LIFE with Zin @lifewithzin-blog - Tumblr Blog

Tape Ball with 6-month old spectator - successful attempt

Tape Ball with 6-month old spectator - failed attempt

"Me Believe That ... Me!!! .... Dadda Believe That ... !!!"*

So that’s my 2.5 year old son’s version of the American Outlaws soccer chant seen in this ESPN Fifa World Cup ad.

He was TOO excited to finally get to his first USMNT soccer match (actually his first soccer match of any kind). He ate a full, massive hot dog, and didn't ask to be taken home from the windy, freezing cold Candlestick Park stadium until the 18th minute!

Thanks to the free sticker book, we made it through halftime, and lasted until the 62nd minute or so, which meant we missed the opportunity to scream "Goal!!!!" at Mix and Aron's goals. Oh well, we heard the crowd cheering from the parking lot and bus stop on the way home.

All in all, a fun and momentous milestone for father and son at one of the last events at this venue (5/27/14).

* (Updated with the better video -- oops!)

"Me Believe That ... Me!!! ... Dadda Believe That... !!!"

So that's my 2.5 year old son's version of the American Outlaws soccer chant seen in this ESPN Fifa World Cup ad.

He was TOO excited to finally get to his first USMNT soccer match. Well, his first soccer match of any kind. Ate a full, massive hot dog, and didn't ask to be taken home until the 18th minute! :)

Thanks to the sticker book, we made it through halftime, and lasted until the 62nd minute or so. So we missed both goals by Mix and Aron, though we heard them in the parking lot and waiting for the bus home.

All in all a fun, momentous milestone at one of the last events at Candlestick Park on 5/27/14.

My amazing wife turned Zin into a big brother this week. #newdad Here's hoping in the long run, his behavior inspires little sister Elodie to make more of the former face/expression than of the latter! Welcome to the family, baby! No way to thank you enough, Momma!

Sunday afternoon traffic at Trader Joe's was like something out of #BladeRunner. This photo was actually from a lull! L'il man made it through with flying colors, though. Only clipped my heels twice, and judging by the tone of his laugh, the second one was almost definitely deliberate, so that shouldn't count, right?

"The Elephant is in the house! The Elephant is in the house!!!"

There's more to the sleep deprivation you experience as a new parent than just the actual number of hours you have sheared from your typical routine. It's more than just the fact that those cruelly limited hours are rarely, if ever, consecutively logged. For someone like me, it's that a two- to three-hour window of an opportunity, can be cut cruelly in half (or more) by a vivid dream involving your newly expanded family, and the newly activated biological instincts you have to see your genes persevere. A vivid dream that starts off and progresses pleasantly enough, but that just involves a turn that goes horribly horribly wrong. The setting. A long, tall shotgun-style house/cabin, situated in some sort of non-traditional wildlife preserve. A casual unpacking of your bags in your room toward the back with its two adjacent large windows overlooking some sort of unused penned area. Only it's not unused. There's the biggest freaking python you've ever seen starting to poke its head towards your window from some Outback bushes you must've seen in a tv spot. Only now you're mistaken. It's a pine green lizard moving slowly toward the window. Only now it's not alone. There's another more dinosaur-looking creature with it. That's cool. Never seen one of those before. Why don't you get your camera. Wow. These two animals don't seem to like each other much. <Shutter-click>. And now they're getting aggressive with each other. <Shutter-click>. <Shutter-click>. And now that your partner has left the room to join some of the other tourists at the front of the house, it's just you. And your camera. And the dinosaur tapping its bony nasal protrusion against the single-paned glass. But where'd that mid-sized elephant come from? And what's she got against this dinosaur, too? And who designed this pen anyway? Ewww. Hope that elephant doesn't know that that window is an utterly useless barrier. Oh. No worries. She's just curious. Let's start shooting some video. But that other tourist who just walked in shouldn't be so close to the glass. No. He really shouldn't be in front of the glass like that. It's pissing the elephant off. And she indeed knows about the glass... ... and so on. Until you see the elephant shatter the glass and force its way into the opening, intent on tearing the place apart. And you're running 30-40 yards for the front door, screaming, "The Elephant is in the house! The Elephant is in the house!!! Get out!! Everybody get out!!" And you're standing in the doorway, watching the elephant charge out of that back room. And there's panic everywhere. Except on the face of your 2.5 year old son, who is standing 10-feet away amidst the chaos, smiling, oblivious to the danger. And you dart out to pick up your child, whom the pachyderm has zeroed in on. And you've got him, but it's gonna be too late as you're stumbling backwards for the door! And the last vivid image that you have, is of that massive, rough trunk snatching your boy from you! And you wake up with a gasp like some bad tv cliche. And that's what new parent sleep deprivation can be like. Hope you enjoyed that 87 minutes of sleep. Don't bother with the other 93, sucka! Good luck with the day! ;)

