A Hero Is Born

As Super Little Man soared through the sky, he hears a cry from the city below. Soaring at the speed of light, Super Little Man dives straight down in a spiral towards a helpless old lady, about to be struck down by an out of control school bus full of orphans. 

As Super Little Man scoops up the old lady and safely deposits her on a rooftop miles from the scene, he returns swiftly to stop the speeding bus from careening off Dead Man's Point to the deadly rocks below. Super Little Man, carrying the bus with one arm and playing with his toy giraffe in the other ponders how quickly he went from just being able to hold his head up to the ability to grasp a toy giraffe and a bus full of orphans at the same time.

It's Halloween, and Super Little Man made his debut at both mommy and daddy's offices today. The Disney offices were full of kids, all trick-or-treating from cube to office, learning very quickly that us internet geeks have lots of candy! He did an excellent job keeping himself awake the whole day, as he was passed from person to person. And even after he drifted off to sleep in the car on the way home, Super Little Man's mind sprang from the ground and soared off into the sunset.

Happy Birthday Uncle Jeremy!

Happy Birthday Uncle Jeremy! We haven't seen you in a while, but in honor of your birthday, Parker wanted to put up a photo of you guys hanging out together from back on Day #3!

Right now Uncle Jeremy is in Australia for work, which sounds about as sweet as it probably is. Although he is alone for his birthday, hope he knows we are thinking about him and can't wait to see him again.

Return of the King

Jaimie and Parker returned wednesday evening and I couldn't have been more thrilled. When I picked them up at the Burbank airport, Jaimie walked through the security doors to the luggage carousel with Parker strapped to her chest in the Baby Bjorn. Did I think he had gotten bigger? Yes, but the biggest change was he was riding in the Bjorn facing forward, not backward. Little Man has got some head control going!

It was a long day of travel, so both Jaimie and Parker were exhausted. But, I spent most of the evening with Parker sleeping in my arms. He is so sweet when he's sleeping, it's hard to put him down.

Parker had a big week, and it sounds like he got some great Grandma Osburn time in New Orleans, as mommy attended her conference. I'm sure it's crazy that Chery had to fly to New Orleans to spend some one on one time with Parker, but somehow I get the feeling it was totally worth it for both of them.

Missing You At All

You know, after just 4 days away from Parker and Jaimie, I feel like I am missing out on the most important moments of his life. I know it is only a short period of time to be away from someone for only 4 days, but 4 days to a 10 week old is 5.7% of his entire life. That's a huge number. Am I obsessing? I think not.

Jaimie and Parker left Austin yesterday and are now in New Orleans, kicking it on Bourbon Street. Jealous? After a few Hurricans at Pat 'O's, I'm sure Parker will get in a fight with a tranny on some side street an end up sleeping it off in the New Orleans City Jail. Wait, I think I just fast forwarded 20 years. What is wrong with me? All I keep doing is aging him up.

I think it's the fear of missing something important. Right now everything he does is important. Everything is a major milestone. His first smile, the first time he holds his head up. His first time to chuckle... You don't want to miss any of these things because they are his first. I have to keep reminding myself there will be plenty of firsts. You have to decide what the important ones are and live for those. If every first is just as important as the next, then you spend the rest of your life and most of his being an embarrassing pain in the butt.

I've got 3 more days to go, some i'm going to suck it up and tell myself that if any "firsts" happen while I'm not there, then they must not have been any of the big ones. But it's hard, when his first plane ride, first trip to Austin, first trip to New Orleans, first time meeting his cousins and his aunt jody and his first time meeting some of our closest friends all happen on the same trip.

Hi Daddy!

This is what it looks like to talk to your family from 1700 miles away. Thank you Skype!

Daddy's Day

Jaimie went back to work on Monday, so we left Parker at home with a nanny that day. I worked from home on Tuesday, so that I could watch Parker and get some good daddy/son time with him before Jaimie and Parker left for Austin the next day. I will not get be with either of them for one whole week, and going on day three now, I realize how hard this is going to be. So, I am thankful for my first, of many, Daddy Days.

Daddy day was fun. Parker is such a good baby and his favorite time of day is the mornings when he wakes up. This kid wakes up HAPPY. I mean, it's bizarre. He and his mommy both just LOVE the mornings. He's happy, he sings and laughs, he thinks everything is funny. I love it and it honestly helps me wake up as well (mornings are not daddy's favorite), but it makes me realize how sweet and innocent we all are at that age. I mean, nothing phases him, he isn't stressing about the work day ahead, a conference call, or even what to make for breakfast. He isn't responding to email, doing performance reviews, managing multiple budgets or prepping for presentations. He's just living. 

He eats, he poops, he laughs, he stares at objects he's locked onto, then he gets tired and falls asleep, only to repeat in a few hours. From here on out, everyday for him will begin to get more complicated. He will find his voice, he will roll over, he will sit up and crawl, he will learn to use his hands. And that will be a pretty full day for him. 

As he gets older and learns, I hope he takes it all in stride. I mean, it's silly to think about these things now, at the ripe old age of 10 weeks, but we all know how crazy and complicated your life becomes the older you get. You try to become more successful, your expenses seem to grow at the same rate as your income, you move across the country and leave what's familiar. If your kid has ANY drive what-so-ever, you hope they will push themselves to be successful. And success is coupled with a little stress now and then.

