Day 863 - The One Where Ellie is Smitten...With a Boy...At the Zoo

It goes without saying that Ellie, Ethan, and I make a lot of trips to the Kansas City Zoo. While the total tally of trips has been a little less than in prior years, we're still getting our money's worth out of our zoo pass. For the most part, our zoo trips revolve around seeing some animals and the occasional train ride. Why else would someone go to the Zoo? For Ellie though, her opinion on why one should go to the zoo may have changed just slightly after today's visit.

Today's zoo trip was special as the kids and I weren't going by ourselves. We would be joining my college friend, Brendan, and his two kids, Matthew and Anna, for a fun-filled morning. After meeting Brendan and his kids inside the polar bear exhibit for brief introductions, we began our trek around the zoo. 

While Brendan and I took the opportunity to catch up, I noticed pretty quickly that Ellie was quite smitten with 5-year-old Matthew. Since it's been a rarity for her to hang out with other kids during the COVID-19 fiasco, I initially just chalked it up to her being excited to see someone her own age. As the day went on, their interactions became, dare I say, a little cuter/more threatening. 

Starting in the penguin house at snack time, the two sat side-by-side watching the penguins swim as they munched on their snacks. Next on our list was the elephant exhibit where on the way, Ellie and Matthew spent time jumping up and down in a misting station together. Hardly threatening stuff yet but we're getting there. 

Next, we found ourselves wandering towards the Discovery Barn to see the sloth and the lemurs. On the way there, Ellie and Matthew found themselves riding a tiger together for a quick photo op. By the way, I should mention that this was not a real tiger, just a statue. Even more threatening than the plaster tiger was the big, smitten smile plastered on my daughter's face. Danger, Danger, Danger!

Next was a quick detour at the kangaroo lookout for lunch where Ellie and Matthew once again sat side-by-side eating their lunch together. The two even decided they were done with lunch at the exact same moment and were ready to run off together. However, Brendan and I put a stop to that long enough for us to join them. Little did I know that the biggest threat was yet to come.

As we walked past the tigers on our way to the orangutans, I looked back and saw something that inspired an "Awww" reflex but also brought feeling of sheer dread and terror. My daughter...my little girl...my dear Ellie...was holding hands...with...a...boy!!! Not only that, but they were both smiling while doing so. Just a few moments later, Ellie, apparently having worked up a lot of courage, asked Matthew, "Are we friends?". Matthew, for his part, would pause and reflect on the question for a few moments before replying, "Yes, we are friends!". 

There you have it. After endless zoo trips consisting of just Ellie and I (and a few more including Ethan), I now find myself as her second favorite man at the zoo. Who knows; I might even rank behind Ethan on her list of favorite men at the zoo. Once the time came to leave, Ellie even asked me when she could go to the zoo with Matthew again. The audacity of that girl. After all I've done for her. 

Ok, it's decided. From here on out, Ellie will spend the rest of her childhood locked in her room. Maybe I'll let her out when she's 18...or 21...or 30. We'll see. #DaddyWrite

**For the record, a large percentage of this post is written in jest. I'm guessing you already knew that though.

On a positive note, Ethan hasn't abandoned me to hang out with some girl yet.

Day 857 - Child Linguistics 101 and Remedial First Aid/Bicycle Safety

As an adult, I have those occasional moments when I find I don't possess the words necessary to convey whatever the topic is I'm trying to get across. Case in point, reference that last sentence. It took me 39 words to express a pretty normal thought. If I feel that way though, imagine how a one-year-old feels as he reacts to the world around him. 

To change topics slightly, I want to take this opportunity to brag on Ethan for a little bit. Over the past couple of weeks, it has been an absolute blast watching him continue to learn and develop in the area of his vocabulary. If pressed to choose my absolute favorite right now, it would have to be hearing him say, "Bye-bye." The greatest part is that it's always in context too. If we drop into Bethany's "office"/bedroom for a quick visit, he'll always chime in with a quick "Bye-bye" when it's time to leave. It's also a given that I get to hear that sweet, little "Bye-bye" whenever it's time for Ethan to take a nap or go to bed. Oh, I almost forgot to mention how "Bye-bye" is always accompanied by a cute, little wave.

