So after the fourth or fifth round of this grinning and laughing, I grabbed the camera and started snapping pictures. I finally got a good shot after a few mis-timed attempts and then, just like that, Eastland tired of the game and went back to eating pizza. He's also got a few other interesting tricks he performs for interested parties, but few of them are so well suited for a still camera as a big cheesy pizza-filled grin.

After dinner, we've begun a new ritual recently. Once he's done eating, he has to climb the two flights of stairs up to his bedroom where he does laps around the room for twenty minutes or so before bedtime. We sit on the floor with him, and as he passes us on each lap, we work on changing him for bed. The short-term result of this effort is what is universally known as "Naked Time!"

This evening, during Naked Time! as E was racing around the room at full speed bare-arsed-nekkid, he suddenly paused, leaned over, and began playing with one of his toy cars. But the interesting part wasn't that he was just carrying it or banging it against something. He was actually rolling it back and forth across the floor. He's got a few toys now that he sits and plays with more or less as they were designed, but his naked display with the car this evening was possibly the best example yet that he really is beginning to understand the ways of the world.

Naked Time! always comes to a close one piece of clothing at a time. Just as we ease into things with each lap, as he continues to wind down by doing laps of the room, we toss on another article of clothing each lap as he passes until finally, he is dressed and ready for bed.

And it's typically not too long afterwards that he is finally exhausted and ready for a long night of deep dreamy sleep. Tomorrow's another day, and with so much to learn, a young guy needs his rest.