Happy Birthday Apollo!

WOW!!! 2 years old! Where did the last two years go? It is truly amazing how fast time goes by as we get older, throw a baby in the mix and it goes twice as fast.
As I ponder my favorite moments of the last two years, so many come to mind. Of course my most favorite moments are the ones that happened today; meaning everyday. Right now, I am very impressed how Apollo is learning several words a day. He has realized that everything has a name and he wants to know what that name is. Emotions now run very deep. It does not take much to break this little guys heart. "No" will most certainly bring a melt down anytime, anyplace, and anywhere. On the flip side, hugs and cuddles accompanied with "aaaaahhhhhh", are abundant.
What I find most amazing are the things that I believe to be genetically encoded; behaviors that he has inherited from both his mother and myself. Even more remarkable is the fact that some of the behaviors that I see in Apollo, are behaviors that I developed as an adult, and I am sure that the same is true for Melly. Which brings up some really good questions; How is it that he inherited these traits that seem to be nurture as opposed to nature, in his mother and I? Does this encoding get programmed into our genome as we grow, or are these traits dormant in us and only manifest as we age but are prominent in our offspring early on? Oh sure, one could argue that he is picking up on our behaviors now like Mels fits and my grudges, but what I am talking about are things that he has not seen or could not know, i.e. the way I do not like mixing my foods together. I like to take one bite of one type of food at a time. I don't like to take a scoop of beans and a scoop of rice in the same bite. I would never put a bite of egg with a bite of pancake or even bacon for that mater. Guess who is the same way? Yup, my little man does not like mixing anything! and it drives his mom crazy! Melly mixes everything. No bite should be taken without two or more items from the plate on your fork. You want to see a fit?, just put two different types of fruit on a fork and try to serve it to Apollo, or scoop up a piece of cake and try to scoop up some extra frosting on it. This is pure joy for me and absolute misery for his mom.
Another trait of mine that I see in him is that if someone hands him something like his bottle or MP3 player, when he is done, he only wants to give it back the person that gave it to him.
I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY APOLLO! I LOVE YOU!

The Outdoor Classroom.

I love the ocean. I will take a tropical beach over any other climate on this earth. Even the cold and stormy beaches of Northern California and Oregon have a powerful beauty that I am drawn to. I am always fascinated by the unusual and abundant life in the ocean. One of my favorite things about living in Santa Rosa, is that the ocean is 40 minutes away, and the country side that you drive through to get there is beautiful.
Reliving the excitement of discovery through the eyes of a toddler is priceless. Apollo has a love for all things living. The smaller the better. "Hi guy!" is how he greats any small critter...even spiders!

Recently, we spent a gorgeous spring day, at one of the local beaches. It was non-stop entertainment for my little man; there was sand and rocks to throw, shells to find, pieces of mother of pearl, perfectly polished by the sand and surf that always brought an "Ooooooooooh!", and then there was the critters.

We saw birds, squirrels, lizards, crabs, and snakes! Yes more than one snake! And of course the tide pools were our own personal petting zoo. Star fish, sun stars, hermit crabs,and little fishes. By the way, Sun stars taste like chicken! Who knew! Just kidding. But the mussels were delicious!