My boys' mother

“To have a baby is to embrace a future that you cannot control.” Tom French

There is no greater challenge in this life than being a parent. It will fill you with fear and anxiety, push you to your limits of patience and self-control while simultaneously bestowing endless amounts of pride and satisfaction upon you. It is sacrifice and commitment...a life long commitment, of which ultimately you cannot control. No one knows this role better than a mother. I am fortunate enough to have both a great mom of my own and a wife that is a great mom to my children.  
  I take comfort in knowing that Melanie is a stay-at-home mom. We have made great sacrifices to make this happen and to keep it going until at least Orion starts kindergarten. To this end, Melanie has had to reinvent herself, to try to keep her sanity intact. I am not sure that I could do even half of what she does; I would have lost my cool along time ago. The pay off is seeing Apollo and Orion thrive. It is not that they would not have done well in a daycare environment, but to know that the boys are at home gives me great peace-of-mind. 
  As my stories are almost completely from my point of view, by default I often neglect giving Melanie credit where credit is due. In honor of Mother's Day, I am swallowing my pride a bit, and offering up some Melanie love.

  Orion is absolutely charming. He knows how to say 'please' now and uses it to his advantage. He is very serious about saying 'please' too; "Dada, I wan' bite...p'ease. Da...Da...p'ease."  I didn't teach him to say 'please', that was all Melanie, still it is a magical word and the way he says it, just melts my heart, stops me in my track's, and I find my self powerless to do anything but what this little guy is asking me to do. The worst is when I am lying in bed trying to get Orion to go to sleep. He can be thrashing around and throwing a fit because he is not ready to go to bed. As if a switch was turned on, he will stop mid-fit, sit up, look right at me and say; "Da, I wan' mul (milk), p'ease. Da, p'ease." All the while both hands are moving urgently making the sign language sign for 'milk'. Call me a softy, but like I said previously, I am powerless. Off we head down the hall to get him some milk, much to Melanie's dismay. "Da...t'ay que" (thank you-also accredited to Melanie). That is all the justification I need.

Apollo will be starting kindergarten in a few months. I cant believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems only yesterday that he was born. Apollo loves stories and will sit still and listen anytime someone will take the time to read to him. He has taken a real interest in learning how to read. He has been working on the sounds of letters, and sounding out simple words. Once again, I have to give Melanie credit for this one. Melanie is the story reader. I will do my due-diligence and fit in a few stories per week. but she really makes an effort to read chapter books, and also more than one book at a time, nearly everyday. 
  Typically, Apollo will get into our bed and read stories before climbing into his bed to sleep. Several times a week, he will awake during the night and climb back into our bed. I often let hem fall back to sleep, then I carry him back to his own bed. Once in a while, as I am putting him back into his bed, he will start to wake back up and protest. So, I will climb in bed with him for a bit until he is fast asleep. Melanie has often accused me of messing up Apollo's bed when I do this. One particular night, about 2:00 am, I was putting Apollo back into his bed, "Dada," he started, "It's too scary by myself." 
"Okay Apollo, I will get in bed with you for a while," I replied while climbing under the covers with him.
"Okay," came his half-asleep voice, eyes still shut, "but don't trash my bed this time." 
I know where that propaganda came from!
Happy Mothers Day Melanie!