Sometimes when I can't think of a post, I look at my phone pics

When we were in AZ last month, I gazed upon this picture on Mike's parents' fridge quite often. I love it:

Mike's dad has all these comparison pics between his kids and their children at similar ages. I often wonder what it was like to raise a little Mike, and how similar/different my experience is raising J.

(Also, thinking one day we're gonna get serious payback for the mischief he used to get into. Oy vey.)

A while back, we were driving home from somewhere, and in an effort to appease a very grumpy and prone-to-fits J, Mike promised him a party once we got home. I gave him a long look that meant, "I'm not bailing you out of this one, so you better find a way to keep your promise."

And he did:

...complete with pointy hats and a PB&J "cake." And it looked delightful.

(He's a good egg, this daddy.)

(Like the one time he set J up in the bed to have some reading time and I peeked in to see this):

(And it kinda made my heart burst.)

Other pictures I've taken of J over the past several weeks...

Watching a movie with his best buddy under a fort his sitter built:

Jumping rocks at a farm after eating strawberry ice cream and running through the sprinklers:

And it's at about this point that I start to think, You know what?

My kid's got a pretty good life.

A grandpa who puts his picture on the fridge,

A best friend to eat popcorn with,

A babysitter who builds forts,

A daddy who throws impromptu parties,

A mom who takes him to see cows...

Lots of folks who love him. What more could he (or I) ask for?