Then, there’s our second child. Sure, he’s probably cuter than our first (although we as parents aren’t supposed to admit that). He has a laugh that will melt your heart and a smile that will brighten the night sky. However, behind those puppy dog eyes and innocent grin is a conniving, scheming, puppet master of T-R-O-U-B-L-E. I jest… I think.

I literally cannot say with certainty that if our second-born was our first-born that we would have more than one child. Barring a surprise bonus baby, the conversation on having the second would have been much longer if nothing else. Luckily for us, it worked out the way it did.

Disclaimer: In no way am I intending to state that I am disappointed in him, that I don’t love him, that he is destined for failure or life imprisonment, or any other negative connotation of the above text one might surmise.

Our second child is… different. Just like I am different than my younger sister. The real point of this post is not to bag on my second-born. Rather, it’s more of an awakening to my own parenting skills. We got lazy… complacent. The well-mannered spirit of our first-born made us arrogant. Look honey, our parenting skills are stellar. See how well he behaves – let’s make another and show the world how awesome we are as parents. Yes, let’s do that.

And with that, God delivers his greatest punchline. The joke wasn’t on us, it was us. The same methods that we used on the first, don’t seem to work so well on the second. The second watches our first like a hawk and has picked up on mischievous activities much sooner. Because of our second, I’ve learned how to pick locks with credit cards, screwdrivers and various other tools that shall remain nameless. He has inconvenienced my trip to take out the trash to the alley dumpster by requiring the addition of padlocks on the back gate at the behest of his curiously wandering legs. He is on the brink of necessitating 24/7 surveillance. Yet, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

My point is not to discourage you from further populating your household; nay, I actually encourage it. We definitely need to try to maintain our reproduction rate at 2.5 children (if that is still the figure). My point is that every child has value as themselves… period… without the need to be compared to another.

They both frustrate us in different ways. They both make us mad at things they do individually. They both make us worry. They both make us laugh. They both make us smile. They both surprise us with the things they learn at the pace they learn them.

One thing that they will always have in common is that regardless of what life hurls in their direction, I will always be proud to be called their “Daddy”.

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I point these things out this weekend as I begin to bring this site back to life to emphasize something we all already know.

Life brings about unexpected events.

At least in Las Vegas, the money was mostly on the Lakers facing the Heat in the NBA Finals. The Lakers are out courtesy of a 4-game sweep from… wait, what? I thought they were supposed to lose to Portland. Oh… hmmm well, courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks. The Bulls got shafted with free agents taking their “talents” to South Beach and oh, by the way, they have a rookie head coach. Yet, they ended up with the best record in the Eastern Conference and have all the fans on South Beach wondering where the “talents” went after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Switching sports to the NFL, we hear constantly from “experts” that we will have an NFL season. However, the lock-out is in full effect and news seems to be coming very slowly as neither side appears to possess a desire to give in on many demands. I’m not suggesting that we will not have an NFL season this year, I’m just suggesting that we don’t really know. While we wait to find out, Chad Ochocinco decided to pass the time by trying out for a professional soccer team and then gets invited by the PBR, no-less, to attempt an 8 second bull ride. What?!

Maybe you’re smarter than me (and that’s possible), but I saw none of that happening. (And I don’t even want to get into Donald Trump as a Presidential Candidate.) I also had no intention of taking a two-year hiatus from posting on this site. A ton can happen in two years, especially being married with two boys and now owning a dog.

• My first-born is about to complete the First Grade.
• My youngest is now three and only half-potty-trained… Lord help us!
• I am but one semester removed from earning a college degree.  –> Perseverance pays off kids.
• I am also two years older, surely at least a few months wiser, and two years full of stories to share.

I stated all of the above to in order to say that the Weekend of the Bull has brought us back to life. Thanks for making time for us and we appreciate those who are still patiently waiting for the next post.