one damn dollar

Pretty uneventful day today. I didn't get much accomplished at work; but there wasn't much to do so I don't feel bad. I booked my travel arrangements to Louisville KY for next week. I'm flying in and out in the same day. It'll be a pain in the ass; but it will also mean that I will not leave my wife alone to but both kids to bed for an extra night. I'm sure as hell not doing it to save money. F that. Today I wa son the phone with the travel department, and I asked the girl to book me for a full-size rental car. She said she could only book an intermediate size, that it was company policy. I told her mid-size cars are too damn small for a tall person. She wouldn't budge. Who cares, I'll upgrade myself anyway. But get this- the difference in price between the midsize and full size car...? One damn dollar. What a joke. So anyway, on the lighter side i'm looking forward to travelling without a suitcase for once. I can skip the baggage carousel for once. I still have to bring two carry-on bags: one for my laptop and another for equipment & presentation materials, etc.

Tonight at my in-law's I was chasing e.w. trying to feed him chicken, while he ran around dragging the vacuum cleaner. After that, we went outside and played catch. This didn't involve a baseball and mits, if that's what you're picturing. it was actually a hackey sack that looks like a football. It wasn't even "catch", really. No one was catching. you could say we were playing "throw". I'm working on his over-hand baseball throw. He can do the two-handed basketball chest pass; but one-handed he's completely lost. The ball seems to go in a completely different direction each time. I'm ashamed to say, I was getting frustrated trying to get him to undstand the concept of throwing over-hand. I didn't realize it until he said "I'm sorry daddy" and tried to give me a hug. One thing about being a father of a toddler, it's hard to catch yourself treating them like an adult- saying usless things like "look at me", "watch daddy", or "pay attention". It's easy to fall into it, once they start talking and listening, etc. I snapped out of it and tried to think creatively. I moved his arm through the motion and said "it's like casting" (as in, a fishing pole). His face lit up. It worked, for a moment at least. He threw it. After that I just tried to do whatever he wanted and have fun with it.

On the car ride home, there was jazz piano music on the radio. I asked e.w., "what kind of music is this?" He said: "piano". "Good", I said. "The instrument is a piano. What kind of music is the piano playing?" He said: "violin". He was guessing randomly. He can name insruments, and also name song genres- but he gets the two mixed up. I assured him: "No, you were right- it's a piano. i't a piano playing jazz music". "Jazz music", he said... You never realize how odd it can be to explain something you take for granted, until you explain it to a child. Anyway, after that, bath and bedtime were the ususal. He sat on my lap and we read "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", a book my father read to me a hundred times. I tucked him in, kissed him goodnight, and set off for an hour's worth of lawn watering waiting for me outside.

While writng this I got up to go feed a.j. a bottle. It was the first time I saw him since this morning (my wife came home and put him to bed while I was bathing e.w.). I wanted to have light on and play/talk with him after feeding him- but that's a night-feeding no-no. Instead, I changed his diaper and put him in the crib, with just a little kiss on the head. Either way I miss him and I want to just play with him. Now that he's 4 months old, he has this blossoming personality and this infectious smile- this obious need of and love for attention. I love it. It's incredible.