To my darling Blake,

You turned four years old today.

Make.  It.  Stop.

Somehow I blinked and you're this little boy with a personality like nobody I've ever met in my life and I don't know what happened to the little baby I was cradling in the recliner.  Right now you're laying in between me and Mimi snoring away, feeling awful after puking earlier.  But what did we think would happen after you ate 5 pieces of pizza, (at least) 4 mini cupcakes, and ice cream and then ran around like a maniac on a sugar high for the next 4 hours?

(By the way, you have the craziest appetite.  You always have.  You should be a giant.  And you also snore like a grown man.  Just saying.)

Oh, kid.  I couldn't love you more if I tried.  Every day of every year I fall more in love with you and feel more determined to protect you and keep you safe and give you the best that I can.  You are adorable and smart and cuddly and funny and weird and stubborn and mischievous and an absolute mess and I wouldn't trade you for anyone in the world.  You drive me insane in the best possible way, like any good nephew.  You are the best part of my life and the biggest reason I still like coming home to see the family.

I don't know the person I'd be if you hadn't been born, and I'm glad I don't have to find out.  Because you, my sweet little man, have taught me more than I could put into words.  You astound me.  I don't know how else to say it.  You absolutely astound me.  Your resilience.  Your sweetness.  Your temper!  Your sense of humor.  Everything about you amazes me, it's as if there had never been another four-year-old boy on the planet before.

There have been others, Blake, but there is no one like you.  Never forget that you are you for a reason, and please, don't waste time like I did trying to be someone you're not, someone you think other people want you to be.  Those people you're trying to please will almost certainly never be happy with you, and life is too short to spend it miserable with yourself.  You are wonderful.  And no matter what anyone tells you, or even what you might tell yourself one day, I think I got the best nephew in the world and I wouldn't trade you for anything.

I can't wait to see what the next year brings for you, and the person you become.  I'm so happy and honored that I get to watch it happen.  You are my favorite person in the world, and don't you forget it.

Some pictures and videos from your birthday...because I turn into a paparazzo when you're around...and because Aunt Holly couldn't be here and I wanted her to see as much as possible.

I love you more than you know, Blake.

Keep dancing.