My main man, my second mate, my crime fighting side kick, my reason why, my son. My son’s name is Lincoln and he is about 1 1/2 years old and has a vast amount of energy, like the kind of energy scientists are looking for to power our way to Mars and beyond! When he was first born he was a beautiful little guy with tons of personality as you can see below he was clearly a little skeptical of his new found situation (don’t worry buddy we have to provide you everything for at least 18 years or so).
It’s absolutely insane how someone so small can flip your life into a totally different direction, my wife and I have changed for the better. We are both absolutely in love with this king of the castle and get so many laughs everyday!
Alright now time to get serious on when a Dad finally gets to his point of true compatibility. When your child is first born and being breast fed or bottle fed by their Mother all the time then guess who get left to the side for a bit of time??…yes of course you’re right, good ole Padre. Your baby at this time requires tons of nurturing attention and who has that instinct? Well I’m here to tell you that in most cases it isn’t Daddy! Guys are very different beings although, very impressive in their own right, we do not have a strong sense of nurture and that’s alright. During that first year or so you are pretty much the assistant to Mom and Baby, even though all you want to do is play with your new sidekick! It wasn’t really until at or just after one year that I was truly able to play with my son and receive his feedback, where he would seek me out to play. When you child starts looking for Dad to play that is one of the most rewarding feelings a man could possibly have. You finally feel as though there is something you can do that will put a huge smile on their faces while also giving Mom some break time.
Lincoln is now watching everything that I do and tries to mimic if possible, or even if not possible, so I have to be careful! One day I’m carrying him on my shoulders and we are outside, I spit in the grass, we guess what? Lincoln spits on my head! I really got a kick out of this so I did it a couple other times for the reaction, but then realized “Oh crap” I don’t want him to pick up this bad habit! Now he also copies everything else. If he sees my outside washing one of the cars he likes to use the hose or wipe the car with a sponge…but the hose is by far his favorite because he gets to spray Dad! Every time he pulls the trigger on the hose he lets out this manly grunt (think Tim the Tool Man) so I know he is definitely my son! He watches me workout if he is awake and wants to play with all the cool stuff in the garage like the stick I some times use to stretch, which he just swings around yelling “Hi-Ya, Hi-Ya!!”. If I am boxing in the garage then he wants to wear the gloves and throw some punches!
Now we are at the point to where he likes being rough housed, wrestled, and chased! This is the ultimate Dad/Son bonding time because Dad is the best Luchador in all the land! I can throw him on the bed, pick him up over my shoulder and tote him around upside down, and the holy grail of early fatherhood the famed horse back ride!
Being able to play with my son now to a point that isn’t just stacking a couple blocks makes it much easier to come up with new games and keeps him interested. Like I said he loves being chased now which is fun because you get to see this tiny human run as fast as he can will you make noises going after him!
Being a Dad is an amazing experience that just keeps getting better with age! The main thing is that I need to keep my own energy at a high level so that my son keeps his at a high level, they watch everything you do. If you workout and play then they will see that as normal, if you only sit on the couch and watch tv all the time then they will see that as normal, pick your path carefully. I am enjoying this part of our lives so much and CAN wait for the next stage (I don’t want to rush anything). Our son is a vast amount of energy concentrated into a small hungry package and we wouldn’t have it any other way!
Some times he gets a little tired and relaxed, but it never lasts long
Enjoy Fatherhood and make it fun!
-Matt
~ Motivational Father ~ 
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