Child update.

"How's the boy?" you ask.

He's well. He's 2 1/2 now. This is a really special time, because he is learning so much every day. He's really a sweet little boy, and I hate to think that in future years, he'll be corrupted by the world and by other kids. Regardless, I cherish these times greatly. Three snippets that may or may not provide insight into our day-to-day:

He loves Thomas the Pain Train. We put one of his Thomas DVDs into the player and set it to "extended babysitter version" (continuous play), and he seems to be pretty content. "Choo-choo!" he'll say.

Last weekend, some football game was on, and he came into the living room, looked at the TV, and said, "Football!" My heart swelled.

Last evening, I was giving him a bath, and he would take a plastic bowl, fill it with water, then ask me if I wanted chocolate milk. He asks this by saying, "Chocolate milk?" I say, "Sure!" He goes, "oooOOOO-K!", pretends that the soap suds are chocolate powder, then scoops some into the bowl, "mixes" the concoction, then pours some into my cupped hands. "More?" he asks hopefully. "Yes, please!" I reply. And the scene repeats itself.

I'll try to think back on these times when he's yelling at me for not letting him have a cell phone when he's 12.