There are a plethora of other words Ethan likes to say as well. "Hot", "Cracker", and "Cup" are becoming pretty common. There are some that are less common though. For example, "Pickle". One night as we were eating hamburgers for dinner, we fished a dill pickle out of the jar and handed it to Ethan for a snack. Seconds later, he was pointing at the jar and saying "Pickle" over and over again. A rather similar story exists for "Bible". One evening, it was time to get Ethan ready for bed  and part of that process includes reading a children's Bible to him. After so many nights of us doing just that, now it's not uncommon to see Ethan proudly holding his Bible aloft while saying, "Bible!".

The thing about words though is that there are times when the right words will not come and you find yourself unable to do anything but cry. For Ethan, that moment came last night.

With Bethany's sister and her family joining us for dinner last night, we found ourselves spending a lot of the evening outdoors watching the kids play. The main activity of the evening? Riding bicycles. As Ethan's two cousins and his sister flew up and down the sidewalk on their bikes, Ethan mainly played on our front steps while also taking tiny breaks to color with sidewalk chalk. As the evening went on, he got a little braver and even managed to climb on his cousin's bike for short little rides as one of the adults pushed him around the driveway.

As the evening was coming to a close, Ellie and her cousin, Elbert, decided to head up the street one last time. Elbert was on his bike with Ellie sprinting after him as fast as she could on foot. Of course, if Ellie is going somewhere, Ethan wants to go as well. Therefore, he began toddling after his sister and older cousin as fast as he could go. Unfortunately for Ethan, there was one final bike rider he neglected to take into account as two-year-old Edmund came happily riding up the sidewalk behind Ethan a little faster than he anticipated. As of right now, Edmund hasn't really learned to stop his bike without help and unfortunately for Ethan, he provided the help on this occasion. 

Before we could even process what had happened, Ethan found himself face down on the sidewalk with a scraped-up face and nose to show for his efforts. As you can probably guess, Ethan didn't mince with words when describing his pain. In fact, he went straight to screams. Blood-curdling screams to be exact. Don't worry though. After some extended snuggles with both Bethany and me, he was good as new...emotionally that is. Physical healing might take just a little bit longer. #DaddyWrite

Day 849 - A "1st" 4th for Ellie

For nearly as long as I can remember, my family's Independence Day celebration has been hosted at my grandmother's house in Savannah. Each year, the entire extended family will congregate at approximately 5:00 pm to partake in a feast of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, BBQ beans, and assorted salads. Of course, I would be remiss if I forgot to mention the traditional churn of homemade ice cream. Actually, make that two churns. 

The thing about traditions is that they often run for so long that when it doesn't happen, it's kind of a weird feeling. That was the case this year as COVID-19 actually prompted my grandmother to cancel or postpone the 4th of July celebration. For the record, I'm still uncertain as to whether the celebration is cancelled or postponed. The thing about broken traditions is that it actually provides the opportunity for new traditions to take root. For Ellie, it's obvious that she is hoping that her new traditions are in fact, new traditions.

As the traditional celebration at Grandma's house was cancelled this year, my aunt (and Bethany) decided the time was right for her to host an impromptu pool party. As a result, my family, my parents, and my aunt's family spend a fun-filled afternoon splashing about in their pool before we finally headed home around 4:00. 

As you can probably guess, a day of sunshine, splashing, and lots of tasty food took its toll on Ellie and Ethan and they were plenty tired as a result. Therefore, Bethany and I fully expected both kids to be sound asleep all evening. There was one little problem with that thought process though as we forgot about our neighborhood's traditional fireworks show. There were already plenty of concussive blasts in the sky by 7:00 pm when the kids go to bed. It took some doing but finally Bethany and I believed we had won out and both kids were asleep by around 8:00 pm.

When 9:00 pm rolled around, we knew that it was finally dark enough outside for us to enjoy the fireworks show. However, just as soon as we set up our lawn chairs in the driveway and made ourselves comfortable, a tiny pair of feet came running down the front steps to join us. Conveniently enough, Bethany and I had already anticipated this happening and had planned to allow Ellie to join us in watching fireworks for the first time ever.

Yes, you read that correctly. July 4th, 2020 was Ellie's very first experience watching fireworks. Actually, she saw some several times as a baby but this was the first time she was actually aware enough to understand what was happening. Before long, the skies were full of bursts of color and light every direction we looked. Ellie, still in her pajamas, made it her personal mission to point out whatever the best display was in the sky at that particular moment. Once 10:30 rolled around, Bethany and I made the call that it was time for Ellie to head to bed because we knew she was getting exhausted. Despite all of her pleas, Ellie was fast asleep within five minutes of laying down.

