Party pix

Cutting the grass before the big event.

Buster, with better taste than manners, doesn't like the host's hat and tries to knock it off.

A fairly random sampling of guests. From left, Kati, Patrick, Kelly, Beth, Louise, Rebecca, Eric, Jim (holding A.J.), Ana and half of Jon.

Photos by Sir Patrick Schmuke


Kelly

The host

Maryanne and A.J.

Miss Jane's third attempt to try to get Buster to go to bed, circa 11 p.m.

Portrait of the young man as an artist.

Plane

Daddy, do you want to play plane?
I sure do.
[Snatching plane away] NOOOO!!! Daddy! Don't touch my plane!
I'm not touching it. You asked me if I wanted to play so I'm sitting down to play.
[Moves plane back in reach]

Can you teach me how to play airplane?
Sure. You put the people in the plane and then they go.
How do the people get on the plane?
They go [bounces person up the stairs]. Here's your person.
Thanks. Can I put him on the plane?
No. He's not going.
Oh. Sorry, fella, you're not going.

Yay! The plane's in San Francisco now!

Note: Can you find King in the second picture?

Kentucky

Father of the Year

Nomination photo.

Oh! Daddy! Look!

A garbage truck!

Dear Grandma Ann

Thank you for my Curious George book. Are we going to Grandma Ann's house? Thank you, dear Grandma Ann. Buster Paris-Kaufman.

Editor

The night-night routine includes singing. (Actual night-night routine not pictured.)

Daddy, I want "Pretty Song."
OK. (Singing) The birds are singing in your eyes tonight ...
Today.
Oh. Yeah. ... in your eyes today
Sweet flowers blossom in your eyes
Smile.
Sweet flowers blossom in your smile
The wind and sun are in the words you say
Where might your lonesome lover be?

Birds may be singing in my eyes this day
Sweet flowers blossom in my smile
But my soul is stormy --
Story?
Stormy.
Story?
No, stormy. Like, there's storms. Storms are when it rains or snows. So it's stormy when there's a storm going on.
Oh.
But my soul is stormy and my heart blows wild
My sweetheart rides a ship on the sea
Shin.
What?
Shin.
No, it's ship.
Shin.
I'm pretty sure I'm right this time, Bugs. A ship is a big boat. You ride a ship on the sea. Do you know what a shin is?
(Points to chin.)
That's your chin. That's close. Your shin is here. (Rubs shin.) Shin. Chin. Bit it's "my sweetheart rides a ship." You ride a ship on the sea. OK?
Yeah.
My sweetheart rides a ship on the sea

Oh my soul is stormy and my heart blows wild

(Singing together) Where might my lonesome lover be?

First baseball game

First pro baseball game, actually. Buster went to a college game when he was about 3 months old, and to an 1860s re-creation game when he was 1. This was his minor-league debut, though, the River City Rascals vs. the Windy City Thunderbolts in an independent Frontier League game in beautiful O'Fallon, Mo.

Carrying on a family tradition started by his daddy, Buster poses with the home team's mascot, Ruffy the Rascal. It may have been Ruffy, it may have been the music on the loudspeakers, it may even have been the Rascals' exciting, come-from-behind victory, scoring the winning run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth. Whatever the reason, by the late innings ...

Buster was already checking the schedule to see when we could go again.

At home that night Buster put on his Velcro baseball glove and played catch with mom. They had this conversation:

Good catch, Buster!
No, I'm Baseball Player.
Good catch, Baseball Player.

And then a few minutes later, the game of catch over, when Buster walked into the kitchen:

Hi, Baseball Player.
I'm Buster.

It's a fast-moving world we live in.

I press my nose

against the window like Curious George.

("search inside this book" for the word "nose")

Tighty

whiteys

From zoo to shining zoo

St. Louis

Buster doesn't know this little girl, who just happened to be standing next to him looking at the giraffes and ostriches, but this would be a hell of a picture if they did know each other.

Evansville

Buster does know this guy. Look, the other person in the picture can't always be cute as a button.

The answer to the question that's surely crossing your mind as you look at these two pictures is: Yes, Buster does enjoy going to the zoo. Really.

Resistance

is futile

(In Evansville with Lindsey)

As it happens

I do enjoy toast and jam, why do you ask?

