Bowling

Friday night I finally delivered on a promise that I made long ago to my son. We live about 2 stone throws and a hop skip away from a bowling alley. Everytime we drive by Maddox asks

me, "daddy, can we go bowling there next day?" I always respond, "yes, we will go soon." That's been going on since he was old enough to talk. I finally made good on my promise. It was a very nice time, minus Maddox smashing his hand with a bowling ball as he tried to pick it up, and him running to the arcade everytime his turn was over, and him throwing a huge fit when I tried to take off his bowling shoes. Those must have been the most comfortable shoes ever, because he would not remove them. I almost needed a crowbar to take them off, and then he cried about it for a good 15 minutes. I contemplated buying them from the bowling alley. I decided against it when I thought of adding a bowling shoe addiction to his tank top addiction. I would probably lose what custody I do have of him, if that ever happened. Anyways, we probably won't make it back to the bowling alley for quite some time, but at least I was able to follow through on my promise.

No More Freaking Tank Tops

At some point early this summer my son discovered tank tops. He calls them basketball shirts. There are 4 go to tank tops in his rotation, and 2-3 backup tank tops if daddy has gotten lazy with laundry duty. There is the silver basketball jersey with Michael Jordan on the front that he calls "my Lebron James" tank top. I'm not sure how he drew the conclusion that it's Lebron James, but I can't call it anything else or I'm quickly corrected. There is an awful bluish tie dye looking shark tank top that he got somewhere, I'm not sure where. Next is a black tank top that has a basketball, soccer ball, and a baseball, that my aunt Laura so nicely gifted him. That one I'm ok with. And last but not least there is the beauty he is wearing in the picture above while doing his shopping at Whole Foods. This one makes me laugh because you can see his belly really well when he wears it. The other two fall back tank tops are another basketball jersey that looks like a knock off Vince Carter New Jersey Nets throwback, and another shark cutoff t, because you can never have enough shark tanktops. In fact, the two that he has would only get him through about 30% of "Shark Week." The reason I'm writing this post is because he refuses to let summer die. He insists on wearing a tank top every single day. Rain or shine, Tuesday or Saturday, good day on the stock market or bad day on the stock market. He is consistent, firm, and absolutely set on wearing a tank top everyday, and it's becoming a problem. His mother and I have been trying to break the cycle, but we're in an uphill battle. He's started to make deals with us. Things like, "daddy, if I eat all of my food can I wear a basketball jersey when we get home?" Or, "hey, it's a sunny day, can I wear a basketball shirt?" We've come to an agreement that he can wear a tank top, under his shirt anytime we leave the walls of our home. And as long as he's a good boy he can wear the tank top around the house when we get home. My concern is this tank top is a gateway to bigger things, mullets, confederate flags, Lynyrd Skynyrd albums, poor grammar, a general disdain for authority figures, and a love for SEC football. Who knows, maybe I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill. Either way I'm tired of tank top season and ready for him to conform to real shirt season.

Super Busy

Things have been nuts the last couple of months. With work, summer travels, and such, things have been pretty hectic and I haven't done a good job of writing about our adventures. We've been doing a lot of swimming, not sleeping in our own beds (Maddox, not dad, and if dad does he certainly won't write about it on Maddox's blog), and playing with our family. Maddox is preparing for a trip to southern California in Sept., an Oct. Disneyland follow up with me, and most importantly pre school. It's killing me that he's growing up so fast. He makes me laugh everyday with the new things he says. Even though lately he's been telling me, "dad, I'm frustrated of you..." Everytime we don't do exactly what he wants to do. Maddox's mom and step dad are going to have a new baby here soon, he's excited to have a little brother, who he informed me last week he is going to name Harry. Other than that I can't think of anything else to write right now. Gotta get going, tonight is Maddox's pre-school orientation. I can't promise that I won't start crying during this. I'm so scared of him growing up.

"Just Like You..."

