for the love of trucks and friends

So my dad was visiting my sister for a week last week, and for the weekend they both drove out from SF to spend 2 days with us.  It was my dad who gave D the 18-wheeler truck he's sleeping with in the picture in my previous post.  D was completely obsessed with that truck for about 4 days solid. Seriously, he played with it non-stop, brought it into bed with him for naps and bedtime, and when we left it at home before going anywhere, the first thing he'd say when we opened the door to come back in was, "And there's my 18-wheeeeeler!"  He's calmed down about it a bit by now, but... yeah.  That was impressive.


They left Monday around mid-day, when D was supposed to be napping but refused to.  Which in a way worked out better, since he got to then watch and wave good-bye as they pulled away in the car and started their drive back to SF.  At least that gives him a more concrete "ending" to their visit, I suppose.  I do wonder what it's like for him right now, when he's old enough to remember these visiting family members well, and look forward to their visits when I say they'll happen, but I still wonder how much he understands as far as why they suddenly show up one day, stay for a while, then are suddenly gone again.  It's gotta be confusing for him...  but, he deals with it fairly well.  Other than one minor tantrum as  Jen and Daddy were loading up the car because he wanted them to stay here.  (and yes, my heart broke a little bit there)

D is getting to be much more social in his play.  He used to like playing with his cars by himself... now he constantly asks Zach or I to "play the game" with him (which basically means just roll his cars around together).  When we go to a playground I see him watch the other kids, get excited at the games they're playing, and sometimes even try to join in.  It's really cute to watch, and also makes me anxious thinking about the complicated world of social interactions that he's just beginning to enter.  I hope he inherited his dad's outgoing nature and ability to reach out and make friends easily (something that was always much harder for me).  Just thinking about watching him face rejection, even by random kids at the playground that he may never see again, makes my heart sink.

Yesterday D and I took a nap together on his bed.  When he woke up he sat up and started talking about his old friend Scarlet, who used to live on our street in San Jose, and how she used to ride bikes with him, and he went on for a good 5 minutes about her and playing at her house, and how she liked to come to our house, too, and play with the toys in his room, etc.  He hasn't seen her in 3-4 months, yet suddenly she just popped into his head.  It, again, makes me sad to think of this friend he had who he'll likely never see again... but he didn't seem sad about it at all (he did say something about her driving to our new house to play).  He is making friends with a boy who lives across the street, though he's quite a bit older (7yrs old).  His older sister baby-sits for us from time to time.  D and the boy, Marky, have gotten together a few times to ride their bikes or whatnot, and after each time D will talk non-stop about him.  It's really adorable.  Today they played for several hours in the afternoon, and when Marky had to go back home D cried and cried.  He was just having so much fun playing with his new buddy.

By the way... you know how some recent studies have de-bunked the theory that sugar causes hyperactivity in kids?  I kinda believe it.  Honestly, I have never seen sugar do anything close to what Marky's presence did to D today.  He was bouncing off the walls, just off the sheer excitement of playing with a new friend.  It was pretty remarkable to watch.  ; )