Various Thoughts

Cleaning dishes that had piled into both sinks and were spilling over onto our cutting board, I was reminded of when Jen and I realized that the amount of laundry we do has increased dramatically. For a little-guy, he generates a LOT of dirty clothes ... he also generates a lot of dirty dishes ... pots, pans, silverware, and cups.

Our workload has increased, but in a good way. What we did before Patrick was for us ... now, it's for family.

I thought back to how he has grown ... he's even playing different.

Patrick helped me with dinner ... he carried the egg from the refrigerator to the stove and mixed the egg and bread mix together for me. So cool!

He has also been eating candy from Halloween ... well, let me amend that, he chews on the package with the candy in it. If he breaks the package and can taste the candy, he gets a new one.

He spent about two hours taking the candy out of it's container and organizing it on our coffee table. Bored with that, he grabbed a pot and placed several candy bars in ... we thought it was pretty cool; a new skill (play). Then, he took it another step ... he grabbed the wooden spoon and started to stir the pot.

Jen and I both cheered ... we love to watch him grown and put together all the various things he is learning.

Oh ... and don't let me forget ... he CLEARLY said "Mountain Dew" as he told me he wanted some in his sippy cup!

Amazing what goes through your head while washing dishes!

Comments

Terror or Anger

Jennifer and I woke about twenty minutes ago to Patrick crying ... nothing unusual. I asked her to get him since I have to start getting ready for work in about three hours (yes, I have to work on a Saturday). Where things became unusual was the loud, sustained crash, and Patrick's cries rising to a hefty scream. Being the concerned parent that I am ... with visions of his changing table collapsed on top of him, I rushed to their aid. "What was that?" I cried. Jennifer, weakly replied, "I fell down the stairs." With Patrick screaming at the top of his lungs, I think I actually asked her to repeat what she said. I found my wife sitting, with her legs out and my son in her arms, at the bottom of the stairs. Asking if she and Patrick were OK was mixed into confused questioning about what happened. Somehow, her feet went out from under her (we suspect a couple of the leaves that Patrick likes to play with were on the steps). While my real concern was i...

Getting Involved

This is the second night in a row that we were able to spend time and Grandma and Papap's ... Patrick enjoys it so much! We even had a rousing rendition of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with all five of us involved ... yes, Patrick is pitching in now. He runs from person to person, giving a bit to each one of us ... there is never a dull moment. Tonight, he repeated a new activity from last night. Last night, it was getting everyone involved in chasing him around the house ... tonight, we had this activity, but what we saw was that he wanted to play different games and wanted certain people involved. This is when he went to each person that needed to be involved and grabbed a finger, pulling them along. He even checked every now and then to make sure they were still following. Such an amazing child ... knows how to ensure that we sleep well.

Building Character

... in my Child. I really don't want him to be a character ... I want to help him develop "strength of character." I have always enjoyed the challenges in my life, or more correctly I enjoy solving the issues that arise. I love solving complex problems in situations that call forth my personal strengths ... ingenuity, imagination, teamwork, experienced judgment, persistence, and will power. Every day at work, I solve problems through the exercise of these strengths. I know that the greatest challenge I face will be raising my child well. Knowing this, I realize that there is no clear cut path that I can take when faced with the challenge of being a good father to Patrick as he grow and develops ... and no single correct path I need to take to "solve this problem." I need to remember, as Patrick grows up, to encourage him rather than being just a critic in his life. I know that it is tempting at times to focus on the mistakes of others, whil...

Fatherhood

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