Christmas present

Dylan,

I love this mosaic of pictures of you and Lisa from our vacation.

Dad

Matching jammies

Sleeping

Dylan,

Words do not capture the beautiful wonder of having just finished
singing you to sleep.

Dad

Caretaker

Dylan,

You've been an eager and competent helper. We've even noticed a
renewed diligence as we hear you counting to thirty while washing your
hands.

Dad

bonding

Baby Sister

Dylan,

Ruby Claire was born yesterday. You came to see her in the hospital
and got to hold her yourself, just like you learned to in your
'siblings' lesson last week.

Before leaving the room last night you climbed up on the bed where
Mommy was holding her and adorably sang a few verses of The Sound of
Silence.

You are a wonderful Big Brother.

more art

art

Fall back

Dylan,

Daylight Savings Time ends on your birthday this year so we'll be setting our clocks back an hour Saturday at bedtime. While I'd like to think we'll get an extra hour of sleep, I know in reality you'll just be waking even earlier to get the festivities started.

I'm hoping you'll at least stay in your room until 6:00am.


Dad

rise and shine

Dylan,

You woke up early this morning and determined that if you got all your business taken care of, you'd have some time to play with your new LEGO fire engine. So you checked the weather forecast and saw that it would be sunny and warm, then chose a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to put on, and made yourself a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast. Then you let the chickens out and washed your hands.

Nicely done. Time to play before school!


Dad

Pumpkin carving

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EThpYvSOpdw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Día de los muertos

Practicing chess

origin of the species

Dylan,

On your way to school this morning you asked Mom where the first humans came from. I don't know whether you heard someone else talking about the concept, or if you were inspired to wonderment by the pending arrival of Baby Sister. Either way, I think that's awesome deep-thinking for a child not yet five years old.


Dad

Nailed it

Baby Sister

Dylan,

Things are gonna be different around here.

Landslide

Dylan,

Recorded through the bathroom door, with the fan on:

first sleepover

treasure

Dylan,

This is a clue for the treasure hunt you are preparing for your
birthday...

Another milestone

Dylan,
For the first time in 4 years, since we spent august of 2006 in Maine, you've set foot in the ocean. Despite way too many trips to the beach for me to even remember, you've finally decided the ocean is ok...

Warring crustaceans

Mini golfing on vacation. Look at that stance.

Souvenir

D,

I went to a conference at Disney World.

Treasure hunting

Dylan,
you've hidden little wooden treasure chests leftover from last year's pirate party around the house and started writing clues for people to find them.

Very cool.


Dad

Chess

Dylan,

We played our first game of Chess yesterday.

I'm not sure who taught you how to play. I had only briefly introduced you, but now you know the names of all the pieces, how to set up the board, and have a sense of how each piece is allowed to move.

The fact that you can play chess --and are enthusiastic about it-- at just four and a half years old is one of those things that reinforces my longstanding belief that you are indeed waaaaaaay above average.


Dad

Ghost Dylan

Things you learn

Dylan,

You just learned to wink. Last week you learned how to snap your fingers.

It's such fun to watch you growing up.


Dad

camp songs

Dylan,

You started summer camp at the YMCA this week. I've been out of town the last couple of days, and it was wonderful to hear you singing "BOOM-shakka-lakka-shakka-lakka-shakka-BOOM" over the phone just before you brushed your teeth. Over the phone, your singing voice makes you sound much older.

You also told me about the beads you had earned; Two for Honesty, one for Responsibility. I'm sure your Montessori teachers would cringe at the practice of rewarding good behavior with trinkets rather than relying on an emphasis of the self-reinforcing value of positive behaviors, but you love the beads and it's fun to hear your excited voice.


Dad

Swinger

Nature walk

Dylan,

Haircut

This is the first time I've cut your hair myself.
Dad

Porcelain smile

Dylan,

You slipped and fell in the bathroom. You tried to catch yourself on
the toilet bowl but your hand slipped in, leaving your face to catch
the porcelain instead.

The sound of impact was heard throughout the house, even over the
music playing.

Your lip is cut and swollen. And it's one of the few times you've
actually bled from injury.

Caps For Sale

Bouncing

yoghurt stache

Patience

DMG,

After some wildly wrong directions from Google Maps extended our hunt
for breakfast this morning I told you I appreciated your patience, and
that I'd need even more of it.

You told me you would show "more patience than <you> even needed to".
You said you could be as patient as an eagle.

Apropos, I thought, and I commented that eagles were verrry patient—
sometimes sitting still for hours at a time waiting for prey.

I guess you weren't as impressed as I was by the imagery, as you then
announced you could be more patient than an eagle. You would be as patient as a building. In fact, as patient as a skyscraper!

And you were.

—

Later in the day, standing in line for a ride at Legoland and frustrated that someone had jumped in front of you and taken your spot when you were next up, you started to get agitated. I leaned over behind you and whispered "patience of a skyscraper". Without turning your head, or acknowledging me in any other way, you suddenly stilled. Your hands eased to your sides as you seemed to grow an inch or more. You faced straight ahead, and there was a distinct lack of rigidity to your motionlessness, yielding a strong impression of poise well
beyond your four and a half years.

Dad

Initials

DMG,

Toward the end of our 8-hr drive yesterday you announced rather out-of-
the-blue that since your initials are DMG, I could call you that, and
that I shouldn't just call you D.

You re-iterated it this morning, pointing out that I was still calling
you by your name and not by your initials. I asked you to be patient
while I work on transitioning.

