Counting Buses

(2 years 9 months)

Dear Trevor,

We had a wonderful time in Nyack’s Memorial Park this morning. You love to bury things in the sand box. Today it was your dump truck. Then, for the first time you ask me to get on the seesaw with you. I'm going up and down, you say. We're playing see-saw.

We leave the park, and you spot a school bus on the corner of Broadway and DePew. Further up the block, in front of the Child Care Center, you say, There are two buses.

I say, We saw one on the corner, and then two more. That makes three. One plus two equals three.

Then, crossing Franklin, you hail another one.

We saw three, and now one more, I say. Three plus one equals four. We've seen four buses since we left the park.

A few blocks later, turning on to Route 9W, another bus appears and you call it out. Wow, I say. We saw four buses and now one more, how many does that make.

I look in the rear view mirror and you are holding out your right hand, fingers extended, and you count, One, two, three, four, five. You say five with a ringing finality.

We swing onto the Thruway and you spot still another bus. I go through the routine again and you come up with six.

Then on Route 59 in Spring Valley you call out another bus. I acknowledge the bus but forget we’re counting. Probably because I'm always cautious navigating that complicated intersection where we make four turns and change lanes several times to get to Pascack Road. So I was surprised when you called out, That makes seven buses.

I think that's pretty good going for a guy your age. I say, Good job.

Love, Daddy