Sailor Dad

Today marks the 3rd consecutive month since I last graced this blog with my presence. I had been planning to get back into blogging, but every time I commit to it I end up finding something else to take up my time. Being in the Navy is one thing that often keeps me from being able to get in front of the computer and come up with a decent post. Add in the new addition to my family and it seems like there’s even less time in the day after work. I’ll try to hit the high points of the last three months…

My son Joshua was born on the 27th of January. Days prior to that I was stricken with some intense muscle spasms in my neck. Something about my son being born made the pain in my neck go away. Perhaps it was the exchange of two types of stress: The stress of waiting for the boy to be born traded for the stress of having a new baby in the house. Either way, that week marked one of the best moments of my life. Now I love my daughter as equally as my son, but his birth was different in that I was there for the event, in comparison to my daughter, who was born while I was on deployment in the Red Sea during the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

February was a month of adjustment and change. It was almost like starting over with the new baby. I got the opportunity to experience all the things that I missed the first time. In addition to the new activity in the house, the hours at work increased as well in preparation for a 5 year inspection that it seemed that everyone was over-hyping the whole thing. Not an enjoyable experience by any means, and with any luck I’ll avoid going through that ever again in my career. Of course I may have just jinxed myself, but here’s me throwing caution to the wind.

March was a month that came and went, and held witness to some stressful times at work. The big inspection happened and when it was all said and done, it wasn’t everything that it was hyped up to be. Of course, big things like that hardly ever live up to their hype do they? In any case, the time came for me to start applying for orders, and after a few rounds I was finally selected for a set of orders. Now the reality will hit in a few months when I get those orders, but it’s definitely a nice step towards the future. I would be quite content with transferring now, but I’ll have to wait the remaining 6 months or so before I can try out something new.

Now it’s April and it’s more than half over. It’s hard to believe that the year is passing so quickly. It is frightening at times to look back and realize the time that has passed and you didn’t even realize it was happening. If you’re waiting for that opportunity to try something new, do it today before you never get the chance to.

Today history was created. This day will remain in people’s memories for years to come. As with any event, there are differing options as to the outcome of today’s events and the circumstances surrounding them. But I think, overall, that no matter your sex, racial background or political affiliation, today was a positive note in American History. I will admit I was surprised to see President Obama make it as far as he has; but I am also very pleased that he is our new President. I think that for the first time I actually feel a glimmer of hope in the future of the United States.

I remember about six or seven years ago, how uncertain I was about bringing a child into this world. Like it or not, today’s world is nothing like how I grew up as a kid. There is a seemingly loss of innocence today. You can’t just let your kids run around the neighborhood without wondering what sort of pervert or weirdo is going to snatch them up. Today’s inauguration didn’t truly change anything in the number of creeps and weirdos in the world, but I feel that something is different. Watching the recent news, financial ruin is all around us. All we really have is hope that our elected officials can change the current trend in America. Today I think that hope was rekindled.

Here I am on the verge of bringing another child into this world. Of course, my wife is going to be doing all of the work, but I’m partially responsible for his existence. It’s still a bit overwhelming, and I imagine that it doesn’t really change no matter how many children one might have. Financially, we are better off than we were when my daughter was born, but uncertainty lurks in the back of my head. I am almost certain that everything will be fine, but the unknown is just that, and it’s a little frightening.

It’s been a week since I’ve begun to constantly think about my son’s impending birth. With just about two weeks left, every time my phone vibrates, rings or lights up I stop for a moment to wonder if it’s the news I’ve been waiting to hear. This time I will be a lot closer than when my daughter was born, and with a little luck and fortunate timing, I will actually be in the hospital when my son is born.

With just over 3 weeks remaining until the birth of my son, I think I am becoming a bit anxious for the day to come. My daughter was born about two weeks early while I was on deployment in the Persian Gulf and I have a sneaking feeling that my son will come about the same time. That puts his birth in a few days. Of course, I could be overthinking the whole thing and he’ll be born on his original prescribed date.

In any case, the next few weeks will change our lives forever. I just hope that my daughter adjusts from being an only child to becoming a big sister. She’s excited about it all, but I don’t truly believe that she knows what’s going to happen in the house. I’m certain that we all will adjust to our new environment.

As part of the bedtime ritual we have in our house for my daughter, my wife and I take turns reading to our daughter before she goes to sleep. Typically, my wife will read from one of the numerous books on her bookshelf. I used to follow in suit, until I became bored with the same books over and over again. At the same time I didn’t want to start buying books by the bushel and go broke for new reading material, so I began to look for something a bit more interesting.

I started out with some research on books for 5 year olds, which didn’t pan out as well as I hoped. Most of the books for kids that young are not much more advanced than the board books we have already lining the shelves. Not wanting to get way over her head, I found some titles in the 8-12 year old range that I felt would be easy for her to comprehend. So far we’ve had good success. The first book I attempted was:

Marley: A Dog Like No Other by John Grogan
It’s a good book and I think she followed along well. A story about a family and their dog, it is a edited version for the younger ages. There is an adult version and it is also being released as a movie this Christmas. Even more of an incentive to follow along in the book for my daughter.

The beauty of reading books that might be a little ahead of her comprehension is that she gets the benefit of listening to a story that isn’t over the top with maturity, but enough of a glimpse of “big kid” books. She also has the option in a year or so to read the book on her own, and use it to hone her own reading skills.

But the best reason for doing any of this at all is the time I get to spend with my daughter and catch a glimpse of her growing up a little bit every night. The frightening part is how much more she is able to read on her own each day as well.