Easter 2017

We had a good time at Uncle Steve and Aunt Terry's yesterday. As usual, you were a bit shellshocked by the sheer amount of people (I believe there were 30 of us there), but you settled in pretty quickly with your Kit Cat. Uncle Ricky grabbed you as we were walking in and you fussed a little bit. He always tries to win you over. Eventually, along with Brooklyn and Camden, he had you laughing like crazy, which of course always brings me such joy.

The Easter Egg Hunt was not of much interest to you. You found the one Easter egg that looked like a football and proceeded to throw the "football" around the yard for the remainder of the hunt. I'm sure your cousins didn't mind.

On Sunday, we spent some time at Baba and Nana's. You got to play with your new bubble lawn mower, which happens to be your current favorite thing to do. In fact, you mowed the entire yard tonight after I completed mowing. Much appreciated.

 The only egg that interested you.

 Laughing at Uncle Ricky.

 You and Dottie

 In our backyard mowing.

Easter picture at Nana and Baba's.

4/15/17

I need to get back into writing for you more. You are growing up so big...and such a hilarious kid you are to be around, except for when it's getting close to dinner time. A little bit of grouch when it comes to pre-meal time. But that's not to say your mother and I aren't entertained by your fussiness prior to meals, when you scrounge through the cabinets in search of your box of Cheez-Its. Once they're found, you typically plop right down on the floor and open up the bag then eat to your heart's content. Rest assured, we actually fed you real food. Your mom did a good job making sure you ate nutritious foods. We love you more than anything we have.

It's Saturday morning and you and I just went on a typical morning run. It's one of our best moments of boy time for now. Your stroller is one of your many happy places. And it's during these runs that I get to expose you to lots of music that I love. Maybe one of these days you'll love it too. Or maybe not. Today, there were smatterings of Bruce Hornsby, Pink Floyd, and Jason Isbell...an eclectic mix. Right now you tend to be really into most Sesame Street songs as well as Justin Timberlake "Can't Stop The Feeling". This brings such joy to your mom.

You'll be two years old soon. I'm excited to see you continue to experience the world. To see you start to understand more, and discover the things in the world that you love.

Until next time,

Your dad.

A pic from after this morning's run. Your favorite sunglasses. Ha.

Henrik

I sit here having just read a moving piece by a local sports writer about having lost their most recent child to a stillbirth. Not usually a crying type, I found myself tearing up as I imagined the pain and sorrow that his family must have felt during those times. Your mom and I have felt similar pain prior to your birth, with the early loss of three prior pregnancies. Those dark days seem so long ago since you came into our life 5 short months ago.

I have remarked over the years that the Xanga era was the golden age of this crazy internet world in which our lives operate these days. So many ridiculous posts were made with very little significance because at that point, what was life anyway?

This space will hopefully be utilized to keep track of the the meaningful things in my life these days. Namely, a wonderful wife, Natalie, who is absurdly tolerant of my busyness, lust for sport consumption, and seemingly chronic fatigue. Anyhow, onto the more important things.

I have a child now. And 5 months have passed since his birth and I haven't taken the time to document how wonderful he is and what he means to me.

To Henrik:

Right now, Henrik, you are a hilarious 5 month old boy. You actually make it harder for me to go to work than it already was (even though I do currently love my job as a sports medicine fellow at OU). The best part of my day consistently is coming in to see how inappropriately happy you are at 6 a.m. in the morning. Clearly not a trait that you picked up from me, but rather your loving mother. In time, I hope that this early morning enthusiasm will translate into a desire to go fishing with me during many sunrises. This is something that I pray for.

I love watching you interact with your aunt Alli, who loves you so much that she has altered her sleep regimen so that she can spend more time with you in the mornings before she goes to work.

Our days revolve around you, and I certainly mean that as a positive thing. You continually make us all laugh, particularly with your loud, boisterous personality and the funny facial expressions that everyone claims look just like mine. I am proud to call you my son. I am anxious to see you grow up, but I don't want it to happen too fast. Just this morning, I swear that you looked different than you did the night before when you went to bed.

I will try to update this frequently for you.

Love,

Dad