This being a long weekend, we all decided to get in the car and drive a few hours west to the Pioneer Valley, to show Maddox some of our favorite college spots before he’s told old to complain about how boring and lame it is.

It also was a good test to see how he’d fare on a longer road trip, and he did wonderfully! We left around 9:30 in the morning, just at his nap time, and so he slept for the first hour and a half.

We stopped at a Mexican place for lunch. We actually ordered a whole plate of food for him, some rice and beans, before realizing that he’s not exactly at the age yet where he can down a whole plate of food like that. He loved the rice and beans though. Not a big surprise of course, as there’s still very little he actually won’t eat (besides, for some reason, blueberry waffles. Even though he likes blueberries and waffles. Who knows!). Mads was very entertained by the oversized cartoon pinatas hanging from the ceiling.

After a brief campus driving tour we ended up at a big patch of grass near the center of campus, where our goal was to wear Mads out before the ride back. He’s still immensely entertained just by walking around in circles outside. Standard procedure is for him to pick up a stick and wave it around while parading up and down the grass.

On the drive back Mads started to show a bit of frustration, so for the first time we tried out our secret weapon: the in-car DVD player. And it actually worked! At least for about 45 minutes. He occasionally lost interest, but we heard him crack up every time there was some slapstick comedy. Maddox is a big fan of physical violence, you see.

The biggest problem was that he’s not really at the age where he can use headphones, so Leanne and I got to enjoy the audio-only version of “A Bug’s Life.”

That was actually the first movie we’ve specifically put on for him, as we’re trying to avoid any unnecessary television. It was nice to see that he was entertained, but not enraptured by it.

It’s my second father’s day, which just astounds me, to think that it’s already been a whole year already. At some point today Leanne brought out the book she had made for me last father’s day. It was pictures of Maddox, who was only a bit over one month old at that point. It really hit home that the boy sitting next to me today was just that – a boy – a not the baby that I saw in this book.

For father’s day, Leanne got me a shirt that says, appropriately, “Happy Dad”. Maddox got a shirt as well, which says “Happy Baby”. So we make a good pair. We went out to the Newburyport Farmer’s Market, where three people actually came up to me and told me they loved the shirt. Afterwards, we walked into downtown Newburyport and to Waterfront Park, where Maddox had his first real chance to walk around in a big area outside. He seemed overwhelmed, but in a good way, as he was just non-stop walking, walking, walking. Most surprisingly, he didn’t fall once. It’s really amazing how quickly he has gotten comfortable on his feet.