That seems awfully presumptive of me doesn’t it? Presumptive? Presumptuous? I dunno, I’n not going to change it. Really though, the important part…
It’s time to meet the boys! There’s no way to cover all that has happened in the last eight years, so I’m just gonna start fresh here. In no particular order, except age ascending, these are my boys:
This is Lincoln, we call him Link. Honestly, we named him Lincoln only because we wanted to use the nickname Link (Yes, the reference above IS from Zelda and I am proud to have named my child with that reference in mind (For those keeping records Link to the Past might be the greatest game ever made (I am quite a fan of Breath of the Wild though. (This rabbit hole was deep)))). I know you’re probably thinking, why would they do that? Well that’s my business and I don’t have to tell you (or I don’t really have a good reason). Link is 3 years old. He’s adorable and he knows it. He says the craziest things and is unintentionally funny. He’s a lover, he likes to call your name and tell you “I love you, you’re the best”. It’s the sweetest thing ever.
He’s smart, too smart. A few months ago, he started this thing where he would ask me if I bought him a toy that he was playing with. In most cases, the answer was no, we’d had the thing for quite a while, but he would insist that I bought it for him. Eventually I relented and just started telling him “Yeah, I bought that for you”. He’d respond with “Thanks Dad, you’re the best!” I mean, of course, I just kept telling him I bought him all the stuff, why wouldn’t I?
Well, turns out the little stinker was using it to his advantage. When his brothers would ask him for a toy, he’d tell them “Dad bought this for me” as a reason to not share. It took me weeks to figure out this was what he was doing. Smart little guy. If you want a snuggle he’s your man, he loves to give hugs.
This is our Rhyster Bunny, who no longer likes to be called Rhyster Bunny. I can’t blame him, I called him “Bunny” for a year or so, then “Buns” for a bit. He still lets me call him Rhyster occasionally. For my friends here in the US, no, this is not the traditional American way to spell “Reece or Reese”, but it is pronounced essentially the same way. This is the Welsh spelling, we really got into British TV several months before he was born and we just loved the spelling. Also, it has a softer “s” sound, more like Reez.
Rhys is determined, he’s a little ball of emotion, often anger is the emotion we see. He’s the one most likely to have a breakdown over nothing. He can be amazingly loving. He loves to sing. He’s constantly singing. I often have to tell him things like, “Buddy, I love your face and I love your singing, but you have to stop for a bit.” or “Rhys, stop.” We often say he is made of music. He’s 5 years old and he picks out and sings harmonies, it’s pretty incredible.
He loves to help if he has chosen to help, he doesn’t love to help if he is told to help. Sometimes we get creative and let him believe he has made the decision to help, this usually makes him feel better about the situation. I would call Rhys street smart, he would probably make a savvy businessman. He’s a bulldozer, he just plows through everything and likely it will be hurt and not him. If you do some back reading on my blog, there’s a little tidbit about me breaking things unintentionally, this was passed on to Rhys.
Lastly and certainly not least, a reintroduction of sorts. This is the boy that make all of this happen. This is Nikolas, we call him Niko, pronounced “Nee-koh”, I realize the quote above may make someone think it’s “Nick-Oh” it’s not, I was just stretching for a quote. He’s 8 years old now, kind, loving, helpful, smart, (Oxford commas are the only way to go. Go ahead and fight me on this one. (Seriously, you’re gonna go into proper grammar and sentence structure after that last horribly structured run-on sentence? (Yes, I am.))) and goofy.
Niko loves art, he could draw all day long and on many days has. He’s the kind of kid that seeks approval and hates to disappoint. This is something that is really hard for me to relate to, because I am squarely in the “who cares what anyone else thinks” camp. (This is clearly reinforced by my constant use of asides that no one else cares about.) Niko loves to tell jokes and often finds ones that make me chuckle. He’s really intelligent but at times really lacks common sense. It’s something we have to remind him of a lot. He cares for his brothers and wants to take care of them. He’s gonna be a good dad some day.
So, those are my boys, you’re all caught up, give me another 8 years and I’ll give you another update. I jest, there are so many stories to tell and so many more are being made as I write this. I can’t wait to share them with you (I know, you’re thinking, clearly he can, it took 8 years for this one).
FatherTrek 