Last night I had an epiphany. I was laying in bed with Maddox, and we were talking about our fun weekend. I was telling him how much fun I had with him, and how much I was going to miss him today as he went back to his mom's house. I struggle often times with trying to be the perfect dad. It's an inner battle with myself, and it's a battle with time. I know that I don't quite get him 50% of the time. That's hard for many reasons, for one, I want to be a good dad. I want him to feel that I'm invested and involved in his life, that I'm there for him no matter what. And in full disclosure I struggle with feelings of inadequacy, and it's hard to think of myself as not being the most influential male figure in the life of my own son. This sounds selfish, immature, maybe even a little bit greedy. It's a battle with time, because I only get him about 40% of the time, and quite frankly, it sucks. I feel like I'm always racing to make up for the 60% of the time that I don't have him. Sometimes I wonder if he gets it. He's 3, he is excited to see me, loves coming to my house, etc. But it's hard not to feel like I'm in an uphill battle to establish the father/son relationship and life that I want with him. Everytime I discipline him I second guess myself. I always wonder if that's what he keeps in his little memory when he goes home to his mom. "Daddy put me in timeout 5 times, daddy is mean." I know this sounds ridiculous, and even if that were the case it would be better than the alternative, "daddy is soft, I can do whatever I want at his house and get away with it." But this is the type of stuff that enters my head. Being a good dad is such a focus in my life, that sometimes I let it get in the way of just being myself, and being what Maddox needs. That inner turmoil and strife can get in the way of listening to my fatherly instinct, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Anyways, back to my epiphany; we're laying there chatting it up, well, mostly me talking. Trying to convince him of what an amazing weekend we'd had. "We went swimming 4 times!!! That was so fun!!!! I can't believe those fireworks we watched!!!" And so I went on for a couple of minutes. And finally I told him, "Maddox, I'm so proud of you. You haven't had one accident the whole time you've been with daddy. That's 4 straight days of using the potty without 1 accident." He sat there for a minute, processed what I had just said, and got a big smile I could see through the darkness in the room. "Just like you daddy." I sat there just blown away by the sweetness of his tone. Then it hit me, he's trying to impress me just as much as I'm trying to impress him. Maybe I need to forget about myself a bit. I need to listen more to his needs, I need to tell him more how proud I am of his progress. How happy I am with who he's becoming. Somehow he thinks I'm pretty cool. And somehow he wants to be like me. So for one night I went to bed not tossing and worrying about what he thinks of me, and I hope he went to bed knowing what I think of him. I know that'll be the focus for me from now on, making sure that he does.

Funny Little Quotes

One of the most fun parts of watching Maddox grow up is hearing the funny things he says. Lately he's been saying a lot. Everytime I call my mom and update her she always says, "you need to be writing these down." So I decided that I would start listing them as they happen.

Maddox loves talking about people's physical features. For some reason right now he notices people's hair quite a bit. The other day he told me that someone he knows who's bald is old. I asked why he was old and he said, "because he has no hair. Daddy, you're new, you have lots of hair."

He also loves cars. Summertime is a great time to see car shows all over the Salt Lake Valley or Utah County. We stop in every chance we get. He always yells, "look dad, it's a CLASSIC CAR!!!" Or my favorite when we leave and are driving on the road he'll see like a 2001 Dodge Caravan or something and yell, "LOOK DAD, IT'S A CLASSIC VAN!!!" Recently he's started to try and talk like a 'car guy.' "Look dad, that's a 97-90 9er!" Basically throw in a few numbers and it sounds like you know what you're talking about, you usually need to finish with a 9er at the end though. It gets me everytime. Just the other day we were at the movie theatre in the parking lot and we saw a 67 99er. It was freakin legit.

He's also been learning to pray for things that really matter to him. For example; his grandma Patty has a room that no kids are allowed to go in. This is a serious offense that can render significant consequenses. Maddox's little cousin "LaLa" as he calls her, is always breaking that rule and getting into trouble. During his prayers the other night he said, "...and Heavenly Father, please bless LaLa that she can stay out of Grandma Patty's room." I was so proud of him, he was showing so much concern and regard for his little cousin's well being. He was worried for her.

The little man is full of gems like these. I'll try to do a better job of keeping track of them. Maybe I need to get him his own twitter account.

Disneyland!!!

