I don't think the true joys of being a father really begin to emerge until your child really begins to interact with the world around him. This past week at the shore, it became very evident that Eastland is, in fact, discovering his world. His language skills are improving almost by the minute, and he's becoming ever more social.

He has a cousin, Tyler, who is a year and a half older than him. They've been around each other on a weekly basis since E was born. From time to time, Tyler has tried to play with E in the past, but typically without much success. E simply wasn't interested in being social or doing anything other than what it was he happened to be doing at that particular moment. This past week at the shore, that all changed.

The two of them tore the place up this past week. From one end of the house to the next, up and down the stairs, in every room, they followed each other around, played hide and seek, wrestled over toys, explored, and in general, played with each other. It was during one particular moment when Tyler decided to hide behind a chair that it became clear that E was, in fact, interested in playing.

With Tyler out of sight, E suddenly looked up from what they had been playing at, realized he was alone, and shot to his feet. A slight look of panic on his face, he looked around nervously as he began running around the room, peeking into every corner.

"Tyler!" E shouted as he looked in one direction. "Tyler," he repeated as he looked the other way.

He chased all over the room, shouting Tyler's name until he finally found him, hiding out behind a bar stool. A look of relief and joy came over him as he cheered and grabbed Tyler with both hands. From there they carried on together, tearing up the place as the day wore on.

Eastland is learning at least a handful of words each and every day. He parrots much of what we say (yeah, gotta be careful now) and now knows most of the common nouns and even a few verbs that inhabit his daily world. And with all this new language comes an awful lot of personality. As he's discovering to express himself verbally, he's also figuring out how to express himself nonverbally. And the mix is absolutely fascinating.

Every day is a brand new day in his world. He's learning new things now by the pound and it's simply wonderful to be a part of it. This is the fun part of being a dad, getting to watch him grow, develop, and learn.

It's his world. I just live in it.