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.

We started early today, 8:20. It was about 78 degrees and breezy. Good enough for a well-shaded park.

But no one else showed up for at least a half hour. I pushed him on the baby swing, which he barely fits into. We went down the slides. The big twisty one was lightly peppered with guano, so I went first to wipe it clean.

A dozen or so dog walkers went through the park, leaving their own guano. Then finally some kids showed up. It was four boys and one girl. The girl, Anita, was the oldest and looked like she was 9-ish. The youngest was probably Josh's age.

Josh bum-rushed them yelling "my friends! my friends!" However, after an awkward few minutes, they were having fun.

"Let's play freeze tag," the oldest boy, Marcus, shouted. They all played tag while Josh ran around screaming "I love freeze tag. I love freeze tag." At one point Anita tried to explain to Josh that he was It. And that's when the game fell apart.

We spent well over an hour at the park before the City Rec kids showed up. (Some sort of summer day camp program.)

Some time later, Josh wanted me to lay on the couch so he can climb on me. I am the stepping stool so he can sit on the back of the couch. It's an important lesson on how one reaches the pinnacle of success.

"I want destroy you," Josh said.

"You want to destroy me?"

"Yeah, I want destroy you. It makes me so happy!"

Um, okay.

And still later, as I'm at the computer I heard a bustle of activity in the kitchen. I went out and found Josh has already pulled out a slice of bread and the strawberry jam. He was looking for a knife to make himself a sandwich. (Don't worry the knives are out of his reach. They're almost out of Andree's reach.)

Now he's napping.