Maddox and I were fortunate enough to take a trip to Disneyland a couple of weeks back. It was a much needed getaway for two busy dudes such as us. We went down with my dad, and my brother. I learned a few things about my son, and about traveling with a 3 year old. First of all, being a dad at Disneyland is so much cooler than being a kid at Disneyland. I was so excited to see his reaction to everything. We laughed so hard at stuff together. I loved watching his face as we spun on the tea cups, floated passed the pirates, shot lasers at Buzz Lightyear's enemies, shot around the matterhorn, and enjoyed the $13 chocolate muffins we ate for breakfast or the $40 corn dogs we downed for lunch. He was such a little stud, attached is a video I took of us having fun on the autopia cars. When Maddox is grown up and I'm old I'll sit in my rocking chair watching this video while "Matlock" re-runs are going in the background. And I'll remember a time when my little dude and me laughed together at Disneyland. Another thing I learned, it's impossible to explain the concept of standing in a line to a 3 year old. Luckily it wasn't too busy there that day. Maddox liked lines about as much as he likes nap time. One more thing, little moments with your child are what life is all about. I have a clear picture in my mind of that entire day. It's still making me smile when I think about it. I think about his laugh at certain moments of the day when we'd go on certain rides. Luckily I went into the day with the mindset that I was going to take mental snapshots of everything. And I did, and it's been so great.

Some other lessons I learned from the trip include: Hand sanitizer is a freakin must. I about died having to take Maddox to use the bathroom in gas station bathrooms, I would hold him with one arm wrapped around his thighs the other around his chest, squeezing his chest and holding his arms to his side, so as to keep his hands from touching anything. Everytime he touches anything in a gas station bathroom I lose my shit. I freak out, that's seriously the only time that I ever yell at him. It's actually funny how he pees being held in the air, stiff as a board. So ya, hand sanitizer just in case he does touch anything and you don't think the trucker soap in the bathroom will do anything but make him smell like a cheap air freshener. We took Maddox to the Yankees/Angels game the last night we were in CA. It was so fun to see him and how he loved that game, and that beautiful park, such a great place to watch a game. But I learned that it's important to time your bathroom breaks around the time when the Angels (or the weaker batting lineup) are hitting. We almost missed A. Rod's mammoth bomb luckily we'd taken a break to left field so it actually landed right by us, had it happened one minute later or earlier we would've missed it. I was so concerned about him not peeing himself that I didn't think that through. Sun screen!!! I kept Maddox covered all weekend. He came back looking like his usual white self. I got killed by the sun and look like one of those old guys I see at the gym that think they look younger because they're reddish orange.

One last thing a friend once told me that your kids just get cooler to you as they get older, each new age brings with it new exciting things. I thought 2 was awesome but 3 is even better. When we pulled into our driveway after our trip to California, Maddox looked at me with his big "blue eyed beauties" as he calls them, and said "dad, thanks for going on the fun trip." That made the whole trip even sweeter. He was so grateful and loving. The conversations we have now are real conversations. The questions he asks me about my day and my life are real and sincere questions. When I pick him up he'll ask, "hey dad, how was your day at work?" He can sense when I'm feeling a certain way, if I'm down, he'll make sure I know how he feels about me. He almost always thanks me for little things we do, "dad thanks for taking me to shoot hoops, thanks for going swimming with me, thanks for going to church with me." One funny thing he does too is talk about which of The Beatles is his favorite. He always says, "dad, I'm George, you can be Paul or John." He never involves Ringo, he's already learned that Ringo was the worst Beatle. I was texting his mom the night we got back from California to make sure he was doing well after the trip, not too tired, behaving, etc. And we both couldn't help but getting emotional about how much he is growing up. I can't even talk about it without crying, and she's the same way. Both of us will just start crying the nights we don't have him at our respective houses and we talk on the phone with him. We're starting to get that feeling that our baby is becoming a little boy and it's so bitter sweet. I always hang up and cry and pull up some video I've taken of him and just sit back and laugh to get over the tears.

So...yah, that's pretty much where we're at. I swear I'll upload some of the video and pics that I've taken.

My little man is growing up. Here are some pictures of him a few weeks ago before he got a new haircut. I'll have to post some more pics soon, his new haircut makes him look like he's 5 years old. The bottom picture is of he and his little cousing Rhylin, my sister Kayli's baby. I love seeing him with the baby because it brings out a side of him that I don't get to see as much. He's more of a bigger brother when he's with her. Very caring and loving with her. Not that he isn't caring and loving with me and other family members, he definitely is. But with her he says things like, "I'm here for you baby," and "you're such a beautiful baby, I'll take care of you." Even though he looks like he's trying to apply the sleeper hold in the picture above, he's just trying to be a big boy and hold her.

