tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29769603.post-1164340274524957652006-11-23T22:49:00.000-05:002006-11-24T22:07:06.270-05:00Well, Thanksgiving was nothing overly exciting; the usual mix of too much food and too many relatives. It was, however, particularly nice to see that our niece - who just started college this year - has turned into the thoughtful and mature woman that we had expected. Not overly surprising as she was always "three going on thirty," but nice to see nonetheless. We also got the exciting news that she is now planning to transfer to an even more prestigious university than the one she already attends, such as <a href="http://www.brown.edu/" target="_blank">Brown</a> or <a href="http://www.tufts.edu/main.php?p=flash" target="_blank">Tufts</a>. Given that she's on one of the athletic teams and still managed to pull in mid-term grades in the mid to upper 90's in a pre-med curriculum, we're guessing that she won't have many problems.<br /><br />On to Ethan (why should this post be any different?). I am sad to say that he has now reached that stage where I am no longer merely someone to cuddle, laugh with, or come to when he's upset or hungry. I have been transformed into someone who can help get him places. Granted, I became used to this job as soon as he arrived, but that was because he wasn't mobile and I had no intention of letting him crawl across the cement from the slide to the swing in the playground. I'm also still used to doing it around the stairs and when getting into cars, booster seats, etc. But that's because <span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span> want to do it; it's not like he thinks he needs any help getting up the stairs, and he certainly has no intention of ever climbing into a car seat voluntarily. Somehow, I didn't really expect the "Daddy as ride" syndrome to kick in until (at least) he began doing things like Pop Warner. Naive, I know. In any event, it's happened.<br /><br />Ethan recently learned the joy of turning on and off a light switch. Earlier in the day on Thanksgiving, we had been holding him up to a light switch so he could make it go on and off while he smiled (and while the grownups all cheered him on, of course). After dinner, he decided that he wanted to do it again. He made a beeline for the light switch and reached up as far as he could, trying to reach it. Apparently, he actually thought he might make it. Granted, he's tall for his age, but still no go. Because he's seventeen months old, and it was getting perilously close to bedtime, he quickly became frustrated. He looked around and....Lo and Behold, there was a Daddy! I can climb up him! Which is, of course, perfectly good toddler reasoning. He promptly walked over to me, looked up with a grin he rightly assumed was irresistible, and reached up with both hands in the universal toddler code for "Pick me up!" What's a Daddy to do? And so, I was transformed into an Ethan-chair for as long as he was interested in watching the light magically go on and off. (Or at least until my arms got tired).<br /><br />I better start getting used to it.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05702139198101690373noreply@blogger.com