I am 40 years old, have been married to a beautiful woman for 7 years, and we have an 18-month old son. And, an old adopted old cat! Basically, what I am trying to say is I am a responsible; most of the time, adult. So, because of that and the fact that I have…
Tag: The Dad Speaks
Ode To My Wife – Part 4
My wife is a stay-at-home and a work-from-home mom; how she balances these in addition to taking care of me and Franklin, I have no clue. All I do know is she is doing an awesome job and I really appreciate everything she does. She deserves more than an ode; she deserves a hug and…
S P E L L I N G W O R D S
Just a really quick announcement and it doesn’t involve any human beings; if you know what I mean. I am actually rebranding my writing and photography Facebook pages to one new page at facebook.com/themarkspeaks. So, please go and like it. You will find my sports articles and photos and my daddy blogs; basically it will…
7th Wedding Anniversary
On Tuesday Nina and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. I was planning on picking up dinner for us, but that didn’t happen. After a lot of back and forth text messages regarding food, Nina told me she had some steaks in the freezer; as soon as I saw that, I was like yes, steaks…
Words
Niko is 17 months old and knows a lot of words; what they mean and what they look like. Where did he get his smarts from? He imitates sounds we make and I just love that! I really need to start watching what comes out of my mouth! He also helps clean up his toy…
Baby Dreams
I know Niko dreams, but what does he dream about? Are we in his dreams? Is Franklin cat in his dreams? Are boobs in his dreams? Does he know he is dreaming? Does he have nightmares? Every night and when I put him down for naps, I always tell him I will see him in…
My 2nd Fathers Day and Other Updates
Since June 2nd, Niko has been sleeping wonderfully in his bedroom for nighttime and since June 5th, I have been sleeping wonderfully in my bedroom. If you do the math, I slept with him; not in the crib, but on the air mattress, for his first few days just to make sure he was OK…
Update To Thirteen Months and Firsts
Niko slept till 5am this morning in his room alone in the crib. I guess it was me who was waking him up around 2am or 3am or maybe the cat whom we kept downstairs all night long. The cat meows really loud. I can hear him in both bedrooms clearly. I just need to…
Thirteen Months and Firsts
On Friday, Niko turned 13 months old. OK, so when can I stop referring to his age in months? Niko has several words in his vocabulary and his favorites this week are: out and up. Out…because he loves to go out and explore the world. He doesn’t understand that sometimes we can’t go out because…
Nap Training
On Memorial Day weekend and since I had 3 days off, it was the best opportunity to nap train Niko in his bedroom. Right now, he naps and sleeps overnight in the crib in our bedroom. When he masters this new challenge (which should be a few weeks), we will do night training in his…
Sunday Will Never Be The Same Again (at least for a little while)
I should’ve named this one ODE TO THE WIFE PART 3, but I have always liked the song, “SUNDAY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME,” by Spanky and our Gang (Google it after you read all of my words). Plus, that song is more authentic to what I wrote. Now that I am thinking about it,…
March For Babies
On Saturday, I took Niko for a very early morning walk. I left Nina at home and I am glad as she got some much needed sleeping in time and alone time. It was my 1st time taking him out without any other adult supervision. The night before, Nina and I packed his breakfast, put the…
SA Zoo
On Saturday, we took Niko to the San Antonio zoo to see my parents. I am not at all implying that my mom and dad are animals (well, maybe a little bit)! Even though I have lived in San Antonio for my entire life, I haven’t been to the zoo in quite a long time. …
Niko’s First Birthday
I survived year 1 as a dad and it was awesome, tiring, and a lot of work. And, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Before we even consider having another child, we want to give Niko a few years to be spoiled and of course, we want him to be fully potty trained. So,…
Division of Labor
A few weeks ago, Nina told me she prefers bathing Niko over changing him afterwards and I told her the opposite. When I bathe Niko, I have to wear a shirt and shorts because I don’t want him pulling my hair. Nina goes in nude and really enjoys the skin-to-skin contact and she gets to…
The Dad’s 40th Birthday
On Sunday, I turned 40 years old and where the heck did that white hair come from? I spent Friday with my wife and son eating steak and shopping and on Saturday, I had Chinese food with my family. Nina suggested to me that I should showcase my family to the world by going live because we…
The Babysitter Part 2
On April 9th and for only the 2nd time since Niko was born last May, Nina and I had to get a babysitter for Niko (which ended up being Nina’s mom and my parents). Yes, three people to watch 1 little dude!!! We had purchased tickets last August for Hedwig and The Angry Inch. We (or…
Naps for Niko and the Dad
For the past several weeks, Niko has been sleeping thru the night (finally and yay). That means, no more waking up 3 or 4 times a night with a screaming and hungry baby. That means, mom and dad are getting more sleep. As far as naps, Niko takes 2 naps a day for an average…
The Walking Niko
Within the past few days, Niko has started to walk. It is really funny and fun to watch him because he isn’t yet a master (heck, I haven’t mastered it yet as I am a bit clumsy). I don’t even think he knows what is he doing, but he knows it’s something good because Nina…
The Dad Bod
So, next month, I will be turning 40 years old (or young) and in May, Niko turns 1. No, I won’t do the math for when he turns 16. You can stop with the old jokes right now. I really want to be in good physical shape so I can keep up with Niko as…