Not much is new at our bachelor pad. Maddox woke up this morning at 6 am (this brought back memories of the first 2 years of his life.) He came into my room and tried climbing into my bed, quite the difficult task since my bed is pretty high up and when he grabs the sheets for leverage they come off of the bed. Finally after listening to him struggle and fight his way up I extended a hand. He got in bed with me, gave me a huge hug and kiss, and said, "dad, let's talk." He sat there and told me about his life, used me as a sounding board for all of the information in his head. I just listened, trying to get any bit of sleep I could until he would surely drag me out of bed. It's in these moments I realize just how much is going on in the little guy's head. He let me in on some pretty intense stuff. Like how he was driving a firetruck and he had to call his friend Lincoln to bring the fire helicopter so that they could put out a blazing fire at the pet store. He had to of course clear out all of the animals as well so they wouldn't get hurt. He also let me know for the 4 millionth time that red is his favorite color, and that he wants to go to Disneyland this summer. I hope he always feels that comfortable with me. I want him to always feel that he can tell me anything he has on his mind. I'll do my best to always be deserving of his trust. I love hearing what he has to say, especially now that it's so entertaining.

Basketball Player

I've already written on this blog about my son's love of basketball so I won't go more in depth on that in this post. This last weekend my mom purchased him a basketball uniform. He wore it all weekend, he loved putting it on and shooting hoops in it. Sunday afternoon we were sitting down watching the Spurs/Grizzlies game. Maddox was so happy to have a uniform on, I think he really felt like he was a part of the action. A few minutes into the game he poked me on the arm and said, "daddy?" "Yes Maddie?" I responded. "Daddy, I need you to draw my name on my muscle," pointing to his cute little upper arm. I realized he was talking about how he wanted to be a basketball player, and basketball players need tattoos nowadays to be taken seriously. I couldn't stop laughing, my little dude just wants to be a legit basketball player. I told him that not all basketball players "have their names drawn on their muscles." But I'm afraid it's becoming more and more difficult to find any on tv that don't.

A Birthday Letter To Maddox

I don't know why I have this ache in my heart today, or this frog in my throat. I'm not sure if it's because I miss you and wish I was with you on your special day, or because of the fact that time is going by way too fast and you're already 3 years old. I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. In fact it feels like it was yesterday. Much has happened since then, some good, some bad. But everything involving you has been amazing. You're such a strong boy, and have been through so much in your short life. You amaze me everyday. Every person who comes in contact with you falls in love with you. I feel so lucky to be your dad, and never want to let you down. I'm still trying to learn to be a good daddy, and I appreciate your patience as I figure this whole thing out. I appreciate you being so caring, and loving. You always make my booboos and owies feel better when you give me kisses, even the ones on daddy's heart. I'm always here for you if you need me. All you have to do is call for me, whether I'm down the hall, or at my house when you're at mommy's house. I love you my Maddie, thank you for 3 amazing years, can't wait for the ones to follow.

Happy Birthday Maddox

Maddox's birthday party was Saturday. I have some great video and pictures of he and his buddies and family. I'll be uploading it later this week.

Here are a couple of photos of Maddie and I riding on an elephant at the circus. It was something I'd always wanted to do, and Maddox loved it. Thanks again Sydney for the circus tickets, and the ticket to ride the elephant.

I Can't Wait

I've been without my little dude for about 6 days now. His mom is going on a cruise starting tomorrow, so she's been trying to get as much time with him as possible before leaving for 9 days. I've been busy with work so I agreed to allow it, since I'm getting 9 straight days with the Mad Dog starting tonight. I almost feel like a kid on Christmas eve. I miss him so badly. Anytime I go through a stretch of more than a couple of days without seeing him I feel like I lose my purpose. I talk with him at night before bed on the phone, and it just makes me want to hold him. I worry that he'll come back after a long stretch like that and be a foot taller, and he won't fit his clothes that are at daddy's house. I worry about him thinking I'm not there for him. I worry about a million things. Long stretches of having him with me make everything better though. We get in our own routine, go back to being the best 1-2 punch this world has ever seen. Needless to say I'm very very very excited to pick him up tonight.

