Author: Mark

Tonight, the three of us will be getting dressed up as… CHARACTERS FROM SUPER MARIO BROS! Niko is Bowser. I am Mario. Nina is Princess Peach. Nina and I didn’t have a choice as Niko chose for everybody, even himself. I know Niko is excited for tonight because he gets candy. On Friday at work,…

Even though I have been doing short evening walks since June, that is the only thing I am having success at. I stopped walking from September 29th through October 15th, mainly because during that time, Niko was waking up super early and that means, I am up also. I had no motivation to walk as…

For the past several weeks, those three words; I DON’T KNOW, has been the answer to most of the questions posed to him. It’s actually funny, because he says it in a funny tone! Sometimes, I answer him in those three words and both of us laugh. Talk about laughing, I absolutely love it when…

Tomorrow, I have to go back to work at my work from office after being off since September 30th. Even though I really wanted to do some fun things with Niko, we only ended up doing one thing fun and that was washing the Mama Mobile inside and out. One of the biggest reasons why…

I have been off from work since last Thursday and don’t return to my work from home office until Monday, October 11th. Time off for me is always nice, but when it does happen, Nina puts in more work at home for her job. So, basically, it will be a lot of me and Niko….

When we first purchased Minecraft for the Nintendo Switch, Niko didn’t like it as it was hard to navigate and requires lots of reading to know what things are. Well, flash forward a few months, and now, Niko is a pro at Minecraft. The things he builds are amazing and remember, he is only 5…

It’s Friday, September 17th and I have no clue what to write about. When I asked Niko for suggestions, he told me not to write anything for the next few weeks because I am a precious little guy! I was like, that is nice, but I like writing even if it’s just a few sentences….

It’s 2:30 am, what are you doing? Me, my Apple Watch is vibrating to an alarm I have set and I have to wake up from a glorious sleep full of beautiful dreams to wake up a sleeping Niko so he can do a really quick pee. One thing I make sure before this happens…

It feels like every year since Nina and I have been together, I always take her birthday (last Thursday) off which is also right around Labor Day (tomorrow). I enjoy my time off, but I don’t have the luxury to be able to do nothing and sleep all day; which would be great for me!…

If I was put on a quiz show to answer who won the NBA Championship, the Super Bowl, and the World Series since 2016, I would fail! I have a perfect reason and that is Niko as he was born in 2016. I have more important things in life than doing things that I used…

Seeing Niko happy makes me happy. A few days ago, I used our old baby gate to make a fort for Niko. I forgot, though, that as part of the gate was also the gate (duh) that opens and closes. I showed Niko how it works and he was blown away and super excited to…

Had I known that rolling, throwing, kicking, and bouncing a ball from the Little Tikes basketball hoop indoors would be so much fun for Niko, I would’ve done it more often. Yesterday, we did it three times. We do have to take drinking and cooling off breaks for both of us. It’s good physical activity…

This isn’t about the 1991 Julia Roberts movie. No, this is actually much better. For the past two Thursday’s, I have slept with Niko. I can only do it when I don’t have to work the following day. I also can’t do it more regularly like every Friday and Saturday, because we always seem to…

Nina had minor surgery on July 23rd and is doing great in her recovery. I had July 23rd, July 26th, July 30th, and August 6th off from work and it was nice not to have to work and take care of Niko at the same time. Because, when I did have to work, it was…

Man, I have worn out those three words with Niko and I know he dislikes it when they come out of my mouth. One of my primary jobs as a dad is to make sure he is careful and doesn’t get hurt. He is just so playful and full of energy and sometimes can be…

On July 23rd, Nina had minor surgery on her back; don’t worry, she is doing good and each day is better than the previous. Dr. Dad and Nurse Niko are taking good care of her. We make sure she has drinks in the mini fridge upstairs and I have been providing lots of hot meals…

Niko stopped taking naps in November of 2019, right when I started my MBA at Western Governors University. Yeah great timing. Well, a few days ago, he woke up super early. It was so early that my work alarm for 7 am hadn’t even gone off yet. I was able to make his breakfast and…

When Niko wakes up in the middle of the night before we are scheduled to get him for a quick pee or in the morning, he instinctively yells DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. He even did it a few weeks ago when I was not even home in the morning as I was physically at work. I can hear…

Man, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I started writing on www.thestatmanspeaks.com. My first article on July 17, 2011, was about high school football. See, I was a high school football statistician for games on the radio (1997 to 2015) and for games on the television (2009 to 2015). I really fell in…