2 Years!

This time 2 years ago, Amanda and I were settling into the recovery room and trying to find a way to get some rest. We'd seen our son for all of about 10 minutes, and all of that time he'd been screaming.

A year ago, he was just starting to use some simple words like "ball" and "daddy", a few days from walking, and had just a few teeth.

Today we have a little madman. He runs, he tries to jump, he sings, dances, speaks in (almost) full sentences, complete with subject, verb, direct & indirect objects, prepositions, and a budding understanding of tense. He has favorite activities, loves to wrestle and watch football, has a full set of 16 teeth, and navigates the stairs pretty much on his own.

His memory is preternatural: he only has to see an intersection once to know that it's on the way to one place or another; he remembers each and every place he's ever seen a tractor, excavator, or skid steer; and he remembers the names of people he met back in July.

(I don't mean to brag, but I've only done this kid thing once, so it all seems absolutely amazing to me.)

Saturday we had a party for him at my dad's new house. We started it shortly before his normal nap-time, and had lots of friends and family in attendance. The theme this year was "Cars" (as in the Pixar movie), and he had a Cars cake, plates, toys, napkins, and t-shirt. Big hits included Mack, Luigi & Guido, and Fillmore. He also got his first pirate ship (the Backyardigans), a couple of toy helicopters, clothing, books, and a trike. Not just a trike, but a Trek Trikester:

He loves it, but unfortunately hasn't been able to ride it yet. It's been so bloody cold that he's had to content himself with a couple of rides in his new wagon and cruising around the living room on his Lightning McQueen ride-on car.

Happy birthday, Alastair!