Last week, one morning before Mommy left for work, I snapped a picture of her holding you. Though I see the two of you in person every day, there was something about seeing you both in that photograph, which reminded me of what I already know:
Half of the population of our household consists of beautiful, lovely ladies.
While your brother and I serve as the court jesters and the adventure enthusiasts, it is you and Mommy who bring a necessary sense of elegance to our home.
That’s not to say that your brother and I don’t inevitably influence you to appreciate things like the Incredible Hulk; that on your own, you might not naturally gravitate towards.
In fact, I have you convinced that your class pet, a dwarf hamster named Gus Gus, drives a big pick-up truck. Each morning as I’m dropping you off at your school, you now have a routine and verifying with me:
“Gus Gus drive truck.”
You’re asking me…. but you’re also telling me. I always assure you that indeed, Gus Gus drives a truck. Admittedly, I’m confused on some of the logistics on how that could be true. Maybe sort of an updated version of Ralph S. Mouse…
But you know what a truck is. You know what a Jeep is. And you know that those are desired vehicles to be driven by humans and/or dwarf hamsters.
Still though, our boyish influence on you is ultimately to serve as irony against the naturally girly ways that you and Mommy so effortless display.
I just don’t see it in the cards for you to be a tom boy.
Instead, you’re a girly girl who has an appreciation for Marvel and Star Wars related characters. But I’m pretty sure you’d still choose Peppa Pig over Chewbacca.
With you having an older brother, especially one who is predictably into Marvel super heroes, it is no surprise that he has taught you how to make “the Incredible Hulk face”.
I started noticing on our trip to Lake Tahoe, that instead of seeing your sweet little smile, you were showing Mommy and me this hilarious grimace instead: a mix between funny and painful.
We even shot a family selfie inspired by the face we kept seeing you make:
Granted, this may be a side effect of the fact your brother is currently going through a phase where he is purposely making silly faces when I try to take his picture. So maybe your Hulk face is your attempt to make the faces he’s making.
Either way, you really enjoy making the Hulk face. You know it’s going to get an immediate laugh from Mommy and me whenever you do it.
Even now has I’m writing this, I’m realizing that perhaps, psychologically, you are at a stage now where you’ve realized you have the ability to make people laugh; and that that’s a good thing.
Your brother is undeniably a funny boy. So it only makes sense his sense of humor is going to rub off on you, as the two of you ultimately by default try to make the other one laugh.
Of course, you’re still a little girl; beyond being able to do a pretty accurate Hulk face.
I shot a quick video of you making the face, in which it didn’t take long for you to start showing off your baby dolls and Minnie Mouse.
It was your way of saying, “Daddy, it’s fun to pretend to be a scary monster, but I want to remind you that what I really like doing is playing with my girly toys right here.”
Having visited the Wizard World Atlanta Comic Con this past June in Atlanta and seen all the Marvel characters there, Mommy and I decided it would be a good decision for our family to drive the luxurious Lexus RX 450h to downtown Nashville this past weekend to see Marvel Universe Live!
Even though we live in Nashville, as a family we only visit downtown a few times per year. So I took advantage of using the GPS to remind myself how to get to the Bridgestone Arena, while we all listened to classic Christmas tunes on Sirius XM.
I am pleased to say that the show was completely appropriate and relevant for you; having just turned 4 years old a few weeks ago.
You have recently gained great interest in watching Power Rangers on Netflix. It was that same type of thrilling, over-the-top action in the Marvel Universe Live show that you were exposed to, only instead of on a laptop screen, you got to see it live in person, while sitting in between Mommy and Daddy.
I paid attention to all the families around us and they seemed to be as excited as we were to be there.
One of my favorite parts was the getting to see the nonstop motorcycle tricks. Conveniently, most of the Avengers (Captain America, Black Widow, Bruce Banner before he becomes the Hulk, Wolverine, Spiderman. etc.) all drive motorcycles while constantly “popping wheelies.”
I was so impressed when Captain America jumped up a ramp unto a ledge; it had to be at least 15 feet high!
And of course there were constantly explosions going on; one of the bad buys even “caught on fire” and ran around on flames.
