Our youngest laid out her outfit...with a note....

In case you can’t guess the two reasons why I love being a dad – I’ll give you a hint.

One reason just turned 8-years old and the other is 10-years old.

Whenever they ask which of them I love more (as kids sometimes do), I tell them that they’re both so special and unique – that I love them differently.

I give them the example that my favorite all-time dessert is Chocolate Trifle – if I could only eat one thing the rest of my life that would be it.

Yet at every family dinner I have a bottle of Frank’s Original RedHot sauce at the ready – I literally slather it on everything (except Chocolate Trifle).

I “love” each of those vastly different foods equally and with the same gusto – yet I “love” them differently. It’s not a perfect example, but it’s one that my daughters understand.

Here are two examples of their differences that I love.

...the note read "My B-Day & Field Day Outfit" to eliminate any confusion.

Our youngest  just celebrated her birthday over the Memorial Day weekend.

As an added bonus, her birthday also fell on the Field Day Celebration (aka day-long recess) at school.

So when we put her to bed the night before, we saw that she had laid out her clothes on the floor [see photos] with a note above the outfit – clearly stating these were the clothes she intended to wear the next day.

It made me chuckle because she wrote the note for herself – apparently sprawling the clothes across the geography of her room wasn’t quite enough of a visual trigger.

What’s awesome is that she does that type of unintentional (and intentional) humor all the time – when no one’s watching.

So when we stumble on this kind of thing unexpectedly, it’s like stepping on a comedy landmine – which is just one of the things that makes her special and that I love about her.

Our oldest has a great sense of humor as well – but she uses it in a completely different manner. Additionally, Taylor has been singing for as long as I can remember. In kindergarten, her teacher would tell us that every time she used the classroom bathroom she would sing adorably.

Her love for music continues today. She has been playing the violin for about 18 months and last night, she performed her final concert as a member of both the elementary school chorus and orchestra.

She did such a great job that I asked her if she’d be willing to play one of her violin pieces as a solo that I could post here on the blog.

She wasn’t the slightest bit shy and was very willing. Watch this :60 video and witness how focused and composed she is for a 10-year old girl.

Quick production note, at the end I was trying to further elevate the cultural value of the video by throwing in some French lingo  and say “formidable.”

However, my French-teaching wife informed me that I actually said, “make a table!!” – c’est la vie!!! (translation: That’s how I roll!!!)

Anyway, that tiny video snippet provides a glimpse into our life and a peek as to why I love her differently than her little sister – not more or less – but differently, yet that makes all the difference when it comes to my love for them.

Question: what’s something you “love” that’s NOT a person?

Photo Caption - Creative Commons: Jon Ovington

Well we’ve successfully crossed the metaphoric “full-term” Rubicon for our baby boy.

He’s officially at 37 weeks gestational age, which means he can join us at anytime now.

The time has passed so quickly since we discovered our pregnancy and decided to share it here.

Throughout this journey we’ve shared developmental milestones that have been provided courtesy of BabyCenter.com. Here’s one of the final posts they’ll provide regarding what exactly is going on inside my wife’s innards.

• Your baby is now considered “full term,” even though your due date is three weeks away.
• If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb.
• Some babies need a bit more time, though. So if you’re planning to have a repeat c-section, for example, your practitioner will schedule it for no earlier than 39 weeks unless there’s a medical reason to intervene earlier.
• Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. 
• He’s shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during her nine-month amniotic bath.
• Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions resulting in a blackish mixture called meconium, which will form the contents of his first bowel movement.
•  Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don’t be surprised if your baby’s hair isn’t the same color as yours.
• Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes.
• And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

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