And you thought the lottery was random...

I hope Pea never loses her joie de vivre.

Ricochay here, coming to you live and direct from Montreal, Québec, Canada. For those of you that don't know me, of which I doubt there are any, my being in Montreal also means that I am not at home. Business has brought me to one of Canada's greatest cities for an over-nighter, which is also the first night I find myself away from Pea, the Pod and all the creature comforts of home (namely, my own bed).

Thankfully, there are reinforcements at home with Pea and the Pod. But quite frankly, being away from home sucks. I was thankfully able to take my mind off being away from my family by visiting with some friends who live in the city. Despite their great company, I missed being a part of Pea's nighttime routine terribly. Now that I am solo, back in my room, I find myself using my imagination to be with them...

Hey! Guess what Pea did recently? Go ahead, guess. C'mon, take a stab in the dark. Guess anything. Jesus, c'mon, one guess. Why won't you play along? You never play along. What is wrong with you? We're just having some fun here! Dammit, take a guess! WHY ARE YOU SO DIFFICULT?

...

...

There, was that so hard? Geez. Anyway, you guessed wrong, sucker.

Let's try again, which of the following did Pea recently do:

1) Eat a massive grilled cheese sandwich and onion rings
2) Help her Dad install sod in the backyard
3) Learn to dance

If you guessed #1, you don't have an 11-month-old and think very little of our parenting abilities. For shame.

If you guessed #2, you either live in China or have very politically incorrect views on child labour. For shame.

If you guessed #3, you would be correct. Congratulations.

If you've never seen an 11-month-old dance, it is quite a sight to behold. At first, Pea was dancing by simply bobbing up and down. We considered this dancing, but in the back of my mind I always knew she was merely imitating the motion of her exersaucer and so her dancing was slightly tainted in some way. Then, somehow, she decided that dancing was not an up and down motion, but a side-to-side wiggling of the hips. It didn't take long for the Latin in her to come shining through.

Now, if Pea was a popular music star from the 50's (Elvis), the aforementioned hip wiggling would be censored for TV, because truth be told it is quite vigorous and uncontrolled. But these are different times. Pea's dancing is now widely accepted, and so the Pod and I are not concerned. She has rhythm, and there was no certainty of that going into this... she does, after all, have me as her father.

Remember Elaine's dance on Seinfeld. Yeah.

So there you have it. A lonely Dad and a cute new dance from the Pea. Pretty random stuff, but I'm tired. Give me a break.

I may not know what I want my Pea to become, but I hope she never loses her joie de vivre.