Monkey House

Today is Cole’s first birthday.

It’s 2:37 so I’m sure I’m not going to do justice to how great that fact makes me feel.

A bit of self reflection before I start yammering about the Monkey: I think I wanted to be a dad every since I was in my teens. Not that I wanted to be a teen father. My parents taught me to be smarter than that. And I certainly didn’t mind spending my early-to-mid twenties not having become one yet. But for many years I knew the day would eventually come. And I knew I’d be pretty good at it. I feel I was right, though of course there are good days and there are bad. But for this past year, the good days have been really really good. And since I get to spend the bad days with my beautiful wife and our son, they’re ultimately ‘good’ days, too. I tell people this all the time: Yeah, it’s hard… yeah, it’s mainly work (repetitive, frustrating work sometimes!)… but there isn’t a day—not a SINGLE day—that I don’t laugh, smile, and feel enormously lucky. So it’s really been a year that despite requiring much sacrifice, has really resulted in me becoming the dad I always wanted to be, and becoming more “myself” every day with the more I give to my family.

But enough about me… this is a day for the little guy, after all! Here are some of the things I keep coming back to:

• The first time I saw him. Instant connection and instant love. I know this doesn’t happen for everyone (and it certainly doesn’t HAVE to), so I feel lucky that it did for me. Just so amazed to be holding him in my arms.
• The first time he breastfed, lying next to his mummy. Absolutely beautiful, and I was so happy that it went smoothly after all Alie had gone through in the previous hours and day.
• Chest naps. Boy do I love chest naps. Not just when he was tiny and helpless, but even now that he’s gigantic and sprawling. It’s a peaceful sleep, even though not always a deep one.
• Cavalcade of carriers. We like our carriers. And we like wearing our boy. My favourite is still (naturally) tiny Cole (not that he was ever actually tiny) all bundlesed up in the Moby Wrap, asleep against my chest. This is followed by Cole, facing outward in the Moby Wrap, looking ENORMOUS from his position on mommy’s front. And finally, his first time being strapped onto a back.
• Public cutieness. Love how charming he is to complete strangers in public. People love babies, and he gives them no reason not to.
• Stair-climbing: both scary (gotta be ready to catch’im!) and exhilerating to see him tackle those flights of stairs with impunity. Even better was the day not so long ago that he learned to crawl backwards.
• MEM! Which is his favourite word. It means both “Mom” and also “Milk”. So no matter which he’s after, he knows he’ll get it if Alie picks him up.
• DADA! OK, it’s still not clear that he’s always referring to me. But the first time said it while looking (and pointing) at me was AWESOME!
• Stupid songs that I make up for him. They’re a little less frequent now because I have fewer reasons to sing to him and he’s not a captive audience now that he’s independently mobile. But I still make up at least a few short ones a day.
• Mommy’s limitless love, support, and energy for him. When I wake up, I often give him a smile and a wave, and drift in and out of sleep until he gets into trouble. When Mommy wakes up with him, she gives him a big enthusiastic “Good Morning, Coley-Bear! How are YOU today??” and then is just awesome with him.
• Crawling: It took him a few days to figure it out, which was contrary to what we had been told (“Once they do it once, they’ve got it figured out and they’re off to the races!”). It’s easy to start to feel that way, but let it be known for the record that we had many days of going, “oh… oh…. yes! That was like 3 crawls!”
• Walking: Ditto for walking. Took a few days for him to string enough steps together that we could say “yup, that’s walking all right.” But not that many… he was a pretty quick learner, even though he’s still not quite there yet. He’s trying to tackle running and jumping now
• Baby outfits. I said it. I’m a total sucker for cute clothing. I could spend a tonne of money on cute clothes for him. (Jeez… did I need a doll growing up or something??)
• Baby MULLET: His hair is still thin, but he’s got an area of curly, longish hair at the base of his skull. It’s his baby mullet. And it is cute.
• Peals of laughter that erupt when we tickle him, or zerbert him, or even just kiss him on the face at just the right time. He has the bestest laughter ever. And his mommy and daddy love making him laugh.
• Grandparents Galore: so great that both sets of grandparents are so present and active in his life. He’s going to get to know them all so well! And boy do they love him…
• Winning the sleep battle: He’s tough to put to sleep, but I love those moments after he finally goes to sleep that I’m still bouncing or rocking with him in my arms

There’s a tonne more, but I have to go to sleep. It’s way too late. Love you, Cole! Happy Birthday!

(PS, tonight I posted two articles. The other can be found at: At The Park)