26/03/12 10:12
Conor and I spent the long weekend together as my wife had a weekend conference. We packed a lot into one weekend as he never let me rest the whole 72 hours and his attention span only lasts about 15 minutes. Here's a clever list of all we accomplished;
1. Cleaned out three boxes of junk so his baby toys could go where my big boy toys used to go.
2. Wrote a song together when he started pouting and I was tired of the old songs I usually sing.
3. Tried solid food and after he spit up the apple sauce we went back to drinking from a bottle. (My bottle looked different than his.)
4. Cleaned out his entire dresser, all because I couldn't find a bib and knew the solid food wasn't going to be pretty.
5. Watched Sponge Bob Squarepants for the first time. (A first for both of us.)
6. Spent an inordinate amount of time helping Conor practice standing up and keeping his balance. (i I figured out he's too busy balancing to cry in this position.)
7. Drove to Newburyport, NH and Kittery Maine for no good reason. Oh, except that he sleeps in the car and therefore doesn't cry.
8. Did tons of laundry, folded it and put it back in its place while he watched on grabbing the laundry and putting it in his mouth before I folded it.
9. Played the guitar while he watched, kicked, waved his arms and smiled. (I wish I had audiences like him back when I was a recording artist.)
10. Did some green screen filming with Conor for an upcoming music video called, "I Can't Go Nowhere Man."
11. Cleaned up the house before mommy came home and realized we were having lots of fun.
Keeping a 5-month old happy isn't easy. But at the same time, it ain't that hard, either. What a great time we had.
15/03/12 23:30
By the time Conor was 3 weeks old, I was already tired of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "You are My Sunshine" and a few other songs I could barely remember from childhood. Bored by the classics, I started making up a song for him and within an hour I had written four verses and a chorus that he seemed to like. Granted he was 3 weeks old but it kept him from crying unlike "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You," (even though that's not a children't song.) Now Conor is 5 months old and is completely captivated by the song as you can see in this picture. No matter what kind of a rotten day he's having, as soon as I hit the first few notes of the song, he stops crying and starts smiling. Here's the lyrics;
"What Can Little Boys Do When They Try" written and copyrighted by Steve Kolander
If a cow can jump the moon and pigs can learn to fly
What can little boys do when they try
Run and catch a frog, learn to ride a dog
What can little boys do when they try
Find a great big tree, carve a boat and sail the seas
What can little boys do when they try
Build a rocket made of cans, launched with rubber bands
What can little boys do when they try
Try, try, try
What can little boys do when they try, try, try
Anything can happen when you try, try, try
What can little boys do when they try
If a big, bad wolf can smile and three pigs can laugh and cry
What can little boys do when they try
Learn to ride a bike with their hands up in the sky
What can little boys do when they try
Tame a lion with a chair
Juggle monkeys, hug a bear
What can little boys do when they try
Learn to go to bed when their pillow hits their head
What can little boys do when they try
Repeat Chorus and go to bed
Tags: father, son, baby, newborn, infant, family, guitar, music, country, steve kolander, dads decoded