Daddy Dan

I am always amazed at the speed in which The Babito is growing up and the new things he learns every day.

Here’s some examples:

• When it’s time for me to give him his bath, he walks upstairs, takes his teddy bear and binky into his room and puts it on the chair, without me even telling him to do it.  He knows after his bath we’ll be coming back to that chair to read a few books before he goes to bed.
• In the bathroom, he gets the kneeling pad off the counter and puts it on the floor next to the bathtub.  While the water is filling up he throws all of his bath toys in the bathtub.
• He knows Target.  If we’re driving by a Target anywhere he recognizes the sign and yells “Tahhh-get!!!”  (Do you think we shop there too much?  And do you think he likes Target too much because he knows he’s going to get a toy or a book EVERY time we go there, despite my wife and I always agreeing that he has ENOUGH stuff already?)
• He remembers things from earlier in the day, and tells me about them the minute I get home.  Today it was “I bump my head.”  He bumped it early this morning when my wife dropped him off at the sitter’s.  After that it was the usual “Want play cars?”
• One night, when he was extra wired up, I was chasing him around the house after his bath, trying to brush his teeth.  I finally caught up to him in the hallway.  I sat down on the floor, put him on my lap, and brushed his teeth.  Now, every time I finish getting him in his PJs he goes and sits in the hall and waits for me to come and brush his teeth.

Tonight was the first time I’ve seen him since Sunday night.  I’ve been leaving the house before he wakes up (which is normal), and getting home after he’s gone to bed.  It’s been tough, but he remembered every ritual we have together and he did them all again tonight.  I love that we have these little special things together.  My wife has similar morning rituals with him too.

When our phone rings he almost always says “Papa,”  because my Dad calls a lot and doesn’t get to see The Babito too often.  Tonight was different.  As I was giving him a bath, the phone rang and he said “Daddy.”  I think I need to get home a little earlier, and that’s what I plan to do as much as possible.  I have a few more really busy weeks at work, but it should be fairly clear sailing after that for the rest of the summer.

Maybe we’ll go to Tah-get.

I’m leaving in a few hours to beautiful Catalina Island for my little business trip.

I had never been to Catalina before I had to start going there for work.  Now, in the past four years, I’ve been there about 10-15 times.  The first time I went I really had no idea what to expect, but I thought it was some kind of vacation paradise, with sandy beaches and lots of fun things to do.  It’s really anything but a paradise, despite the Catalina marketing department doing their best to say otherwise.  To say the least, I was a little disappointed.

If you’ve ever been curious about Catalina Island, stay tuned.  I plan on taking a lot of pictures in the next two days, and I’ll share them when I return.

I feel like ranting a little today, so bear with me….

Since last Tuesday I’ve been working crazy hours on a major project at work.  It’s to the point that I only got to see The Babito one night last week before he went to bed.  Over the weekend I was working from home so I saw him some but my wife took him out on both days (Saturday to visit her sister and Sunday to a housewarming party for our niece, which I had to miss) so I didn’t get to spend some time with him.

This week is going to be much of the same.  On Wednesday I’ll be out of town for work and won’t be back until Thursday night, probably after he’s gone to bed.  To try and make up for it I left work on time last night.  When I got home he was so excited and ran up to me and hugged my legs.  He was very clingy all last night and began to cry whenever I left the room.  It really breaks my heart to think about all the time I’m missing with him, and I know he doesn’t understand that Daddy has to work.

It really sucks that we spend so much of our time at work.  We all really miss out on so much each day.  Our babysitter spends more time with The Babito than anyone else, which just is NOT right. 

I really need to seriously look into a career that involves working from home and/or allows for more flexible hours.  Either that or I need to start buying some lottery tickets.