Play List for Ryne

It has been a little while since I've last blogged. There is no reason for the hiatus other than the fact that I've just been keeping busy with three of my favorite things: family, sports, and work. Not a lot is new; Ryne is now over three months old, he keeps growing and growing, he consistently sleeps through the night, he seems to like his babysitter a lot (as do his Mom and Dad), sometimes he will roll from his stomach to his back, he had his little heart broken when his Bears lost in the NFC Championship, everyone seems to think that he is getting teeth, he is able to grip one of his little balls, he is talking (although the language sounds foreign)...maybe a lot is new!

Recently Ryne was given an iPod full of "baby" songs. We've been listening to it with him, and he seems to love it! This blog entry is going to be about one of my other favorite things (sarcasm), music.








I've never played an instrument, and I've never enjoyed singing. I used to listen to a lot of music, but that has recently been replaced by a preference of sports talk radio. I do, however, love making play lists that have a central theme. Earlier today I made a play list re. fatherhood/parenthood that I'd like to tell you about...


Just the Two of Us - Will Smith

• It's not just the two of us (we have three), but the rest of the song sums up a lot of the feelings I have towards Ryne. And Will Smith, however corny his songs are, is awesome.
  

I've Been Watching You - Rodney Atkins

• Because I hope that the chorus of this song is something is something that Ryne eventually does/says (minus the cowboy boots and camo pants!).
  

Anything Like Me - Brad Paisley

• While the lyrics of this song don't particularly describe me; I do wonder if Ryne will be anything like me.

It Won't Be Like this for Long - Darius Rucker

• I know this song is about a daughter, but it is my FAVORITE! Makes me appreciate soothing a crying baby, drinking cold coffee, running out of the house late for work most mornings, waking up in the middle of the night, etc. I'm sure there will come a time all to soon where Amy and me wish for these things/times to return.

The Best Day - George Strait

• Probably won't happen re. me taking him camping, but maybe he will say this about going to Kinnick Stadium, Wrigley Field, or some other place like that (fingers crossed!).

With Arms Wide Open - Creed

• Statement of clarification - I don't like Creed. However, the lyrics fit what I was looking for pretty well.

Forever Young - Bob Dylan

• The theme music from my favorite TV show, Parenthood.

Sweet Child O Mine - Guns N Roses

• It is about a girl so it isn't a perfect match, but GNR is one of my first favorite bands and I've always liked this song.

I Don't Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith

• The theme song from a great movie, Armageddon, I always thought it was about the love between a man and a woman; maybe it is, but the lyrics seem to fit the relationship of a parent and a child as well.

There Goes My Life - Kenny Chesney

• My third daughter song (sorry), and the first half of the song doesn't really describe the situation that Amy and me were in when we found out that Ryne was coming. However, the second half of the song is a better fit (although hopefully Ryne won't be going off to live in California anytime soon!).

Then They Do - Trace Adkins

• See "It Won't Be Like this for Long" and "There Goes My Life"

Tough Little Boys - Garry Allan

• I am fairly tough in re. to keeping my emotions in check, but I'm gonna bet that Ryne brings them out of me frequently.

Simple Man - Lynard Skynard

• One of my favorite songs period. As the song says, "All I want for you my son, is to be satisfied."

Beautiful Boy - John Lennon

• The title of the song pretty much describes Ryne to a tee. I wonder if John Lennon made a mistake by using the name Sean in his lyrics.

Original of the Species - U2

• Because there has never been another quite like Ryne.
  

Cats in the Cradle - Ugly Kid Joe

• This song is a reminder of how/what not to be (although it is a great song). I will always make time for Ryne regardless of what my career/job calls for.

December 27th – January 2nd – Best Week Ever/2010 – Best Year Ever

Last week was the best week of my life. Prior to today, I’d spent the last 12 days at home with Amy and Ryne. That is the longest that I’ve ever been able to stay at home with Ryne (I got five days at home after he was born before I had to go back to work).

Here are some of the things that we were able to do with Ryne over the break:

Celebrate our first Christmas together
Watching him smile with frequency
Mimicking me and sticking out his tongue
Learning to blow spit bubbles
Sit, listen, and focus for stretches were I would read him multiple (sometimes up to five) books at a time
Celebrate our first New Year’s Eve together – a nice little family dinner at Governor’s, and watching TV shows on DVD before falling asleep prior to midnight – it was the best New Year’s Eve I’ve had in a long time
Celebrate our first New Year’s Day together
Watch Ryne roll over for the first time

To someone without kids, this list probably looks lame. But it isn’t/wasn’t.

I knew that I would enjoy Ryne and love Ryne, but I never imagined enjoying him so much and loving him so much.

The joy of having a child and watching that child are indescribable. I never understood it until Ryne was actually here on Earth. You can not find joy like this anywhere else, from anything else.

I love the life that I have. I am blessed with a great family, good friends, a good job, and good health. I could not think of any single way that my life could be made any better. I am so blessed, and so thankful for that.

2010 was a great year, probably the best year ever. I told Amy that recently, and she asked me why. I told her, “Ryne.” Ryne is the sole reason as to why my 2010 was so incredible. 2011 looks promising, though, too. Just imagine all of the change and growth Ryne will go through. I will get my first Father’s Day to celebrate. We will take our first family vacation together. Ryne will celebrate his first birthday. And I’m sure that there will be countless other things that will make 2011 unbelievable.

I’ll finish by recounting my version of dropping Ryne off for his first morning of daycare (which was today), which officially concluded my best week ever. Ryne woke up early, which was good because we were not rushed getting out the door, and because Amy and me got to play with him a tiny bit. I didn’t think that taking him to the sitters would be difficult, I really didn’t. However, as it got closer and closer to the time that I needed to leave the house, I started to move a little bit slower. I didn’t want to put him in the car seat. Unfortunately, I did because I had to (he needs diapers and formula – those things cost money – mom and dad have to work to get money). While at the sitters things went fine. He wasn’t fussy and he didn’t cry (he dealt with this much better than his mom and dad did). After talking with his sitter for a couple of minutes I had to tell him goodbye and that I loved him, and kissed him on the cheek. As I turned to leave I watched him watch me out the door with his big, wide-open eyes; it looked to me like he looked a little sad and a little scared, which made me A LOT sad. And while I didn’t cry, I did get choked up and was forced to fight back the tears. I never saw this coming. It was much harder than I’d expected. I can not think to imagine how much harder these things will get as he gets older…I don’t want to imagine them; I’d kind of like for time to just stand still.