With apologies to Daniel's fan club, this is an all-Edward post. What can I say? He's had a noteworthy couple of days. The first came on St. Joseph's Day (that's March 18 to most of us). Edward decided on a whim (as if he decides anything on something other than that) to play firefighter. He put on his Halloween costume and headed into the living room to get on his firetruck (the couch). But he decided to do something different and narrates a completely contradictory set of actions. For those who watch until the end, the outstretched hand and the noise that approximates the sound of a tire loosing air is him using a firehose to put out a fire. The rest of the video is a game he created where I toss him onto a chair covered by a blanket, thus covering him as he sinks into it. Trust me, this is hilarious.



Today he went to a birthday party at the Iowa City GymNest, a place that offers gymnastics lessons and training, and, we learned today, great birthday parties. It's essentially a giant padded room filled with things for kids to jump onto and off of. Ed and the rest of his buddies spent an hour running, jumping, playing and laughing, and then ended with cake and ice cream. Not a bad way to spend 90 minutes if you're 3.

Most of my photos and video from it are centered around the place Edward spent the most time: A pit full of six-inch cubes of firm foam rubber that the kids jumped into. Ed first jumped off the side, then off a pad about two feet high and finally from a platform about six feet above the pit. Each time he squealed with delight and headed for the side for more. He had an absolute ball, and so did I.



At one point he grabbed a block from the pit and held it up to me: "I found a berry!" he said. It took me a moment, but I believe he was reliving a moment from Jamberry, a favorite book, where the bear and the boy are covered with berries (the page below isn't the right one, but it's the closest I could find online.