"Know this; It gets better every day. As cool as your kids are when they are 5, it's even better when they are 6. As great as that is, it's even better when they are 7. And so on.
"So if you are about to embark on the journey of parenthood, I hope you embrace it. Whenever a friend tells me they are going to have their first child I say the same thing, 'Welcome to the greatest club in the world, parenthood.'"
The two little paragraphs above made me feel all warm inside, kind of like how Vancouver Canucks fans can make a Smart Car feel all warm inside. They were part of a Father's Day blog post by Gus Ramsey, one of the tamer characters from Sports Guy Bill Simmons' circle of funny friends.
My experience with parenthood so far has been a mini version of what Gus is talking about: every month, heck every week, seems better than the last. I feel a little weird talking smack about two-minute-old Sports Baby but it's true — nine-month-old Sports Baby is just way cooler. Granted, two-minute-old Sports Baby had just gone through the wacky waterslide of life, but still, he wasn't exactly cracking off one-liners (eg. "Hey Doc, could you leave the cord for a little while, I just figured out how to do cat's cradle.")
But after we washed the little birth canal bits and bobs off his head, Sports Baby got down to the business of getting more and more awesome with each passing day.
He has already figured out a whack of physical things like babbling, sleeping, crawling, eating and Skyping — now he's developing his own little personality. Right now I'd call his personality "loveable rascal." He's got a great move where he'll crawl toward something he's not supposed to touch, look back at us mischievously, then turn back and double his speed while laughing hysterically. He drinks from a regular cup — no sissy sippy for him — and when he's had enough he'll blow bubbles up his nose. He's a hilarious handful already and I can't wait to see where he goes from here.
His development reminds me a bit of the career of Dirk Nowitzki. Always regarded as a talented basketball player, Dirk finally joined the game's elite this season, guiding his Dallas Mavericks to his and their first NBA title with a six-game win over the super villains from Miami last week. To get to this point he has continually worked on and improved his game, getting harder and harder to guard. Here's how he looked when he came into the league:
Since that time he has continually added to his arsenal while also becoming a team leader. Working with former German national team player Holger Geschwinder, Nowitzki added new moves every summer, eventually earning a title reserved for a select few: unguardable.
He's like Lebron James except the total opposite. Lebron seems a bit like a basketball Benjamin Button — he came into the league as a fully formed basketball man and has since regressed into a confused, mean-spirited little boy. Meanwhile Dirk has just gotten better and better.
Is it a coincidence that Lebron has no father in the picture and Dirk, if you count coach Holger, has two? Probably.
Happy Father's Day!
Photo (Nowitzki MVP) Roland Martinez/Getty Images
Photo (Nowitzki, Nelson, Nash) Carolyn Herter/NBAE/Getty Images
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