Cheese!

Today I really felt like a parent.

Why? Because I had to get Wilson ready for his first school picture day. Nicole and I got to pick a lettered package of 8x10s and 3x5s and silly wallet pictures and the even sillier (and new, at least to people who are my age but not Nicole's) "Exchange" size, which is 1 inch by 1 1/2 inches or roughly the size of a postage stamp.

I dressed Little Man in his nicest clothes, or a least the nicest ones I could find in the dark in his room, which turned out to be the same type of shirt that everybody's early 70s school pictures--except for the turtleneck one, anyway--are in: Lots of thick fall-color horizontal stripes. I don't know if bebe couture has reached back to 1973 lately or if dressing little boys in horizontal stripes is one of life's constants but he looked nice and I don't think the other 1-year olds will make fun of him. He did have a collar on the shirt, which would've marked his as a baby square in '73 but which seem OK today.

I also felt like I had to find a comb (I don't keep one handy) for this special occasion. The problem is that it is somewhat difficult to control hair that has, to my knowledge, never been combed but the daycare ladies said they'd take a crack at it. And, happily, daycare girlfriend Madelyn had the same hairstyle. Kids these days. I blame Ashton Kutcher.

Now all that is left is for the annoying picture guy, no doubt ruing his decision to get into professional photography, calling kids funny-but-not-offensive names like "banana face" in an attempt to get them to smile. Then, allowing 4 to 6 weeks for handling, and we'll have our school pictures. Which will be the 12,006th picture of him, but still special in a way.

We'll post 'em when we get 'em.