You see that picture up there? Didja look at his hand? Yeah, keep reading.

There are a number of blogs that I “follow,” or, subscribe to. Most mornings, I visit an online application called Google Reader. It works similar to an email program. When I open it up, it lists all the blogs that I subscribe to, along with the number of unread or updated posts since my last visit. Recently, needled in the nest of thirty or so unread posts was a new post by one of my favorite bloggers. In it, Natui (an anagram of her blog name of Not Afraid To Use It) touches on vaccines. It served as a gentle reminder that we will be starting Tyler’s vaccinations when he turns two.

JUST FOUR MONTHS FROM NOW!

How in the heck has it already been almost two years?! We wake up, we go through our daily routines, we go to sleep. And then, one day, something happens that causes time to smack you in the back of your head. Natui’s vaccine post was the catalyst that caused me to stop and really take stock of how much has taken place and how far we’ve come as a family. I know it’s cliche to say, but time really does fly.

Tyler is learning at a pace that truly astounds me. A couple days ago, at dinner, Sarah couldn’t finish her “take the edge off” drink, so she poured what was left into my glass – effectively turning my “take the edge off” drink into a “Joe’s about to get a slight buzz” drink.

After a moment of processing, Tyler pointed at the glass and said, “Dump.”

We confirmed that, yes, mommy just dumped her drink into daddy’s glass, and followed by explaining “empty” and “full” to Tyler. He grasped it with the two glasses, pointing back and forth while saying “eppy,” and “full”, but struggled a bit when we involved our dinner plates.

But you don’t care about that, right? You want to know about a couple fingers, doncha?

A few weeks ago, I was struck with amazement (and guilt, if I’m being completely honest) at Tyler’s ability to learn. We were reading a book, and the particular page being read had some flowers in the background.

“Onnnnnne, doooooo, freeee,” Tyler said as he pointed to each of the three flowers.

Outwardly: “Yes, Tyler, there are three flowers.” Pointing to each one, I confirmed his count. ” One, two, three.

Inwardly: When the *blaap* did he learn this?!

Although I was proud and amazed at this surprising development, I felt quite a bit of guilt over the matter. See, not only did I not know Tyler could count to three, but I also had absolutely nothing to do with teaching him how to do so. It never even crossed my mind! How can I sit here and hold the belief that I’m a great good dad, and yet have no knowledge of my son’s ability to count to three?! I know, I know. Sarah’s home with Tyler all day, teaching him, playing with him, being a great mom. I get that, but this was just one of those moments that smacked me right in the face.

But wait, it gets better. Tyler could actually count to ten. TEN! Sure, he sometimes skips the numbers 7 and 8, but still, ten. By the way, did you get it yet? Missing digits? Digits… fingers? The Case of the Missing Fingers. Har har har. Well, it’s not as funny when I have to explain it to you folks. Yes, the picture above is a fake. I spent about five minutes to get the pose, and about twenty in Photoshop Elements to get the effect.

Take a couple minutes out of your busy day and watch an adorable video of Tyler counting to ten, sans seven and eight, of course.

Oh, and guess what else? I learned, later that day, that Tyler can actually count to thirteen.