Crayons and Keyboards

Birthday Donuts

Pump the kid full of sugar and send them off to school.

Jaxson -

Two years. 730 Days. 17,520 Hours. 1,051,200 Minutes.

No matter how I break it down, I have loved every single moment. The impact and changes your have brought to me and your mom are beyond explanation and is something that words will never do justice.

The way you walk down the hall. Your squinty-eye expression in the first few hours of the day as you awake and stand tall in your bed. The way you rub my hair when we go for "Dad-Rides." The way you blow kisses. The way you sleep. The sound of you calling for your mom and I early on Saturday mornings. The way you make everyone smile. All of these little moments are memories and pieces of our lives that are stored permanently in my heart and soul - and these moments I cherish above anything else.

Soon, you will be a big brother. Soon, you will have the opportunity to love something greater than you. But, until then, you are my Little Bambino and you will always be that. No matter how big you get, no matter what you do in life and how successful you become or where you travel - you will always be my Little Bambino.

So, enjoy your birthday kid. We love you.

-Dad.

Freeze.

Arranging His Studio

Creativity starts at a young age, and that is when creativity is at it's highest level. Raw. Un-biased. Pure. Above all, genuine.

I will never push any thing on my children, they are free to decide what they want to decide, I will be there when they find a passion and I will help them to become the most passionate individual they can be.

That being said, art is a gateway to an unlimited horizon of options. And the one aspect of life I will expose my children to is art and the process of creating. The ability to express your inner-self in a variety of mediums is a skill, that when executed well, can deliver a powerful message and help a person become successful in what they chose.

I have given Jaxson a blank hard canvas over the past few months and let him color, scribble, throw around the house - what ever he wants to do with it. I am anxious to see what it turns out to be a few more months, possibly years, down the road. Just gotta sit back and wait.

Get Your Bean-O Ready

Good To The Last Drop

Friday Night Americana

A tip of the baseball cap to the Long's for having Jax and I to the Rangers / Red Sox game to celebrate Beckett turning the Big 2. Though Jax and I are Rangers fans by birth, the Sox rank right up there with sports team that you can't help but appreciate and love.

The smell of Americana was all around. Late summer evening, two young boys dressed in baseball gear, ball caps, hot dogs, and a out-of-town Long that served our country in the Marines.

Couldn't ask for much more.

"Elton Jaxson"

That piano playing guy has nothing on this kid.

Grapes and Monkeys.

Team Spirit

Fear In The Eyes of a Toddler

Parking Lot Happenings

Before the first playoff game for the FW Cats last night, we (Boo, Pops, Cousin Craig, J.R., J.D., Momma Robbie, Jax, and Big-Daddy C) managed to throw together a reasonable tail-gating outfit. We managed to have the essentials handy:

A full blown grill with fajitas, smoked sausage, home-made tamales, brauts, and burgers.

Peach Cobbler, from the hands of Boo.

A run-in with the local motorized parking patrol, that we managed to barter 6 tickets for a few bottles of water, a tamale, and some cobbler.

Life is good.

All Alone In This Crazy World

Tickle-Me-Jaxson

My Next Book

While it's inevitable that all of us will traumatize our children, even the most committed parents have lacked guidance in doing so deliberately and effectively.

Learn how to determine your natural traumatizing "type", cultivate your children's resentment, and give your children enough material to write a memoir someday.

Hawaii Five-O

Summer Showcase - Poolside

To close out the summer, Jaxson's school displays the swimming and dancing talents to the parents to show that the kids have actually learned something while having fun.

Problem is, when you have a 2-year old and they see you - they forget about the 'show' and come hang out with you.

Good thing about a clingy kid, besides making the old man break a sweat trying to get in the pool, is that you get your own personal variety show.

Hangin' with Mr. B (owner and head-guy at the school).

Great Things Come In Pairs

Without green eggs, you can't have ham.

If you don't rock, you can't roll.

Without yin, you ain't got no yang.

If you only have Laverne, all you got is Shirley.

So, that means Robyn and I can't just have one kid. We gotta have TWO.

Look for the sequel, due out March 17th.

Kick, Kick; Blow Bubbles, Blow Bubbles

Explicit Actions Call For Explicit Words

Caution: Some language used in the following post may be offensive to some; it is a true scenario with the actual words spoken shared via this blog. No children or adults were harmed in the making of this story. But it is all true.

Paying bills is just above renewing my license on my list of things I could live without having to do more than once during my lifetime. Excitement during both of these processes usually isn't very exciting, typically more depressing than anything.

Now the fun begins. In the midst of writing the date on the check for the water bill (you will see the ironic twist at the end of the story) all I hear coming from the living room is...

"Oh my, he is shitting on the floor." Exact words from the pure mouth of my sweet wife, no paraphrasing or exaggeration. True words could not have been spoken better.

As those words begin to filter through my ears and into my brain, my lack of excitement begins to dwindle as well. You see, no less than 5-minutes earlier, our little insta-pop-a-squat child used one of our NEW storage ottomans in the same manner a poodle might use a fire hydrant. As a place to ponder his distance - if you get what I mean.

Yes, in the span of five minutes my wonderful son managed to relieve himself TWICE in the middle of the living room.

I think we may let him air dry in front of a hair dryer tomorrow after bath time.

Pimpin' His Ride

Um...hello?

Somebody let the kid in.

Hey Ladies!!!

Looks like we caught Jaxson in the closet with some lady friends.

That's my boy!

No Time Like The Present

When the kid wants to grab a book and dive head-first into a story, no matter where he is; possibly the middle of an aisle at Target - just let 'em do it.

We got to give momma props for grabbing this photo.

Road Trip to Ikea

Since it is about an hour from the house, heading to Ikea is somewhat of an adventure. Accessories, curtains, and just killin' time where on our plate for the day. However; most of the time it is the journey not the destination that is memorable. As was the case this afternoon.

Typically, driving down the George Bush Turnpike involves curse words, bad finger gestures, and about $8 in toll. Maybe that is why the Hulk was so angry...