screaming little person

Out for a backyard stroll on a warm(ish) fall day.

Owen: I’m Dad today!
Me: Oh, really? What are you going to do today?
Owen: I’m going to smoke cigars.
Me: Anything else?
Owen: Yes. Drink bourbon.
Me: Are you going to get any work done?
Owen: No, I’m going to shave wood.
Me: What?
Owen: BLAM RANG JANGLE!

What do you do on a perfect fall Sunday morning in New England? You go apple picking with your good friends the Kohlers.

Out for a hike yesterday, the first day of fall.

More pictures here.

I’m temporarily iPod-less, so I’ve been leafing through old books of mix CDs in the car.

Big mistake.

Here’s Owen’s new favorite song:

Yeah, it’s only late September, but the leaves are already starting to turn here — and the local pumpkin stand is already open for business. I drove past it this morning and had a flashback to a couple of years ago, when Sophie started to care about Halloween. Well, about pumpkins, mainly. See that painted pumpkin there? Sophie named him Carl, and she wouldn’t let us carve him, turn his innards into a pie, or throw him out when he started to get soft and cave in on himself.

I eventually chucked Carl into the woods, but he was out there a LOT longer than he should have been. It’s a good thing black bears aren’t attracted to the smell of rotting pumpkin.

My son becomes a man:

What happens when you leave a can of (supposedly) empty unsweetened baking cocoa within the reach of a certain 14-month-old? This:

Our little Owen (a.k.a Odie, a.k.a Ode) is now one. He actually had his birthday November 21, but he’s sort of a handful, and this is the first time I’ve felt sane enough to sit down and pause for a few moments of child-related reflection.

He’s tons of fun — so little and happy. I could do without the way he likes to yell at us when he wants something, and the way he loves to throw chewed food off his highchair, but all things considered, he’s a cute little bundle of joy.

Also, he already knows how to say “remote” and “poop.” These are two of the most important words in the male vocabulary, so I feel like I’m pretty far ahead of the game as far as my paternal duties go.

We have a video of his first year, made by Leah, and it’s awesome…but it’s also 15 minutes long, which I’m pretty sure is well over the limit for YouTube. Maybe we’ll split it up into chunks at some point. More likely we’ll just start making smaller ones.

Actually, it’s probably most likely that we’ll just say we’ll make smaller ones, but our intentions are pure.

Three years ago today, our little Sophie Bean made her debut. Happy Birthday, sweetheart!