Where is my timid, cautious toddler?

Julie and Rowan arrived at the train show and found a very different situation from what was advertised.  Rather than a Thomas the Train festival with wooden train tables, snacks, and life-size characters to hug, it was a locomotive trade show for old autistic men.

Meanwhile, I took Lyla to Edinborough Park (a giant indoor play structure covered in microscopic fecal matter) and found a very different Lyla from the last time we were there.  Where was my timid, cautious toddler, and who was this chimpanzee?  I made the mistake of trying to follow her through the labyrinth for awhile.  Height difference alone meant I had to crawl while she sprinted, so it was ugly, and I was lucky to get out of there with limbs, if not dignity, intact.

Afterward, we ate at People's Organic, her favorite restaurant for reasons known only to God ("Why is it your favorite restaurant?"  "Uh...I don't know.").  It took forever for the food to come out, but Lyla waited with patience and good cheer.

Back at home, the spoils of Christmas continued to delight.

"Daddy, did you see that!?  This car is out of control!"

"Want me to teach you how to steer it?"

"Uh, sure."

In ten years, we'll have that conversation again.