Rolling Along

Life is good these days at our house. Simon’s personality is really starting to emerge and we have quite the little jokester on our hands. We have to watch him, as he’s mastered the fake cry to get what he wants, sometimes unable to stop smiling through those alligator tears. There’s always something going on. He squeals, he chuckles, he upchucks, he screams. He kicks, he crawls, he laughs, and he chants. Da-dah. Da-dah. 

He doesn't need words, often times making up his own and sounding at times like a snake-handling warlock speaking in tongues. It can be a little creepy if the lighting hits him just right. 

Our living room is the main trench of parenthood front. And it is nothing short of a war zone. From one end to the other, scattered amongst the bottles and diapers are toy cars, animals, caterpillars, all with large smiles and a song to sing. I’ve memorized every song from every toy in our living room (It seems every toy has a song or lights or a voice, we have enough batteries to power a small space station for week). But when I’m walking around work, minding my business, I’ll often hear a snicker and then realize that I’m singing the wiggle song. I used to get rap songs stuck in my head for days…now this. 

The whole parenting thing didn’t come so natural for me. As a matter of fact I’ve only recently gotten comfortable being dad.  At 37, I was set in my ways, and it took some time to adjust, not to mention the fact that newborns are just sort of a blob for those first couple of months. But now I can say “my son” and it doesn’t feel weird. I am Dad, and it feels right. He’s my buddy and I can’t wait to see him in the mornings. (It probably helps that he’s sleeping through the night). I spend my days looking forward to coming home and hanging out on the floor with him, just watching that little brain of his putting things together. He loves to slobber on my face and offer his nuk to me and then squeal with laughter like its the funniest thing he’s ever seen in his life. I love his little squeal. He can’t help himself. It’s a laugh overload and he just has to spit it out. I’m enjoying these small moments, because soon they'll be gone.

This first year is really flying by, so I want to enjoy one evening at a time. Because after this, that's it. As I've told my wife, we’re not doing this again!