The reasons why

Ah, Cleo: never imagine, please, that the sustained moments of online silence correspond to moments of distance between us. Instead, as I think I've mentioned before, the opposite is often true: it's those days that are full of shared play and exploration that offer the least in terms of time for blogging. One can only tweet about the revolution when one isn't storming the king's barricades, right?

And, happily, the past week has been richly full of family activities. You have a wonderful mom, and a generous set of scattered supporters, and their love for you was manifest, for instance, in your school's Halloween parade on Friday, where you marched into public with your fellow Bluebirds in your handsome black spider outfit. Sure, you broke into tears when you saw me, in a storm of confusion - Is school over now? Why would Daddy be here in the late morning? - but your willingness to keep walking, nonetheless, had us full of pride.

So, too, did the generous, inclusive, and energetic spirit that you brought to our late Saturday afternoon play date with Juni. While we chatted - at length! - with her parents, and made bowls of chili on a snowy night, you shared your paints with your friend, and hugged her, and let her sit with you for a semi-private screening of Blue's Clues. So, no, I wasn't blogging - but the very reason for that is that I was catching up with friends, as you hosted a friend of your own.

Perhaps my favorite memory of the past week, though, is from this morning: you choosing a CD of Billboard hits from 1982, extending it to Mommy - and, then, when the slick melodies wound about our dining room, breaking into your personal dance style. Arms up, like chicken wings, and little torso bending forward and back, you were a vision of happy kinetic energy. I'd have to be a fool to ignore such a scene, and to spend the time blogging, instead.

And in fact, now that you're in school, and my students' essays are almost graded, and I have a little time for blogging, I wish that you were right here next to me, dancing in that crazy mode.