Grandma in the House

In a late evening rush to the airport, it dawned on me that for the first time since Parker had been born, that my mom was about to get him all to herself. It's a cool feeling to see your mom holding your son, and as tired as mom was, she had an immediate thought once we were in the car and leaving LAX, "I can't wait to get my hands on that baby."

Mom's flight got her in around 12:30am, delayed from Atlanta, and we were both exhausted when we finally saw each other. Mom had worked that day, and once you add in the 2 hour time change, she had been up for almost 24 hours straight. Regardless, she was excited and ready to see her grandson. Luckily, with no traffic at 1am in L.A., she didn't have to wait long.

Today was their first day together and it sounds like everything went well. Parker is getting big, I mean BIG, and he loves to eat. Mom experienced it first hand and they had a great day together, even taking a nap together in the afternoon.

Everyone is asleep right now, with the hours slowly whittling away as Parker grows and smiles and meets his family. Tonight, he rests easy. Tomorrow, Mommy and Little Man are off to the doctor for his 4 month check up. 

Stay tuned!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Parker wishes you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving weekend! Don't eat too much turkey or you'll end up looking like this!!!

Time Keeps on Tickin...

It's amazing to me that Jody and Maddie just came to visit us a week and a half ago and it's already time for them to leave. As challenging as two little ones can be, Jody did an amaznig job as a mommy, sister and aunt this week watching both Parker and Maddie. I have to give her huge credit on traveling 5 hours on a plane with a toddler who just had a two hour time zone change inserted into her schedule. But, they both did great and it was fun to watch Maddie warm up to Parker over the days they were here.

Last Thursday, Mark flew into town for the weekend. I invited everyone to the Disney lot for lunch and gave Jody and Mark a tour. They actually got to see someone famous, as Steven Weber yelled something in Chinese he read off a cue card. Jaimie, Parker and I also took the Stafne family to Disneyland. Even with two children too young to understand, it was still a fun day. Maddie loves "the mouse" and "It's A Small World." Parker, on the other hand, thought "It's A Small World" was scary and a bit freakish... that's my boy.

All in all a fun time was spent enjoying some quality family time and seeing my sister again. It just reminds me how much having family around makes things easier and more "normal" in such an abnormal situation.

I got a very sweet email from my father's sister, Aunt Barbara. In the email she compares, from what she sees on this site, the way I interact with my son, to the way my father interacted with myself, Jody and Jeremy, to the way my grandfather interacted with them when they were kids. It's interesting to see how she notices the similarities and traits that seem to be passed down from generation to generation. It's comforting to know that, what I thought was my best attempt to be a good daddy, was just as much tied with me repeating history and how my father treated me. 

Because I know how much I love my son, it's special to know that love has been reflected many times over in our family, from father to son. Thanks, Aunt Barbara.

Now, go look at some new photos!

Family Time

So, the holiday season begins. Mommy has cooked up an elaborate plan to make sure Little Man gets plenty of love and attention while we both work, and also buy us some time Parker officially starts in daycare in January.  And as of Saturday morning, 8:00am, the plan is officially under way with the arrival of Aunt Jody and Cousin Maddie for two weeks. Both flew in from San Antonio and were immediately immersed in a baby shower for our friends, Mel and Andy. 

Over the next few weeks, Aunts and Grandma's alike will embark on a wonderful journey, as Parker tests their limits and blows their minds with his ability to lay around and be happy. At any moment he may snap into a frenzy of giggles and spit bubbles. As we continue through the rotation, it's fun to see how each person takes to Parker differently, his charm undeniable. He has this power over the ladies, makes you wonder where it comes from...

But no matter, Mommy and Daddy see this as an opportunity to spend quality time with family we don't get to see very often and watch how multiple people confirm what we already suspected to be true... we have a perfect child.

But how quickly will perfection fade? Stay tuned. :)

Tigers, Tigers

LSU beat Alabama. It wasn't pretty, but it wasn't a Loss. With the BC loss, LSU is back at #2. Little Man and Mommy went to a baby shower for Mel and Andy in San Bernardino for little Aydn, soon to be here.

Jaimie and I are both excited that Parker will have a little friend so close in age to him. We do alot with Andy and Mel, so to have family friends with a little one in the same age range will make it easier as we watch them grow up together.

Parker is just now a little over 13 weeks old and we are watching as his personality is developing. He is such a sweet, good natured baby we feel almost too fortunate. He smiles and is trying so hard to giggle, but it mostly comes our as little grunts. But it's so freakin cute you can't stand it.

His patented move is to get so excited, he throws his fist at the same time he cracks his biggest smile. I think he stole that from Grandpa Mr. Davis. When he finally starts to laugh and it sounds like my dad, I'll make sure to video it. The thought of a newborn laughing like his grandpa just kills me.

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!