Midnight Musings

Evan's at an interesting age. Sometimes he looks almost like he's still a baby and then another moment, with different light and a different angle, I look in his direction and standing in his place is a little boy. Sometimes, as in the following photo, it feels almost as if I'm getting a glimpse into his future as a man.

Maybe that ephemeral appearance is part of what causes the toddler mood swings. There are times, common occurrences, actually, when it feels like the kid hates me. If he's the least big grumpy (tired, sleepy, emotionally frustrated) he does not want me. I can't even put him to sleep anymore. Then an hour, or seconds, later he's climbing Mount Daddy and asking me to go outside to feed the chickens followed by snuggling on the couch to watch Go Diego Go. He says "I sorry," "please," and "thank you" without being asked and thirty minutes later turns belligerent and demanding. It must be tough being a toddler. In no other time in your life, except maybe puberty, do you change so dramatically so quickly. Your brain power explodes. Evan's up to complete sentences and pretending to be things he isn't. He can identify letters, count into the teens, and memorize simple songs, but there are times when can't even explain why he's angry. Your physical abilities improve in sudden jumps that leave you able to run and jump but unable to easily take off your own shirt.

There's probably a reason humans aren't usually allowed to remember being a toddler. That wild swirl of unadulterated joy, selfish anger, raving independence, and frustration at not being able to do what you so clearly understand is possible for everyone else would be a much too confusing memory for an adult.

Evan actually turned two just over a week ago on May 15, but we had his birthday party this Saturday. Kim's parents came down and her dad cooked souvlaki, a Greek pork kabob that's marinated overnight in a mixture of olive oil, lemon, garlic, and oregano. Good stuff. It was a hit, but then Mr. Knuchel makes this stuff the best of any I've ever had.

Mr. Knuchel works the grill. Well, he's not actually in the photo, but the food is the important part. The souvlaki takes the heat while the vegetables wait their turn to sear.

Evan has been talking about his "Choo Choo Cake" for a week now. Kim bought a special pan that bakes the individual cars of the train and decorated the cupcakes the night before. It looked pretty cool and Evan was thrilled about it.

After cake and ice cream (and baklava and other Greek pastries for the adults), Evan finally got to open the presents. This was his face when he opened his present from his Aunt Kay. She bought him a sit-on-top train engine that makes noise. This was definitely one of his favorite gifts. He kept leaving new presents to go back and look at this one. Evan is fun at these things because he gets so excited about all of the presents and wants to linger on each one, even the clothes, instead of rushing to the next gift to open.

He also got his first tennis racquet. I bought him a little 19" racquet that he'll be able to use in a year or so to start playing. Right now he does a pretty good John McEnroe impersonation with it. He even knows what to do with the racquet and ball from watching so many tennis matches for my high school team, but he currently lacks the coordination to do much with it. The USTA is really pushing Quick Start tennis for young kids, which uses smaller courts (basically playing on the court width-wise) and larger foam balls instead of the normal felt and rubber balls. He's too young for that now, but it'll be good for him to get used to the racquet so he can pretend to play like daddy right now.

Gabe helps Evan with another of his presents, a battery powered train that speeds around its track.

This was another of Evan's favorites. Aunt Coo-Coo (my sister) ordered Evan a bunch of ducklings and he was excited about those. She ordered a mix of breeds so we have a few runner ducks, a couple of crested ducks and who knows what else.

This is a shot of the ducklings, or at least most of them. There are twelve in total. The yellow one at left-center with the afro is one of the two cresteds. There looks to be at least four different breeds represented, but only the cresteds with their puffball tops and the runners with their extremely upright posture are obvious enough to identify.

After the party, we finally got out train he had been so obsessed with while opening presents. The steering wheel actually works to steer the train, but Evan hasn't grasped the concept of steering yet. He also got his first big wheel type tricycle, a Cars-themed one, but we don't have a photo of it yet. We had to buy a new screwdriver that was long and thin enough to put it together. It also makes a lot of noise, and Evan, being a two-year-old boy, is thrilled about that.