Day 245 - Guess We're All 'Counting Stars'

Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I've been, I've been praying hard
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be, we'll be counting stars

In the past few days, that song has found its way into my consciousness and embedded itself deep within my brain. It started as most earworms do. A person hears it either on a commercial or TV shows. Then, said person will inevitably begin humming it nonchalantly wherever they go. Finally, said person makes the mistake of looking up said song on YouTube and playing it in the presence of a certain baby. Of course, you'd think the story would end there but you are sadly mistaken.

Instead, baby begins full-body dancing. The rhythmic gyrations, the 'Night at the Roxbury' style head bob, the arms waving above her head. You see, once I saw that occur, I knew I couldn't deprive her of that experience. Therefore, instead of 'Counting Stars', I'm instead counting the number of times I've heard the song. Unfortunately, I've since lost count. It's ok though because I'm just listening to the song whereas poor Ellie is legitimately counting stars as a side-effect of her new found upright mobility.

I'm highly doubting Calvin and Hobbes listen to OneRepublic...

The first example of such takes us back to last evening. As I was at church for our Wednesday night services, I began receiving a series of texts from Bethany. The first of which was a picture of Ellie accompanied by a simple caption reading "I hit my head :'(". Sure enough I glanced at the photo to see Ellie hadn't just hit her head. No, the massive bruise on her forehead showed that she had head-butted something at a much greater rate of speed than she is normally capable of.

Of course, I asked Bethany what had occurred like any moderately curious person would. Ellie, while playing with her laundry hamper, had lost her balance, careening headfirst into the corner of her dresser. Right where she hit was aligned with one of the big veins running through her head resulting in the epic bruise you saw in the photo. Now, I figured Ellie (and us) would learn a lesson from her clumsiness. I may have figured wrong on that one.

Who knew bruises grew overnight? ;)

Fast forward to today. One of my favorite places to hang out in our house is on the floor in front of our staircase. It provides a natural pillow, is right next to the radio, and within sight of the big front windows. It really is the perfect place. Of course, with me laying right there today, Ellie decided it was the perfect place for her to play as well. Back and forth she would crawl over my chest, lazily sliding off every time she reached an edge. All was well and good until she changed her goal as a song she liked (not 'Counting Stars') appeared on the radio.

At that point, she removed herself from my chest and pushed herself to a stand. There she stood, waving wildly, "singing" at the top of her lungs, and bobbing her head in something less than unison with the song. Then, it happened. Ellie lost her balance, tumbling backwards straight into the corner of our bookshelf. She looked at me, big blue eyes shimmering in the sunlight as tears welled up inside. Before I knew it, the tears were rolling down Ellie's cheeks as she screamed out in pain. Picking her up in my arms, I held and consoled my daughter until the moment had passed and she was back to her normal self.

So, as you can plainly see, we're all living out 'Counting Stars' in our own way, shape, and form. Bethany and I with the song eternally stuck in our heads. Well, at least until a new song invades that space. As for Ellie? She's going to keep counting stars in a different fashion. That is until she gets her sea legs under her. However long that'll take. #DaddyWrite

P.S.: Why does the music video to 'Counting Stars' feature an alligator/crocodile wandering around a vacated, dilapidated apartment building? Can't someone just call animal control to take care of that? I don't get it...

I'm not sure how to tell you, but that's not an alligator. It's just a guy in a magic dragon costume...