The most wonderful little human turned TWO this past Sunday.

I live with a mild (major?) amount of guilt that this place was abandoned in the most formative and beautiful two years of my entire life. I assuage the guilt by reminding myself that while I haven’t been writing, I’ve been fully present in Roux’s life, filling my cup and making core memories without the distraction of penning a blog post.

But the flip side of that is the fact I don’t have a place to relive the small moments. The ones that you can’t quite commit to your core, but know that you would love to remember someday. So many times Scott and I have reminisced about life in DC, and one or both of us has jumped on the blog to find a place or a memory we knew we archived here but couldn’t recall in detail. I am so pleased we have this place to find those moments, and it’s something I wish I had to relive Roux’s first years in this world.

I’ll say I will try to be better about it, but you know what they say about actions speak louder than words. So we’ll let the jury sit with that for a bit.

So Roux is TWO – and to celebrate, we kicked things off on Friday with a family date to Buffalo with Roux’s first present from us – an annual membership to the Buffalo Zoo! A few months ago we played hooky from the Factory and had our first visit to the zoo (followed by an incredible brunch at Swan Street Diner) and Roux was SMITTEN with the zoo. Specifically, the gorillas. I have tried to avoid zoo trips over the last few decades, as it pained me to see the cage life. But seeing these animals through Roux’s eyes is so special, and I am convincing myself that zoo life is better than it has been in the past, with rehabilitation efforts and other noble pursuits.

Needless to say, watching Roux come to life as he experienced the zoo made the membership an absolute MUST. When we stopped by Friday afternoon it was a quiet zoo, which means years down the road I’ll tell Roux I rented the place out for him for the day ;)

After the zoo, we treated Roux to dinner at Maizel Mexican Kitchen, owned by our dearest friends. Roux is such an adventurous eater and we try to give him as many opportunities to dine and experience food outside of our own kitchen. Leo and Lola are the most amazing people (and hands down Leo makes some of the best food we’ve ever had) – so Maizal was the perfect choice.

What we didn’t fully anticipate was how special and memorable an evening it would become – one that Roux (and we) will never forget. Aside from the abundance of food, Leo and Lola treated our boy to a full birthday celebration – sombrero, song, and all. Roux delighted in a churro ice cream bowl while their team sang, and the entire restaurant erupted into applause at this little human thoroughly relishing in Mexican dessert. I’ll truly never forget it.

We woke up early on Sunday morning and snuggled our birthday boy, making sure to group hug at exactly 7:23am – his birth time. The afternoon we welcomed our family over and delighted the boy with a train themed party, complete with my signature balloon arch. Your girl LOVES a balloon arch…

I don’t wish a second of time away, and I’m always so careful to say “I look forward to” rather than “I can’t wait”. But to see Roux really respond to his birthday this year, to tell people he is “doo’, it just excites me to think of how he will feel on birthdays in years to come when he really understands the full concept. And then just like Christmas trees in this house, balloon arches will probably start popping up in every room….

Happy birthday Roux-bayyyybeee. We love you.