Better Than Sliced Bread

Proud papa moments.They're happening more and more these days. At quite a rapid pace actually. Just when I thought it can't get any better, Zakary does something else that makes me smile, laugh or nearly bring me to tears because I'm so filled with joy. These moments are making my day. My week really. Actually, my life. They make my life feel more meaningful than I ever thought it could be. Looking back at these moments, they're really not so unimaginable that the world would stop. However, they are moments that seemed unimaginable to me just years ago. Days ago. And the greatest part of these moments is never knowing when the next moment is going to happen. What's lurking around the corner next? What is he going to say or do? It simply leaves me anxiously waiting for it to happen.

I'm sure every parent feels like I do: that my child is the best thing since sliced bread.

(Which by the way, what the hell does that mean? I mean if sliced bread is THE THING we're comparing everything to, aren't you in-fact not comparing it to anything. Doesn't seem so hard to slice bread. I get build a fire, develop a wheel, put a man on the moon, but slice a loaf of bread? Really?)

And I'm sure that every kid has done what Zak is doing now. Some earlier. Some later. The difference is when it happens to your child, the human being that you made from thin air, it's special, amazing and miraculous moment in time. A moment that should never be forgotten but often is because the next miraculous moment happens so quickly after it.

Four of these 'holy shit, I love this person so much it makes me hurt' moments happened this week; the de-shirt, animal play, the syrup experiment and kisses.

The de-shirt

• Zakary has slept in PJ's since he's been born. A few times when it' s been super hot, we've put him to bed with no shirt on. And getting a shirt on or off of him is always a chore. It's never easy. It's not like he protests, it's more like he's too busy for this to happen. So you have to chase him down, catch him and move quickly to get the shirt on or off. And to my knowledge, he's never put on or taken off his shirt on his own. So the other night, we put him down for the night as usually-- fully dressed in PJ's. After a couple hours, I realized that I forgot my iPhone in his room. So I quietly entered the room, grab my phone and gave a quick look over at Zak in the crib before heading out. I did a double take. What? Something doesn't make sense here. As I got closer, I realized that Zak had taken off his shirt which was balled up in the corner. Hilarious. The next morning, after I woke him up, I asked him, "Zak, what happened to your shirt last night?" Nothing. Then I showed him the shirt in the corner and asked him again, "Zak, what happened to your shirt last night?" He laughed out loud. Hilarious x2.

Animal play

• Just this week, Zak really started to get into playing with his action figured animals. He'll bounce them around the table pretending that they are walking. He'll also make noises for them. I guess all those trips to the zoo are paying off.

Syrup experiment

• Zakary made sure to bring the syrup to the dinner table last night. Dinner consisted of mac&cheese and peas. Two things you probably wouldn't normally mix with syrup. But after politely protesting, I finally gave in and poured a little syrup on his dish to his delight. He dipped the macaroni every time and even said, "Yum" a few times. Who knew?

Kisses

• Zak kisses have been all over the radar. Sometimes you get a closed mouth, most often you get an open mouth with lots of drool. Last night though, he gave best little kiss you can wish for and even made the "muh" sound that would go after a kiss. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. So much so, I asked for another one and he was nice enough to oblige. It was something I will never forget. Mark that up there near the top moments of my life.