Riv

It's been a while since I've changed a diaper.  My wife does it for a living in her Day Home.

Yet here I am, tossing legs, wiping up messes, and fastening up nice little cozy containers over my new son's lower area.  Even though it's been 10 years, it all comes back to me.  Like riding a bike.

Little River was born almost 7 weeks ago.  God help him but I've been scolding him for being so handsome.  I say "where did you get those handsomes from?"  The next day wagging my finger at him, I'll say, "How many more handsomes are in there?  Two?!  Three?!"  He has yet to respond.

My little guy has been pretty fussy, compared to his big brothers.  At least, that's how we remember it.  This little guy has a combination of rituals, a routine that unlocks the sleepy lands.  We've got him jiggled, shushed, and cuddled.  Once he goes through 2 or 3 crying cycles he finally hits the sleeping sweet spot and then we can put him down in his little crib.

His crib is sort of like the Ferrari of cribs.  It shifts and bobs on 4 or 5 different settings.  It has a whole section of white noise sounds.  Once River is set up in his ride, he'll usually good to sleep for anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes.  That's where we're at right now.

Overall, as a new dad again, I think this time I can really settle in to enjoy things a bit more.  When Miles was born, it broke my heart every time he cried his little tears.  With River, I can't help but laugh and console him as best as I can.  I am way more laid back in that way.

Jonas loves spending time with River.  He holds him all the time.  Atll the time, that is, until he gets "too hot", at which point, he is passed on to me.  But Jonas loves looking at him and he thinks he's funny and cute.

Miles doesn't like holding River.  He'd rather read a book.  However, he does show love to him.  He also thinks River does some pretty neat things.  He noted that River's cry sometimes starts off like a cat's meow.  Since Miles likes cats, I expected him to make that comment.  You can see it in Miles' eyes that he is pretty content and intrigued to have a much littler brother around.

Obviously, the hero of this story is Barbara.  She's seen a ton of babies and has had a heart for each and every one that comes across her care.  Yet it is neat to see the deeper, and more vivid love she shows to River.  She's spent every waking and sleeping hour next to the little guy, and because of the way she is, she still responds to his little actions with surprise and joy.  As if he were new each and every day.  And I guess it's sort of true that he is a newer version of himself each day.

Last week, while I was holding him, she said, "I love it when other people hold him because then I can look at him more."

These are the thoughts for now.  It's been a lot of work and a whole lot of fun having this new guy around.

Riv with big brother Jonas

And... we're back!

I haven't posted on here in almost 2 and a half years.  The thing is that I moved over to brettgitzel.com, and thus spent money on a blog basically just to have it named after myself.

Turns out, that wasn't the wisest financial decision.  Instead of continuing to spend money on posting my thoughts, I figured I could just continue posting them up on here for free.

With that, I will give you the thought of the day...

Halloween as come and gone.  This year I never got around to dressing up.  Instead, I enjoyed living the fun out through my 2 older boys.  They love dressing up.  They love everything that comes with Halloween.

I also ate a lot of their chocolate bars.  Too many, but only once a year, so in moderation.

I once heard someone say something profound about Halloween.  I will butcher the quote, but basically it goes, "Halloween is the only day of the year when people get to be who they really want to be.  It's the only day of the year when they don't wear a mask."

Since hearing it, I've thought of that quote every year.  So, thought for the day...

What's my mask?  What do I wear that keeps me hidden from others?

For me, I hide behind a lot of masks.  We all do.  And, I guess, having that realization is the first step towards dealing with it.  Declaring that you need to deal with it is probably the second step.  That's sort of where I'm at.

The main mask I can think of is a thin, yet solid layer that covers the surface of my face.  It keeps me shallow, and surface-levelled.  Of course, this is a societal mask, but the fact that I've given in to it and made it a foundation in my own life is what I have to live with. 

The ideal way to break out of this would be to gather together with others and carve out some time to talk about what's underneath. 

This past weekend I was able to have 3 genuinely real conversations with people.  We sat down, and we talked about life, and goodness, and what God might be like.  It was all very beautiful. 

I encourage all who read this to delve into removing a mask or two.  We all got 'em, but we don't need 'em.

peace.  Brett