I'm a baby

Are you going to be a good boy today?
Yeah.
Me too.
Huh?
I'm going to be a good boy too.
A big boy.
Yes, I'm a big boy. I'm a man.
You're not a man.
I'm not a man? What am I?
Daddy.
Oh, yeah, I'm Daddy, but I'm a man, aren't I?
Mmm.
Aren't I? Or am I a mouse?
Mmm.
Is Daddy a man or a mouse?
A man.
Is Daddy a man or a monkey?
A man.
Is Daddy a man or a table?
A man.
And what are you, a man, a boy or a baby?
I'm a baby.
You are?
Yeah. And babies eat breakfast bars.
I thought babies ate milk.
Yeah! They do eat milk.
Do you have a bottle?
No, I don't have a bottle at home. A.J. has a bottle.
He probably does but I think he uses sippy cups.
I have a firetruck. See?

Evansville

As the London of the Tri-State, it means many things to many people. To Buster, it means:

I make pancakes with Granddad Jim!

And I eat them

Cowboy

He's a cowboy.
Yeah, he is.
He has an old face.

(A little later)
He has a dirty face.
A dirty face? I thought you said he has an old face.
No. He has a dirty face. He got mud on it.
How do you think he got mud on his face?
Because he got dirt on it.

Springtime

In St. Looey.

Everybody sing

Playing with knives, playing with knives
We play with knives all of our lives
Only 2 years old, but that's OK
If there's a knife around, it's time to play

Just the ladies now ...
Playing with knives, playing with knives ...

Those who can, do ...

Every once in a while I like to take a break from teaching Buster how to throw curveballs left-handed, untie his right arm, and let him take a few swings. If he ever learns to hit like the old man, I tell you what.

He'd better learn how to do something else is what.

Conversation with my neighbor

Chatting with Cathy from across the street. They had a nice conversation, but this picture is all about that stance. Note also the new "no socks" look.

I make rain

With Isabel next door. Making rain is grabbing a handful of grass and dropping it.

Scenes from a wedding

With the nattily T-shirted Caleb Pike. It was one of those classy weddings. They served breakfast bars.


That's Zema Riseling in front of Buster.


Mariachi!


Phew.



Here's a better shot of Zema. Good grief, kid, don't be cute or anything.


Cutting a rug -- actually chasing a paper airplane, I think -- with Simi.


Elizabeth and John, the happy couple, at the rehearsal dinner.


Another happy couple: Jane and me. Actually, that's a happy 2.67. Plus the fin de siècle S.F. lunch posse of Sara, Dawn and Simi, from left.

Indubitably

Did you pee in the potty?
Yeah.
Good for you.
Actually, there was no pee in the potty.
What?
Actually, there was no pee in the potty.
Oh, OK.







Actually?

Airplane

Do you remember where we went last week?
California!
Where'd we go in California?
San Francisco in the green car.
Where else?
Lost Anjuls.
Who'd we see there?
Grandma and grandpa, and we go on the shuttle bus and at the airport and on the airplane and I cried.
Yeah, you were sad when they took your stroller.
Yeah, because I was.
But then when we flew home you didn't cry.
No, I didn't cry. Because I didn't. And, I played on the airplane, and we saw downtown at the airport.
We saw downtown from the airplane.
Yeah. We did.
Did you have fun on the airplane?
Yeah. I did.
So did I.

Eventually

Priorities

Buster, come over here and look at the sea lions!
No. I'm playing on the stairs.
Don't you want to see the sea lions?
No.
Well, come over here a second. You can see the Golden Gate Bridge.
I play on the stairs.
But you've been talking about the Golden Gate Bridge for days. You can see it right over there. Do you remember what color it is?
It's red.
Want to go see it?
No. I want to play on the stairs.

Yeah, I guess they're pretty picturesque too.

Magic bed

Buster, look. See this chair? It's magic. It becomes your bed!
It's like Charlie Chaplin's bed.
Right! Only his was broken. This one's not broken.
His bed broke his hat. His hat got broken.
That's right, it did. Well, this one's not broken, and it won't break your hat.

"Thinking of You"

The difficult second album

Oh, no

Terrorist in the kitchen again. Dang. Who left the back door open? Come on, people, with all the terrorists running around these days, you can't be too careful. Where did I put that anti-terrorist -- oh, wait a second ...

Never mind. It's just Buster. And anyway, it looks like the broom is keeping an eye on things.

Buster

Keaton?

Resistance

is futile.

Man at work

I squirt the rocks.