funny, i just got turned on to this singer name robyn yesterday. tonight i am seeing her in concert. she’s awesome and should be checked out!

enjoy the weekend!

in case you haven’t read: california has overturned the ban on gay marriage! this is a great day! We are heading to the GLBT Center today at 5pm for the celebration. fellow sf-ers, hope to see you there!

Bruno is a fantastic hopper. he loves to hop around the house and has all types of hops. little bunny hops and great big power smash hops. he loves jumping onto things and jumping off things even more.

Saturday morning he was doing one of his little hopping spinny dances in the kitchen with dad. I was in the bathroom and then i heard a crash. calmly i poke my head out of the bathroom door and yell, “what happened now?”

“OH MY GOD HE’S BLEEDING!” yells tony. i run into the kitchen and we both lift bruno onto the counter. there just so happens to be a freshly laundered white towel sitting on the table so i grab it an apply pressure to the wound.

tony them recounts to me that bruno lost his footing and fell face first into the bottom shelf of the counter. he hit right onto the bone of the eye socket above his right eye. as i take a look at the cut it’s a perfect slice, almost as if a razor had cut it. i give it a tug and it’s not pulling away, therefore it’s not too deep of a split. we keep applying pressure and the bleeding stops pretty quickly. bruno is crying a lot, as you could imagine and tony and i are flip flopping with “do we or don’t we” bring him to the hospital. tony calls his emergency room nurse sister, i call my EMT brother and then i hop online to see what Dr. Sears says.

All signs point to NOT bringing him to the emergency room because based on the size and shallowness of the cut, he doesn’t need stitches. Which is a big relief because just based on the amount of holding the banshee-like bruno down to put ointment and the band-aid on I don’t think we could emotionally handle the trauma of him getting stitched up. i mean, we’d do it if we had to, but you know what i mean.

bruno immediately grew sleepy which is a defense mechanism for children when they get hurt. we put him down for a nap, checking on him in 15 minute intervals. he woke up 3 hours later with a big smile and saying, “i have a boo-boo”. we take another look and change the bandage and it’s already looking like it’s closed up.

everyone keeps saying that “it’s normal, kids get hurt…” and we know that but it really sucks when it actually happens.

so, update today - changing the band-aid we see the wound is now a light pink and according to the doctors i talked to at my hospital, it means he’ll heal up just fine. probably with no scar. whew.

more gray hairs for papa.

i added all the codes you need to communicate with me on the various gaming consoles and certain games. Add me to your friend’s lists and to those who have sent me your codes - i will be adding you this weekend. please send me your codes if you want to play!

whoops… i entered the wrong code for the wii. it’s fixed now! thanks chris!

yesterday during dinner we were listening to some music in the kitchen. we normally try to have music playing throughout the house during the day so bruno can learn about different types of music. there is this really funny lounge singer name richard cheese that tony and i enjoy. he takes songs that are pop or hard rock and turns them into lounge hits as if frank sinatra or dean martin would sing them if they were alive today. one of our favorites is “baby got back”.

well, there is another rap song he does a version of that you all may remember from back in the day called “me so horny” by the 2live crew. it’s really quite hilarious. what’s NOT so hilarious is when it comes on during dinner (i had the music on shuffle) and your two year old is now pumping his fists in the air singing “MEHORNY…MEHORNY!”

i quickly changed the song and tony and i stated mimicking bruno and yelled, “MONEY… MONEY!”. bruno joined us and we all sang “MONEY MONEY MONEY” until he got bored and we moved onto another song.

so… i guess it’s time to be a little more aware of what bruno is hearing in the background. i just hope that this won’t be one of those things he decides to start singing at some inappropriate time.

i can’t believe it. i left work and walked to my car to drive home and it was gone! turns out where i park is near a fence that had to be repaired. they towed everyone by the fence. it would have been nice if they put up a sign!

i grabbed a cab, picked up bruno at daycare and then went right to the tow company. they have a pretty good racket going. i was in and out of there in less than 30 minutes (and 300 dollars poorer).

after that we went to meet tony at chevy’s for some mexican food for cinco de mayo. i had heartburn the entire time because of the sick feeling you get when your car’s been towed. i just wanted to go home.

hey, the zune software got updated today and i am so happy because they finally brought back the auto playlist. I was getting sick of doing a full shuffle because there’s something weird about hearing christmas music mixed with judy garland and deborah cox.

