I realized yesterday when I posted that picture of AJ enjoying his ice cream cone that I hadn�t posted any pictures of him in quite some time. The realization came because I had completely forgotten the necessary code for posting images. So I flipped back to find an old photo and realized how different AJ is starting to look. He�s losing the baby fat off his face, although he�s still got a little adorable pudginess on his little belly, despite the fact that he is otherwise somewhat underweight for his size.

It�s both difficult to watch these transformations and exhilarating. AJ has much more autonomy than he did at this time last year. He�s embracing summer � chasing birds and butterflies around the yard, working on his batting stance, announcing that he�s throwing �my knuckleball,� requesting regular picnics and ice cream cones and trips to the pool.

We all went for a hike in a nearby park yesterday where we saw deer and herons and a teeny, tiny emerald green snake slithering across the boardwalk crossing the marsh. We sat on a hill for a picnic dinner and AJ and I looked at each other through our binoculars while my husband went for a brief jog.

Father�s Day has been quiet and peaceful, aside from a couple of minor AJ meltdowns when he was chastised for excessive bossiness. He seemed to be under the impression that Father�s Day meant that his father was to be his personal court jester for the day. Attempts to dissuade him from this ideology were not met with enthusiasm and resulted in several time outs.

Despite these minor setbacks, AJ drew a magnificent portrait of his father who was, somewhat enigmatically, attired in a green polka-dotted turtleneck. I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast, roast chicken for dinner and ate every meal outside on the porch. My own dad is traveling in Europe and unreachable today, so his Father�s Day celebration will wait until the clan converges on my parents� home next month.

And now, I must do some more editing, because the work thing, it has not been going as expediently as I would like. But it is starting to read like a book, which is kind of exciting.

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