keys

d,

Someday you'll have your own set of keys and if history is to be our guide, you'll probably mis-place them often.

I let you play with my keys rather routinely (but not my wallet or my cell phone). I've recently realized on my way out the door a couple of times that I never got them back. You, of course, having long since finished with them, I've had to go hunting. Twice I've found them in the back yard. I should probably start loaning them on an indoor-only basis.

dad

so so much

Dylan,

Sorry for the break. There is so so much to catch up on. For instance, we did go back to the train station and ride the rails. We also went camping, which was loads of fun and inspired many would-be posts. And we took another trip to visit GG and Papa Russ. You loved the Museum of Flight (which you called the "Airplane Store") and saw bunches of HUGE salmon in the Fish Laddder. You've also started forming sentences. You're getting all the way through the alphabet, if not actually including all of the letters. And you were bitten at daycare two times last week(!), though not by the same kid that bit you the two previous times, which is kind of the silver lining in the darkening cloud of daycare.

And oh yeah, you woke up this morning covered head to toe in your own vomit. Yuck.

More soon.

Dad

training day

Dylan,

As has become routine, Mom offered you a chance to use your potty-chair in the interval between your diaper removal and your bath. You're usually game to sit and give it a try, but today you actually peed in the toilet for the first time.

It was no big deal to you, but you seemed happy with how pleased we were by the milestone.

I look forward to getting you out of diapers.

Dad


UPDATE:
You made it two days in a row. Nice job.

transit

Dylan,

We got up early on Sunday and caught the last bit of a Thomas the Train episode on the teevee. Left wanting, we decided to go to the train station ourselves.

It was a huge hit.

Not only did we see trains ("happy trains", you're still telling Mommy three days later) coming and going, groaning and letting off steam, but there were buses coming at us from all directions, and light rail cars with their "ding ding, ding ding" which you couldn't get enough of, and every few minutes a 737 would roar overhead, landing gear ready, just to mix it up and keep it exciting.









Next weekend we're going for a ride.

Dad

shiny happy people

Surely this is what R.E.M. had in mind:




Dad


UPDATE:
Shiny happy people laughing
Meet me in the crowd
People people
Throw your love around
Love me love me
Take it into town
Happy happy
Put it in the ground
Where the flowers grow
Gold and silver shine

Shiny happy people holding hands
Shiny happy people laughing

Everyone around love them, love them
Put it in your hands
Take it take it
There's no time to cry
Happy happy
Put it in your heart
Where tomorrow shines
Gold and silver shine

Shiny happy people holding hands
Shiny happy people laughing

grandpa's fingers

Dylan,

You're a lucky boy to have two Grandfathers to do this with:





Dad

da- da- da-

Dylan,

For a long time you've been saying your own name and pronouncing the "d" with an "n" sound. The other day I was trying to stress the correct pronunciation by saying "da-, da-, da-, Dylan." You turned to me and responded with "da-, da-, da-, Daddy" and a smile.

Dad

fish tale

Dylan,

At dinner tonight you ate a half pound of fresh, wild, Dover sole along with an ear of corn, and followed up with a bowl of pasta.

The fish was meant to be for multiple meals but you kept calling for more and more as you finished serving after serving.

It's fun to watch you eat, with your 'take no prisoners', 'chewing-optional' style.

Dad

Dylan says

chi
n.
The vital force believed in Taoism and other Chinese thought to be inherent in all things. The unimpeded circulation of chi and a balance of its negative and positive forms in the body are held to be essential to good health in traditional Chinese medicine.

tar
n.
1. A dark, oily, viscous material, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, produced by the destructive distillation of organic substances such as wood, coal, or peat.
2. Coal tar.
3. A solid residue of tobacco smoke containing byproducts of combustion.

chi•tar
n.
A musical instrument having a flat-backed rounded body that narrows in the middle, a long fretted neck, and usually six strings, played by strumming or plucking.


Dad

buenos habitos

Dylan,

You just stuck your head through the dining room door where Mom and I were finishing breakfast. You had a long thin plasticky carpet fiber sticking out of either side of your mouth that you used for what you imagined to be flossing your teeth.

Mom got you a minty-fresh strand of the real deal for you to practice with instead.





Dad