One of the feelings that I remember most leading up to
Ellie's birth is nervousness. Now, obviously I was nervous for the 18 years of
child-rearing that I knew lay ahead. That's not really the nervousness I'm
talking about though. No, instead I was much more nervous for how I thought my
life would have to change. You see, I'm a relatively independent person. I've
always enjoyed going on little mini adventures, chasing weird obsessions, and
basically doing what I want (within reason of course).
So, when Ellie was born and I began staying at home with
her, I was 100% convinced that I was going to have to grow up and mature. Basically,
I believed it was called a stay-at-home dad
for a reason. Shows how much or how little I know. If I'm being truthful, all
that has changed is that I now have my own little sidekick to go on all of
these random adventures with. Now, whether she enjoys it or not is up to your interpretation.
Today was really a day absolutely chock-full of little
adventures for Ellie and me. It started off with us playing taxi for my
sister-in-law, Nicole. You see, Nicole was heading to Higginsville to catch a
ride to a wedding near Lake Michigan. If you were wondering (or are bad at
geography like me), Lake Michigan is indeed near the state of Michigan. Nicole
and I have actually been friends for a long time so it's always fun to spend a
little time hanging out and catching up. However, I didn't actually realize
just how much Ellie would want to be involved in the conversation.
You see, it's become normal for me to talk to Ellie whenever
the two of us are on a car ride. I figure it's good for her development to hear
semi-complete sentences and also to just have her daddy be interested in her
existence. I mean, it's not like she's an inanimate object or anything like
that. So, as a result, Ellie now expects to be engaged in riveting conversation
anytime she's in the car. Basically the entire trip, Ellie babbled more than a
brook (#DadJoke). However, the best part of her babbling is that she's getting
super close to saying "Dada". In fact, she has been making a
"Dada" sound. However, I think it's questionable that she even knows
what she's saying because, well, because she's a baby.
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| Ellie's future response to #DadJokes |
Now, I realize that my hook for this blog post dealt with my
minor obsessions and forcing my sweet daughter to accompany me on all sorts of
bunny tracks. Today, the ultimate bunny track appeared for the taking. You see,
for quite some time, I've had an affinity for Taco John's. Many a Tuesday night
in college was spent leaving campus to fill my stomach with some sweet taco
goodness. Now, I find myself without a Taco John's nearby to satisfy my
cravings leading the chain to ascend to near-legendary status in my mind.
Keeping all of that in mind, you can imagine my shock and
surprise when I saw a billboard advertising Taco John's in Odessa. As soon as I
saw those nine letters, nothing was going to keep me from stopping. So with
baby in tow, we headed into Odessa, found the restaurant, picked up the order
via drive-thru, and headed towards town to find a nice place to park. Once I
did so, I happily partook of my meal while Ellie sat in the back seat confused
by her father's apparent excitement.
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| Clearly, Ellie finds this just as riveting as I. |
Once I finished my meal, I decided rather than backtracking
to the interstate the way I had come, I would just find my own way.
Unfortunately I didn't realize just how much of an undertaking that would be.
For starters, Ellie's navigational skills leave much to be desired. Not only
did she not know true north, she also failed to read any of the road signs when
we passed them. We eventually ended up not on the interstate, but beside it. In
fact, we drove alongside the interstate for nearly twenty miles before find a
place to hop back on. Unfortunately for us, Ellie's navigational shortcomings
had led us right into a traffic jam created by road construction. It was there
that we came to a complete stop and Ellie's rousing conversation changed from
mere small talk to something more akin to "Are we there yet?".
By the time we finally exited the traffic jam and resumed
normal speed, Ellie had been fussing in her boredom for quite some time.
Luckily for me, the answer for all that ailed sweet Ellie was a little speed.
In fact, she even resumed the cute babbling that I've come to love and adore as
opposed to the loud fussiness I've come to disdain.
I guess though I need to learn the lesson of listening to
Ellie in both good and bad situations early. It shouldn't be too bad doing so
as long as she remembers to put up with my weird obsessions in return. Because
as everyone knows, "There's a whole lot of Mexican going on, going on at
Taco John's." #DaddyWrite
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| We've all discussed it; it's time for a Taco John's Intervention... |
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