Props Are For Boats

Clearly I have not been writing about the boys recently. It is not for lack of material. Or desire. It would just be much easier if I could observe and write about them from a safe distance. For instance, I could install a two-way mirror in our home so that I could be in range but out of reach. I would be Brad Goodall, observer of the playful and social climbing human toddler. As it is, if I would sit down with my laptop on the couch, like I used to, and begin to watch them and type, this is what my entry would look like:

“Ian is walking towar…. Stomp… waddle…asdvassssssssvvsssssssss” At which time I would be looking for the ‘s’ key on the floor between bits of cracker, blocks and sippy-cups. After unsuccessfully searching for the key for several days it would be added to the long list of items lost in the Toddler Relocation Program (TRP). A few items recently recovered from said program include: one sandal in a baking tin in the cupboard, a pair of kitchen tongs under the dresser and the remote control in the diaper can.

Regardless, our life as often suffers from cute overload as it does from TRP. I know it is a parent’s job to find their kids cute regardless of their slobber and snaggle-toothedness, but that is not the kind of cute I am talking about. It is that after a year of double the workload we are beginning to reap the benefits of two-ness. I don’t know what we would do with one. What is better than two mop heads starting a game of peek-a-boo with each other around the side of a chair, and getting themselves laughing so hard about it that they lose control. Or when Jeremy goes pacifier hunting in the bedroom and brings back two with the express purpose of giving one to Ian. Or when Ian sees Jeremy and excitedly shouts Jay Jay.

In the news:

I received word today that I have been ‘awarded’ a new position at SkyWest. I have been a ‘First Officer’ for the last two and a half years and will now be a Captain. Initially I will be based in San Luis Obispo, until a Captain leaves Santa Barbara. This is very good news, and again very unexpected as far as timing goes. I will go back to the Brasilia: the smaller, louder, slower airplane that I flew in my first year at SkyWest. It is considered an upgrade because of the job position even though it is a ‘lesser’ airplane. It is kind of a little-fish/big pond vs. big-fish/little pond kind of situation. If you end up on one of my flights please don’t make any jokes about where first class is, or ask if I wound up the rubber bands or include any phrases about props being for boats. It is good to remember that one of the things that you should not tell a man is small, is his airplane. Your cooperation with all uniformed crewmembers is appreciated.