July 16, 2013 at 10:34 pm , by Nick Shell

2 years, 8 months.

Dear Jack,

I suppose it would sound weird to describe to anyone else our shared understanding on how you and I play together, when it comes to your toys.

Basically, you always want me to lay down on the floor near you as you push your monster trucks over less fortunate Hot Wheels.

But, you do not want me to actually touch any of your cars and actually play with you.

You want me there, but not officially involved.

So I honor your style. I just lay there on the floor while you play. From time to time, I help you locate whichever random car in your toy box you can’t seem to find at the moment.

While I honestly would prefer to get involved in your plot lines of play time, I have to admit it’s nice to be able to just lay there lazily on a Saturday morning like that.

Granted, I have to keep my eyes open because sometimes you will just charge towards me with a crazy smile on your face; therefore initiating a wrestling match.

Last weekend, you caught me off guard with a very sincere question:

“Daddy, I kick you in the face right now?”

It was hard not to laugh, but I could see you were truly unsure of the answer.

“No, Son. We don’t kick each other in the face. There’s a difference between playing and hurting. We can’t kick each other in the face, but we can’t definitely wrestle.”

I’m empathizing with you, though. It’s got to be confusing, trying to figure out what is playing and what is hurting.

All I can say is, trial and error. But yeah, it’s always a good idea to ask me first when you’re unsure about which is which.

When it comes to kicking me in the face, I’m especially glad you asked first!

 

Love,

Daddy

July 13, 2013 at 3:09 pm , by Nick Shell

July 12, 2013 at 10:48 pm , by Nick Shell

2 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack,

I grew up never really “getting” the concept of musicals.

The fact that all the people in each scene just happen to know the lyrics and melody of the same song about the event happening in real time, not questioning where the musical accompaniment is coming from…

Not to mention, the fact they typically never acknowledge, after finishing the song, that they indeed just sang a song.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons that I loveThe Lorax movie so much: It opens with a hilarious musical number that not only satirizes the stereotypical overindulgent American lifestyle, but it also mocks musicals themselves.

I love how at the end of the song I’m referring to, “Thneedville Song,” that the O’Hare delivery guy sort of gets stuck after finishing the final note of the song and has to be escorted away by two other men.

“What happened to that man?” you recently asked after seeing that part.

So, yes, I’ve always perceived musicals as impractical, unrealistic, and just plain absurd.

Until now…

Because this is what I know as normal: All throughout the day, you’re either A) making up a song about what you see around you or B) singing a pre-existing song that relates to what you see around you.

Here’s a perfect example:

I love the hilarious twist ending of this video when it is revealed that you are serenading a toy lizard in a plastic boat.

For me, it’s equal amounts precious and hilarious.

Tonight as I was tucking you in for bed, you made a special request, “Daddy, sing “Gorillas Are Angry.’”

Knowing that you were asking me to make up a new song on the spot about the first random thought that came to your mind, I just went with it, singing, “Gorillas are angry, gorillas are angry…”.

Your response was perfect:

“I don’t know that song, Daddy.”

Yeah, that makes two of us!

 

Love,

Daddy

 

 

July 9, 2013 at 10:58 pm , by Nick Shell

2 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack,

I imagine that throughout your childhood, you will encounter various phases, which I look forward to the privilege of witnessing.

This one you’re in now, though… well, it’s pretty weird. In fact, I figure I might as well document it now before it’s gone.

You love pretending to be a lizard; especially when you see people you know.

My friend Jason was flying in from Houston and we were texting about seeing each other over the weekend.

I texted him: “Jack will like it if you make a lizard face when you see him- that’s his new thing these days.”

He replied: “I’m going to need a sample pic so I know what to do.”

I answered him: “Basically just pretend you’re slowly licking peanut butter off your upper lip.”

You were impressed.

The thing is, I’m not sure where this lizard phase of yours is coming from.

I wanted to tag it on your best friend Sophie, but I could just as easily see you being the one to introduce “lizardry” to her.

Here’s a clip of you two pretending to be lizards in the wagon:

What’s really interesting is, for a few months now, you’ve owned a headless dragon t-shirt that you’ve never worn until this week. Once I saw you in it for the first time, it was almost prophetic.

After all, a little boy who is now greeting people with his lizard impression should definitely be wearing a t-shirt that makes it look like his head belongs to the body of a dragon… which is sort of like a lizard.

In fact, you like this shirt so much now, that after you wore it to school on Monday, then slept in it that night, you asked to wear it again both Tuesday and Wednesday.

So, yeah.

I’m assuming all kids go through an “I’m a lizard” phrase, right?

Probably not.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

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July 3, 2013 at 10:39 pm , by Nick Shell

2 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack,

Last week I told how you’ve recently been requesting to be in trouble so you could be in time-out instead of getting dressed in the morning.

Well, you have been extending that same clever line of thought in regards to bed time too.

Like tonight, for example.

After having already eaten your mac and cheese Mommy made for you especially, you waited until right before your “pre-bedtime playtime” was almost over until you decided that you wanted some more food… whatever Mommy and Daddy were having.

Tonight, it was veggie burritos. And honestly, they were a bit on the spicy side.

However, that didn’t stop you.

It was “Operation: Stall Dinner By Stuffing My Face” and you weren’t going to let anything get in your way… as long as Mommy and Daddy let you get away with it.

Which we did.

Since both of us are off of work for July 4th and you’re not having school, Mommy and I perhaps were a little bit in “whatever works” mode.

So we let you eat a semi-spicy burrito. Then, since you were still hungry/pretending to be, you took your time also downloading a Gogo Squeez applesauce pouch.

After that, I watched you drink a cup of water slower than I’ve ever seen you drink.

Actually, I was starting to wonder if you were pretending to be at the dentist, as you slothfully swished the water around in your mouth before finally swallowing it.

Son, I was quite impressed by your skills tonight. You did a great job making it look like you hadn’t already just eaten one dinner before having a second one.

Just be lucky we like you so much.

We could have sent you to bed without your 2nd dinner. Oh wait, that’s not how the saying goes…

 

Love,

Daddy