Project 17 to 17: Day 2

As much as I enjoy showing off the current day version of our dear Wonder Boy, another aspect of this project that I truly enjoy is digging back through old photos and finding those I had forgotten about. Today I got a full dose of both of these!


I almost didn't share this particular photo of Wonder Boy today. Technically speaking, it's not a stellar photo. But the more I looked at it, the more I felt moved to run with it. This is the Boy with HIS boy, Mr. Mutt himself! Watching these two together cannot fail to bring a smile to my face. They play, they cuddle, some times they even fuss at one another, or at least, Wonder Boy will fuss at the Mutt. But regardless of the attitude, the love cannot be contained. And THAT is what I see here. Wonder Boy is Mr. Mutt's absolute favorite in the whole wide world. He pines for him when the Boy is away from home. He cannot hide his glee when the Boy comes in each afternoon. And there is no one with which Mr. Mutt is more contented and relaxed. A boy and his dog. There is a reason that you hear that phrase - there is nothing more natural than a boy and his dog, imho. That certainly is true with these two!

For our look back to 2002, we see the sweet baby version of Wonder Boy. And there that little cherub sits, surrounded by toys of all shapes and colors and WHAT is garnering all of his attention? The big plastic spoon that came with our rice cooker! Now, you might argue that it is obvious the little man is teething and thus objects that help to sooth the gums will always win out over something soft and squishy. BUT .... number one ... if you look close, you will see all manner of teething toys at his feet ... AND .... this spoon continued to be a favorite play thing long after those teeth burst forth! We dubbed this utensil "Spoony" so that it would sound more like a toy. And it always made us giggle just a little that he preferred it to the many diversions we tried to use to catch his attention. He carried dear old Spoony around for several years! It made a great drum stick. Sometimes he would wave it around like a baton of some sort. But mostly, he just carted it around with him. I guess he never knew exactly what need would arise that old Spoony could fill, but he kept it close .. just in case. Today poor old Spoony is back to its original function, dishing rice out of the steamer, but at least it is still part of the family. All of those other toys have long since found another home.