B-Ball

My son loves basketball. One of my first memories as a father was holding him during the '08 NBA Finals, even though I was not happy watching the Celtics win, I was very happy to be holding such a perfect baby. That kept me from throwing things, or swearing like a drunken sailor, things I typically would've done. Ever since he could hold a mini ball in his ginormous little hands he's had to have a basketball (if you saw his hands I swear that would make sense, they're huge, but he's still a little kid so they're chubby little kid huge.) His first word was basketball. I'm not even joking, "ba-ket-ball." I was in heaven, I would make him say it like 15 times a day. His second word for the record was "mom," and his 4,375th word was "dad." The kid has his priorities straight I guess. One of my favorite memories was a couple of weeks ago when the little man decided he wanted to be like daddy and just "chill and watch some basketball," as he told me. I felt guilty having the game on when it was supposed to be quality play time, and I asked him to go play with me. He pulled the blanket up by his chin and said, "dad, I just want to watch the game." It was a Friday night ESPN game, Lakers/Knicks, and my first taste of what it will be like to have an adult son. I loved it. I loved the cuddling he allowed me even more. I love my son. Anyways, he's been playing basketball on his little hoops since he could sit up. He loves to take me into his room and shoot hoops with me. Maddox usually starts off by saying, "K dad, I'm the red Lakers." He knows who we cheer for at home, and he combines it with his favorite color. I can be whomever I want (although he usually suggests that I be green, his hatred for the Celtics was passed down with the other genes from me, hopefully there wasn't enough room for the huge eyebrow gene but only time will tell.) As we play in his room he works on his trash talk, and his defense. Both have progressively gotten better in the last few months. He's learned that if I have the ball too high for him to reach as I shoot, he better have a hand in my face, or dad is automatic. He usually tells me, "my hand in yo face!!!" as he defends my shot. If he is lucky enough to get a hand on the ball, or steal the ball he'll let me know, "block yo shot dad!!!" If he buries a shot on me with my hand in his face he'll laugh and say one of the following, "money in da bank!," "All day!," or "nothin but net!" Even if he misses his shot he will usually say one of those. I guess we need to work on that. I put this picture of Kobe in this post because I was so happy to see Kobe wearing a red uniform, for Maddox's sake, there were 2 'Red Lakers' playing Sunday, and it made me smile just thinking of him. My little red Laker is the best though. God willing I can enjoy years of watching him play basketball, whether it be out in the yard, or wherever, and can see the joy it brings him. I won't expect him to play in the NBA or even college, because likely just as he'll get my big eyebrows, he'll also get my 6 inch vertical and my towering 5'10" frame. But basketball will hopefully be something that we both love, and something that will always bring us together.

"Is that a...."

Maddox has been learning and growing so much lately. He's as curious as ever. Has begun to follow almost everything I ask him to do with, "why?" His new favorite book is actually a book that he got from his uncle Trevin over a year ago. It started out as his favorite book, drifted away into total obscurity, and then made a strong push back into his life about 3 weeks ago. It's a book called "Americana Adventure," and he loves it. He loves the pictures, he loves the rhythm of the sentences, and most of all he loves that it has several pictures of "Hanbraham Lincoln." My favorite part of this book though is a page where they're on a Mississippi River Boat, and their is a picture of a guy playing the "gee-tar," as he calls it, and another of a guy playing my new favorite instrument. It'll be my favorite instrument forever because I'll never be able to see one, or hear one, without thinking of the following story. About a week ago when he saw the guy holding this instrument he asked me, "dad, is that a come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee?" I couldn't stop laughing. "Yes son, yes it is," was my response. Everytime since, when he's seen the banjo picture he's asked the same question. The other night my mom was over and heard him ask that and after she stopped laughing she told me I had to write it down to always remember it. Too bad I don't have time to write down everything he says.

Road Trippin'

Road trippin' with my two favorite allies. Fully loaded we got snacks and supplies. It's time to leave this town. It's time to steal away. Let's go get lost anywhere in the U.S.A. - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Last weekend me and Maddox decided we needed to get away. We took a quick road trip to see my dad in St. George. 3.5 hours of driving with a 2 year old is the equivalent of a road trip to Florida. Well, maybe not Florida, but it definitely felt like a full blown roadie. As we were pulling out of the driveway, my brother who lives in Cedar City called to see if we wouldn't mind picking up his dogs from my mom and dropping them off with him. Maddox was all about it, me not so much. I love dogs, but not in my car, as I'm trying to drive. Or in our case, in my car as Maddox needs a nap. We picked up the dogs in Payson, and headed on our way. Maddox loved having them along for the ride. Of course he didn't sleep, because they were yapping the whole way to Cedar City. Maddox thought that they were laughing at him, so he kept trying to be funny for them. He kept making the face from the photo above, talking to them in a funny voice, and drumming (as he was calling it) on their carrier.

