Jax had a couple firsts today. It is insane how quick he is growing up like I said in the previous post. Tonight Jax went to bed in his first set of pajamas that are two peices. He looks so much older in these rather than when he is in a onsie. What a little stud!
I am just finishing the toastmaster program at work which is a public speaking group. I gave my last speech. I really did not prepare much for any of my other speeches but this time I decided that I wanted to do a great job. Why you ask? I gave my speech on why I think it is so cool to be a Dad. If you know me at, being a dad is the best thing in the world to me. I thought I would share my speech. I did not read the speech and these paragraphs are just ideas so it was not written very well. Hopefully I still get my point across. With this speech I was awarded the most improved of the week. Enjoy!
As many of you probably already know I became a new father recently. After several years of many tears and extreme heartbreak in the process of becoming parents my wife and I welcomed our son into this world a little differently than most people do. I was alone in a waiting room of the hospital while my wife was by the side of an incredible woman in the operating room at the University Hospital. If you did not know already we adopted our son Jax. I know several of you are Dad’s already and know what I am talking about already but I wanted to tell you guys why it is so cool to be a Dad.
You would never guess this but dinner is actually fun. Before Jax came into our lives my wife and I would prepare our dinner and sit down on the couch and not even speak with each other while we watched a show on the television. Now we have a reason to sit around the dinner table. Even though Jax is only 8 months old we take this time to interact with each other. I never expected this to be so important. As he gets older family time at the dinnertime will become essential. Holy crap, I am starting to sound like my Dad.
I think it is pretty funny to see the expressions of some of my co-workers when I get the call from Jax while I am sitting at my desk. Even though I am about 30 miles away from him I still feel way close with him while we talk. The pitch in my voice raises about 17 octaves and the things that come out of my mouth must sound hilarious. Whether that means blowing raspberries laughing into the phone or doing anything I possibly can to get him to laugh. It gives me that much needed laugh with the monotony of work.
Being able to watch Jax grow and learn is so rewarding. It makes you feel like you are doing something right. Which with me doesn’t happen all too often. The simple things such as watching him roll over for the first time, then to army crawling, then to full crawling and recently standing up to things all on his own even if that means turning off the TV during an exciting part of the BYU Basketball game.
While I am in a deep-deep sleep on weekend mornings one of the most rewarding things is being woken up to the sound of Jax saying Dada in the most playful voice you could ever imagine. It is so neat to think that one of the first things he thinks about in the morning is me because I can easily say that he is the first thing that I think about every day. I love walking into his room because as soon as he sees me he gives the biggest smile because he is so happy to see me. You would think that waking up would be really hard when you are tired. It definitely is not easy getting up earlier than you want to. But it is so true that nothing gets me into a better mood than hanging out with Jax. I knew when I became a parent that I would be tired but that I wouldn’t mind being tired is what surprised me. It is just impossible to be angry at someone so goshdarn cute.
Before I was a Dad I used to get home and just veg around the house. Not anymore! Recently we got rid of our cable TV because we just do not watch TV all that much anymore. The reason is because I get to play again. When I am with my son, I get to pretend to fly like superman, push him as high as he will let me in a swing and making faces at him until he is laughing so hard he sometime times starts crying.
I am going to warn you before I tell you this next part because I do not want you to imagine what I am about to tell you. It may ruin your day, or better yet life. With Jax I dance with absolutely no judgement. He does not care if I look like an idiot which I certainly do. When I do the same move over and over again like the disco pointing to cover my lack of rthym he could not care less. The funny thing is neither do I. All he wants is to shake around with me. Jax absolutely loves to dance.
Even though we adopted Jax everyone says that he looks just like me. The first thing I say is “poor kid, he isn’t that bad looking”. Honestly though, it is like looking in the mirrior for more than one reason. It helps me reminisce back to my childhood days. Remembering those fun times I had running around causing havoc as a child. The fact that he looks a little like me makes it a little more fun because as my parking lots on my head get bigger the cuter and cuter he becomes.
My number 1 reason it is cool being a Dad though is you finally know how your own dad feels about you. Regardless how your childhood went the moment you go from being just a regular guy to a dad you “get it”. You finally understand what it is like to love something more than life itself!
