TTM growing up

Tagen Train Maligro... you are 19 and 1/2 months old now and you've jumped full swing into toddlerhood. You now make known your own opinion with incredible passion although rather than using real words your thoughts are usually expressed by either a scream (because we got it wrong!) or an "uuuhn?" along with some hand motion to make it a little more clear what you are talking about. Thanks for that hand motion. We'd really struggle without it.
You love eating things with wrappers on them (like string cheese) but can't stand it when you get to the bottom and can't eat that last part in the wrapper. You are in the middle of transitioning from two naps a day to one and are VeRY attached to your TWO blankies and binkie. Yes mom got you an identical blankie should anything happen to your first one and you've now learned you have two of the same and need them both. You are totally obsessed with motorcycles, trucks, tractors, trains, airplanes and helecopters and have a different noise you make for each one.



The cutest thing ever is watching you dance. You looove to dance especially with your daddy and copy whatever he is doing. You also love hanging out with your buddy Josiah (whom you call him "Ida"). For months the two of you would love hanging out but just do your own thing while sitting next to each other. Now you guys are finally starting to act like normal friends as you have "conversations" usually about your dadas and some uh-ohs and a lot of head nods are involved. You also are learning to share but I can see that this is going to be a very long process. You say please now which is super cute as you pronounce it "peeeeze!". Having learned this is the "magic" word you do not at all understand why you can't have WHATEVER you want as long as you say peeeeze. Kind of hard not to laugh and give in when you're so stinking cute. You love your baby sister and call Aveda "baby". Often when you wake up in the mornings you call out to us trying to get us to come get you out of your crib: "mama? mama?.... dada? dada?!.... baby?" As if Aveda is going to come get you. Too funny. I love this about you. You are growing up and becoming more and more independent and yet parts of you are still such a little baby. We love you to pieces Tagen Train!

FIVE YEARS AGO FROM THIS DAY

This day five years ago something crazy was going to happen on national television, actually it's really wierd cause I was going to be on national television. "What are you talking about Kyle?", you say. Well, just so happens that a couple months prior I got a call from some chick saying her name and that she was from the "Jenny Jones" show and so on. I was on the other end saying, "Ok, whatever, you can stop messing around already, who is this really?" Come to find out that it was the real deal. Basically, long story short, I ended up in Chicago on the show to reunite with a buddy of mine who I was surfing with at the time and he got his leg bit off by a shark and I was there with him and tied a leash around his leg to make a tourniquet and supposedly the doctors said if I didn't do that he'd probably die. I can only say that God was in control of that situation and I wasn't, glory to Him! Anyway, that episode of us being on the "Jenny Jones" show was airing September 11, the same day the craziness happened here in the USA.

So basically, it doesn't even matter to me that the show didn't air that day. What really matters is that a lot of people died and a lot of people still hurt this day because of what happened on that September 11th.

Back then I didn't have a wife. Back then I didn't have kids. Now I do and it even hits me harder to even imagine if my wife or kids for family or friends for that matter were killed in that situation. So nuts! I can't even imagine the hardship the family and friends have to deal with.

So today, I remember all of them. God please be with those who hurt and have sorrow.
God is close to the broken hearted.

Love, Dad