Wakey, Wakey!

I was sick on Father’s Day. It’s my fault – Ian also has a cold, and I made fun of the way he was talking. That’s just bad mojo.

I didn’t fall asleep until about 3:30 the night before, and so three hours later decided to skip early-service choir. At 8:30, Kelly had left, and I started to hear the warning signs of Ian’s emergence: singing, talking, and various thumping sounds which indicate either Ian’s jumping in his crib, or the previous night’s book(s) hitting the wall and/or floor.

It’s never a good idea to have a two-year-old wandering loose while you’re in the shower, so I shuffled toward the bathroom before getting Ian from his room.

CREAK! (We have hard-wood floors.) Ian’s singing stops, and he pauses. ‘Daddy? Daddy! Daaaaaady!’ Busted – he knows I’m there.

Before he was so articulate, I would’ve left Ian in his room until I’d finished my morning ablution. We can usually count on 20 minutes or so of self-entertainment before Ian really needs our attention. But something struck me in the way he said my name; I just couldn’t resist the call.

It wasn’t that I feared a melt-down. And, as often can happen, I didn’t sigh and roll my eyes, or resignedly hunch my shoulders as I made my way to Ian’s door. My son wanted to see me, and didn’t care that I was sick or had only a few hours’ sleep. And I wanted to see him, too.

So I opened the door.

Ian jumped to his feet, and shouted, ‘Daddy!’ I gave him a hug, and explained that I needed to shower, but that I’d be right back (You have to use the phrase ‘right back’, or else he panics.). I gave him a few books and turned on the radio – five minutes later, I’m rinising my hair, and he and I are shouting back and forth at each other:

‘Do bah, do bah, vah vah vah vah vvvvvvvvvv!’

‘Blah blah, bloo blee dah!’

‘Bye bye bye bye bye bye!’

Maybe it’s my fault we only understand half of what the kid says.

A year ago, Ian didn’t call me ‘daddy’, and he’d cry to get our attention in the morning. Now he’s politely asking for my attention, and helping me get dressed.