Joe at 5

It's 9:21 p.m. on a Thursday and I'm sitting on the front porch at Bongo Java - the center of my universe - drinking a late night Mood Elevator and marveling over the idea that Joe, my baby, turned 5 years old this week.

Per his request, we had his birthday party at Bounce U.  It's just so easy to host birthday parties there, as they literally do everything for you.  All we had to do was show up at 10:15 a.m. and write the check when it was over a couple of hours later.  And the kids bounce, slide, chase each other, play dodge ball or basketball while they'r bouncing.  They love it.  Sheer genius and just so damn easy.

I've been seeing a lot of ghosts lately.

Like today, for example, I stopped by the Apple Store at Cool Springs Galleria.  As I was walking through the mall and passed the play area, a wave of nostalgia almost knocked me to the floor.  I saw a few mothers and fathers sitting on the benches and watching their toddlers climbing up, over and around the objects inside the play area.  In my mind's eye, I saw J.P. at 3 or 4, bumping into other toddlers as he climbed up the small plastic slide then slid down to the carpeted floor.

For a while, Jude and I occasionally took the boys to the Galleria on Friday nights, after they got haircuts at Divas and Dudes in Cool Springs.  As I ate a Subway sandwich there today, I remembered our Friday night meals in the food court.  I also remembered a version of me 3-4 years younger, sitting in the food court on a Friday night in my suit after work, wondering how in the hell I got there.

One morning last week, Joe and I stopped by Bongo Java before school for him and work for me.  Our usual table up front was occupied, so we walked to the back and sat at the table where J.P. and I always sat.  It's my favorite spot in the whole place.  Hell, it may be my favorite spot in the entire world.  As we set up the board to play "Sorry," I smiled to myself, seemingly transported back in time  to one of many mornings I spent at that table, at Bongo Java, with J.P.

Joe at 5 is, in a way, the ghost of J.P. at 5.  The same, but different in many ways, too.

Joe's such a happy, sweet kid.  And, man, does he love his big brother.  A week or so ago, when Box (the newest member of the Bongo Java family) opened on 10th Avenue, I suggested to Joe that we stop by one morning to check it out.  "Let's wait and go another day," he said.  "J.P.'s feelings might be hurt if we go without him."  That's love.

Joe is love.

The effect he has had on our nanny and friend, Uncle Carley, as she's battled a serious illness, is transformative.  Carley and Joe have such a unique and special relationship.  She seems to light up, from the inside out, when she sees him.  So much of Carley is in Joe (and J.P., too).  The love Joe has for Carley is plain to see and joy to behold.  When Carley and her husband, Jon, come over to the house, Joe is beyond excited to see them, show them his latest toy and to play with them.

Joe has inherited my love of music.  On our morning drives to Children's House, he plays DJ and picks out the songs we listen to - one 1 or 2 because it's such a short ride.  Even now, when I hear the first chords of the guitar in Escondido's "Cold October," I instantly hear Joe yelling out "get some, baby!!"  I don't know why he started that but it makes me laugh every single time.

Last week, before he turned 5, Jude asked Joe what his favorite thing that he did when he was 4.  "Playing baseball for Dad," he answered.  That made me feel loved, for sure.  I love coaching the boys' baseball teams - the Dodgers and the Jr. Dodgers - and I love even more that the boys enjoy it.

Other kids seem to gravitate to Joe.  Lately, I've been taking him to occupational therapy on Wednesday mornings to work on his fine motor skills.  When I take him to Children's House and we walk into Classroom B, late, 3 or 4 kids immediately walk up to him and ask him where he's been or show him a Predators' shirt or jersey he or she is wearing.  That's pretty cool to see.

So, Joe is 5, I am 50 and the world keeps spinning.  Hopefully, it won't stop anytime soon because I can't wait to see Joe at 6.