"That's Squirt."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Squirt is in Finding Nemo."

"Oh, OK."

"He has a daddy. His daddy is Crush."

"That's right. Does he have a mommy?"

"Yeah, he has a mommy."

"What's his mommy's name?"

"His mommy's name is... Beeona."

"Fiona?"

"NO! BEEONA!"

"Oh, OK. That's nice."

"SHE'S BEEONA, DADDY!"

"OK, Jason."

"SHE! IS! BEEONA!"

--

Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX
f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 200

Last week was the first time that Jason ever really went into the ocean. He's been to the beach many times, and he's even been in up to his ankles in the surf before, but before this trip, he'd never really been out in the water. It was a nice day and the water was calm and warm. He had a blast.

--

Nikon D40, Nikkor 55-200mm VR DX lens @ 86mm
f/4.5, 1/1250, ISO 200

Jason slept remarkably well on this trip; some of his naps were nearly three hours long. And he mostly woke up in a great mood. I'm not sure whether to attribute that to the fact that one of us was always in the room with him when he woke up or if it was just the Hawaiian atmosphere loosening him up.

--

Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens
f/1.8, 1/125, ISO 800

The birds at the resort where we stayed last week have apparently learned that they have nothing to fear from tourists. Except, perhaps, having "HELLO BIRD!" yelled into their tiny faces over and over again.

--

Nikon D40, Nikkor 55-200mm VR DX lens @ 55mm
f/4, 1/250, ISO 200

"Why is that her name?"

"Well, because her mommy and daddy liked that name."

"Oh."

"What do you think we should name the baby in my tummy, Jason?"

"I think her name should be Tinkerbell!"

"Tinkerbell!"

"Yeah, because that's her name. Her name is Tinkerbell. She's a princess!"

I first posted this photo back in December, but I'm revisiting it today because it illustrates something that makes me smile.

One of the people I follow on Twitter asked this question yesterday: "Why . . . do babies enjoy being thrown in the air? How terrifying would it be if a giant repeatedly tossed you above their head?" When you stop and think about it, she's got a point. If some twelve-foot-tall man picked me up and threw me in the air, I'd probably find it pretty frightening.

Look at Jason in that picture, though. You can see from his face that he's having a good time. But look at his hands, too, and you'll see something else: absolute trust. He's not even trying to hold on, because it doesn't even occur to him that Juliette might let him fall.

Even when I actually toss him up so that he's no longer touching my fingertips, he never gets scared, never tries to grab on or secure himself, never has a moment's doubt that I will catch him. He squeals with delight, spreading his arms and legs wide as though he can fly. And when I finally get winded and have to take a break, he shouts "Again! Again!"

To be trusted so completely, to know that he knows he can count on me, it's a wonderful feeling. I hope I never give him a reason to stop.

Juliette usually goes to bed earlier than I do. She has to get up earlier and, anyway, she likes to fall asleep with the TV on, which I can't do. Tonight, like most nights, after the chores were all done and our watching-TV-together time was done, we said our goodnights and she went in to check on Jason on her way to bed.

About a minute later she came back into the living room, stifling a grin. "You have to come see this," she said. I got up and went down the hall to his bedroom door and, peeking my head in, I was greeted with the sight of my son's peaceful, sleeping, completely naked figure.

Now, for whatever reason, Jason has been taking off his pajamas in the night for a while now. It doesn't happen every night, but it happens often enough to no longer be surprising, even if it is still funny. Call it once a week or so. This is the first time that he's gone the full monty, though.

Juliette and I stood there snickering for a few minutes, and I snapped a few pictures to show his future girlfriends. (Which, so you know, I won't be posting on the Internet.) He stayed sound asleep through the whole thing, and even when I lifted half his body to get his new pull-up on, he barely even twitched. I have to admit to a little jealousy at the luxury he has of sleeping that hard.

I'm not sure whether or not he'll keep this pull-up on all night--he does tend to stir in the wee hours of the morning, and who knows what his sleep-addled toddler mind will think is a good idea at 3 AM. If nothing else, though, it'll be interesting to see if this becomes a pattern.

Jason: Pick me up!

I pick him up over my head.

Jason: No, in the middle!

I lower him to waist level.

Jason: Don't eat my face!

Me: OK.

Jason: I'm not a hat!

Me: OK.

Juliette: "Don't eat my face?" He has really weird expectations.

Me: I'd say given his experience, his expectations are entirely reasonable.

It always kind of surprises me when Jason actually listens to me. About fifteen minutes before I snapped this picture, Jason and another kid had both reached for the same toy at the same time, which went about how you'd expect. I had reminded Jason that he needed to share and wait his turn, and though he wasn't thrilled about that, he went along with it. Eventually, they both got their turn and moved on to other things. Fifteen minutes later, I turned around to see Jason impatiently shuffling his feet, hands jammed into his pockets as he waited for another kid to finish playing with another toy he wanted. He wasn't particularly gracious about it, but he did wait and didn't whine or cry. I was impressed.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125 sec, ISO 400. Post-processing in Aperture 3: white balance adjustment; curves for contrast; levels to darken shadows and brighten midtones.

It was at this point that I realized that Jason was pretty much done with pictures. This was the last shot I took that day.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.4, shutter 1/1250 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; auto white balance adjustment; curves for highlight recovery and contrast; levels to darken shadows and brighten midtones.