Happy Birthday, Joseph Patrick.

My baby boy turned four today.  Four whole years of awesome Joe moments have passed in a blink of an eye.

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was feeling a bit off and wondering if I could possibly be pregnant.  Turns out, I was!  After a very long nine months, my second child and son was placed in my arms and I instantly fell in love.  He had the most amazing hair I have ever seen.  It was jet black and had white tips, my little trendsetter, fresh out of the womb!  Oh and his eyes... I could of, and still can, stare into them for hours on end.  The bluest of blue and full of such meaning!

My JoJoe is a funny little man.  He is a thinker, you can almost see his brain working in his precious little head.  He has an answer for everything, usually a witty one at that.  Quite often he cracks himself up with some funny story that he is telling me, which makes me giggle even more. 

My family like to call him the "persecuted" one.  He can be very much a middle child at times, often stating in a small amount of words how unloved he is.  The world can be a very unfair place for the Joseph Patrick's of this world.  You would not believe the sorrow he has to endure!! (Not really, he is very loved).

Joe is my cuddly boy, he absolutely adores his cuddles.  He sits on my lap with his "gin gin" (a pink blanket) and caresses his nose and ear with one end while holding the other end in his other hand, with one finger stuck in his mouth.  He can sit there for hours, in his own little world, enjoying his quiet time. 

The temper that my boy has has to be seen to be believed.  He can go from being relatively happy with his lot in life to throwing a screaming, stamping, terrifying tantrum that can last for hours.  No tears fall from those blue eyes though and if he gets his own way, he is instantly back to his happy self.  I dread to see what he will be like when he is a teenager with the mood swings.... think I might leave home by then!

Liam and Joseph have a wonderful relationship, they are the best of mates.  Oh they fight, they fight a lot, but at the end of the day, they are brothers through and through.  If one of them is in trouble, the other one sticks up for him.

Clancy and Joe took a while to warm to each other but they are thick as thieves now, although I don't think he'd admit that if you asked!  "Yo Yo" can do no wrong in his little Sister's eyes, she loves him to bits.

It is hard to believe that my little boy is now a four year old.  I never really understood when friends and family said "it goes so fast" when talking about children growing up, but it really does.  I wish I could turn back the clock and make it all go in slow motion so I could savour every moment of my babies being babies.

Happy Birthday my JoJoe.  I love you so much, you bring me complete and utter happiness every day.

xxxx