Surprisingly even without a nap Maddox was such a good boy. He didn't whine or cry the entire time. When we got to St. George my dad was picking up a few things at the mall and I didn't know how to get to his new house, so we just met him at the mall. Maddox was seriously pissed when we arrived at the mall. He thought that our whole trip had been to go to the stupid mall and he wasn't having any of it. He was ready to go to grandpa's house not a stupid mall. When we got to my dad's house Maddox was in heaven. There is a big open field directly in front of his house with a playground for little kids. It was about 65 degrees outside, and Maddox was able to exercise his 2 months of wiggles from sitting inside all winter and not being able to play in the sun. After he tired of the playground we stayed out on the grass and played a game that Maddox calls "A deep fly ball!!!" Basically he just stands there and I throw a ball as high as I can and we try to catch it. That went on until my shoulder started to feel like it had been used as a door stop. Saturday night was a good time. My dad had a city awards dinner or something to go to, so Maddox and I had a night out on the town. By the time we pulled out of the driveway he'd fallen asleep. We needed to get a couple of things at the grocery store so I drove around for a while letting him get a little nap. After he woke up we did some shopping and then drove over to see the temple. Maddox loves to see the temple, it's right behind the firestation, and the gym on his favorite places in the world list. It was very pretty as always, and Maddox was thrilled to find out that it's the place where his "great grandpa Peggy," was married. "Ooooh I like that," was his response when I told him that news. Sunday we spent some time with grandpa before our trip home. We would've made great time, but Maddox demanded a chicken nugget stop in Beaver, and a blowout poop your pants stop on the side of the freeway just south of Nephi. Those are never fun, but the trip itself turned out to be a big success. That night as Maddox called to tell his mom good night he shared with her his favorite part of the trip, "Grandpa bought me some lemonade!!!" Oh the simple pleasures.

Bed Time Routine

I've been meaning to post about this for a while. And since the time I first got the idea it's grown into something huge. Maddox's bedtime routine as he's gotten older has become something larger than life. I'm seriously now planning about 45 minutes out of my night to make sure that we get done everything that we want to/need to get done. (If you include bathtime and the 20 minute wrestling match known as tooth brush time, then we're getting in over an hour.)

It all starts with story time. This is when we read 3-5 books of Maddox's choosing. Usually we read the same 3-5 books, unless we've purchased a new book that week and it works it's way into the rotation. Some nights (this is becoming more frequent) he decides that he should read to me. This is the funniest thing ever, with certain books he can go word for word on every page. With other books he'll pick out the two most complicated words and emphasize those two, while mumbling jibberish over the other words. Some nights he's just not feeling like reading and will sit on his bed while I read to him, and he'll wait until I'm not expecting it and he'll pull my head back away from the book and laugh. This doesn't sound very funny, but last night we laughed out loud (lol'd) for like 10 minutes, it just didn't get old because he's got great comedic timing for a 2 year old. After we get done reading books we say our prayers. Maddox's prayers are the greatest. He gets about 2 sentences into it and says, "dad, you say it." The best is a few weeks ago he asked if he could say his prayers inside of his Toy Story tent that's in his room. I let him do it and it went like this, "dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, thank you for mommy and daddy and Maddox, OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! THERE IS A BUZZ LIGHTYEAR ON THIS TENT!!!!" I couldn't stop laughing. Anyways prayer time is followed by a 'goodnight' telephone call to Maddox's mom. He usually sits there and listens to her talk, tells her about our night, and tells her he's going to dream about riding on a red tractor with her. Once we've made the call it's time for singing time. We turn off the lights, and sing 3 songs, always the same songs, and always in the same order. We start with "Lullaby," the Jack Johnson-Matt Costa version. I'm only allowed to sing it exactly as it was recorded by them. Maddox will not allow any substitutions or creative expressions by daddy. Example, "I'll be home soon darlin, I guarantee," is a line from the song that I on occasion will sing as, "I'll be home soon Maddox, I guarantee." No dice, at that point I'm told to start that part over and "don't say Maddox, say darlin." Oh, and I'm supposed to be tickling his back this entire time. After I finish this song it's time for "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," again, no variations and I must be tickling his back. The third and final song has become my favorite. I'm supposed to hold him like a baby and sing, "You are My Sunshine." I like this one because my grandpa used to sing it to me, as did my mom, when I was a baby. Sidenote; one of my favorite moments of my entire life was hearing Maddox sing that song to my grandpa. Anyways, Maddox has me hold him like a baby, like a giant baby. He's so big now that it's become kind of awkward, I hold him but his legs and head just kind of hang there, and I think he kind of recognizes this because sometimes he's laughing while I sing this to him, and he usually starts climbing out of my arms and into bed before I finish the final verse. This is one of those things that I think both of us kind of do for the other person. If we were able to sit down man to man and discuss this I'm sure it would end up being resolved with a "oh, you don't like that? I was only doing it for you," from both parties. Maybe we'll have that talk when he's in middle school. Anyhow, when we finish singing time it's time for me to tell him 2 stories. He picks the subject of each story and then I make up the story. I'm interrupted by his suggestions though throughout. The first story is usually about Maddox being a racecar driver, he has a red racecar, a red helmet, and he always beats daddy who is a racecar driver too. Last night daddy blew a tire on the last lap and his yellow racecar spun out of control, allowing Maddox to win the race. After we get done with the racecar story, then it's time for me to tell a story about Maddox the fireman. I tell a 4-5 minute story about Maddox saving lives, stopping fires, and basically being the most badass fireman of all time. At the end of the fireman stories Maddox always adds, "...and then, Maddox went to eat some food and drink some rootbeer." This is where we say goodnight to one another. Usually he tells me goodnight, and then I know it's finally time for me to go to bed. At first I started to get frustrated with the length of this routine. I mean seriously, I'm looking at the length of this post and I'm amazed at how long this takes. It kind of reminds me of one of those way too long bro-hug handshakes that has like 50 secret combinations. But the more I think about it the luckier I feel to have this wonderful boy all the nights I do. The length of this routine is just making up for the nights that we have to be apart. And when I think about the nights that we're apart I want to add a few more activities into the bedtime routine.

