Life Milestones: 44th Presidential Inauguration & Potty Training

As I woke this morning, I was excited to see the 44th Presidential Inauguration. The first time in history that an African American became the President of the United States of America. The greatest Country on Earth. As we headed of to daycare and work in the morning as we do every workday; Preston said, "Dad - PooPoo". I said, okay, do you want to go in your potty? Yes, he replied. So, I helped and he did his business... I was thrilled inside because this was the first time I experienced this moment. I was so proud of him and as I praised him, he was proud of himself. We high fived and laughed. It was a moment that I will never forget. This was a huge milestone in his development as a toddler and where we are at in his potty training. While at daycare he has been working on this with Karen and Amanda has also been working with him too. However, this was the first time he expressed he needed to go and indicated to me where he should go.

I was so proud as you can tell. We dashed to school and I headed to work... well at work, we were on the internet watching the activities of the 44th Presidential Inauguration. I didn't care about meetings or deadlines, but only to watch or have a piece of history. Our country has made great strides, but we will have to continue through this journey. As I was watching the news via the internet, I was thinking about Preston and what he was doing during this time. Well, from the note Karen sent out... it appears he was also watching a piece of history.



Note from Daycare:

We deviated from our planned activities for today to watch the Presidential
inauguration festivities on TV. They played for most of it. But I
had them sit to watch the swearing in ceremony and captured it on camera.
This is definitely a history making day and some day our children might be so
inclined to talk about how they witnessed it. Enjoy.



Have a
blessed day.

Karen Charles

What a great day to be an American and a Dad!!!!

Remember the little things...

I realized this morning what counts are the little things. This morning Preston and I got ready to get going for the day and as we headed down stairs he wanted his "Mimi", it's a fleece blanket my mother gave him when he was baby. This is one of a couple "Mimi's" he's adopted or added to his collection. Just like the stuff animal characters which my wife and I call his "gang".

This morning, I told him, you have to leave your "Mimi" here at the house. He replied, "No, I want my Mimi". I already had my briefcase, lunch bag, his backpack for school so i was preventing one more thing to carry out to the car. Oh, he had his "Yellow Bear" with him too. So, I told him, I will carry your "Mimi". As I was locking the door I threw his "Mimi" on the couch. Then we headed to the car and he asked... "Where's my Mimi", I said, you have Yellow Bear, "Dad, I want my "Mimi". I realized... that moment in time, he wanted his "Mimi" and if this was going to make him happy... I was going to let him take his "Mimi". I gave him his "Mimi" and he said..."Mimiiiiii". I knew that made his morning and it made mine to see him cover himself with it.

I have to remember...it's those little things!

(The "Mimi" shown in the picture July 2007 on a flight to El Paso for the 4th of July)

Sunday at the Park

Well, yesterday morning I got up and cleaned up a little... our maid didn't make it so, I often try to pick up so that the house looks semi decent. However, I am realizing that with a little picking up it can sometimes it goes a long way...Well after doing that; I went to Starbucks and grabbed my usual - Grande Non-Fat Latte with two Splenda's to be exact and the Sunday paper. I quickly look at the Sports and Business sections for any major headlines. The Dallas Cowboys are not in the Playoffs and the Economy is in a downward spiral. When I got home both Amanda and I started to look at the paper... she'll tackle the specials while I grab the comics for Preston. It was about 10:00 a.m. and I could tell Preston was ready for something different. I asked him if he wanted to ride his Jeep. Sure enough the answer was "Okay" in his cute little voice. So, I was excited since the weather was very beautiful that morning.

We enjoyed the backyard for a while and he rode his jeep while I chased him around. We also played our ball game. I will line up the variety of balls he has from a soccer ball, basketball, football to random cartoon character plastic balls. He will line up the balls from the smallest to the biggest; then the count down begins...1-2-3 there goes Preston kicking/throwing the balls. It's fun to watch him because he gets so excited. We played this a couple of times then he thought it was fun to peg Dad with the balls. I have to say, he likes to play rough sometimes and he gets a such a kick out of the rough stuff. He is such a little boy! Well, after playing in the backyard, I thought it would be fun to go the park. That's when the real fun started...

