Marriage...

I was once told that in order to be a good father, you need to be a good husband.  While I often struggle to put the latter into practice, I very much believe that there is a lot of truth to that statement.  Jordan will learn what love is, first and foremost, from Steph and I.  So, the way that I treat Steph will show Jordan how he should treat others, most notably- women.

Today, we celebrated my parents' 40th wedding anniversary.  And while I have not always agreed with my parents (because there have been occasions where I have), I know that their love for each other has served as a strong model for me.  I know that how they have handled their relationship with each other has served as a strong model for me.  Their example of marriage is one of the major reasons that they were, and are, good parents.

I believe that if I can model much of what they have done as parents, then I can be a better husband to Steph, and in turn, a better father to Jordan.

Thought of the moment: thanks!

Year in Review

Stay tuned:  Instead of sending out a Christmas letter, I have decided to share our year via my blog.  After Christmas, I will be posting four separate blogs titled:  Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

Snowpocalypse 2010

Well, we are alive.  I spent about a total of 4 hours in the driveway on 3 separate occasions.  My little snowblower (bought at a garage sale for $50 made it through it)  I am having a serious case of man toy envy though as I watch all of the other guys in our neighborhood with their bigger, stronger snowblowers.  It beats shoveling though.  Steph said she felt bad for me.  Asked if I felt bad that she has to do all of the inside work, I said "no."  Early on in the relationship, I told her that she had all of the inside work and I had all of the outside work.  That was a much easier proposition for me when we lived in the townhome, however.  I don't mind though- it let's me play my "man card."

My friend Adam came over today and took family/baby pictures.  Jordan was not his normal smily self though, but I think we got some good pictures.  It's the first time that Steph, Jordan, and I are in the same picture.  I would have thought that I would have taken more pictures than I have.  It's on my long term wish list to get a better camera.  After borrowing Adam's camera after Jordan was born, I got a little spoiled by its picture quality.  I am also need to get new rechargeable batteries.  Seems a little funny to me that you even need to replace rechargeable batteries.  I thought that was the whole point of getting rechargeable batteries.

I took Jordan into the doctor last week.  He had been just a bit fussy, but he had a stretch of diarrhea, and lost a little bit of his appetite.  Steph saw him pulling on his ears and thought that he was starting to teethe.  (While early, not out of the realm of possibility.)  After noticing a very large amount of ear wax, especially in his ear canal it almost looked like he had a hearing aid in), I did a Google search.  A lot of his symptoms also pointed to a possible ear infection.  The nurse thought he was fine though.   No ear infection.  And no signs of teething.  She did mention that Asians tend to have more ear wax and that it has a grainer consistency.  Steph didn't believe me.

Every day is still an amazing discovery with Jordan.   He is starting to respond to all sorts of new ways to get him to smile and laugh.  Steph has hers that work and I have mine that work.  Even when Jordan is in a funk or crabby or fussy, he will break out a quick smile or grin.

Thought of the moment: Chilly

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is probably too cliche' for me to say hat I have a lot to be thankful for this year, so I won't.

But I am :)

It has been a pretty hectic last week for Jordan.  He has seen 4 grandparents, 2 aunts and an uncle, and various other guests.  I think that it is special that he gets to see so many people, and that he can get used to so many people, and so often.  But he takes after Steph in that he gets easily tired (and maybe stressed) while all of this is going on.  Steph definitely likes her down time.  I, for the most part, need to be around people all of the time.  But then, (all of a sudden, Steph says) I flip and need my alone time.  I guess Jordan gets a little of both of us in that.  We have found that he is pretty temperamental.  One moment he is all smiles, the next moment he is fussy.  (He probably gets that from me more than Steph).

Jordan has found his feet.  Tonight he was on my chest, sitting up and staring at his feet.  I took of his socks so he could see his toes and feel that they were really his.  So much amazement and inquisitiveness in his eyes and face!

I think the thing that I am most thankful for right now is Steph.  Parenthood is hard.  Marriage is hard as well, but not as hard.  (Steph hasn't slipped my grasp and fallen back and hit her head on the floor, yet).  On more than one occasion, I have told Steph I don't know how single parents do it.  I know that I would not be enjoying this as much as I am without her to share it with.

