Fatherhood

Last night, Jen was in a class and I got Patrick for a few hours ... Papa time. We took some time and visited his grandparents; two of Patrick's cousins were also there, so it became a cool visit. Of course, we had to get in some Tractor time ... can't forget that. Then, we headed out ... Jen still had about thirty minutes left, so I decided to just drive around the area. I was comfortable in the car ... Patrick, different situation. As he started crying ... I tried singing (this has worked before) and to my amazement, it only took two rounds of "Row, Row, Row your boat" for him to quiet down. About a dozen rounds later, I stopped as my throat started getting strained. Then, the crying kicked in again. After about three of these sets and about twenty minutes later, I glanced over my shoulder to find him fast asleep. I kept singing ... slowly dropping the volume. Just as I stopped singing, Jen called to say she was on her way home. I turned the car arou...

I think I have told the story of our walk by the church where someone was riding the tractor, mowing the lawn. As the story goes, I said "mower" to Patrick ... and got "more" in sign back. This trend has continued, especially since he loves riding on tractor/mowers. We found a kids mower today ... green and yellow plastic; it ticks when pushed or pulled. This mower has a knob that rotates, as well as one that can be pushed/pulled. It even has a starter; you give it a pull to hear the engine start up. Patrick has rarely let it go since we got home ...

The tractor ... we can always climb on, but not when it is turned on ... that would be scary. The car ... steering and moving all the buttons and levers ... nothing scary here. The big-wheel ... only the original; the new ones are cool, but only the original is the best. Swedish-Fish ... how many can we shove in at one time ... The broom ... so we can sweep up the mess we just made. The computer ... how many times has he turned this one off while I was working on something?