Bruno had a doctor’s appointment last Monday. it was his two year check up and yes, he had to get shots. this time he had a slight allergic reaction and started to run a 104 fever. tony and I have been to this rodeo before so it was onto our fever reducing method we learned from his sister, the emergency room nurse. she said you start with Tylenol, then four hours later administer Motrin. then four hours later tylenol again. four hours later, the motrin. do this for the next 24 hours until the fever is gone. it always works though it does mean we have to set the alarm to wake us twice during the night to give him more medicine. i think i mentioned that when we first got bruno he had a febrile seizure due to a fever spike. that was the scariest shit to see and still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. that’s why tony and i are real hard-asses about breaking fevers with him.

got some new video games over the week. first up is mario kart wii.  i always loved the mario go-kart games and this one is really a lot of fun. i am also surprised at how responsive the steering wheel accessory is. racing online is also a lot of fun. the next game was grand theft auto four. i actually succumbed to peer pressure in getting this one. I’m not a huge fan of these sandbox style games but i am actually enjoying the story in this one. there is also a huge online portion of the game which is why i bought it. many of my friends on xbox live have the game and i hate being left out.

finally we broke down and bought rock band. i was iffy about getting it because i thought the drum set would be a bit noisy for the neighbors.  turns out i was wrong. tony and i had a lot of fun starting our world tour with him on guitar/bass and me on vocals. the drums are really hard to play! bruno loved banging on them. bruno also loves microphones so we gave him a go and he sung some of his big hits like “twinkle, twinkle…” and “old Macdonald”. we finished up with us all singing “he says ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’” from the flintstones. then out of the blue bruno yelled “THANK YOU!” at the end. well, we sure know he’s our kid with that sense of humor.

i balanced them myself, thank you

Originally uploaded by TuffDadSF

yesterday was Bruno’s second birthday! here’s a picture from grandma and grandpa’s visit last week. click on the picture to see more photo’s on the flickr site!

well, the Seattle trip has come and gone. highlights include:

1. having a wonderful time with my uncle Rene and his partner Bob. they have a gorgeous house and actually live a little bit outside of seattle. in fife to be exact. they moved into a new development and their house really sold tony and I on when we buy a house, we want a new build.
2. it happened to be “spring thaw” which is the big bear event. we went to the underwear night at the eagle and i gotta tell you, the seattle boys keep it real like the guys in san francisco. lots of out in the open action with hot guys in a narrow bar.
3. ate at lola’s and had manny’s beer. both were delish! got to walk around pike’s market and see the first starbucks coffee shop.
4. during the tour of my uncle’s house i noticed they had the game blokus on the shelf (along with other games). turns out they are big board gamers and have a group of friends they play with. so we stopped at game on!, and as a thank you gift, tony and i bought them a copy of ticket to ride and carcassonne. we played them both and had a really good time. (side note - lost cities is downloadable on xbox live starting today- YES!)
5. there was also a lot of time to talk about family stuff. it was so great to finally be able to share and talk about stuff that has to do with my blood relatives. don’t get me wrong, i love the family i have created, but there is just something extra when you have contact with the people who know everything from the time you were born and before. i’ll talk about this at length at some point but i found out that my parents have been even bigger liars than i had originally thought. so many secrets that my mom and dad kept from me and jamie - it makes me really pity them because it turns out all of the hate that the put towards me and my brother is really about all of the guilt they carry. guilt that they don’t need to carry, but being christians all of their sins are the biggies. to quote a line from girls will be girls, my mom’s had more children pulled out of her than a burning orphanage.

and where was bruno through all of this? he was at home with his adopted grandparents, geri and pat. they all had a great time and i think bruno learned how to talk more in just those two days. geri and pat both commented on how smart and polite bruno was, so i guess we’re doing a good job! we really appreciate that they came out to watch him and to spend some quality time with him. the best part was when we walked in the door bruno screamed with almost a little bit of a cry, “Papa! Daddy!” and ran into our arms and hugged and kissed us. he was so happy to see us and we were so happy to be back again.

on Friday we are leaving for seattle to visit my gay uncle. really. I have a gay uncle. the fruit doesn’t fall far from the carmen miranda hat.

anyway, this will be the first trip we take without Bruno. it’s a little weird and scary. he’s going to be fine because he’ll be staying home and his grandma geri and grandpa pat (nathan’s parents) who will be staying at our house to watch him and to also hang out with nathan for his birthday weekend. so it all works out for everyone. plus, they get to try out the tempupedic bed.

