Joe put together a little video for his grandfather. His English is no-so-good, so I helped.
Happy birthday Dad!

Our second snowfall of the year hit today. It was more impressive than last week’s, and might stick around for the weekend.

Joe didn’t have school and I got out of work early, so we hung out on the couch for the afternoon. Joe rarely naps, and even more rarely naps leaning on us, so this was a big treat for me. I love this guy.

Lola turned into a puppy again, at least for a few minutes. She’ll sleep good tonight.

This month, Joe was chosen to represent his class as a Lakeview Hero at his school. All the heroes get to go to a special pizza lunch with the principal, and his teacher was kind enough to invite me along.

We sat with the kindergartners, who had lots of questions about him. As kids always do, they accepted my answers very matter-of-factly and got back to important topics like crayons and cartoons.

Here he is admiring his complimentary lunch bag:

And checking out the big-kid end of the table:

Playing it cool:

All done!

Joe and I talking about one of his favorite subjects.

Sunday was terrific. We spent the day at Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, Va., where we got to hang out with Lia’s sister’s cool family. Joe got to play with his cousins, Lia went down the big girl waterslides (three times, we’re so proud of her), and I ate a steak.

Thanks again Amy and Rich!

No pictures – it was a pool with hundreds of kids and I didn’t want to be the 40-year old bearded guy with a camera.

Anyway, I like looking at old pictures and seeing Joe in similar situations but years apart. Here he is hunting Nazis in 2008 (two months old, his first visit to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, Fayetteville, N.C.)

2012 (same spot at the ASOM)

It rained for a week straight, ending with a snow fall. To celebrate the return of the sun, here are some shots of Joe swinging over the years.

2008

2009

More 2009

2011

2012

We got snow last night. Our family to the north might laugh, but it was enough to close most schools. Still, unusual for us, and kids deserve a snow day every once in a while.

We have about 4,500 photos of Joe. That’s 1,000 a year since he was born, and likely thousands more than were taken of most people my age during our entire lives.

Of all these pictures, I don’t think Joe’s ever been caught on real film. So let me present, captured by a 1973 Yashica Electro 35 in all his Kodak splendor, what I believe to be the first images of Joe on film.

Forget Oprah and Lance Armstrong – what people really want to hear about is blocks.