Howard called today. It’s always nice to hear his voice when he’s far away. It’s even more fun to hand the phone over to the kids and observe the conversations and behaviors which follow. Only Gleek and Patches were home today, but they’re the funnest to watch in a situation like this so that’s okay.
Gleek: Had to be coaxed to the phone, but once she heard Daddy’s voice the smile began. “I sent you a email.” The tentative smile stretched into a grin when Howard assured her that he’d gotten it. She then launched into a description of an event from a video game that she’d watched being played yesterday. I wish I could remember the exact words. At that point I wanted to reclaim the phone so I prompted her to say goodbye. She said “Byedaddy!” thrust the phone at me and ran off.
Patches: Wasn’t sure he wanted to listen to the phone, but the moment he heard Howard’s voice he got very very still. He listened very intently and then pushed the phone away from his head so he could look at it. My attempt to reclaim the phone at this point was aborted when Patches cried out “Dada!” and reached for the phone. He listened some more and said “Dada” a few times. Then he looked at the phone again, particularly at the little speaker holes. Somehow his Daddy was in those tiny little holes. When I prompted him to give a kiss and say goodbye he kissed the little speaker holes rather than the microphone. I then had to distract him with something really shiny or he would have continued to monopolize the phone.
Three more days and then Howard’s home.