A new video

Ann makes videos a lot. I like this one.

A Dash of Dash a Day for May: May 31

We have been trying to teach Dash to be gentle when petting the dog.

He has now translated this into inanimate objects.

A Dash of Dash a Day for May: May 30

I'm going to let Ann narrate this one for us:

1 dash sees goats eating hay

2 dash then gets hay himself

3 dash then feeds goats hay
Me again: I get that everyone thinks their kid is a genius, but this is really impressive to me. I love seeing and hearing about him make these connections on his own without prompting, and I'm sure he absolutely loved it.

I do doubt, however, that he loved this:

A Dash of Dash a Day for May: May 29

Ann's back in Maine for a few days with Dash. The relaxation for a few days will be nice, but I am jealous that I get to miss Dash apparently interacting with farm animals for the first time in his current hilarious toddler stage.

A Dash of Dash a Day for May: May 28

I probably spent an hour last night on a massive post that I'm just not happy with, so I'll leave you with a picture of Dash's favorite pastime.

Yes, he's simply pointing at a mailbox.

A Dash of Dash a Day for May: May 27

I guess there's a thing where a kid will generally either be an talker or a walker, as it's said. Dash is extremely vocal, but no words yet. Instead, we're getting a lot of motor skill work, and it's really impressive to see him work things out and get moving.

First we had the rolling over craziness, which was just that. He could get 80% of the way there and then just get AMAZINGLY frustrated. Soon, he got there, but didn't care to crawl. Then he just got sick of crawling and chose to walk around everywhere, and this is where we are now. Often running when he can, it's an imbalanced comedy act.

Lately, though, he's taken to some fairly interesting things. One is a tiny rocking chair that he decided he would sit in and rock. Completely unprompted, but hey. Now we have to keep him from standing up on it, but you can't help but be proud. The impressive thing, though, is this slide. He figured out how to climb it pretty quick, and I'd say by the fourth or fifth time, he was doing it himself, complete with sitting properly on the top and sliding down. And then applauding himself for the effort once he hits bottom, of course.

That's been the most interesting part of Dash growing up so far, for me - watching him solve these little problems on his own. I can't help but feel like it's a good sign in spite of it probably being completely normal.

A Dash of Dash a Day for May: May 26

For Memorial Day, it's worth sharing this picture of Dash at 11 weeks meeting his then-92 year old great grandfather who served in World War II. First drafted into the Axis side for Italy, he later served on American U-Boats during the war out of Portland. I'm always glad he got to meet Dash before he passed away last fall.