Proud Papa

Saturday morning, after my weekly trail run in Shelby Bottoms, I met Jude and John Patrick at the tennis courts in Shelby Park at 8:30 a.m. He and I went to Bongo Java East in East Nashville, where he slept in his stroller while I drank a glass of orange juice and read the sports page from the Saturday morning Tennessean. After a little while, he woke up and started fussing a bit. I unsnapped the seat belt in the stroller and lifted him out, so he could take a look around the coffee shop.

I love the sound and smell of a coffee shop on a weekend morning. People sit at tables and talk to each other in low murmurs, sipping coffee and eating breakfast. The sound of the barista making lattes, mochas, etc., is soothing, as is the smell of hot coffee. It's a good feeling to know the whole day lies ahead of you.

As John Patrick took in the surroundings, I lifted him in the air several times. Each time I lifted him in the air, he smiled or laughed. People sitting around me smiled back at him, which I think is a reflex reaction when one sees an infant enjoying himself. A couple walked up to me, carrying what I later learned was their three month old infant in a car seat.

"How old is your son," they asked. When I replied, "he just turned five months old Thursday," they were surprised. "His neck is so strong and he can hold his head up straight when you lift him in the air," they marveled. Literally beaming at this point, I modestly mentioned the fact that Jude and I had been working diligently to make sure John Patrick had "tummy time" several times each day, to strengthen his neck. Man, was I proud of him.