{"id":16409,"date":"2018-08-09T12:53:59","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T16:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/?p=16409"},"modified":"2018-08-09T12:53:59","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T16:53:59","slug":"happy-birthday-daniel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/happy-birthday-daniel\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday Daniel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

Today is Daniel\u2019s 33rd birthday and I love him so much it makes me feel crazy and weepy and so grateful I could fill a book with reasons I can\u2019t live without him. And maybe because I\u2019m an emotional 8-month-pregnant woman, I feel compelled to write down a few of my favorite things about my favorite guy. (I\u2019ll warn you now: this post is filled to the BRIM with mushy gushy sentimentality that might make you roll your eyes or throw up. I can\u2019t help myself.)<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

I love his contentment. I love that he\u2019s not constantly, chronically searching for more, better, enough\u2014like I am prone to do. Which is not to say that he doesn\u2019t strive to grow and be better; he just moves through life with much more peace and acceptance of the here and now than I ever do. And what\u2019s maybe more striking about his nature is that you realize when you\u2019re with someone who is content and satisfied on his own, that you just might be enough, too.<\/p>\n

I love how thoughtful he is, and the way he always pauses to see both sides. For years I thought he was trying to be a contrarian, or playing devil\u2019s advocate, when he\u2019d ask me to take a minute to see something from another person\u2019s perspective. I\u2019d get frustrated when he didn\u2019t immediately validate or agree. Now I recognize that this instinct in him to think about everything from all angles is what makes him so understanding and empathetic. I can only hope our son is as compassionate\u2014and as critical a thinker. <\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

I love that he finds the joke in everything, a trait I believed he got from his dad, until I met his mom and realized that she, too, is quick to make you laugh. Daniel is playful and silly and his ability to see humor in (almost) everything makes our lives feel lighter, even if and when they aren\u2019t. I\u2019m happy just thinking that our son will come into a home with so much laughter. <\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

I love the way he loves Dee, my parents\u2019 pug, who we are both admittedly out-of-our-minds in love with. He takes care of her in the most astoundingly patient and nurturing way. He kisses her, lets her lick his nose well beyond a normal level of comfort, and he will walk with her as long as she wants\u2014and when I sometimes ask him how he doesn\u2019t get infuriated and force her to turn back\u2014he tells me, \u201cbut she loves walking and smelling the leaves. She lets me know when she\u2019s ready to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dee <\/p>\n

I love that, for all of my chaos, intensity, and impulsivity, Daniel is calm and steady and measured. He\u2019s the even-tempered one, the patient one, the one whose very presence is reassuring. <\/p>\n

Happy birthday, Daniel! I love you.<\/p>\n

Thank you all for allowing me to go nuts and gush.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is Daniel\u2019s 33rd birthday and I love him so much it makes me feel crazy and weepy and so …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[999],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16409","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andiemitchell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}