40 is the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order.

Chris is:

1. my favorite.
2. the only person with whom I can imagine living through the twins' pending infancy.
3. bacon-obsessed.
   
4. funny is a wonderfully stealthy way.
5. someone  who looks great with grey hair.
6. generous.
7. a great cook.
   
8. beautiful.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. constitutionally opposed to having a fuss made about him. 
10. lovable despite his enjoyment of Battlestar Galactica.
11. maybe the only person I believed when he said we would get through infertility.
    
12. opposed to buying flowers but happy to make cookies. 
13. athletic enough to enthusiastically try new sports and do respectably well at them.
14. well-read and willing to tackle books that I find daunting (recent examples include the Aeneid and War and Peace).
    
15. a wonderful parent. 
16. not the tallest one in his family.
    
    
    
    
    
17. good with languages but bad with accents. (I had to translate for him in Scotland.) 
18. as likely as not to give me a report on the best thing he ate on a given day.
    
19. more internet obsessed than I am. 
20. happy to tell you his favorite joke: What's brown and sticky? A stick.  
21. a coffee addict and goes through at least a pound a week (plus whatever he drinks at work).  
22. almost never going to notice before I do that the tub needs cleaning.
23. able to follow a basketball game by radio.  
24. willing, with less prodding than you'd think, to put on a hideous wig and smooch his pregnant, costumed wife.
    
    
    
    
    
25. a tenured professor.
    
26. kind enough to never complain about my out-of-control fabric stash. 
27. hard to photograph because he likes to make faces to deter me. 
28. amused by puns and math jokes. 
29. a master mixer of classic cocktails and several newfangled ones. 
30. much more accommodating and even-keeled than I am.
    
31. a true Oregonian, who would rather deal with rain and cold than sun and heat.
    
    
    
    
    
    
32. an avid Settlers of Catan player, and almost always wins. 
33. our Saturday morning chef: he makes pancakes for Ada almost every week, using a mix of white and graham flour. 
34. hard to upset (not that I haven't tried once or twice). 
35. gentle in a way that most people do not expect.
    
36. halfway decent guitar player for someone who rarely gets time to practice.
    
37. a fan of Sol LeWitt. He was entranced from the first time he encountered LeWitt's work.
    
38. a great out-loud reader who has read many books to me and forgiven me when I've fallen asleep.
    
39. sitting on the couch next to me, making it difficult for me to finish this post.
    
40. 40 today.