We're Number One

OK, so it's not very often you can sit down and legitimately write down these words, but yes, as of today, LSU is the number one team in the country. And no one is more excited than Parker, let me tell you.

Instead of the typical spitting up and making poop all day long, today he had a little more spring... a little more swagger, as LSU moves ahead of USC in the AP poll by two little points. When the poll came out, I grabbed him and said "Check it out, daddy's team is ranked #1 this week." He just sort of grinned his goofy infant grin and let out a grunt mixed with a little spit... as if to say, "Serious, dad. Did you have any doubt?"

So, we did what any normal father/son football fanatic family would do, we spent a good 30 minutes playing with his crazy toy giraffe, followed by some time on the Little Einstein mat, and rounded out the day falling asleep in the stroller while mommy and daddy took a victory stroll for LSU.

Mommy's Longhorns did not fare as well, losing to Kansas State in a homegame stunner. Parker wore his Burnt Orange proud for that part of the day, but he secretly let me know he was just trying to make mommy feel better. He is the most considerate infant I have ever met, and you could tell mommy appreciated it.

So, our first weekend with no guests in about 5 weeks. A wonderful weekend it was and mommy and daddy have decided to buckle down and begin establishing a sleep routine for Little Man. We are on day two right now and we've learned a few things:

1. Sleep schedules do not work if daddy is still yelling at the TV as Auburn upsets Florida

2. Sleep schedules should not last longer than 2 hours, or else your entire Sunday should be considered a sleep schedule.

3. The sleep schedule only works if Little Man says so

Other than that, I guess the big news of the week is that Parker was accepted into the day care at USC near Jaimie's office. This means that come January 3rd, Parker goes to school. A big load off Jaimie and I, as the daycare is 30 "walking" seconds from her office. No lie, the USC daycare actually shares the same parking lot as her office building. So, for the moment, we seem to have a pretty wonderful solution for when Jaimie goes back fulltime. Keep your fingers crossed that this holds true in a few months.

Oh, and GEAUX TIGERS.

Little Surprises

It's interesting to see how quickly Parker changes, and how a little time away seems like you missed an eternity of his life.

Going to Boston last week I had a tiny little helpless infant that could barely focus on an object, barely sleep 2 hours at a time and barely smile. Returning home on friday and spending the entire weekend with friends, he seems like he doubled in size, completely recognizes my face and my voice and making him smile is as easy as making yourself sound like an idiot... something i excel in.

Now, of course I am bias, but I truly believe I have the most beautiful, fastest developing, best natured baby on the planet. I am watching him sleep next to me right now on the sofa and it reminds me of how amazing this whole thing has been. I had an excellent conversation over the weekend with my friend, Jeremy Kinder, about fatherhood (Jeremy and family joined us over the weekend and are currently finishing a trip to Disneyland, check out the NEW photos). Jeremy is one of those guys I have known from a different time, when the idea of fun didn't include teaching your little girl how to pet a doggie or watching The Little Mermaid for the 6th time in the past 4 hours. But we both marveled at how all of the other stuff from our past didn't seem to matter at all now. Your whole world changes, your priorities, your focus.

I think it all goes back to the reality of having someone depend on you so much that the need to be cared for and to grow is only overshadowed by the love driving you to do it. I look at Parker and I see myself, my brother, my father. I see history repeating itself in small, but different ways. I see a woman and a man changing the focus in their lives, because it isn't just THEIR lives anymore. And I see a child that is destined to know more love in his life than he will know what to do with. 

Weekend Sleep In

It's a rainy Saturday in Los Angeles. Yes, that's right, rain. Not sure why but it's kind of nice.

The temperature has dropped to the mid 60's, the AC is off and all the windows are open, and Parker is just now being woken up after a lazy napping day all day today.

While daddy watched LSU beat #12 South Carolina (and Steve Spurrier), Parker, dressed in his best purple and gold, napped lazily in his swing next to the tv. Even when I tried to wake him up and show him the trick play field goal fake, he still dozed soundly.

