A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

When Katie sent me this photo at work yesterday, many thoughts dashed through my mind. The first was how can I forward this to the two ladies who called my he a she this week. He seems to have posed particularly for them - "Do I look like a girl now?" Of course this thought passed through the prideful section of my brain.

The next thought parked for a moment in the portion of my mind that flips on the bright lights of sudden awakenings. Like Oh my God - that is me. That is my look, that is my pose and that has got to be the ornery look that preceded so many devilish acts that rumor suggests I was involved in at his age. Once the shock wore off, even that thought returned to the prideful section, home of the proud papa.

I'm still debating where to store the story Katie shared with me regarding yesterday's mama and son trip to Home Depot. Katie was fully engrossed in shopping, comparing prices, ingredients, colors, sizes, made in China or India and countless other details. The details that turn routine purchases into academic research; the precise reason women go shopping and men run to the store. It was in the midst of this research when she heard Elliott saying "Snake, Snake." At first she ignored it, or refused to allow an interruption to the shopping, but she finally had to look to see what he was talking about. When she did, she found Elliott pointing at the sleeveless arm of nearby man; an arm that had a beautiful tattooed snake slithering around it. Thankfully all involved smiled.

Like many of Katie's shopping trips, her purchases yesterday resulted in something for me to do today. My assignment today is to make the wall colors of Elliott's new room match everything "Thomas the Train." Elliott will soon be evicted from the nursery to make room for a new tenant. Welcome to the real world big guy. Katie, being the thoughtful mama she is, has gone to great lengths to make sure Elliott likes his new accomodations. To that end, I must now go paint.