8.40 Energizer Freezer Bunny

Ever since Brady’s last promotion, he was an even bigger deal at the gym and in high demand. His regular shift was already early, and some of his big time clients wanted to workout before his shift. Needless to say, he had a very early bedtime most nights. So, when the time finally came for Julian to grow out of that onesie into his big boy clothes, Viviana entered the nursery alone and awaited the arrival of her new and improved son.

This handsome young lad, inherited Brady’s love for fitness and wants to be a rambunctious scamp. Hopefully he won’t be too much of a handful for them.

For the most part, he was happy with his outfit, but wanted to make a couple small changes. Here is what he came up with:

He inspected his work and was proud, but he was more excited to be able to stand and talk.

“Look at me, mommy! I’m BIG,” he shouted excitedly.

“I see! And you’re oh so handsome too!”

Julian looked around the nursery now that he was able to see it in it’s entirety. He thought the room he spent the first three days of his life in was a nice looking.

“What are those things on the wall over there,” he asked.

She thought it was an odd thing for him to notice but loved how observant he was. She looked forward to learning about the world through her son’s eyes.

“Oh, those are Easter eggs your uncle Owen found in the garden.”

“Ooooh, Easter eggs,” he said as his impressed faced turned confused. “What’s an Easter egg?”

“They’re eggs that you decorate for Easter. You hide them and then have fun finding them with your friends and family.”

“What’s Easter?”

“…You know what, Julian? I don’t really know! I guess we don’t have that here in Willow Creek.”

“Awww! But it sounds like so much fun!”

“I know. Maybe one day….So…I have something to tell you, Julian,” she said nervously. “I hope you’re gonna like it…especially because you just aged up. You’re gonna be a big brother!”

“Jumping freezer bunnies!”

Her little guy made her laugh. She wondered where he got that expression from.

“Is that a happy response?”

“It depends…”

“On?”

“Can I still be the captain when we play pirates?”

As much as she loved how cute he was when he was negotiating, she knew she had to stop admiring his handsomeness and begin real parenthood. Luckily, this was an easy one.

“Julian…you’re going to have to learn to share your things, ok?”

“Ok,” he huffed.

He was disappointed for about five seconds before he came up with another “solution.”

“Weeeeell…what if I could be captain, and I make him in charge of all the shipmates?”

Forget parenting. She thought this was too cute.

“My little boy…what are we going to do with you?”

“You can make sure I’m always the captain,” he said without missing a beat.

“Nice try,” she said. “Ok…me and the baby need to go to sleep. You just woke up from a nap not long ago…what are you going to do all night?”

“Do we have monkey bars?”

“Sure do! They’re right outside this window, see?”

“YES!”

“Don’t stay up too long, ok?”

“Ok, mommy!”

“I love you, Julian,” she said as she bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Wait,” he shouted. “Are you gonna leave lipstick on my face?!”