The Next Stage of Childhood, Manhood, Womanhood

Pooks' 42nd birthday and Halloween has come and gone. I'm amazed at how quickly time flies with the boys (all three of them...) getting older and reaching new plateaus of development.

Pooks is still going strong, able to bike to Davis or Folsom and still rocking the bike pants, if you know what I mean! He's also been recently promoted in his career and bringing home more bacon: Thank gawd he's not still at the bookstore making peanuts only to be laid off! He's my old man, he's growing hair in never before seen places, and I like it!

BedHeadSid (BHS) is learning to be a kinder, gentler six-year old brother. It's a chore, but he's managing it well. BHS has demonstrated the utmost in patience toward his younger bro who is now in full tantrum and teething (biting) mode. BHS has amazed us with his restraint. Poor guy. Most notably in the intellect department, BHS is now out-reasoning us with logical and practical reasoning tactics that are amusing but disturbing nonetheless given that he should not be outsmarting us at his age. BHS has also learned to read upside-down text. What next, Darth Sidious, what next?

If it's not the six-year old plotting against us, it's the 14-month old conniving against us along side him. StinkyHeadMonkeyToes (SHMT) is now at the stage of total coherency, and oh, he's doing something about it, alright. He demonstrates his very independent will with glass-shattering screams, blood-letting scratches, and his most recent weapon of choice, biting with his fangs -- all four of them. Christ, he's like a rabid hamster sometimes! Gone are the days of sweet nibbling and adorable helplessness. Now, SHMT can walk, run, scurry, skulk, climb and employ stealth to seek, surprise, and destroy his prey.

In fact he's altogether more calculating than I'd expect a toddler to be at this age. He's now carefully adjusting his soccer ball object just so, then backing up with tiny, bull-like stamping steps, so that he can precisely kick/dribble the object according to his design. Very adorable, very adorable, but too focused, just tooooo too focused for a baby that still accidently farts if he falls down too quickly.

SHMT has also graduated to building blocks instead of demolishing them (though he's still into that too). He has built a tower as high as 8 blocks, clapped wildly at his focused efforts, then proceeded to knock down the aberration, because deep down, he knows the evidence of his abilities must be destroyed. What next, Baby Lu, driving?

Oh, oh!

I guess all this means just one thing: I'm getting old.