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...

One of the cool parts of being a father is when Mama and her son are having one of those incredible moments. I get to watch them ... seeing the look of pure joy in each of their faces. Last night, it was music ... of all things, from a soccer ball. It was one of those children's toys that sings various songs when it bounces. Patrick would whack the ball, smile from ear to ear, then start rocking from side to side with the music. I have watched him rock and dance to music before and this was the most animated (full body ... legs and arms going everywhere). This would have been really cool, but what made it truly exciting was that he was sitting in his mother's lap and she was rocking with him ... with the same look on her face. Oh, the advantages of being a father!

During Patrick's first year, I believe he wore shoes one time (at his baptism).  Now that he's been moved to the toddler room at school, he get to go outside ... an activity that he loves.  This comes with it the requirement that he have shoes that he can wear while at school. I figured that we would have a good fight on our hands ... getting him to consistently wear his shoes.  But, to my surprise there was no issue.  In fact, I can almost say that he likes wearing them.  Now, having said that, he definitely enjoys it when he gets to take the shoes off. From the article First Things First : Recently, I got to watch Patrick figure out not just how to put his feet into my shoes, but he took a step; quite a feat (I know ...  feet ) for such a little man.  The smile on his face was one of pure joy. He has tennis shoes, dress shoes, Crocs, and more!