the wrong feet, Paul wears his correctly. He just doesn't wear matching shoes. Yesterday he walked to the library in one flip-flop and one tennis shoe. He often wears one galosh and one Croc. On Sunday morning I at least make sure he's wearing the same type of shoe, and it's usually one blue Croc and one orange one.
Paul is a climber. He often scales the changing table to get a new diaper. He also enjoys climbing on Adam and my bed so he can body-slam his father when Adam is asleep. One of his and Claire's favorite hobbies is jumping on the bed to wake Daddy. (Mama is always awake anyway, and I get out of danger's way when this happens.)
He is also immeasurably sweet. He is in love with my grandfather and runs up to him shouting and then laying his head on his lap to get a kiss from "Mi."
When Paul's friend Ella was crying the other day, he started rubbing her back and kissing her cheek. He is compassionate, too.
Happy birthday to my snuggly, wiggly, Paul-E-Wog!