We also have house guests again, with our good friends Jeremy, Jennifer and Eliza visiting for the weekend and heading down to Disneyland. Eliza is amazing! Very articulate and lots of fun at 3 yrs old. She makes me realize how much more fun it's going to be in a few years with Parker.

Tomorrow we drive down to Disneyland to take them to the Park. I can't wait to see Eliza when we enter. It will remind me of the first time we took Cole and Hannah. Should be fun!

Slacker's Personal Challenge

OK, I admit, keeping current and up to date with a blog is difficult with everything going on. I have wanted to do a solid update the past couple of evenings, but each evening it turns into daddy/baby time, so i actually have to fly to Boston to be able to sit down and get some thoughts out. But, I promise to be better and more diligent in my updates.

So, the past week has been as eventful as it can be with a new child in the house. Jaimie and I have become slightly efficient in trading off evenings in which either I stay up later or she wakes up earlier. The slight twist to our new routine came on Sunday, with the Malibu Triathlon. 

With the triathlon approaching (and me spending 0.00% of my time training for it the past few weeks), we felt it in my best interest to get rest before Sunday. This meant Jaimie was lucky enough to have a long shift both Friday and Saturday night. Now, Parker is doing much better and is beginning to understand the value of sleeping longer than 2 hours, but it's still inconsistent, so every night is a crap shoot.

Sunday morning, at 3:00am, I woke the family and loaded everyone in the car for the drive

 to Malibu. Arriving at 4:30am, the three of us slept in the car (along with hundreds of other early risers) until I had to make my way to the transition area for 6am. The race started at 7, my heat at 7:30, and finishing up with awards and brunch around 10am. Needless to say, both mommy and little man were total sports, supporting daddy as he "winged" a triathlon.

By the way, the Tri was fun. The swim was cold but easy, I got a flat tire on the bike and the run killed me. But other than my personal issues, the Walt Disney Company raised $235,000 for the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.

After the tri, we went to visit our friends Tyler and Mel for Tyler's birthday BBQ. Arriving home around 4:30, we took some time at home, then jumped back in the car to go visit our friend Susy at the hospital, who had just given birth to her twins.

So, when it's all said and done, we logged a good couple of hundred miles in the car, visited 4 cities and handed Parker to a lot of people, both friends and strangers. And somehow we still managed to keep moving on Monday.

I am always thankful of how lucky we are to have such a good natured baby. He takes everything with ease right now, always looking around, trying to figure things out, but not getting upset unless he has a reason. But I really have to point out how lucky I am for such an amazing wife, who knows we both have each other's back and makes the sacrifices she can so I can push a little bit harder.

Payback, of course, was Monday evening. And now she is on her own until Friday, where it's my turn this weekend. But you know what, I really like that we can be there for each other and for Parker. I like knowing Jaimie is putting him first when she has him, just as much as she knows I am putting him first when I have him.

In cheerleader speak, "Parker is #1."

New photos posted, go getcha some.

A Week Alone

Honestly, we aren't really alone. But, it's been the first week since we have been home from the hospital that it's just the three of us. It's been interesting trying to settle into this new, but familiar routine of caring for a new baby. We are being careful as most new parents would be, but at the same time I don't want to be afraid to "expose" Parker a little bit, and Jaimie seems to feel the same.

While my parents were here, we had a wonderful time hanging out at home and watching LOTS of football. LSU defeating Virginia Tech was a highlight for sure, but my father having Peyton Manning in his fantasy draft made Pro football fun to watch as well. Parker took it all in stride, as the kid seems to love noise and distractions... basically, he sleeps right through them.

We took my parents to church with us on Sunday, where they were introduced to our Young Marrieds group and a few of our friends. The pride I must be wearing everywhere we take Parker was evident in their faces as they were happily introduced as "grandma and grandpa."

Afterwards, we made a trip to The Grove for some walking and people watching, along with lunch at the Farmer's Market. A fun afternoon with Parker soaking it all in.