"Honey, Hun, Baby, Babe, Bebe, Sweety!"

One of the facts that I've come to terms with in my life is that Maddox pretty much owns me. When he waltzes into my room at 5:30 in the morning, he pretty much controls what happens from that point forward. We're either snuggling together for an hour or two and sleeping (this is ideal.) Or, he's yanking my half dorment corpse out of bed and we're having oatmeal time and Elmo (this scenario is much more common.) He comes up with new ways to get my attention, and ultimately get his way. The newest way of doing this began this weekend. We had quite a bit going on around our house. The NFL Playoffs, Maddox's new learning video game that he got from his grandpa, cleaning up Christmas decorations, playing volleyball in our living room with a giant beach ball we found in the closet (this was an epic game of v-ball), watching "Cars" a time or 4, among other things. So as you can imagine cleaning up the house wasn't too easy with a little dude that was giving me the full court press all weekend. It was one of those weekends where when he laid down to sleep I literally collapsed on the couch ready for a break. So by Sunday night I was feeling quite discouraged with the mess of dishes in the sink, the kitchen that needed cleaning, laundry, and other things I needed to do. I decided to let him play with some toys for a bit while I tried making my move to get some stuff done. A few minutes later Maddox came to me to play baseball (our version of baseball is him standing on one end of the living room and pitching it to me on the other end. Once in a while the throws in "A DEEP FLY BALL!!!!" By chucking a ball almost to the ceiling and making me run after it. That's how we play baseball.) I told him that daddy needed a few minutes to finish some stuff and then I'd be happy to come and play with him. But since he's got the patience of a bank robber he persisted. I kept coming back with, "in just a minute buddy, daddy is busy right now." That didn't cut it either, so he decided to bust out the big guns. He came back a few minutes later, "Please! Honey, hun, baby, babe, bebe, sweety..." and probably a few others. By the time he got to sweety I lost it, I'd tapped out. He used everything his mother or I have called him, he got all affectionate on me to get his way. I immediately dropped what I was doing and played some baseball. I thought this was a funny, one time thing. Until I put him in bed and we finished our reading, praying, and singing a song while I tickle his back routine. As I walked out of his room he yelled after me, "Daddy!! Daddy!!" When I kept walking he yelled, "Honey, hun, BABE!!!!" I had to go in and sing one more song at that point. It's not often that someone calls me "honey," except for waitresses over the age of 50 at local dining establishments. But I'd rather hear that from him than anyone. Maybe the affect of that will wear off eventually, but if not I guess I'll get a call from him when he's in college, "dad can you send me some money," and when I give any resistence he'll come back with, "honey, hun, baby, bebe, please...." Either way at least I've come to terms with the fact that he runs the show.