Greetings Little One

Happy Daddy

You and Mommy met me at the mall for dinner tonight, little one. 

As Mommy pulled into the parking lot, you said, “There's the mall.  Daddy's inside.  I love he.  He cuddles me.”

That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about me, little one.  

Football and fun

I was at the Patriots game when you were visiting your friends and taking this wagon ride, little one. 

Patriots games are often all-day affairs.  Longs days. Fun days. But sad days, too, because I am away from you and Mommy. 

I love the Patriots, and I love you, and I love knowing that you are having fun when I am away, little one.  

 

Four descriptors

When you and Mommy pulled into the driveway tonight to pick me up for dinner, little one, this is what you said to Mommy:

“Daddy is big.  He's a man.  He cuddles me.  He turns on the TV.”

I’ll take that. 

Outlets?

Mommy told me that she taught you about outlets. 

“Outlets?”

I was befuddled.

When Mommy taught me about outlets a few years ago, she was talking about the huddle mass of stores that carry overstock items and drive shopping magnates crazy.

She couldn’t believe that I had never heard of them before. 

So that’s what I thought she was teaching  you about when she mentioned outlets to me. 

I was wrong.  

Obviously.

Daddy’s not always the brightest of bulbs.

Gramps the Photographer

While I was away at Camp Jewell in Colebrook, CT with my students, your grandfather was visiting our home and taking some amazing photographs of you, little one.

I missed you terribly, but these images brought an enormous smile to my face.

        

Taking after Daddy

When I was in high school, little one, I played in the drum corps and was proud to do so.  We were a part of a competitive marching band that won two six straight Massachusetts titles and two New England titles. 

I marched in the Macy’s Day parade, the Rose Bowl parade and inside Disney World. 

Some of my best memories come from my marching band days. 

It would appear that you might follow in Daddy’s footsteps, one day. 

I mean, it almost looks as though you know what you’re doing, little one.

M-I-L-O

You noticed my books for the first time today, little one.  They are stacked on the cluttered bookshelf near where I write, and as I was giving you a hug, you looked over my shoulder and asked, “What’s that?”

 

I told you that they were the books that I had written.  You know that I write books because you often tells Mommy that “Daddy write books on computer” but I don’t think you knew that I had actually published anything until today.

How could you?  You’re only two-years old.  You don’t know what publishing means. 

But for the first time, I think you finally understood that the books that I write on the computer are related to the books that you read everyday.  

You stared at the pile for a moment before reaching out and touching the spine of UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO. Then you traced the word MILO with your index finger and said, M-I-L-O. 

Just the fact that you could identify all four letters without any prompting was amazing. 

But to watch you trace the letters on the spine of a book that I had written, and then to listen to you call out the letters while realizing for the first time that your father had actually written the book, was one of those singular moments in life that I will never forget.

Unforgettable duet

Tonight I put you to bed on my own, little one.  You asked me to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

I started singing, and then you joined me. 

A first. 

We sang the whole thing together. 

I’m writing it down now so I won’t forget this moment, but I suspect that it isn’t necessary. 

A day with Daddy

I stayed home with you yesterday, little one.  You’ve had the stomach flu for almost a week, and though you were looking pretty healthy the night before, there is a rule that you need to be fever-free for 24 hours before we can bring you back to school.

So I chose the perfect day to spend at home with you.  It was the required-but-not-needed day off. 

A great day for having fun. 

And we did a lot.  Despite temperatures in the 90’s, we spent a lot of time outside, pedaling your tricycle.  In fact, it’s a new tricycle, given to us by Bengi, and when the garage door opened and you saw it for the first time, you stared for a moment and then whispered in a hushed tone, “A bicycle.”

After riding around for a while, we decided to head to Beachwood Park.  You wanted to swing, but unfortunately our neighbors weren’t home, so their swing set was unavailable to us (which you can never understand).  After staring and pointing and crying out for their backyard swing set for about ten minutes, I told you that we could go to the park and swing there.

Unfortunately, Mommy had the car with the car seat and both strollers in the back of the car, meaning we had to walk to the park, meaning I had to carry you most of the way.

Not easy. 

But worth it!  The park is well shaded and a new slide has been installed recently, so after I wiped down all the wet equipment with my shirt, you were ready to go.  You swung, slid, played in the sandbox and rode the teeter totter with me.

Lots of fun, and probably the reason that you later demanded a nap while lying on the kitchen floor.     

Memorial Day weekend, 2011

As we head back home from our weekend in the Berkshires, little one, I can’t help but smile at how much fun we had. 

Listening to you say, “I love my cousin Ari” over and over again, and for the first time,  was wonderful.

Watching you spend hours on Great Nana’s porch, playing with the doll house that Nanni and Gramps bought for you and yelling at the dogs to stay away, was perfect.

Walking and playing and sharing meals with you throughout the weekend, and laughing for much of the time, was unforgettable. 

But what I marveled at most, and what I will probably remember most, is the love that you have for Nanni and Gramps. 

I knew my grandparents well, little one.  My mom’s parents were also my godparents, and they lived nearby, so  we saw them often. 

And though my father’s mother died very early in my life, his father, my grandfather, continued to live next door to me until I left home at eighteen.

Yet I was never nearly as close to them as you are to your grandparents. 

In fact, when I plucked you from the Pack and Play on Sunday morning and asked if you wanted to climb into bed with Mommy, you asked for your grandparents instead.

I know it makes your grandparents happy to know that you love them so much, but it also makes Mommy and me just as happy to know how much you love them.