Happy 3rd birthday to my son, LCW. You are going to go far in this world. Daddy loves you.
My favorite 3 things about you
1.Your poses and expressions – hand on face, making chewing faces with your tongue, etc
2. Your gentle and soft voice
3. How rambunctious you are getting (i think you may actually believe you can knock me over when we rough house)
I’ve been trying to explore our little town more lately with the kids. There are so many small things we drive by every day that are probably fascinating them but we just pass by as adults. Linc has been into vehicles for the past 2 years and Emerson noticed the traintracks through the trees on our way back from soccer camp EVERY day the week before. There are train tracks in Thompsons Station right by a local restaurant called Circa so one evening before sundown, that was my chosen adventure.
I chose well! They loved walking on the tracks (which I am not 100% sure are inactive) and there is an old train model that you can climb onto (and down and back on and down as they had me do). I had to include a little bit of safety like what to do if the signal DID come down and we got a few practice rounds in (also, Mom was NOT present for this adventure as she probably wouldn’t have approved and I only told her about AFTER we were home safe and sound). Anyway, the kids probably did a 1/2 mile walk on and around the tracks each direction. That’s an eternity for kid attention span in my house.
I’d be remiss to skip past the subject of this story. There was what I assume was a family of birds by the tracks – a mom and two of the smallest birds I’d ever seen. The kids were not TRYING to torture ther birds but they have always wanted to catch a bird and hold it. I do not know the reason but no bird has been willing so far. I wonder why…One of the baby birds was a few feet away from the kids on the rocks by the track when the kids decided to chase after it. I was nearby when the little baby bird was running, lost its balance and toppled over. And then was still. Completley still. Had my kids inadvertently caused this bird’s death? Had it small little neck and bones broken by falling just right onto the rocks? The bird was still still. And I swear the momma bird a few yards away was singing a tune trying to call her baby. And my kids had killed it…The bird was still and the kids thought it was sleeping. “Yes”, i said. They tried to get closer but I used my “Dad” voice to keep them back and then prodded them back behind this little area behind a vehicle. I don’t know what I expected to see.
The momma bird coming over and seeing that her baby was dead and doing detective work and having a vendetta against my family forever?
We sat and watched for a few minutes as the kids sang lullabies to the sleeping bird. Eventually, I got them distracted by something else and we walked the other direction. Then, Emerson remembered the bird and we turned around. The bird was gone. Gone! It had been playing dead after falling (didn’t know they did that). I did not see the bird again (the reunion with the family must have been AWESOME and I bet he/she chirped out the entire ordeal).
So crisis averted…we wont’ be having a remake of “The Birds” at my house anytime soon.
Or maybe not so silly. After a tiring day on top of a tiring week, I was trying to catch some of Game 6 of the Finals while the kids did everything in their power not to let that happen. All of the sudden my daughter (in full on princess dress) goes off on this 20 minute original song that went something like this…
“Never gonna stop showing you what I have”
“Never gonna stop doing what I love”
Emerson – 1, NBA game – 0. Super proud of her originality but especially her spirt. You’ve got so much to show the world, girl!
There are some things about the kids that I know I will forget as time goes along, The brain can only hold onto so much information and the BIG things tend to take up the most space. There are just some small things that Lincoln does that just make me smile a bit.
There’s a reason people have favorites….because those people come through in times of extreme need and all the times in between.
You know who you are.
<3
Listening is a lost skill these days. We are often heard on social media or in written form. But face to face communication – I know I often fall victim to waiting for my next chance to talk instead of absorbing what someone is saying to me.
This takes on more meaning as a life long stutterer- really bad as a child to where I had to take speech classes and with varying degrees of difficulty as an adult. There have been many occasions where I haven’t been able to be heard…or I’ve had to change what I wanted to say. I don’t think non-stutterers will ever fully grasp the difficulty this can bring to one’s life (but there are MANY worse things)
With these smart devices, it’s a whole new world. We got out first Amazon Echo device around the time my daughter started talking so it wasn’t something any of us were used to. My son had a bit of a speaking delay but we had ‘Alexa’ in the house for his whole life. He has used the phrase “she not hearing me” so many times when he made a broken English request or was too far from the microphone.
The joy in his face the first time, “she” played the song he requested Man, priceless. ANd he said “yay, she hearing me”.
Yeah, buddy. We all do. Loud and clear. Love you!
-Dad
I have been struggling with teacher computer skills to my daughter (the newly turned 5 year old). I just couldn’t explain what a mouse did and how to move it and how to click and…and…and. (also, the keyboard layout makes NO sense to a toddler. Why isn’t a besides b???)
Anyway, one day I was giving L a bath, while E stayed upstairs. What I came back to was…she had opened Paint (and a few other programs and drawn this).
Maybe she doesn’t need my lessons so much after all…
Wow…sometimes life…just lines up timing wise. I wrote this post in late 2017. A few months before Allison got married to Josh. We have lost touch at times over the years but thanks to the awesomeness of Marco Polo, I get to see her face a few times a week now and share this life together (even though I’m in TN and she’s in IL).
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This is all about my girl Friday. Ok, I probably shouldn’t say girl Friday since those two fall in love at the end. Man, is that a great Cary Grant movie though. Anyway.
It’s weird I think sometimes that the only reason we know each other is because he was dating my best friend years and years and years ago. Well, I guess that’s not so weird after over 20 years. We used to be a threesome and now it’s just the 2 of us. Her “ex” is still my BFF.
Allison and her family have been such a blessing in my life: I don’t remember a time in life when they weren’t in my life. Those all important teen years, I had a fun and safe place to go. And 3 awesome “sisters” and a “Mom” and “Dad” to talk to and laugh with. Who else’s doorstep could you just show up at on announced on Thanksgiving or Christmas and be welcomed in? I was the son Mr. Phelps never had.
She was there in my wedding day and I’ll be there for hers in a few months!
Thanks Dolly and Imagination Library for reminding me….
I’m not a fan of New Year’s…never have been and especially not as I get older. It means my kids are getting older and it makes me stop to think. The years have been good to me, especially lately. There’s joys and events and celebrations and friends and people all around. I feel like New Year’s kinda makes the clock start over again and you want the next year to be better than the one you just had. Anything else kinda feels like a failure. It doesn’t help that I also have some version of SAD and there’s like 10 hours of sun a day.
Anyway, here’s some of what makes me happy 🙂
