Dax's Journal

Raindrops on roses

Dax has inherited the "I love rain" gene from me and his father.

It rained the other day and Dax really wanted to go outside so we suited him up in his fireman rain coat and let him go out. He was deliriously happy and ran about crazily, stomping in puddles and laughing. Sometimes he would stop in his tracks and raise his face up to the sky with his little eyes closed tight and a huge grin on his face.

I haven't always loved rain. When I was very young I was terrified of it. Why? Because when it rained my big brother used to tell me that it was going to FLOOD and we were going to DIE. As soon as it started to so much as drizzle I would react as if I was being eaten alive by fire ants. My parents must have loved that. That's why now I am their favorite child.

Hop on Pop

Whenever Cat lies down on the floor, Dax crawls on top of him. Usually he sits on Cat's belly and bounces up and down. I don't know what's more entertaining, Dax's giggling or Cat's "oof" noises.

Tonight he decided to stand on top of his daddy. I was waiting for him to start jumping up and down. Fortunately for Cat, Dax hasn't really figured out how to jump.

Dax loves his daddy so much. When Dax hears the garage door opening up, he grins and says, "Daddy!" Sometimes he runs to the door and waits for Cat to come in. On weekends when Cat is in Hollister, Dax will sometimes go to the door and call for him as if he thinks I've stowed his daddy away in the laundry room.

I love watching the two of them play together. I love that I'm married to a man who enjoys spending time with his son. I love my boys.

Jungle Boy

So, Friday was a holiday for most of the free world so I requested a day off from work so I could hang out with my boys.

Can you guess where we went?

You are so smart. Yes, you are. Yes you are! Oops. Sorry. My son is one. You know.

We went to the zoo and Dax loved it. You might be surprised that all the zoo has is a variety of doggies and duckies in varying shapes, sizes, and colors. In Dax's world, anything with feathers and/or a beak is a duckie and any other animal is a doggy.

We're working on this.

The rare Domestic Sleeping Froggy in his natural habitat.

Outside

Dax loves to be outside. So he was in heaven tonight when his daddy took him in the back yard while he was weeding.

He had a blast playing in the puddle left by the hose and running around in the grass. We've got a big back yard with loads of room for him to run and play.

One of the things I love about California is that we have flowers in our yard year-round.

This is Paraguay Nightshade.

And these are Rock Roses

Even though the flowers are still blooming, the leaves are changing.

Pretty cool, huh? It makes things quite colorful. No wonder Dax enjoys being outside.

Gratuitous Cuteness

Dax has been doing this thing lately where he cocks his head to one side and grins. I don't know what he is trying to get out of doing this but, whatever it is, I will give to him.

Saint Puck

Our cat, Puck, should be nominated for sainthood.

Not only must he suffer the indignity of being chased about the house while Dax shrieks at him, "DOGGY! DOGGY!", he actually lets the kid catch him sometimes.

Just a few minutes ago I heard Dax meowing excitedly. When I turned around, he was gently petting Puck. The hands, they were gentle. But the meowing? Well, it is not unlike a siren but escalating insanely in both pitch and volume. I could see Puck wincing but he stayed put. Unfortunate for him, really, because Dax took that as an invitation to cuddle.

Puck enjoys a cuddle. What he can not possibly enjoy is a 21 pound child laying on top of him. Still. Did he complain? Did he claw or bite? Did he pack his bags and move out of this nut house? No. He did not.

But as soon as he could free himself he escaped to the top of the kitty perch where he is now taunting Dax.

I think it is nap time. For both kitty and kid.