Kissing You to Sleep

Troy likes to nap after he’s had his bottle. I guess a full belly is comforting. But he fights the sleep, waking himself up if he starts to nod off. I have found that I can help him relax by gently kissing his head and hands. He’ll even raise his little fingers up so I can kiss the tip of each one! Sometimes I think he’s intentionally waiting it out just so I can kiss him to sleep.

I'm a Sleeptalker

Today, Troy was sound asleep on my lap, having apparently worn himself out at daycare, and all of a sudden he started talking in his sleep. I’m guessing he was dreaming, and whoever he was dreaming about was engaging him in conversation, and I just caught his side of it. It didn’t last for very long, but he was very adamant about whatever they were talking about.

Sans Mustachio

I shaved my mustache, which I’ve had since before my son was born. That means he’s spent the last four months memorizing every feature of my face. He’s spent the last four months getting comfortable and familiar with me...with a mustache. And then last weekend, I up and shaved it. The next morning when he woke up, I changed his diaper while he stretching, his eyes still closed, trying to block out the morning sun streaming through the window. With him still groggy and with lids half closed, I nestled him in my arms and started to feed him. Around about the second bottle, he finally blinked awake, saw my new face, and stopped sucking the nipple still halfway in his mouth. He scrunched his brows together and stared at me for a full minute. Then he got a resigned look on his face, shrugged a little, and went right back to enjoying his bottle. I guess he figures that if I took care of his needs, it didn’t matter what I looked like. I still smell the same, feel the same, and sound the same; and beyond that, he didn’t care. Even without hair on my lip, I am still daddy.

Post-Father's Day

Yesterday, was my first Father’s Day. The first time I was able to acknowledge to the world that God had been faithful and merciful and granted me the awesome and huge responsibility of caring for my little munchkin. When my wife asked me what I wanted, I told her all I wanted was to get to spend the entire day with my son. And we did. We watched movies, we took naps, and we watched the thunderstorm outside...all sitting side by side on the couch. It was the best day ever!

Today, when my wife took my son to daycare, the attendant handed her a paper that they’d made in class. It was a note that said, “I love you daddy, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.” And the “love” was a heart made out of his footprints dipped in paint.

I had always seen these kinds of things in other dad’s desks. I always thought they were kind of corny, but the moment she handed it to me, I understood. It didn’t matter that he had no idea that he’d made it for me. He wasn’t even cognizantly aware of the note’s existence. But it was his feet, so that made it personally his, and that made me instantly love it.

Pre-Father's Day

My wife and son woke me up this morning to give me my Father’s Day gift. Yes, it’s a day early, but they were too excited to wait. They got me a matching shirt and onesie for my son and I to wear out together. It was really cute. Afterward, my wife laid my son on my chest, and he sat back looking around the room his hand resting on my chest to hold him up. I don’t know what possessed him, but he suddenly reached over, grabbed my exposed nipple in his vice-like grip and squeezed it mercilessly. I screamed in pain while he continued to give me a purple nurple with my wife trying to pry his hand off. The entire time my son was singing. An undulating scale, up and down, almost like a chant. It was like some strange sort of rite of passage into fatherhood.

Share Your Day

I was telling YG that while I don’t want to rush his growth, it would be nice if my son could talk back when I ask about his day. I spend the entire ride home from the daycare asking him questions, only to be greeted with silence, or possibly snoring, from the back seat. YG said that he used to ask his wife while she always talked to their son when he never talked back. She said, “How’s he supposed to learn how to talk back if I don’t teach him the words?!” At some point his son did start talking, and apparently he never stopped. YG warmed me to be careful what I ask for, because now the roles are reversed for him. His son talks to him incessantly, and YG is too exhausted to talk back.

Mimic

I noticed today that it sounds like the baby is mimicking what I say to him. He makes a sound that sounds similar to the word I just said to him. It’s pretty cool, like he’s learning the language by hearing me and repeating it back to me.

He seems to get the biggest kick out of when I do the same thing to him. I’ll mimic the sounds he makes, and he smiles and starts to talk more. I’m not sure if he’s laughing because I’m saying something foolish or because he finally found someone that understands and speaks his language!

Mozart

Today we were listening to music, and I put on David Garrett, my favorite violinist. This prompted a monologue where I spent several minutes telling my son about all the famous composers that I know about. When I got done, I asked him which was his favorite by naming them one by one and watching his reaction. The only one that made him smile was Mozart, which shouldn’t surprise me at all. I mean of course it had to be Mozart. Mozart’s first name was Wolfgang, which makes logical sense when you realize my son takes after me and my tie to the wolf kingdom!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Today, when we were getting Troy ready for his customary bath after daycare, he started laughing, more of a giggle really. It’s the first time he’s done that. And despite the fact that I’ve been sick all day, that joyous giggle made me feel instantly better. I couldn’t help but smile at him, which only made him laugh more. Asking him who was a cute boy elicited more laughter. Over and over, he never got tired of hearing how cute or handsome or awesome he is. My wife said, “Of course not. Who would get tired of hearing that?!” I’m not sure why he decided to laugh today instead of his usual smile, but I’m glad I was there to hear it. No single sound on this entire earth has ever sounded better than Troy’s little laugh. I will now strive to try to make him laugh every day so I can hear it again.

Got a Little Captain in Him

Troy's latest thing is that he'll lift his right leg up and hook his foot between the bars of the bassinet.  It makes him look like one of those Captain Morgan rum commercials, where the captain is standing with his boot up on a barrel of rum.  His other thing is that he's suddenly become fascinated with feeling his crotch for some reason.  He'll reach down and put his hand on it while we're changing him or when he's entertaining himself in the bassinet.

It's really funny when he does both at the same time.  I was watching him the other day, and he lifted his leg, propped it on the bar, and then reached down and put his had on his crotch.  I took a picture and sent it to my wife, and I told her that he looked like he was doing crotch-fit!

Now, I just have to teach him not to do it in mixed company.  My wife had a group of women over for a Bible study, and he was doing his crotch-fit pose.  Luckily, they thought it was funny, but I don't know how long he'll be able to play the "baby" card.

UPDATE: And just for fun, I decided to turn him into a pirate. But not for rum, because that wouldn't be appropriate. I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Farmer's Tan

We took Troy out to the park over the Memorial Day weekend.  It was a hot, sunny day, so we put him in his stroller and pulled the shade down.  The only thing peeping out in the sun was the tips of his wee little toes.  Honestly, as pale white as he is, he could probably have stood to get a little sun.  I was trying to imagine him getting a farmer's tan in the shape of a onesie, and him having a distinct diaper line between the tan skin and the pale skin.  The image made me chuckle.