Evidence that we, too, play dress-up; although, as I painted Ford’s fingernails today (as per his explicit request, in the color orange no less) I realized he quite often cross-dresses. I think that’s way cool. I’m down with the whole cross-dressing thing. I hope he never gets fussy about trying to look conventional. This orange scarf here? It makes a great,long head of hair when Ford pretends he’s Violet (Incredible). He’ll chase around the house, in pursuit of…Dash? muttering and repeating sharply, “I said shut UP!”
Usher, look out
OOh, OOOh, this is important: Chas stood and boogied for the first time today! He stood in the middle of the living room and bounced up and down to music! Grinning with wide, four-tooth abandon. Any other parent knows that this is truly a fun moment in time. It’s the last time they’ll ever do that move without frowning and shoving out their lower jaw as if to say, “I’m so fly, look, I can dance (even though I feel like a total dork out here alone on the dance floor).”
One for the scrapbook
There are certain landmarks in a baby’s development that must be recorded.
I haven’t remembered to record the day Chas learned to climb the stairs, and stand alone, although it was sometime last month. I know now that he has a working intelligible vocabulary consisting of 6 words: mamamama, dada, dah (dog), bubba (brother), bubba (bubble), and buh (book). He can point when I point and clap with applause and he has a wonderful sense of humor that, these days, spreads great joy and levity. But today, at his girlfriend Sofi’s first birthday party, he impressed all of us by eating dog shit.
As with many milestones, we are often too caught-up in the moment of achievement to capture it on film, but when they are this impressive, such special advances are etched in our brain forever. Sofi’s birthdate, for example, will always be The Day Chas Ate Dog Shit.