Fatherhood

Last night was cool. Patrick was in a playful mood ... dumping food and drinks all over the place, sneaking toys over the back of the couch (then getting upset when I passed them back to him), and climbing over everything. He also got a family game going ... with everyone ready for bed, he had us put his shoes on, then Papa and Mama had to put on their boots. It was all very funny and exciting ... mostly watching his intensity. Then, we had to follow him ... around and around we went. Through the kitchen, into the dining room, through the family room, past the front door and into the kitchen again ... over and over, around and around ... stomping our feet in some sort of family train! Every now and then, Jen or I would fall behind and invariably, Patrick would stop to make sure that we caught back up. We played other games, as well ... but we always seemed to head back to the train ... oh, and don't forget the shoes ...

We headed over to see Grandma and Papap after work. They had taken the time to pick up Patrick from daycare ... so cool, giving us a few quiet minutes. The silence was so amazing ... Patrick and Grandma showed us the new boots he got ... again, so cool! At one point during the night, Patrick was being chased around the house (they have a nice large circle you can run around in their house) ... by Papap. He stopped at one point and grabbed his Mama's hand and got her into the chasing. Not long after that, Grandma was pulled into the chase, as well. So there I was watching my father, mother, and wife chasing my son around the house, like some super-cool train (yes, I did get pulled into chasing hi, as well ... but at that point, I was allowed to sit back and laugh) ... we are all so well trained!

Patrick has been learning ... so fast! He has been expanding his vocabulary and correlating activities so fast ... it is sometimes funny to watch and always exciting. Jen picked up a toy train the other day ... one of those ten dollar, battery operated things you find at the drug store. It plays several songs and tows it's two cars in a tiny circle. On the cars, two animals can be mounted ... one white with a blue base and one yellow with a yellow base. The activity, once the train was home and put together, was to attempt to put the right animal into the right car ... each animal as a differently shaped based; a bit of a challenge. I found myself pointing out the base and then the car ... and he promptly took the animal in the other hand and tried to put it in the car I had indicated (for the other animal). All this was hindered by the fact the train was moving and he had to wait for it to come around the track to try again. He'll get it I'm sure, but it will b...