Fatherhood, etc.

Gwen has been going nuts lately. She's been learning all sorts of new words, and walking all over the place, and doing little tricks that just add to her already unbelievable amount of cuteness. I know I'm biased, but it's true. She's really really cute.

The latest in her long line of words is "Ball". (I'll be honest, it comes out "Bow" or "Baa"). She's so proud of knowing what a ball is...she walks or crawls over to her ball, picks it up and holds it over her head, and yells "BAA!" with all of her might. It's so cute, and she's such a smart and precocious little girl. Another fun saying that we taught her over the holidays is "Ho Ho Ho!". She's still saying it, of course, because to her every day is worthy of "Ho Ho Ho". It's made for some pretty funny conversations, since we taught her to say it in response to us asking, "What does Santa say?"

Last night I did a little test.
"What does Santa say?"
"Ho Ho Ho!!!"
"GOOD! What does Mommy say?"
"Ho HO HO!!!!!"
"Hehe, yep. What does Daddy say?"
"Ho Ho Ho!!!"

Obviously there are a few kinks to work out in our routine, but she's still just a doll. I look at myself and can't believe that I'm the father of this beautiful kid. I mean, in my head, I'm still a kid. Look in my basement -- you'll find my Star Wars figures, old and new. I am by no means a grownup. Yet here I am, with this beautiful little child that loves me so blindly (and believe me, I return the thought). It's seriously wonderful. I'm rambly again.

The poor little girl has a cold, though. I had plans to be the savior of the entire World of Warcraft last night (or at least play for a few hours), but my designs were thwarted by a crying baby with a snotty nose and a wracking cough. I had to punk out on Lundo and Amy in order to attend to said crying baby, but (as always happens) she started sleeping soundly. I ended up going to bed at like 10:00. Heh.

Yesterday's posting spawned almost immediate email conversation, and suddenly my super secret metal band GHOLA (the worst-kept secret in the history of anything ever) is meeting tomorrow night, complete with none other than Chad at the helm of the Starship Drummerprize. (Ooh, quick! Someone get me a photoshop of the Enterprise with like...a cymbal for the saucer and some sticks for the engines or something!) I'm excited for some music playing. Hellz yeah.

I just opened my desk drawer and realized that I still have blow-pops from Halloween. Wow. So, I'm enjoying one as we speak. It's a delicious sour apple that will soon yield its bounty of sawdust flavored gum, and for that, I'm excited to the billionth power. Hooray for random confection finds.