christmas at the zoo

a brief letup in the rain allowed us to get cassidy, nearly delirious with cabin fever, out to the zoo. goats were brushed, pigeons chased, french fries eaten, puddles splashed in, cheeks kissed, poses struck, and stockings hung by the chimney with care.

four year plan

when you're four, you develop all kinds of sophisticated new tastes: off-key singing, visiting Santa at the mall (or at least seeing the Christmas tree, since the lazy bastard was at lunch), having fabulous birthday parties, playing with your train set, providing dinner entertainment, and blowing out candles. Of course, some things never get old, like building really tall towers, reading George and Martha, and going down the slide 50 times in a row.

really don't mind if you sit this one out

back in the 70s, when prog rock bands would release album-length rock operas and symphonies about mods and topographic oceans and poems by eight-year old prodigies, the labels would suggest that they excerpt a bit for those listeners who didn't have the patience for 25 minute jams. The same thing is true for videos of adorable four year olds. So, for those of you who like your cuteness in in easy-to-watch-at-work form, here are a few clips from the previously posted video.

the big one

as promised, here's the entire cassidy opus. it's 20 minutes long, so grab some popcorn and get comfy.

seen your video

every year for cassidy's birthday I put together a video compilation of pictures of him. here's a sample - bigger things to come soon.

H.

halloween. hugs. hands. haircuts. handyman. hijinks. hello. handsome. happiness.

as we go up we go down

These days, Cassidy is a huge fan of the slide. When we get to the park, that's the first thing he does (except for the occasional pigeon-chasing) and the last thing he does before we leave. When he gets to preschool, it's the first thing he talks about. When I pick him up, that's where he is. I think he even dreams about the slide when he's laying down. Last weekend, we went to Freya's fifth birthday - while the other kids enjoyed dressing up like bugs and smearing cake on their faces, our little nonconformist spent the whole time on the slide, except for a short break to eat tortilla chips.

when I was young and full of grace

a september of bubbles and balls, smiles and flowers, naps and books.