William on a Friday

There are some weekends we send William off to be with his biological father's family, and on these weekends I feel this little mix of extreme happiness and slight sadness. I'm happy because, once a month, my girlfriend and I can be a couple instead of being parents. We desperately need these as sometimes we get so caught up in the stresses of being so far away, from each other and never having any time to just enjoy each other's company that things get rather difficult between us. But the sadness comes in from not being able to see William for a whole weekend, except on the rare weekend where I can make it down there on Friday and spend some time with him before he goes.

I won't have many pictures with this post, as it's mostly just feelings and thoughts. Friday's with William are typically really good. We go get some errands done, sneak into his mommy's work and give her flowers when she's not looking, go to the library, etc. It's a simple time of a few hours where we don't have to worry about finding some place to be for 6 hours. We don't need a home because we only have a few hours together. They are great because the stress of finding a place for him and I to be is gone. It gives me time to focus on William, which I wish I could do more.

William is now two!

William is now, officially, a two year old. The officicality of said age is due to it having been celebrated in the customary manner: Presents and a party.

This would be the first of William’s birthday’s I will attend, as during his last birthday my girlfriend and I were a few weeks into our relationship and it would have been weird should I have gone. Not this time though! This time I was right there in the thick of things, doing what dads do: finding a place to avoid having to do any work or getting asked to do anything.

My girlfriend did most of the work, getting a venue (a friends house), inviting the guests, getting the food. I did some things, such as breathe and eat said gotten food. But enough about the party; lets talk about William and what he did. That is what you are all here for isn’t it?

William started off the party staring across the street at a motorcycle a neighbor had. Behind him lay car decorations, a bubble machine, hordes of family, and food, but all he cared about was what was across the street and whether or not that was his birthday present. Hint: It wasn’t.

My time with William during the party would be short. In the beginning I took on the over involved parent, trying to make a good impression on everyone around because I was the oddity in the group. I quickly realized that what I needed to do was let the people who were there to see William take care of William. I’d check in from time to time, but for the most part he was busy playing catch in the front yard with some of his relatives.

It was soon time for cake. We got him a chocolate and vanilla cake with little car toys on top. William refused the cake and instead pleaded for the cars as we tried to take his picture blowing out the candles.

Presents went about the same way as they did during Christmas time. After one present he didn’t want to open more so we had to force him to sit down and tear some wrapping paper. My girlfriend and I had gotten him a toy kitchen from a thrift store. It was big, blue and pretty awesome considering William was always curious when we were in the kitchen making food. This, of course, led to some chastisement from her family. Kitchens are, to some, a girl toy; especially when looked upon by a family who’s past times include hunting, nascar and fishing. I defended, and still defend, the decision as I have always thought of the kitchen as the manliest place in the house; being a room that houses fire, knives and food.

And now William is two and I can’t wait to see how much he grows before the next birthday party, which after this post I will probably be expected to help out more with. What have I done?