What has made this past week so special, besides my parents being here, is something my dad pointed out to us before they left. Parker KNOWS us. I mean, really knows who we are. He is getting stronger everyday and can now move his head around (albeit a little out of control) and kicks and swings his arm, knowing he is hitting something. But, when he is

 really alert, Jaimie or I can speak to him and he will lock on... It sounds so simple but it's pretty amazing to experience the learning process of an infant. To have him look you dead in the eye when you speak to him, knowing he recognizes your face and voice. I'm sure if you've experienced it you know what I'm talking about.

Check out some of the latest photos from last weekend. Good times for the Davis family.

Good Friends

On our friend Amy's last night in L.A., Jaimie decided to have a little Labor Day BBQ at our house. We had the three of us, Amy and Davis, Brent, Mandi, Mel, Andy and our neighbors Simon and Dana. Even in the 90 degree weather, it was a nice casual time in the backyard passing the baby, drinking Mojito's (Amy's new favorite drink) and swapping stories.

Davis is an amazing little girl! She is developing into a little person and it just blew us away how much she looks like her daddy. One of her little "things" is how much she LOVES babies. I mean, LOVES them. Every minute of every day, she wanted to be holding and kissing Parker. It was so funny to watch her light up when it looked like Parker was reacting to her, she just thought it was so cool. I'm sure Parker's first cold will be compliments of Davis, but it's hard to deny the cuteness factor.

Amy's visit was a lot of fun. It was really cool of her to decide to spend her birthday with Jaimie, and to celebrate we drove to Temecula, kids in tow, and hit a couple of our favorite vineyards.

After making stops at Callaway and Ponte, we settled in at Wilson Creek until it was time to leave. Davis spent the afternoon chasing a Golden Retriever and trying hard to stay out of the grass (she has a strange aversion to grass?) and the girls spent the day tasting wine and showing off their kids to all who showed interest. And believe it or not, wine tasters love kids! Parker and Davis both drew a lot of attention and Jaimie and Amy got a lot of "Good for you's" and "Mommy's turn!" in reference to us being at the wineries. It was good, all-american white trash fun.

I just posted new photos to the site, both in reference to this weekend and to Daddy's Little Tiger. LSU #2 and Daddy is happy. More to come...

Freedom

It's now Saturday afternoon, and Jaimie is on her way to pick up Mrs. Amy Hazelrig, one of her best friends from college. This is the first time Jaimie has left Parker for over 30 minutes, and seeing as she has only called once, I think she's doing pretty good.

How's Parker doing? Well, after killing off about 6oz of milk and a few nasty "beer-like" burps (in honor of football season), he is passed out asleep in his magic swing, and Daddy is doing what he does best on a Fall Saturday, watching every college football game that is in high-def. Almost a shame to not be able to watch LSU again this week, but glad they did what they needed to do against MSU.

To that note, I want to give a shout out to Uncle Andy, who organizes the Michigan Alumni events in the greater L.A. area. I have a feeling today's event was not a lot of fun. Also, a shout out to his wife and mother-to-be, Mel, as today is their anniversary and I suspect the Michigan loss will be felt throughout the evening.

So, the reason why Jaimie can actually leave for an extended period, Parker began taking the bottle last night. He is not good at it, by any means, but it does help avoid Jaimie continuing to be a walking pacifier. As you can see by the photo, Daddy got to give the first bottle. There will be many more to come for daddy, so I need to get my practice in now.

Another interesting phenomenon in L.A. right now is probably the hottest heat wave we have had since we moved here. The news today said it is 20 degrees above average. In Pasadena, that makes it about 105, which reminds us of Texas more than we'd like. I had triathlon training today with the Disney Tri Team out in Malibu, but an accident on the PCH caused me to return to the Rose Bowl to do a bike/run brick. The positive, got a god workout in, minus the swim, all within 5 minutes from home. The negative, I drove all the way to the beach and back, and missed out on 70 degree workout weather, opting for 92 degrees at the bowl. 

But, it did get me back in time to get cleaned up and help Jaimie out so she could pick up Amy. We can't wait to see her and her little girl, Davis, who is also making the trip. More to follow.