Hugs for thugs

Though certain to impact my popularity, I have no choice but to report on my observation that summer is slowly coming to a close.
The first irrefutable morsel of evidence showing autumn's arrival is the fact we are finally down to our last three zucchinis from the garden after an unsuccessful stab at making zucchini bread yesterday (quick tip for the bread baking challenged, when the recipe calls for a certain amount of zucchini, don't double it, unless, of course, you wish to have a cold, wet, loaf shaped slab of spongy sickly sweet vegetation; then, by all means, you may even triple it if you wish.)
Secondly but no less convincingly, as it seems to go every year around this time, my running routine has been canceled once again by the common conditions cursing those quick on their callouses. My bunion bones have grown bigger than babe the blue ox and my trick achilles tendon is hurting worse than Achilles's tendon.
It's time to kick up my dogs and give them a rest, while I sit down to write another edition of Mr. Steve's Daycare.

I've finally got the cuddly daughter I've always wanted, and no, I didn't trade Amelia in for a more snuggly model. It appears she is finally at a point in her life where her exploring bug can finally be satisfied long enough to want to give hugs to mom, dad, relatives and friends. She actually lays on the couch for minutes at a time with me these days. For some toddlers, a couple minutes wouldn't be a big deal, but for Amelia it is completely unheard of. Simultaneously, I've found that her big brother Elijah is starting to respect her space more and, just generally, her protection rights as a member of this family; though I'm sure the one development has nothing to do with the other.

In addition to her hugginess, Amelia seems to have an exponentially increased love of laughter and almost anything gets her going. Horsey rides, Elijah pursuits, and Zach chauffeurs are among her favorite things but she can even find humor in every day things like our dining room light's dimmer switch.

OK, I admit it. I find dimmer switches pretty cool, too.


Not to be outdone in the giving of affection department, Zach has been taking a lot more time out of his busy walking schedule for a caring embrace as well. Of course, he has always been a chummy little guy but now it seems his hugs are more out of friendliness than out of want for comfort: after he became a full time walker, he now feels like he is no longer in need of such a petty thing as a healing squeeze but still enjoys them from time to time for the sake of nostalgia. Fortunately, as his feet have steadied and the number of falls decreased, the need for healing squeezes has diminished significantly making the transition as smooth as these things may possibly go.

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Over the weekend, Amelia approached me carrying Zach's stuffed animal duck saying, "Zach, Zach." She walked over to the stairs and began climbing. I followed close behind. When she made it to the top of the stairs she ran into mom and dad's room where Zach's pack n' play is normally set up. She looked around utterly distraught at the fact that neither the pack and play nor Zach were anywhere to be seen and started to cry. I explained to her that Zach stays home on the weekends and showed her where she could leave the duck on top of his folded up pack and play for Monday. She set down the duck and sadly walked back out the door.

It's easy to take the presence of others for granted sometimes and forget to do kind things such as bringing them their duck. Don't postpone the gesture. Give them that duck today.