How is Dallin doing?

I get that question a lot. Mostly he is doing well. He has sad times where he will come and sit on my lap and just be quiet for a while. Most of the time he looks for kids to play with to distract himself. He misses his little shadow that followed him everywhere! He use to have a built-in playmate and he misses that constant companionship. Lately he has been a little more dramatic than usual (and that's saying a lot) the melt-downs happen more often and are more intense. But overall he's doing really well.

He didn't want to sleep in his room alone for a long time, but we've had friends staying with us so it hasn't been much of an issue. He doesn't like to take baths anymore because he has to do it alone, so he takes showers instead. Adam is trying extra hard to give him more attention and he is starting to abuse it a little stretching his bed time for just another few minutes, and "just one more story dad", and on and on.

Every once in a while I overhear him talking to friends about what Garrett use to do and how he acted. Just the other day while riding home from our reunion we brought my little cousin Rebecca with us. Dallin told her several times about how Garrett use to say something and how they use to play together. He seemed very matter-of-fact about it.

Today I decided to make banana bread (a tough chore without my little buddy to help me-Garrett was the chef in our family) and asked Dallin to help. While we were doing it we started talking about Garrett. I asked him if he was sad and missed Garrett and he said yes. I told him that I missed Garrett too and sometimes that made me sad, but it was fun to remember the things Garrett use to do. So, we started remembering things about Garrett.

He loved to sing songs-any songs and many times with the wrong words like "Transformers, robots in the skies" (it's suppose to be DISGUISE).

Dallin and Garrett would always do the McDonald theme when they saw the golden arches-you know:"duh duh duh duh duh, I'm lovin' it!" They also did the funny song from Sesame Street (let's see if I can do this) "ma-na-ma-na, do-do-ba-do-ba, ma-na-ma-na, do-do-ba-do! " Then they would use the same melody and put in funny words like "banana bread, do-do-ba-do-ba, banana bread, do-do-ba-do!"

Dalllin misses doing many things with him like: Battling in the tub with cars and boats, 2 person computer games where the guys would fight, Garrett hanging on Dallin's back, Garrett following him around, and Garrett playing with Maura.

Funny things we remembered about Garrett: One day while walking home from the Woolf's house he picked up a pine cone from under the tree and said "Mom, look a pineapple!". He always said "Oh my freatin' dosh!" (oh my freaking gosh) and "Oh my het" (oh my heck)j

Foods Dalllin remembers Garrett loved to eat: Strawberries, pancakes, Oatmeal breakfast cookies, bananas, and beans

We will miss that cute little guy, but we sure do have some terrific memories!