This is the phrase I 'woke up' to yesterday (Father's Day). Actually I wasn't really sleeping but rather resting my eyes. Mom was nice enough to let Audrey and I sleep in while she was up with Josh. Well, actually Audrey did the sleeping in as I was awake while she kept nuzzling up against me pushing me further and further off the bed until I basically had half my body dangling from bed. It was still fun to cuddle with her as she slept.

Note: Read the blog disclaimer from the main blog page - it refers directly about this post.

Anyway, I could hear Mom and Josh banging away out in the kitchen making breakfast (French toast). I could hear the collaboration going on when it came time to use the mixer.

Mom: "OK Josh, turn it on a little bit."

Josh: "TURN ON!!" The mixer roars to full speed.

"No Josh, not that much, please turn it down a little bit." I'm envisioning egg yolks flying all over the kitchen, lol. Then the blender turns off. "Can you turn it on a little bit Josh?"

"TURN ON!!!" Again, the mixer roars to full speed, but this time Mom just deals with it and quickly mixes the batter. They continued banging away in the kitchen and after 30-40 minutes, I heard Josh heading for the door to 'wake me up', so I closed my eyes and waited.

Josh: "Daddy, wake up! Wake up Daddy." Josh was now at the side of my bed but my back was to him. "'Appy Father's Day Daddy." Josh then proceeded to utter a slew of 'Thank you Daddy'. For those of you who haven't seen Josh in a while, he 'usually' gets his Thank You's/Your Welcome's mixed up. Even though this time, neither were 'really' appropriate. What is was doing was unwrapping my present (pulling tissue out of bag) and saying thank you for each piece he put on the bed. He was going pretty quick and I barely turned around in time to see him lay the actually present on the bed and give his serious thank you with the 'confirming' nod of the head. Whenever Josh is really serious, he punctuates his statements with a 'Slingblade' nod or 'yep'. Seeing my glasses sitting on night stand, he also quickly grabbed those and handed them to me with a 'Thank You' so I could see.

I knew Mom, Josh and Audrey were working on a 'Special Project' all week, and Josh was so proud to give it to me. They were 'decor plates' made at Paint Your Plate in Rochester and had Audrey's foot print and Josh's hand print on two small plates. They will fit perfectly with the decor of the office in our house that we just finished. Josh especially thought it was funny when they put paint all over Audrey's foot.

So this was the start of Father's Day and we had quite a busy day. We went to a park in the morning, fed the geese in the afternoon, went on a peddle boat ride, and finished off with a park visit to Silver Lake. Of course the whole time Josh was entertaining us with his one line quips. I thought I put a few of my favorite Josh'isms here:

• What's that way over there? - It's pretty entertaining, but right now Josh is all about 'learning'. He is constantly asking 'What's that?' as he points off into the wild blue yonder? The problem is, this kid always points off into the direction of a ton of things as we are driving by at 40mph. So I'm probably confusing him by giving him false information all the time...oops :) It is fun though when you realize that Josh thinks Mom and/or Dad are 'all knowing beings' that can answer any question he might have. Thankfully, right now the question is only 'What's that?'...I can only imagine what is coming.
• 'Da bigger! (always 'frantic' lol) - As Mom has said in previous posts, Josh is all boy now - well I could think of a few feminine moments but I'll leave those out ;) He is obsessed with trucks, bucket loaders, bobcats, etc. He spots bobcats a mile away putting an Eagle's eyesight to shame. If he's not spotting them, he's memorized where they all are in Rochester and will say 'Bobcat coming up'...its pretty funny watching him in rear view mirror as we drive. He's sitting back there constantly scanning back and forth making 'statements' and just calmly moving on to his next item of interest. It's almost as if he's having a conversation with himself. Note, 'Da Bigger' is translated 'The Digger' or 'Dump Digger' and just refers to the big caterpillars with a scoop in front (I'm not up on machinery names - sorry).
• Heard that! - We've created a monster! Josh is a self proclaimed fart monster OMG. It was so funny in the beginning (hell it's still funny we are just trying not to encourage it by laughing) that Mom and Dad always laughed it off. Josh the majority of the time, stakes his claim with self-righteous 'Josh BOMBED!' statement. But every once in a while, he'd slip one out and would be either too concentrated on another task or didn't know anyone was around to proclaim his manhood too. If I was around, I'd joke, 'I heard that!' and Josh would start laughing and then of course declare his bomb. So now, instead of telling anyone that will listen that he bombed he laughs as he says 'I heard that'. His latest was last night at Perkins. He let loose just as someone was walking in the restaurant and of course had to tell them 'I heard that', luckily they didn't know what he was talking about. What's worse, is we can see Josh trying to fart, especially in the bath tub. He loves the bubbles...but hey, who doesn't? ;)
• Sun is hiding, yep! - This is a new one recently. Whenever the sun is setting, just has his little conversation with himself announcing that the sun is hiding.
• Huh?! - Josh's response to any question he doesn't know or couldn't hear is 'Huh?'. I'd kind of make fun of him because it wasn't always the correct response (i.e. if he couldn't hear, instead of saying 'What?', he'd grunt 'Huh?!'). Anyway, I'd start making fun of him by repeating it because it was kind of cute. Now, every night when I'm putting him to bed (or naptime if I'm home) he'll do his 'Huh?!' and I give him one back and he just starts dying of laughter. I don't know why he thinks it is funny, but it's pretty fun. Also, as I walk away from his room down the hallway, he keep the 'banter' going back and forth as long as he can (until I start to walk upstairs).
• Yep, mmm hmmm. - The all time best :) Of course Josh has several one liners that crack us up, but I don't have time to write them all (although at times I wish I had video of them all to show to him at a later date), this one remains at the top of the list. It's so funny watching Josh talk to us and himself at the same time lol, giving his consenting 'Yeps' behind his and/or our statements. The other day I put him down for bed and he sat there and talked to himself and his 'Yep alter ego' for about 30 minutes. Blanky...yep! Cover up...yep, mm hmm! Tractor book...yep Drawer broken...yep Sun hiding, mmm hmm. Lol, that goofy bastard makes me laugh every day.

So anyway, yesterday was a great day. I'll be posting up pictures and movies either tonight or tomorrow. It's amazing what kids do to you (any parents reading know this), but you realize just how much your parents loved you. The number of smiles Josh and Audrey bring to my face each day is amazing and to realize how much they love/need you is a great feeling. I plan to soak it up for as long as it will last - I wish teenage years would never come ;) Both of them are great kids and being raise by an exceptional Mom, making Josh one of the most caring big brothers I've ever seen (we'll see if he remembers what he's learned when Audrey is taking toys and pestering him) and also one of the best behaved kids around.

I love being a father and husband and each day, those two roles are very satisfying and drive me to be a better person.