Happy birthday to Cody!!

Today is a very special day . . .
it's my brother Cody's birthday, hooray!

Cody is one of the most charismatic, intelligent, awesome people I know. The kid is sooo smart and well-informed. If I were on Cash Cab and there was an obscure history/politics/geography/religion question, I would call Cody. . . and maybe even share a little of my prize money with him when he gave me the correct answer :). Cody's had a rough go of it at times; he has certainly introduced experiences and situations to our family that we never anticipated, but I am absolutely a better person with a deeper understanding of the Gospel and the Atonement because of Cody, and I'm grateful for that.

Cody and I have been tight pretty much since I was born.

One of my favorite things about Cody is that, like me, he owns his dorkiness. Years ago, we started having pictures taken of the two of us randomly pondering - sometimes looking at a statue or picture, sometimes just staring into space. It makes me laugh every time I see us striking this same pose!

Cody is also pretty willing to risk public humiliation to make me happy, such as bustin' a move on the dance floor with his little sister at our friend's wedding so I wouldn't have go out all alone. Thanks Coders!

As I've said, Cody's an excellent brother but he's found his true calling in life as an uncle. Clyde and Will both adore Cody (and Bailey is his birthday twin!!).

Will has just in the last two and a half months started identifying people by their names, which is WONDERFUL and such a great milestone for him. Initially he correctly called Cody 'Cody', but at some point in the last few weeks it has morphed into 'Cocoa', which is hilariously/sadly/appropriately the name of our family's late dog that Cody was especially close to.

Cody and I have very different music taste, but over the years in the car together we've been able to agree on a few songs/stations. We even have a lucky song: when Dido's 'Thank You' was so popular, there was a month-long period where Cody and I heard it on the radio every single time we were in the car together. The one time we didn't ended up being kind of a crummy day, and we attribute that to the absence of that song! :)

Our taste in television is much more overlapped, particularly our shared love of the West Wing (although I only acknowledge the first four seasons of the show; I left when Aaron Sorkin did). One of our favorite activities is quoting dialogue back and forth - here are just a few of our favorite bits:

Toby Ziegler: He calls you and me the Batman and Robin of speech-writing.
Sam Seaborn: Well, I don't think he does.
Toby Ziegler: He doesn't, but he should, 'cause that's what we are.
Sam Seaborn: Okay.
Toby Ziegler: We're Batman and Robin.
Sam Seaborn: Which one's which?
Toby Ziegler: Look at me, Sam. Am I Robin?
Sam Seaborn: I'm not Robin.
Toby Ziegler: Yes you are.
Sam Seaborn: Okay, well, let's move off this.
Toby Ziegler: You bet, little friend.

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Josh Lyman: Could you possibly get us some dried leaves?
Donna Moss: Yeah, I'll just run out to the forest and be right back.
Donna Moss: [Donna leaves room]
Sam Seaborn: You know what?
Josh Lyman: You think she was being sarcastic?
Sam Seaborn: Yeah. I don't think she's getting the leaves.
Josh Lyman: You know what we could use?
Sam Seaborn: Newspaper.
Josh Lyman: See, this is what I'm talking about. This is teamwork.
Sam Seaborn: It really is.

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[the President neglected a formality transferring executive power before going into surgery]
Margaret: Can - can I just say something, you know, for the future?
Leo McGarry: Yeah.
Margaret: *I* can sign the President's name. I have his signature down pretty good.
Leo McGarry: You can sign the President's name?
Margaret: Yeah.
Leo McGarry: On a document removing him from power and handing it to someone else?
Margaret: Yeah. Or, do you think the White House Counsel would say that was a bad idea?
Leo McGarry: I think the White House Counsel would say that's a coup d'etat.
Margaret: I'd probably end up doing some time for that.
Leo McGarry: I would think. And what the hell are you doing practicing the President's signature?
Margaret: It's just for fun.
Leo McGarry: We've got separation of powers, checks and balances, and Margaret, vetoing things and sending them back to the hill.

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Sam Seaborn: Where you going?
Josh Lyman: Where *you* going?
Sam Seaborn: I was following you.
Josh Lyman: I was following you.
[awkward pause]
Josh Lyman: All right... don't tell anyone this happened, okay?
Sam Seaborn: Yeah.

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Ainsley Hayes: Mr. Tribbey? I'd like to do well on this, my first assignment. Any advice you could give me that might point me the way of success would be, by me, appreciated.
Lionel Tribbey: Well, not speaking in iambic pentameter might be a step in the right direction.

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And our absolute favorite exchange is this one:

Josh Lyman: I'm just sayin' if you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer.
Donna Moss: [stands up] If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights.

I'm pretty sure we called each other at the next commercial break to 'squeee' like the fangirls we are :).

We celebrated Cody's birthday in combination with Mother's Day last night at my mom's house - a wonderful dinner and then a game of Settlers - Cody's first time! It was a lot of fun, and I'm pretty sure Cody's hooked now :).

Happy birthday to my favorite biggest brother - I love you lots, Cody!!