Opinari - Latin term for Opinion. Opinari.net is just what it seems: a cornucopia of rants, raves and poignant soliloquy.
Friday, August 01, 2008
He's One Year Old Today...
This time last year, I was sitting in a hospital with my wife, who had just given birth to our third boy, Dylan. Readers of this blog will remember the journey we took from sheer excitement, to fear and anxiety to amazing relief over the course of several days. Dylan went from birth, to struggling for breath, to sedation in a NICU 120 miles away, to his final healthy journey back home.
My wife has eloquently written today about those uncertain days. The memories of those days are somewhat clouded for me, not just because of Dylan, but because my grandmother succumbed to illness the very next week. My memories of August 2007 are both joyous and sad. But today, as we prepare to go visit our respective families, as I watch my baby boy play on the hearth with his See-N-Say, as he pulls himself up and smiles, I am thankful beyond expression for this child, and how special he is to his mother and me.
Happy First Birthday, little Dylan. Daddy loves you.
My wife, ever the photographer, has put together a fantastic montage of our boys, set to music. I'm not even sure of the song, except that it's "Beautiful Boy", and I really like watching this video. I also thought I would give Flash video hosting a try on my own server to see how it works out. Watch and enjoy.
My son just decided, as he was watching HGTV's Divine Designs, that he wanted this ceiling fan for his room. This will not be funny to anyone but those of us who know him so well. See, my son has an obsession with fans. He now thinks his existing ceiling fan is not good enough. He needs this one. He is, for your information, only four years old. Needless to say, he isn't getting this fan. But it's funny to hear him talk about it.
My son, ever the volatile one, in a fit of anger over being put to bed, decided to destroy his blinds. His Levelor, not-cheap, not-a-good-time-to-be-broken-because-it's-Christmas blinds.
I'm not much for suffering fools, or children with poor impulse control, so I'm glad I was at work during this debacle. My wife and I decided that a call to Santa would be sufficient to convey our disappointment in him. Plus we decided that Santa should deduct a coveted toy from his upcoming bounty, probably the candy apple red remote control Mustang that looks like it kicks... er, you know.
Needless to say, he was very upset. But my wife explained to him that when he disobeys, bad things happen. She told him over and over and over that the blinds are not a toy, and not to play with the blinds, and he didn't obey, and they broke, so Santa had to hear about it.
Apparently, he threatened to get the phone and say, "Hi, Santa. Please bring me my red Mustang and some trucks," and not give my wife the phone to say not to bring them. Silly child. He thinks sequestering the phone will prevent his parents from contacting Santa.
A lesson learned? Maybe not. But definitely a lesson taught. One of these days, this sort of counseling will sink into the boy's head. That day cannot come soon enough.
This will be my 1500th post on Opinari.net, and what better subject matter for the blog than the pending birth of my third child. My wife is scheduled to go into surgery Wednesday morning at 5:30. I plan to liveblog some of it and occasionally post a picture or two.
My third son, Dylan, will be here in just under a day and a half. I can't believe in four years, my wife and I have produced three sons. It humbles me every day to think about it. Anyway, check here for updates as we head to the hospital the morning after tomorrow.
