Two-riffic

Nearly two years and one month ago today, as Jennifer and I were heading to the hospital, I started getting a little sentimental. At one point, I turned to Jennifer and said, "We're soon going to meet our new buddy." Jennifer looked at me with a tired, bewildered expression. You see, up to this point, Kyle had been punching her belly button, dancing on her bladder, and creating immense pain by sitting on one of her nerves... all during an exhausting heat wave. It wasn't exactly "buddy" behavior. During our car ride, Jennifer was strictly focused on getting the kid out of her, so my "buddy"comment might have been a bit ill-timed. But I know now that I was right. Two years later, I can easily say that Kyle is my buddy.

The little guy and I spend a lot of time together. Since I'm the stay-at-home dad, it's usually just him and me for most of the work week. I haven't taken many weekend trips away, either, so he also gets a lot of Daddy time then. The kid should be sick of me, but so far he's not. We share a lot of jokes together, and we enjoy going on walks and making silly noises that could get us kicked out of restaurants should we try them there (and he sometimes does). Kyle also can't be shirtless without finding me and waiting, with a big grin on his face, for me to exclaim, "KYLE! Where's your shirt?!?" He runs off like a crazy man after that. And then, every Thursday night, Kyle does his best union supervisor impersonation, watching me intently as I sort the recycling. It wouldn't be the same without him there. I also feel I have developed a strong understanding of his wants and needs without him having to spell them out, which is a good thing since he knows how to say only five or six letters of the alphabet. This all could start ending once he masters making friends with kids his age, but for now it's good fun.

That's not to say there hasn't been any rough moments. Kyle is still a two-year-old, and he has a reputation to live up to. Jennifer and I have both learned the hard way just how sharp the little guy's teeth are. The kid's living on the edge, finding every way to get on our nerves. He'll stand on furniture. He'll throw things around our living room. He'll give our phone number to telemarketers. Yet, once he pushes us to the limit, he pulls back, gives us a hug or simply a smile, and suddenly we forget that he almost got us arrested. Two-year-olds have that power.

However, if his mom's home, he won't even try to win me back. On many weekends, he's Mama's Boy, and only Mama's Boy. Recently he went as far as to say, "No Daddy," while pushing me out of the room so that he could be alone with Jennifer. Shortly afterwards, as I tried putting on his shoes, he screamed at me and cried until his face turned purple and his lips quivered. He wanted nothing to do with me. That kind of behavior continued until Monday, and then it suddenly switched. He barely acknowledged Jennifer as she left for work, and then he asked me to read to him and play games. Just like that, he was my buddy again.

Because I spend so much time with the little guy, I often find myself irrationally perplexed by his sudden disdain for me on the weekends. I try to think of where I might have gone wrong, or of ways I could get him to at least let me pick him up. The problem is, since he's the only person I talk to for most of each day, I often think of him as a complete person, and he's not quite there yet. He still has a lot of growing to do. The other weekend Jennifer had to remind me that he's been on this planet for just two short years, and that he still eats crayons. He's not exactly ready to act reasonably. Sometimes I need reminders like that.

Yet, for all its trouble, being a dad is still the best experience of my life, and I love having the little buddy around. Just making him laugh can erase any struggles I may be having on a particular day. If that's not the greatest gift a person can receive, then what is?

Below is a new batch of pictures from the past six months, including Kyle's birthday. The smaller images were taken with my archaic cell phone (I hope to get a new one someday). Enjoy!

Kyle's First Half of 2010 & Birthday

This album contains 82 pictures, which is a lot... but it's still smaller than the album of Kyle's first MONTH. Wow, were we trigger-happy then!

I'll have more Kyle photos in six months. So, I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, 'Id al-Fitr, Yom Kippur, Columbus Day, All Saints Day, Election Day, Diwali, Veterans Day, Id al-adha, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day.

Cheers!