Fatherhood

We had my parents over for dinner last night ... Patrick and Jen prepared dinner, even going as far as making brownies for desert! It was very cool watching Patrick cuddle with his Grandfather. It is always amazing to me how those two get along. It was also very cool watching Patrick and his Grandmother read a book together ... Before dinner, he got a chance to show off the cast-iron toy stove that Jen had played with as a child. This has become one of his favorite toys ... the parts certainly make a lot of noise when he tosses them across the room. At dinner, I sat next to Patrick, across from his grandparents ... their expressions as they watched him were sheer joy and a joy to watch, as well. At one point, I asked Patrick to show them the Moon and Stars in his room. He has a humidifier that lights up, projecting colored starts and a moon on the ceiling ... he loves them. He immediately headed for the stairs, and turned to his grandparents and signaled come on ... a q...

It's now official, our walls have been decorated by our son for the first time. Patrick had been drawing in his coloring book with a marker. He wandered off, as he does at times. Not hearing him for a few seconds, I wandered into the dining room to check on him. What I discovered was an entire wall covered in orange marker ... just at his shoulder level. He looked at me with a look of excitement in his eyes. He was so proud of the artwork he prepared for us ... I was a bit angry, but more amused (though I couldn't let it show). Thankfully, it was a washable marker and a wet sponge made short work of the artwork ... Patrick was a bit upset that it was gone; that is until he found the raisins. Have I said before that he is ALWAYS hungry these days ... UPDATE: Now, not only have we done artwork on the wall, we have decorated one of the toilet covers ... with the red Permanent Marker he found!

The help of other parents is always appreciated. Jen and I have gotten all kinds of advice ... from the practical to the insane (generally, these come from parents to non-parents). Yesterday, at church, I think we got our first true help from a parent ... and we don't even know who she is ... Patrick was getting a bit antsy when the woman in front of us reached into her bag and pulled out two children's books. She turned a bit and handed them to us saying, "I've got a whole bag-full." Later on, she swapped out these two books for two more ... incredible. In the seventeen months since he was born, this is the first real assistance we have gotten from a parent (that wasn't being paid for the help). Very cool ... I wish we had gotten her name.

Revenge ... that state we get to when things do not go the way we want. With my son, I am learning that this is almost a daily event. Yesterday, I got upset when he turned the computer off while I was working on it. I was more upset that the work got lost than anything else, and I am learning to manage how I respond when upset. Patrick, on the other hand responded as you would expect a sixteen month old child to. He headed to the bookshelf and started ripping books off the shelves (I've got to move the First Edition and Signed books onto higher shelves). Today, when I took the clicker back, another book got tossed across the room ... the one I was reading at the time (John Carter in flight) ... I have got so much to learn.