Newfangled Dad

What happened to my lazy summer? All of the sudden it's filled with saying goodbye to old friends starting new jobs in far off places, birthday parties at the planetarium, and impromptu road trips to my native state. Ohio is a strange place. We all decide to wear red and worship in the same 100,000 seat stadium several Saturdays in the fall. It's a great time to go to the mall because everyone else will be at home watching the Buckeyes on tv. For some reason, we're the most important state in every Presidential election. We have more astronauts and Presidents from our state than almost any other. But we can't seem to learn about traffic light timing. Really, Dublin? Every red light? Come on! We left bright  dark and early Tuesday morning so we could arrive in Columbus in time for Kelly to work a half day. Cole is always mesmerized by the night. He's never out in it so before sunrise actually prompts him to be awake and ask questions about it rather than settle...

So much to write about; so many things happening these days! And the last few posts have been getting some good hits so you all must be hanging on every word I say, right? Cole is getting conversational finally and really engages in elaborate discussions with you now...frequently about trucks, truck color, where a truck may be, what a truck might be doing, when a truck may come back. Leda has been talking as well. Not just baby talk, but expressing her wishes with "up" to get in chairs. Asking for a bath...all the time. The kid would take 3 a day if we let her. She's started copying her brother and, (Look, your baby sister does it! Why can't you?!) The visit with my mom was wonderful and he was very sad to see her return home. We've been trying to ease the pain with promises of a trip to Kelly's mom in Minnesota for Mother's Day weekend. There will be sheep involved so "sheeps" are currently on the radar. Especially in light of Kelly bringi...

Cole has been using the 4 (yes, 4) large boxes--sent by my mother ahead of her visit--as a fort all this week. We're down to 3 now, actually, because one of them is a gift for Leda that was taken to the basement for assembly. One of them is marked "fragile" but I'm hoping not-so-much because it's been loved a little hard. Parents like grandparents, too. They watch the kids so you can go take a tour of the gym you're thinking about joining without having to drag the kids along. Nobody wants to wheel a stroller onto the pool deck or into the locker room or keep toddlers busy while discussing membership rates. They give you a welcome excuse to finally use the extra passes that came with your zoo membership. They babysit so you can go on a date night. (Mmmm, margaritas!) If all this sounds spoiled, it maybe is a bit...but it's well-deserved. Most of the grandparents are a day's drive away. Visits are infrequent. It's nice to have them as specia...