Mommy’s favorite part was when Spiderman “stood upside-down” on the Green Goblin’s glider.
Speaking of flying, there was a lot of that going on the entire show!
I’m pretty sure your favorite part was when Bruce Banner turned into the Hulk.
How awesome!
The crowd went wild when that happened. It was awesome to see. Our seats happened to be right where that was taken place.
However, my warmest memory of Mommy and I taking you to see Marvel Universe Live was during intermission. Our friends the Van Dykes ended up winning the giveaway I did on the Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog.
So as we were speaking to them, I happened to look down at you, as you were sitting on Mommy’s lap, looking to the aisle with your hand raised up in the air.
I then saw that a vendor was selling illuminating toy swords and you wanted one. It didn’t help that Jackson, the Van Dykes’ 3 year-old son, had gotten one at the beginning of the show.
I offered to buy you any $15 Transformer you wanted instead, knowing we were going to Target the next morning…
All I can say is you’re one lucky kid. It didn’t take much more than a frantic look from you, knowing that was your only chance to get one of those swords, and you had convinced Mommy and me to bascially beg the vendor to take our $25 so we could get you that sword.
And boy you were proud. Just as I expected, this sword was not simply an impulse buy.
The next morning, Mommy and I found you in bed, clutching the sword. From there, we went to go see Santa at Bass Pro Shop; and you guessed it, you took the sword!
We had a wonderful time as a family and I would recommend Marvel Universe Live to any families who would like to see non-stop action, explosions, fires, motorcycle stunts, martial arts, and “flying” Marvel characters.
I hope Marvel Universe Live returns to Nashville next year!
Love,
Daddy
Catch up on the entire series of the Lexus RX 450h Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!
It’s a big, dangerous world out there and it’s my job to keep this little bambino safe. But I must channel my fears into positive, rational energy.
There is plenty of truth in the stereotype that parents are over-protective with their first child. I know, because I’m living it right now. Subconsciously, I preview every potentially dangerous situation for Jack; no matter how improbable.
I am Jack’s protector- I can not let anything bad happen to him. Like Bruce Banner (the Incredible Hulk), I can instantly turn into the biggest beast of a monster in an effort to protect him. So while I am an average-looking, mild-mannered man, all it takes is Jack being in potential danger for me to transform into a potential killing machine.
But what is most relevant is that I prepare for Jack’s safety in every situation. So that I never have to rescue or save him. Being over-protective means preventing dangerous situations; not just worrying about them happening all the time.
For my 10th birthday on April 20th, 1991, my parents bought me exactly what I wanted the most: Bible Adventures, the Nintendo game. (Yes, it actually existed!) The game was modeled after my favorite video game ever, Super Mario Bros. 2, in that you could carry items above your head and throw them at enemies.
The most interesting (and disturbing!) thing in Bible Adventures was that if you played as Moses’ sister Miriam, you held baby Moses over your head and for some unexplainable reason, if you pressed the B button, you would throw the infant Moses onto the ground…
Miraculously, he would never be injured; whether you tossed him onto the hard concrete sidewalk, on top of a giant mutant spider, directly into a guard throwing spears, or into the river. But I was a 10 year-old boy, so I didn’t let the physical practicality or the Biblical incorrectness of the game bother me too much. But I did have a lot of fun repeatedly throwing baby Moses onto the sidewalk and watching him bounce, cry for a second, then instantly start smiling again. Needless to say, Bible Adventures did not receive the Nintendo Seal of Approval.
Since the day Jack was born, I have always been fearful that I will drop him; knowing that unlike the invincible Nintendo version of baby Moses, my son would not simply bounce and smile afterwards. So now that he is beginning to crawl, it means I carry him around less. Which means I worry less about dropping him, and more about him getting into all kinds of other troubles.
With good reason, I worry about him drowning, being run over by a car, getting electrocuted, choking, falling, getting attacked by a dog, or maybe even getting swooped up by a long-lost pterodactyl. It even scares me to type my fears aloud, even if the last one was a joke.
I am the Papa Bear. I will do whatever it takes to protect Mama Bear and Baby Bear. Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.
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