Word of the moment:  Grace.

but for how long...

After a feeding, I laid Jordan on his mat to play.  (He became fussy, as the 7 o'clock hour has now become the time that he wants to go to bed.  Mommy and Daddy would prefer a couple of hours later so we only have to get up once during the night.)  I went into the office and left him to stew on his mat a little bit.  When I came out, he had soothed himself into a partial nap by sucking on his hand/thumb.  He started to squirm a bit so I decided not to fight it.  I picked him up and went to rock him to sleep for a nap.

Once we got to the chair, he was wide awake.  All he could do was look up at me and smile with the widest, sweetest smile I have ever seen.  He smiled at me with his eyes, as well as his mouth.  It was evident that all affection on earth at that moment was directed at me.  The transparent love nearly brought me to tears.   It is really an experience that defies explanation.

And I reveled in the moment.

Then, I wondered... How long will he look at me like this?  How long will he dote on me?  At what point will things change, if they ever do?  Will he always look at me in the same reverential way?  And assuming that he doesn't, what did I do to change that?  Was it a single event? Or a multitude of things?

Those are moments that I guess I will deal with when we get there.  For now, I will enjoy them.

Thought of the moment: Humility.

Sooooo BIG!

Jordan had his official 2 month check-up on Friday.  He weighed in at 14lb 11oz.  25" long.  That puts him at the 97th percentile.  Steph wondered if this is a sign of him being a tall/bigger kid.  Well, if that's the case he'll be 6'8" 330lbs (so I don't think so).  I guess all it means is that we have a healthy baby.  Everyday, we see more faces and hear more sounds.  Every day gets more and more exciting.  I know in 2 years I will wish he was 2 months, but you can just tell me to go back and read my own blog.

Everything looked and sounded normal.  He got his first round of vaccinations.  The nursing assistant did a good job and gave him his three shots really quick.  I think that Jordan did a good job, better than I expected.  Steph was mildly heart-broken that he had to go through that.  I have been telling her that he'll have to get used to us making him cry and hating us.

He did a lot of sleeping the rest of the day.  When he wasn't he was pretty cranky.  I'm sure a result of the shots.  Steph said there was of talk the shots at her work the other day.  I guess Jenny McCarthy, ya know the Playboy model and host of MTV's dating show "Singled Out", goes on Oprah and the provides her medical knowledge about autism, and the world goes along.  To meet, it all comes down to my friend Kyle, a top pharmacist for Fairview who has actually read all of the research, saying that you should get every vaccine they offer was enough for me.

2 months

Steph took Jordan to the doctor today.  Yesterday he had a temperature of 100.4 degrees.  We called the nurse hotline and they had us talk to a doctor.  We gave him some infant Tylenol and she told us to bring him in the next morning.  Apparently he is ok.  They ran tests and he will be off to daycare today.  It has been about a week now that he has been battling some nasal congestion.  We're getting a lot of stuff out of his nose with the aspirator bulb thingy.

He has his 2 month check-up this Friday.  Our first big question was answered today though as we weighed in just over 14 lbs.  Everything else seems like it is going well.  He, while inconsistent at times, is sleeping better and longer.  He is eating more and feeding are getting farther apart.  He is developing well.  I am moving on to new vowel sounds.  I am trying to teach him how to wave.  And he is figuring out that if he moves his arms enough while laying on his play mat that he will strike the "bug" and it will create music.  Some may think that all of this is coincidence, but we are convinced that Jordan is smarter than the average bear.

This weekend, I went to Wisconsin with the youth group.  It was the first night that I did not spend at home with him.  It wasn't "hard," but I definitely thought about him a lot and missed him very much.  I am glad that I went though.  I had a chance to reconnect and hang out with some of the senior highers and cennect with some of the younger kids as well.  I spoke Saturday night and I thought it went really well, so did the other leaders.  When it goes that well, I really know that God played a huge role.  I really feel that God has been using me these last 5 months in a positive way with the youth group.

I am sore today though because we played football Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours.  I am getting older, and the body just doesn't work as well as it should.  I need to start getting in better shape as I prepare for life with a kid running around.  After my performance on the field though, I feel good about being able to teach Jordan about how to throw and catch a football though.