Once at the Park by our house, we noticed we had the park all to ourselves. I told him, Preston it's only you and me at the park. We have it all to ourselves. We played and I would chase him around and we would laugh. He was the leader and I would follow the obstacle course he had me going through. I loved going down the slides and swinging... I even told myself... what a great stress reliever!!! Heck-I might have been having more fun than Preston. Preston would stand on top of the slide and say "I am King"!!! This is one of his new little phrases. I am not sure which cartoon he got this from. Anyhow, I had such a blast running around with him and laughing. I had to take a break to rest. I told myself this is fun and the weather is so beautiful. The fresh air was great!!! I was so thankful for the gift of time with my son. I looked up at the blue clear sky and said...Thank you God for these moments.

I had a great time at the Park! Love you Preston!!

Back to work - after the Holidays...

Today was my first day back to work after taking some time off for the holidays. I felt like a school boy again - anxious and nervous about going back to work. Preston and I both had to get back into our morning routine. He was excited about going back to daycare since he was also on a little break spending time with Amanda and I during the holidays. Mornings are bonding moments for us... He loves to lay in bed and watch Franklin and Blues Clues while I am getting ready. Then it's his turn to brush his teeth and get ready for school. It's sometimes a challenge, but we manage.

This morning he was very excited as he was rushing me to hurry to get ready..."come on Daadd - go to schoool". Then he would change gears on me and ask me, "where Grandma, Grandpa and Aunteeeee?" He got use to seeing my Mom, Dad and sister as they took time to come visit us for Christmas.

We both left the house with plenty of time and I was able to drop him off at daycare with enough time for me to jump on the freeway and start my busy Monday back at the office.

I have to admit, it was hard leaving him at daycare because I enjoyed spending time with him....I wish I could spend every day with him. All I could think of today while in various meetings was getting home to give my baby boy a big hug and see how his day at daycare went. I knew he was excited to see and play with his buddies. The best thing is getting home and being greeted by Preston and Amanda ...oh and little Maddi (even though I will not always admit it).

Ray's Intro to Blogging

Well...what can I say? My wife Amanda recently created a blog, "Mommy Diaries" to capture her thoughts/memories about our son Preston. I never thought I would create my own blog especially when I am busy with keeping up with work, life and wrapping up my MBA studies and e-mail, etc. However, here I am creating a blog. Blogging has been around for a couple of years and I never really found an interest until now. That's not to say I haven't read other blogs related to Human Resources. I would use Microsoft Word as a Diary about my life and a way to express my life events. And to someday share with Preston when he is older as well as for me to be able to go back remember...yes I am starting to forget as I get older! :)

I want Preston to go back someday and read my blog as well as his mommies. We are so lucky to have Preston. I get so sad to think how he is growing up so fast. I am trying to capture and absorb every moment. He is such a smart, silly and athletic little boy. He has an amazing memory. Both Amanda and I are so surprised with the way he catches on to things. We are both very proud parents. I am so fortunate that God has blessed me with so many gifts in life. Preston and Amanda are my everything. God definately has the master plan to my life and I feel that I am blessed in more ways than one.

I plan on looking back at some of my notes and highlighting/blogging events from 2006, 2007 and 2008...wow, you see... time goes by so fast. It's now January 2009. So much has happened in the past three years. I am so glad that Amanda loves to take pics, because we have tons of pics that have captured precious moments. I hope that with this blog I can cherish and share many memories about my life and my family.

2009 will be a busy year for me as I plan on wrapping up my MBA in Accounting and achieve certain professional goals. But one thing is for sure, I plan on spending even more quality time wth my son and wife.

Happy New Year!!!

Ray V.