Long Distance Dad!!

   So, three weeks is a long time to be apart from your family. Seriously, before I become all "funny sarcastic guy" there were many times throughout my stint in Bozeman where I thought "how do people in the military do this!?" So, thanks for your sacrifice if you serve in the military.
   The longest Cara and I had been apart since getting married was two nights, which was also the longest Wyatt and I had been apart. (And for both of those two nights I was just confined to the couch. I kid!) I generally don't "miss" people or things much. With things like Skype and Instagram and Facebook and the US Postal Service, I figured staying caught up would be natural.
   We skyped most every night. At first, Wyatt would come up to the screen and talk and play. We'd sing songs (his favorite song is Happy Birthday, so we've sung it so much he's like 24 now. They do grow up fast), he'd watch me do my homework. He'd even give the screen kisses!! Isn't that the cutest thing evarr!!
   Then, after a few days he'd see me on screen and fuss. One night, he'd only go to bed if I was on the screen. Seriously. We left Skype on and I slept with the camera facing me. Cara says he woke up several times to check that I was there. Cue "awwwwww" from the crowd.

This is a dramatic re-enactment of the sleep-skype session. You probably figured this out by seeing a computer in the computer. It's like Zoolander or something.

   The next time, he asked me to pick him up. Stupid kid doesn't even know that I am not actually there!! I can't just reach out of the screen, Wyatt!! Sheesh! (This was pretty sad, really).
   From then on (and this is roughly after a week), he'd just fuss and cry everytime I was on Skype, so we gave up our family Skype sessions with two weeks to go.

   Two weeks!

   It's okay, though, because Cara recently bought a nice new camera, and she loved taking pictures of buffalo and trees and rocks and water while we were in Yellowstone, so of course she'd take TONS of pictures of Wyatt and send them to me! Or put them on facebook/instagram/yolo!
   These are the pictures she sent me. All of them.

She wanted to show how beat up his legs were. Just from "being a little boy."

The men don't really do shirts in this family.

Ok, so that wasn't all of them. There were a few more than I remembered - most of them sent in the last day or two - and a couple she wouldn't let me show because she's "not the prettiest in them." Yes you are, honey!

   These were her status updates while I was gone. All of them.




   Up above, also, with the facebook posts were the videos she took. All of them.
   Luckily my parents posted a couple of him being adorable, like this one

   But in general, my wife is pretty useless. She "couldn't get the camera to work" on our computer, so all of our skyping had only video of me, none of them. She "was too busy to take pictures," but I am starting to wonder if something else was up. More on this some other time.
   So I went like two weeks with only my desktop pictures and crappy old posts from my crappy blog to keep my connected to my special little son. This is a crime! Still, I am thankful to be home and glad I have such a great wife who kept him safe and happy. I just wish she didn't enjoy her time away from me so much.

My mood: trying to get back into my son's good graces! It's hard!
Wyatt's mood: skeptical of this guy in his house...
Listening to: Brahms