Dad

Mussels

DMG,

Out for dinner on our road trip to Legoland, you jumped at the chance
to have the "mussels with pomme frittes".

Our server was very impressed, and while you ate we got a visit from
another server who stopped by just to comment on how impressive were
your culinary preferences at such an age.

I was just glad you didn't take one bite and reject them outright.

Dad

Natural consequences

Dylan,

You just lost access to ~85% of your toys. And you took it seemingly
in stride.

A couple buds were over for Pizza Night and you decided it would be
funny to take every single item off the shelves in your room and pile
them on your bed.

Mom didn't find the humor therein, so she packed everything into
garbage bags while you played in the living room and I put them all in
the attic.

As I alluded to, you took it surprisingly well. You seemed to know—
even at the time—that your actions had crossed a line. You understand
what happened and why, and you've yet to complain or object.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Sure makes for a nice
opportunity for a much-needed reorganization of your things.

Dad

Work buildings

Dylan,

Seven months and four days ago you looked at me, my deep sadness reflecting in your face, and listened intently as I explained that someone had taken away my job (and I did appreciate you saying you would punch them in the nose for the offense). I assured you—no, I promised you—that I'd find myself a new job and things would be alright.

Today I formally accepted that new job. Not just a new job, in fact a new career.

Losing that old job was hard, and it hurt, but it was apparently just what I needed. I am so much happier now about my situation, the work I'll be doing, and my future prospects.

It was really great being able to spend so much extra time with you. Going to Spanish class, swimming lessons, as well as lots and lots of fun and games around the house have been a real treat that I will miss.

Dad

Heartbeat

Dylan,

You're going to have a sibling, born right around the same time as your fifth birthday.

We don't know yet if it's a brother or a sister. And we're not planning to tell you about it until you start asking questions of your own accord.

Dad

Tooling around

bathroom

You have always been unusually comfortable spending great lengths of
time in the bathroom. An hour ago you asked me to play trains with
you. I've reminded you three times already, but I'm still waiting for
you to finish your business.

Weaving

Dylan,

This is your weaving work at school. You tell me you're making a purse.

Dad

quotables

"Once, when I was painting at school, I made a boat that The Sun could sleep in.".

--Dylan

Fruits

"Peas are a fruit", you announced while munching on a strawberry at breakfast.

"So are avacados" I replied, just trying to keep up.

Continuing, you said "Anything that has seeds in it is a fruit. Remember we learned that at Hidden Villa?"

Uncle Marc will be so proud.

Coaster

You just rode your first big roller coaster!
Along the way, you repeatedly declared your fears along with your intent to never do this again, but as soon as the ride eased into the station you said "that wasn't so scary".

Tuckered

Curled up after a fun day at Happy Hollow.

Hidden Villa

Discovery museum

With Anshul.

Cool

Look Ma, I caught a snap pea!

Dylan,

You're sitting atop your playhouse picking the snap peas that have made their way out of the garden boundaries.

I've got some ambitious plans for our summer garden, but the winter
garden is proving too bountiful for me to tear it all out yet.

Cardboard box

D,

You haven't outgrown your love of boxes.

Dad

Satellite

Dylan,

On a recent trip to the planetarium at the Academy of Sciences you saw pictures of Voyager One. You've been making frequent satellite references since then, and you built this one all on your own:

Dad

Dylan's World

wisdom

Dylan,

I heard an interesting quote today:

"In the beginner's mind there are many options. In the expert's mind there are few."

This is consistent with my own experience.


Dad

reading

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ91H1QNdSk

scientific method

Dylan,

You surprised me a bit when you claimed your belief that chickens like
to eat grass had been validated through testing:




Dad

Electronical

Dylan,

You helped Uncle Marc mow his lawn, explaining to me that you could do
so because the mower was not "electronical".

Dad

Rolling

Dylan,

Your first ride in a convertible:

Dad

Gymnastics

Quotable

"My alphabet in my head can talk."

Builder

Dylan,

You say you're building an open trench.

Letters

Dylan,

I returned home today from an exhausting, whirlwind of a trip, and
took a nap. I woke up to find three sealed envelopes taped to the back
of my bedroom door.

You had carefully crafted three hand-made cards for me using stickers,
stamps, and hand-written messages. This one says "Dear Daddy, I love
you so much".

South America

Dylan,

Ilana says you spent well over an hour non-stop on this map, tracing
each puzzle piece carefully in its place before finally coloring them.

paintwork

It stings a little

Dylan,

I dragged you with me grocery shopping the other day. Just outside our second stop, you told me how you wished you had gotten to stay home with Mom instead. Then you asked, with the full brutality of a young child's innocence and naïveté: "Did I used to like you when I was a baby?"

I've always assumed that someday, way into the future and most likely only temporarily, you would profess something less -- perhaps far less -- than undying love and admiration for me. But I wasn't ready for that time to be now.

"Wow", I said. "Dylan, that makes me feel like you don't like me very much". And then I just had to go and ask, "Do you like me?"

"A little bit", you conceded, after a pause.

That's gonna stick with me for a while.


Dad

Tangles

More swimming

Swimming update

Golden Gate

King of all sharks

Dylan,

You were crowned on our visit to the Bay Aquarium.

The way it is

"My friend Mia says she always tells the truth, but that's not right."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know it from anything in the world, I just know it in my head."

Fascinating.

more Trio blocks

Dylan,

I woke up this morning to find you playing with your newest creation.

Double ear infection

D,

You've been crying on and off for the last 16 hours as each ear has
taken a turn in the spotlight.

Dad

LEGO Dylan