Uncle Dan Visits!

This week we had a special visitor for one night only, Angie's friend Dan from her UC Berkley days. He's in town for a conference and spent a little time with us.

Dan visited us once long ago (i.e. before Lucy was born) and he and I had a good time playing Guitar Hero after Angie went to bed. We also had a fabulous breakfast with scones, eggs, bacon and lots of other good stuff.

On this visit we had a bunch of new things. First, of course, is Lucy, who had lots of smiles for him. Second, we now own Rock Band (second hand from Craigslist), which meant that we had two guitars and drums. Angie did not get to sleep early that night! Dan loved the drums and is convinced they need the game at their house. Eventually Angie was able to escape leaving us guys to play some more. We played until our fingers bled. Well, at least until Dan's finger bled. He developed a blister that popped while he was wailing on the drums. Sorry Dan!*

The next morning, we had a special breakfast. Angie baked our Saturday morning treat, Baked Oatmeal, on a Wednesday morning. It was very yummy and everyone was happy to eat such a good breakfast. Dan read stories to the kids while I showered and Angie headed off to work. Then Jacob, Lucy and I toke him back to the metro. It was a great visit. Hopefully we will see him again soon!

 

Lucy wasn't awake yet!

*In an interesting side note, my Tae Kwon Do buddy Dave sustained a minor injury and bled a little Wednesday night. As I write it is Thursday 10:30 p.m. So far there are no injuries yet. I am the only one still awake, so I guess it will be me if these things really do happen in threes.

Jacob makes scientific progress

Today's breakfast was very exciting. Just Jacob and I were present. He ate some Quaker oatmeal from an envelop that Grandmama left behind. Breakfast wasn't exciting because I watched him eat dry oatmeal from an envelop (as you may have surmised). I did cook the oatmeal for him. It wasn't exciting because we shared the meal--I didn't make anything for myself and Jacob didn't even pretend to offer me any of his oatmeal.

What made it exciting was the conversation or, more precisely, Jacob's monologue. During past meals, if Jacob thought something was too hot we would tell him to drink some milk to cool it off. This morning, Jacob had a bite of oatmeal that made him say, "Too ho'." He reached for his milk and said, "Dri' mi'k coo' off."

I was stunned. I was floored. I was overjoyed. Not only has he learned a valuable skill (dealing with hot food on his own) but he is starting to grasp scientific principles. I am not sure if Jacob has discovered the principle of cause and effect but he is certainly applying it to his breakfast cereal. What more could a father ask for?

Well, I would still like some sort of Star Trek universal translator. I can't always interpret what he is trying to tell me. The statement Angie and I really can't figure out is "Beem uhh." Sometimes he says it repeatedly and vociferously and we just can't parse it. Maybe he is quoting Kirk, "Beam me up, there's no intelligent life down here." I refuse to believe this interpretation is true. I just hope he never gets his hands on a communicator.