For now, it's fun to watch him achieve small goals. Holding his head up, grasping things, and locking onto daddy's face and reacting with a smile and "almost" a laugh. This is what I will remember years later. Trying to laugh could be just as important as interviewing for your first job. But right now, to me, it's the most important thing.

It's Not About the Money

Jaimie received one of the coolest gifts I have seen so far for Parker, from a co-worker (Thanks Mark!). It's a personalized measuring marker/coin bank. I long, clear tube is mounted on a piece of wood and personalized with Parker's name on it. On the board behind the tube are hash marks, showing the height marked off in feet, starting just under 2ft. As the child grows, you add quarters to the height chart until it fills the bank! When full, it should contain $200 in quarters, weighing around 15lbs.

Now, what I love about this gift is the multiple uses this can apply too. It lasts for as long as Parker grows. It can be a great little reward system. It is a great way to save money as a "piggy bank." Genius in it's simplest form.

This, and many others, makes you realize how profitable the kids industry is. From toys to videos to parks to clothes to "baby accessories," there are infinite possibilities on money making ideas around babies and kids.

Don't get me wrong, working for a company like Disney I see the possibilities on a daily basis. It's a very creative and challenging industry. But, for the little guys that come up with the big ideas, I say kudos to you for taking the chance. I hope you all fare well.

Here is a link to TWO BLUE PEAS. One of my favorite little baby boutiques, run by two of my favorite girls, married to two of my favorite guys. Helen and Sarah, rock on!

Also, here is a link to the makers of the measuring stick. Great idea, guys. Wish I had thought of it! :)

Fat and Happy

Just how a baby is supposed to be, says our doctor. And why not? Little Man is a strong eater, so this is a good thing. Still, it's a funny thing to begin learning all about the world of "percentiles" and how this measurement is used to track the size of your growing baby. I've heard new parents use the term for years, but I never realized how much knowing your child's "percentile" effects the way you evaluate your parenting.

Today, Jaimie took Little Man in for his first round of shots. Poor little guy cried sad little tears as the big bad doctor stuck giant spear-like needles in his thighs. But, he took it like a Little Man and spent the rest of the afternoon mad at mommy. That is, until super awesome daddy got home and spent the evening making him smile and coo and forget all about the bad doctor lady.

Now, he has little bruises on both of his thighs. But, he seems to be over it for the most part. He has spent all week with mommy, their last real "at home" week before mommy goes back to work.

So, back to "percentiles." Apparently, Parker is in the 50th percentile for height, placing him right in the middle. However, Little Man is not so little in the weight department, hitting the 95th percentile. This means he won't be playing basketball anytime soon, and he LOVES to eat. Mommy equals full belly.

Jaimie was concerned at these findings (as any nutrition professional might be), but the good doctor assured her that a full baby is a happy baby, casting her fears aside and reminding her that this just means that both mommy and baby are doing their jobs.

The Emotional Drain

OK, so this isn't supposed to be a blog about college football. I'm not supposed to only update it when LSU beats teams like Florida, or USC loses to teams like Stanford. You shouldn't be hearing from me only after a major turn of events in the world of college sports. So, in light of all of these things on the list of "no", I will let Parker explain to you his experiences yesterday on a typical, fall Saturday.

"So, I woke up extremely happy Saturday morning and had a great time practicing smiling with mommy. Then, when daddy got up, he picked me up from my Little Einstein mat, gave me a kiss, made funny noises at me then immediately turned on the TV to something called "Game Day." I think, from that moment on, most of what I saw of my daddy was his profile as he stared endlessly at the TV.

After that was over, mommy and daddy took me on a nice long walk around the neighborhood. I looked at trees and houses and cars and clouds and the sky and birds, until that pesky sun made me close my eyes so much I fell asleep.

I woke up at home to see my excited mommy turn on the TV for something called "pregame." Then, we watched the Texas game with my mommy, which was a lot of fun, except my mommy kept yelling words I don't yet understand while my daddy just kept looking at his watch and shaking his head. When it was over she seemed really mad at the TV. I don't know what it did to her, but I want to find out so I don't do it.

So, I thought we were done with the TV until this time, my daddy got all excited and started yelling and jumping and praying and using adult words. His team, LSU was playing against a team of alligators led by a guy named "TeaBag." My daddy spent every commercial break talking into his cell phone to some guy named Kevin, who seemed to be yelling the same things at him on the phone. They both sure do like to yell.

Aunt Mel and Uncle Andy came over during the game, in which I got to hang out with Aunt Mel while Uncle Andy helped daddy yell at the TV some more. Near the end of the TV time, my daddy seemed to lose control of his body, falling to his knees, jumping in and out of the kitchen... he looked kinda stupid, but please don't tell him I said that.

When it was all over, my daddy was super excited and kept kissing me and hugging me, calling me his good luck charm. Oh, and his breath smelled like beer. But, all the excitement wore me out, so I decided I'd just fall asleep pretty much anywhere I wanted, so I did."

Thanks, Parker. It's been a very relaxing weekend, overall. Nothing major has happened and it was fun to just kick back and relax yesterday with the Little Man, and watch a little TV. He seems to really like Saturdays!