Honestly, watching Ellie's face light up in pure joy and elation while watching those fireworks burst in the sky has to be one of my highlights of 2020. I also loved how she wanted to share the moment with Bethany and I equally as she actually took turns sitting on both of our laps. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the time she spend spinning/dancing around our driveway in pure ecstasy as fireworks lit up the night sky.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Ethan did not make a pilgrimage to the driveway to celebrate the 4th. He didn't even bat an eye at the proceeding once he fell asleep. No big deal though since, as we learned this year, it's never too late for a child's first experience with fireworks. #DaddyWrite

Day 847 - An Exercise in Comparing and Contrasting and One in Heating and Cooling 101

I don't remember if I have mentioned this before or not because truth be told, it sounds pretty awful to say. I'll go ahead and say it now though. 

Not quite two years ago, Bethany and I found ourselves in an ultrasound room waiting to find out what gender Ethan would be. Finally, the verdict came down that we were having a boy. Most people would be ecstatic to find out that news since we already had a little girl in our family. We, however, were pretty crestfallen.

In our minds there were so many reasons that we wanted a girl. Chief among them were that we already had all of the stuff and also that it would be awesome for Ellie to have a sister to bond with. The fact that there was a boy growing inside Bethany just seemed disappointing and wrong. Sad to say, those feelings continued off and on throughout Bethany's pregnancy. However, if someone were to ask me today if I'm happy Ethan is a boy, I would undoubtedly say "Yes!" for a multitude of reasons.

For one thing, there's a really fun dynamic between the two siblings. As the older sister, Ellie absolutely loves to embrace the "mom" side of her personality when it comes to Ethan. She absolutely loves to dote on him and cater to his needs. If she thinks he needs a diaper change, she is more than willing to tell us. She also takes it upon herself to provide him with food and snacks from her own plate whenever possible. Ethan, for his part, shows his love for Ellie by following her around the house like a lost puppy and by bestowing an enormous hug upon her whenever given the opportunity.

I really also enjoy the stark difference in personalities. Remembering Ellie at this age and seeing Ethan at the same age is quite the exercise in opposites. Ellie, for her part, needed constant attention and supervision to be happy whereas Ethan is quite the opposite. It's not uncommon to see Ethan become engaged in a single activity for long periods of time while being completely happy to do so. It's extremely strange when one considers Ellie's status as an introvert and Ethan's as an extravert. 

Ethan's penchant for engaging in a single activity really needs to be expanded on for the sake of documentation. One of his favorite things he has discovered as of late is magnetic building tiles. His fascination with them is actually unbelievable given the fact that he doesn't so much build with them as he does repetitively stack and unstack them. I've honestly seen him spend close to an hour happily playing with those tiles before finally wanting some attention from me.

There is another difference between Ellie and Ethan that needs to be discussed and this one may be true for anyone who has had a boy and a girl but Ethan definitely has a gift for getting into mischief that his sister did not possess. I seriously spend a large part of my day taking loose crayons out of his possession, recovering our car keys from whatever unusual spot he left them in, and putting the child safety covers back on our electrical outlets. 

There is one more weird thing Ethan likes to do though. He loves (and I mean loves) to remove the air registers from our floor. He doesn't just remove them though. He'll take them off and run around the house with them. Sometimes, if left to his own devices long enough, he'll actually begin to collect the registers and put them together in a big pile somewhere in the house. 

I can't say that I understand the appeal. However, to Ethan, an air register is something of great value. From the moment he grabs one, a huge smile erupts across his face. Then, as he clutches his prize close, the continuous giggles will burst forth from his tiny mouth. What really makes him happy though is for someone to notice what he's done and give chase. That will turn those giggles into full-out victorious cackles more akin to an evil genius than a toddler.

I think this might be what Ethan is trying to tell me.

The differences I've detailed out are only the tip of the iceberg. However, I have to say that I absolutely love the stark contrasts offered by Ellie and Ethan in terms of their little personalities. In fact, I can't wait to see how those tiny personalities continue to develop and change over the years. Who knows if the differences will be enormous or too tiny to..."register." 

Wow, that was an absolutely terrible joke. I'm so sorry you had to experience that. My deepest apologies. I'll try to do better next time. #DaddyWrite