Buck and Papa

 Buck is in a phase where he absolutely adores his Papa (DH) and asks to see him.  He's a few months past his second birthday, and yes, he actually asks to come over to this little place here and hang out with his Papa.

Almost two weeks ago, he got to do this solo for the first time ever.  After a rocky few minutes right after getting dropped off and then realizing it was just him, Papa, and I, which evoked some tears and calling for his Daddy, he settled in.  

The first thing he wanted to do was have a snack. Papa is always up for a snack, so they had venison summer sausage (made by Papa this past hunting season) and cheese.  I forget the exact conversation held while snacking, but it included Buck gesturing out towards our woods and saying that Papa sits in the trees.

The next thing he wanted to do was do some puzzles.  We tried to interest him in the easy toddler puzzles we have--the wooden kind with less than a dozen pieces, but he had his heart set on the 48-piece Frozen puzzles we have.  With Papa's help, he was able to match up the colors and designs on the pieces and put the puzzle together.  I snapped a picture during the twenty minutes or so they took to work on the first puzzle.  Once that one was done, he insisted on doing another (we have three Frozen puzzles).

Like Papa, Buck has a stocky build and thick hands.  He's also got Papa's blue eyes.  Hopefully not Papa's hairline, although they say guys inherit that trait through their mother and to look at the mother's father to see if they will be balding or not, so poor Buck is probably doomed since his mom is DD1, daughter of Papa.

Buck hadn't had a nap before arriving at this little place here, despite his parents' best efforts.  Unfortunately for him, that meant that he fell asleep while sitting on Papa's lap and having Papa read to him.  After sleeping for an hour, he woke up ready to play again, with two goals in mind:

1. Ride on the tractor with Papa (who let him 'steer' )
2. Ride on the 4-wheeler with Papa (who didn't let him steer as his arms are still too short to span the handlebar).

We had an inch or so of snow on the ground, so Papa got out the sled with the long rope on it, and pulled Buck around on the sled behind the 4-wheeler for a little bit.  He biffed it once, Buck having gotten to rocking the sled from side to side and flipped over when he rocked a little too far.  That got him a mouthful of snow, but when Papa circled back around to him with the sled he was game to climb back on and go again.

Once the sled and 4-wheeler had been put away, he told us that he wanted to "go home and eat with my family" rather than stay for dinner.  (Buck doesn't talk a lot, but when he feels so moved, he has lots and lots of words.  And opinions.) So Papa took him home.