when I started this blog five years ago, I was a pet sitter and the name animal-crackers made sense. now I'm a stay-at-home-dad and freelance writer, but rather than confuse everyone by getting a different blog, it's just easier to keep posting things here.

The weather sucks. It's not so much the 173-degree temperatures. They're not entirely unbearable. It's the fact that somebody was stupid enough to park Texas 5 inches from the friggin sun. You walk out your door and you can feel cancer cells popping up on your skin.

Josh doesn't seem to mind much. Walking across flaming asphalt doesn't bother him. As it does me. But as much as I'd like to spend the next four months beneath the AC vent, it'd be criminal to keep Josh locked inside. I'm afraid he'll turn into a boy whose only interests are video games and mini pizza rolls.

We loaded up and went to Wal-Mart. Not the regular one. The god-sized one. We both got our first pairs of sandals. I wore mine to McDs and felt kind of naked. Probably because I have the ugliest feet you could imagine.

Josh ran around like a maniac. A mother was there with her three toddler sons and infant girl. Josh and the boys chased each other around. Then Josh spied the little girl and ran to her. I held my breath thinking he would do something age-appropriate, like poke out her eye. Nope. He was very cute, rocking the baby in her car seat and talking to her.

Josh still has five more months of waiting until he himself becomes a big brother. He knows there's a baby on the way, but lucky for us he hasn't fixated on it. (He has this habit of repeating the same question 50 times.)

So big day for us. Now it's nap time.