Boy Time

On Saturday, my boys went to the UK football together. Just Brad and Jake. 


There are times that I think men have no clue how much what they do impacts their kids. I know that Brad doesn't seem to realize how important it is for him to do these things with Jake. I know that he knows that this means a lot to Jake, because it means a lot to him. But, he doesn't acknowledge that it's a big deal. He chooses to treat things as "no big deal." Part of that is because there isn't much in life that Brad considers "a big deal." And, like his father, Jake doesn't seem to be overly-excited about much either. They have that same personality... sometimes emotional about things you don't expect them to be emotional about, but typically not emotional about much. Of course, Bailey and I don't get that at all, but we are the complete opposite. There's not much in the world that we don't make a big deal about. lol. We can't help it any more than they can. 


For me, seeing Brad and Jake heading to the ballgame together was priceless. Maybe it was a bit of foreshadowing in my mind... a relationship that I can see for them in the future. The "my dad is my hero" type of attitude that I can see emerging from Jake at some given point (much sooner than later). You know, the kind of admiration where he goes to school and tells his buddies, "my dad is so strong, he could beat up your dad." Don't you remember those conversations from the little boys you knew? OK... maybe that only happened with my brothers because my dad was a former boxer. If that's the case, then maybe you all think I'm crazy. lol. Oh well, what's new?! I don't encourage him to think that his dad would beat up anyone else's dad, though. :) 


Anyway, I remember watching my dad and my middle brother establish this really cool relationship (Colt did, too, but Cory's is more memorable to me because it was something new for me to understand... by the time Colt came around, I expected it). Cory was probably about 5 before I really remember seeing it happen. There was this connection that they had... and I am so excited about that for Jake and Brad. Right now, Jake is mommy's little baby. He loves being my little baby. He even tells me he isn't a big boy because he is my little baby. And I am taking it while I can get it. I know it will only be a couple of years before he will think it's not cool for me to kiss him in public. He will want daddy to take him to school. He will want daddy to help him on the ballfield (oh, scratch that, he already does, thus the kicking in the outfield). 


I can feel it shifting, especially on days like Saturday, where they do something like this together. You can see it in Jake's little eyes when he looks at Brad. He's already the coolest guy in the world. And, while Jake is still mommy's little baby and he wants to come home to his mommy to snuggle him to sleep, he is already ready to jump in the truck and go with his dad at any given opportunity. You can see it every time he brings me a toy that is broken and declares, "Daddy will fix it." It doesn't matter if I could actually fix it (which I normally can't because by the time they are broken to Jake, they are really destroyed). He wants his daddy to do it. No one else. It's in the adorable way that he wants to pee standing up or in the grass when daddy is around, but decides against that when it is just the two of us. You can see it when he looks at his shirt or shorts and says, "I wook wike daddy" or "This is just wike daddy's shirt." It is there every time he jumps on the trampoline and tells me he can flip like daddy (he does somersaults as opposed to the full out series of flips that his dad does). And, it is in the sprint that he makes for the door when his dad gets home and he starts begging him, "Go jumping wif me?" It's all there... just on the cusp of turning him from my baby to daddy's little man. And, while I would love to keep him my little baby for years and years, I love it that he's  idolizing him so much. There's just nothing sweeter to me than a little boy who loves his daddy so much. It just melts my heart. :)