Little man just started taking his first real (wobbly) steps the past few days.

(Taken with http://cinemagr.am)

#cinemagraph #gif #spinning

(Taken with http://cinemagr.am)

#cinemagraph #gif

Kickin' his legs @suppertime

(Taken with http://cinemagr.am)

#cinemagraph #gif #photos

First time riding in a Costco shopping cart. Soooo mellow, sooooo in his element. Instantly kicked back his arm, and played it cool like he was in a Corvette or something.

#photos #Costco #shopping

My Father's Day Reflections Album (2 of 2)

#photos #newdad

Father's Day Album (1 of 2) -- Photos of me just doing some of the regular stuff of Daddyhood.

#photos

Happy Father's Day, Dad! Humbled by the incredible "provider" example that you set, and so thankful for all the love and everything you've done to allow me to become the father I hope to be. [Photo taken November 2011]

First Father's Day Reflection

Early Friday morning was just one of those "Well he's just gonna have to keep crying"-kind of mornings. It just was. My 5am attitude was born of the brand of stubbornness that comes from a combination of the accumulated anger of five consecutive days of insufficient interrupted sleep, and the false pride that accompanies late nights borne of primarily poor choices. But as my (almost) 9-month old son whined and screamed for 15 minutes, and his mother left the room to prep for her pre-dawn side job, my resolve dug in to refrain from picking him up. And as 15 minutes of his forced wailing became 30 minutes, and 30 minutes became 45 minutes, my fingertips just dug deeper and deeper into my ear canals to block the sound.

Mature, I know. "Father-of-the-Year" material, for certain.

But sometimes when you know the kid's not hungry, when you know he ain't sick, and when you know he's dawg tired, you just have no energy or patience to deal with his foul mood, because you can barely deal with your own.

So before she left the apartment, my wife came in and grabbed the sobbing child, delivering him to his grandmother in the other room who was visiting for the week to help us out.

The half hour or so that she held him was just the break I needed to take a deep breath and grow up a bit. And after holding him myself for a good spell, I gave him back to my mother-in-law so I could shower.

And with the radio tuned to NPR, I actually wasn't particularly interested or moved at first by this two-minute Father's Day "Listener's Perspective" that was playing. At least that was the case until the last paragraph kicked in while I was pulling the shower curtain to dry off and step out.

"Being a dad taught me how fleeting life is. What could seem interminable when it was happening, for example flying cross-country with three boys under the age of five, has in retrospect come and gone in a flash. My boys are now men. Hopefully more pleasures await me: I want to dance at their weddings; I want to hold their babies in my arms. I look forward to these blessings but they in turn will go from experience to memory in an instant."

Yeah, it was during those lines that I really started paying attention. And when the speaker finished with the line -- "But in the end one thing will remain true: I was their father and I was always thankful for that." -- I had to sit down on the edge of the tub as I instantly and unexpectedly burst into tears.

Now it could've been the frayed nerves from my son's 45-minute screaming session that set me over the edge. Who could know for sure. But either way, I can relate to the author and say without pause that I'm so, so thankful to have my son in my life.

Emotionally thankful to have received this gift of fatherhood from him. This precious gift which I don't know how many years, months, days I'll be blessed to enjoy. So I'm doing my best to enjoy every minute I've got with it.

Even if some 5am mornings, it's temporarily tough to remember that goal. ;)

"WANTED: Ounce of Kryptonite" -- PREVIOUS POST --->

#newdad

As strong as this child is, it wouldn't shock me if he does this next time we get a flat. [2m41s in]

#Superman Original movie

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