Like... the Best Day, Ever.

Dominic has many loves in life... garage doors, manhole covers, vents. holes, and rectangles (see below)... the list could go on and on. But ever since he started preschool, one love has trumped the others... (except for the garage doors... but a post on garage doors isn't nearly as cute as this one)... his current object of obsession, er... affection?

The Schoolbus. (angelic choir)

Every day after preschool, we have this ritual... goes a little something like this:

1. Say "Bye" to Miss Julie.

2. Stomp on the "holes" in the sidewalk (don't ask) and determine whether they are open or closed... broken or not broken.

3. Walk on the rectangles (the green plastic covers for the sprinkler system that are imbedded into the grass on the school lawn).

4. And then... we make a dash for the schoolbus, ahem... "Sthoow-buth".

Mr. David (or as Dom says, "Mr. Dayffffffff-id") is the bus driver. This guy is great.

He loves my little, quirky man-child. After seeing my little guy salivating and spazzing over the school bus during the first 3 days of school, Mr. David suggested Dominic climb aboard and explore... and THAT my friends, is history. Now every stinkin' day, Dom gets on that bus, gives Mr. David a high-five... and then says "Hi" to all his little friends while they get buckled in. Then we get off the bus and Dominic "spazzes" out while Mr. David opens and shuts the bus doors about 7 or 8 times, honks the horn once or twice, and slowly drives out of site. Literally... we MUST stand there until we cannot see the bus anymore, because if we don't???... well, life may end. So this takes a while... and a lot of paitence on my part, but I try to remember... this IS the highlight of his day. After the bus finally disappears behind the trees, the ritual continues...

5. Re-walk on the rectangles.

6. Do the "holes" thing again.

7. Go in the "tunnel" (the roof that extends over the school's... patio?).

8. Do the "holes" thing at the other door of the school.

9. Walk on the other rectangles.

10. And then finally, finally... we slllllooooowwwlly get into the car after much coaxing and sometimes...more often than not... a threat.

Anyway... I digress...

Mr. Dayfffffff-id decided that he wanted to let Eager-Beaver ride the bus home. So last Thursday, I brought our address and a little map on a piece of paper, and my camera... and Dominic got to RIDE THE BUS! I thought his little heart would burst with excitement. He talked about it the night before with anticipation... and all.the.way. to school that morning... and apparently all throughout his school day because Miss Julie was already very aware that he was going to be riding the bus after school and even asked if she could tag along to see him in all his glory.

So here... after that incredibly long explanation and a lot of suspense (but hey, I want to remember all of those little details because someday when I'm not feeling impatient, sleep deprived and a little bit crazy... someday, I'm going to want to remember those kinds of things)... here is the documentation of Dominic's FIRST EVER STHOOW-BUTH RIDE.......

Look at his face... he is so excited. Mr. David is leaning over the driver seat, explaining to him what will happen on the bus.

The smile never left his face... perma-grin.

I love the 2nd picture here. Makes me laugh every time I see it. He's so pumped. Sitting next to him is his little bus-friend, Silas.

I followed the bus all the way home, just in case Dom freaked out. Psshhht! I don't know what I was worried about... he was in la-la-loooove!

...still following...and taking weird, stalker-ish pictures of the bus...

When we got to the last light before our house, I cruised in front of the bus so I could hop out of the car at home... just in time to capture this:

What a dream come true! He won't always be this easy to please, I'm sure. But let me just say, today made my DAY. It's the little things in life that matter most. And seeing his whole face light up today as one of his biggest wishes came true? Priceless.

Here's to all awesome school employees, like Mr. Day-ffffffid, who go the extra mile to make a kid smile. What a kind-hearted man. :)