Daddy’s lil’ Squirt

1. Just today we were at the DVD store and as the cashier handed the bag to him with two DVDs I picked, he grabbed another DVD from the shelf that he had his eye on and put it in the bag. The cashier just smiled and let him take it, for FREE!
2. There's a brand new restaurant right down the street from us that he likes to go to because it's right on the river and there are tons of boats he can watch from the deck. Just about every time we go there the owner offers him something for FREE. The last time it was a tub of ice cream.
3. There's another restaurant on the sea side that he also likes. Every time we go there the waiter makes sure he steals a handful of cherries from the bar and gives it to him in a little cup, for FREE!
4. Whenever he is at my office the women in my office almost always offers him a bit of candy or gum. I mean, am I invisible here?  Can I have some gum?
   
5. And girl friends, he has them all over the place and they come talk to him when they see us walking around town. Sometimes I get a hello, other times, they walk away never acknowledging me.
6. His awesomeness doesn't stop at home either.  Just about every week on my day off he manages to get a new toy out of me. Usually a Matchbox or Hot Wheels, but when you're a kid, that's gold.
7. He also usually gets served first at the dinner table, talk about being man of the house.
   

Two nights ago, Squirt, finally began sleeping on his own bed again and I realized something I seriously didn't see coming. Until now, Squirt, has always slept in our bed and I've gotten use to it. While he is taking to his new bed like a champ, I have been tossing and turning in my bed for two nights. Then it dawned on me that I haven't been able to sleep because he is not there.

Some of my favorite nightly experiences have been when he snuggles up next to me and takes over my pillow. Yeah, many mornings I wake up with neck pains, back pains or both but that's a fine price to pay to let my two year old son fall asleep on his daddy's pillow. Now that he has his own bed I don't have that special time at the end of the day with him any more and my pillow feels very lonely.

I never thought I'd be left behind when it comes to passing milestones but here I am. Of course, I am glad he is not afraid to sleep alone in his own bed and I am glad that my wife and I now have the bed to ourselves again but I can't help but miss him on my pillow.

Here is my step daughter, Amber.  She was six years old when my wife and I got together.

If someone were to ask me what I thought about having a step daughter I probably would have answered, "I hate pleats." That's because all the schools here in Belize use uniforms and since Amber has become my step-daughter, I've spent many tired mornings ironing her uniform for school.

Being a step-dad

On this blog and on my Twitter page I am quoted as a first-time dad even though Amber became my step-daughter several months before we became pregnant with Squirt. However, for me, the experience was different--with Amber, a lot of the parenting was already done by her Mom. It was tough trying to impress my idea of parenting upon her, I had to learn how things had been done between parent and child in their family. With Squirt, my first son, I was learning to be a dad from the very beginning of the process and still learning today for that matter.

Now that I'm in the picture with Amber I get to deal with all the joys of a pre-teen girl--puberty, rebellion, boys, eventually dating and sex (cringe). Also, her entrance into things like email, Twitter and Facebook. Just the other day we were contemplating buying her first cell phone, but I'm still on the hunt for one that can restrict texts as well as calls (not sure if that is possible). On the other hand, it looks like she is starting geometry at school which was one of my favorite classes. My wife wants her to attend the same prestigious high school she attended so we have to encourage her to keep her grades up, she was actually first in her class last term and has been since she entered school.

So right now fatherhood for me is like two completely different worlds. On the one hand I am having fun discovering things all over again with my two year old son and on the other hand, I have to help ensure that we are raising a responsible, well-rounded young woman. I guess it's not all that unusual but its all uncharted territory for me, so I still really am a first-time dad.

Whatever you are doing right now Squirt, Daddy misses you, wishes you sweet dreams and hopes you have a fun day tomorrow, good night my lil' Squirt.

Yesterday I got off of work only to find out that my 2 year old son received a serious shock from an exposed electrical outlet earlier in the day.  He was at his other Grandma's house where they have been doing some remodeling and somehow he managed to get close to an exposed electrical outlet.  Unfortunately, he grabbed a hold of it with two hands.  I wasn't there but from all accounts it was a serious shock, so much so that he couldn't let go on his own.  It seems he was like that for several seconds until the electrical current finally threw him back about five feet. It wasn't until then that his Aunt was the first to reach him.

This is the part where I have to thank God that my son is still alive.  When he was scooped up off the floor he was awake and crying but it could have been very different.  He could have been unconscious or his heart could have stopped.  Add to that, no one there at the time knew any first aid CPR but thankfully that wasn't needed.  We still took him for a check up and they made sure he didn't have any irregular heartbeat.  He did end up with a couple small cuts on his hands and they were red for a little while but aside from that, he is back to his usual self and he actually cheered me up later the night making funny faces.

Spending time with my son or having a productive day are always good days in my book but rarely easy to accomplish on the same day. My days off are almost always completely spent watching Squirt like a hawk. I'm what you might call an over protective parent so I very rarely leave him in a room by himself for more than a few seconds. I love spending time with him but it leaves very little time to get work done around the house which, to me, means I have to take my eyes off of him, which I don't like doing, not even at home.

This week I found myself needing to reinstall the alternator for our truck and with no one to watch Squirt while I did it. So I put him in the cab with all the doors open and with a hand full of harmless tools, including my new socket set, while I worked under the hood. Of course I had to explain to him that he will help me fix the truck, an idea that he loved, and that he couldn't get himself into any trouble where he would need my help or put anything in his mouth, which is sometimes his course of action whenever he gets a curious object in his hands. Much to my relief he kept himself safe and busy while I installed the alternator and passed tools to me when I needed them. He loves doing guy stuff just as much as I do, especially if it involves tools.

Since he was born it's become a constant struggle to spend my free time with him or dedicate it to getting some work done around the house. I gotta say, it's like a weight lifted off my shoulder's to know that he is getting old enough to help me out on something like fixing the truck and it has been one of the best experiences I've had with him, one that I will remember for a very long time. Of course he did manage to lose one of my brand new shiny sockets that I purchased just the day before but it's a small price to pay to gain a new right hand man.

...these would definitely be on the "Most Played" playlist. These are all his favorite songs he has liked since before he could walk. These will definitely be played at his birthday party in a couple months.

Squirt's tunes

1. Alicia Keys - No One (He liked this song at about the time when he was just beginning to cruise around the house by holding on to the furniture. Every time it would play on the TV he would stop in his tracks and watch the whole video. He once kept his balance and stood unsupported for almost the whole song.)
2. David Tavare - Summer Love (This was the first song he ever sang. We were just driving around one day then all of a sudden we hear him singing along with the hook.)
3. Basshunter - DotA (He has made us listen to this in the car non-stop many times to and from Grandma's house and it's still one of his favorites.)
4. Alizee - La Isla Bonita (He thinks Alizee is pretty and just stares at the screen.)
5. Enur feat. Natasja - Calabria
6. Daddy Yankee - Gasolina
7. The Pussycat Dolls - Jai Ho (He likes yelling JAI HO!)
8. Basshunter - All I Ever Wanted (He calls this one "Smiling", it's part of the hook.)
9. Benny Benassi - Satisfaction
10. Lady Gaga - Poker Face
11. Daddy Yankee - Pose
12. Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow (Loves singing the hook here too.)
13. Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (This is his current favorite and he pronounces the title as one word like this "IWantMe".)

Watch and listen here