i am pretty excited to get away and though it will be great to spend time with my uncle and his husband i am really looking forward to both tony and i getting to relax. yesterday, i was explaining to my friend pat that when you have a kid, you never really get a time to just relax completely. during the day you’re always worried about what they are getting into or how they are going to hurt themselves. even when they go to bed, you can relax a little but by the time you’re ready to go to bed then there’s worrying if they are going to wake up in the middle of the night for some reason. the worries just go on and on - so it will be nice to get 48 hours of uninterrupted chill-out for the brain.

the other thing i am looking forward to is getting to sleep in. maybe i will sleep in until 10am. the luxury!

any seattle readers out there? we going to be doing the tourist-y stuff, but any suggestions of other places to go? bars? eats?

this weekend we thought we’d try out having Bruno sleep in his big boy bed. we had bought one of those convertible cribs, so simply lowering the base and popping off the front gate made it into a bed. we went to the store and picked him up a Go! Diego, Go! sheet set (the boy is NUTS for Diego) and set him all up. he fell out of bed on Saturday night. he didn’t get hurt but cried for daddy. tony got him back in bed and he slept the rest of night through.

even though the bed is low we thought it could be lower, so I unscrewed the rail locks and lowered them and re-screwed them in right at the bottom of the frame. now the bed is maybe less than twelve inches off the floor. last night we also put two pillows on the floor that almost reach the top of the bed. he fell out again last night but this time just sat on the floor for a bit and called for papa. i went in, rocked him back to sleep and put him back in bed. he slept fine for the rest of the night. I’m not really that worried about him falling out, because watching him sleep in the past, he doesn’t really roll around his bed. it’s more like he moves diagonally and his legs fall first. we are more worried that if he gets up sometime and decides to wander around the house. we are putting the gate up at the end of the hallway to make it that he will only have access to our bedroom, his own bedroom and the toilet. did i mention that he’s beginning to potty train? fortunately he gets more practice at the daycare but he’s peed a few times in the toilet at home. it seems like so many milestones are being burned through and he’s not even two yet.

wow, this is weird. messiah college, the college i went to after high school is hosting a compassion forum with Hillary and Obama. even though i wasn’t “out” in college, i did get my share of gay verbal bashing and lashed out some of my own. there were definitely some gays at my school, one of which was my girlfriend’s (at the time) best friend. god, i thought my college was so irrelevant i don’t even ever mention that i went there these days. bizarre.

Originally uploaded by TuffDadSF

his face says it all!

check them all out on the flickr site.

ok, this song used to make me cry when i was little. my mom was really into country music in the 70’s and i distinctly remember being left in the car one summer day while my mom was in the convenience store picking up milk and bread. she left the radio on and this song started playing. for years since i have been trying to find it and fortunately i happened upon it today. it’s schmaltzy as hell but i have to admit, i still got a little choked up reading the lyrics. so here i give you the lyrics to Red Sovine’s “Teddy Bear”

Teddy Bear

I was on the outskirts of a little southern town,
Trying to reach my destination before the sun went down.
The old CB was blaring away on channel one-nine
When there came a little boy's voice on the radio line.
And he said, "Breaker, one-nine, is anyone there?
Come on back, truckers, and talk to Teddy Bear."
Well, I keyed the mike and I said, "Well, you got it,Teddy Bear."
And the little boy's voice came back on the air.
"'Preciate the break.  Who we got on that end?"
I told him my handle, and then he began:

"Now, I'm not supposed to bother you fellas out there,
Mom says you're busy and for me to stay off the air.
But, you see, I get lonely and it helps to talk
'Cause that's about all I can do.  I'm crippled and I can't walk."

I came back and told him to fire up that mike
And I'd talk to him as long as he'd like.
"This was my dad's radio," the little boy said,
"But I guess it's mine and Mom's now 'cause my daddy's dead.
Dad had a wreck about a month ago.
He was trying to get home in a blinding snow.
Mom has to work now to make ends meet
And I'm not much help with my two crippled feet.
She says not to worry, that we'll make it all right,
But I hear her crying sometimes late at night.
You know, there's one thing I want more than anything else to see.
Aw, I know you guys are too busy to bother with me,
But, you see, my dad used to take me for rides when he was home
But I guess that's all over now since my daddy's gone."

Not one breaker came on the old CB
As that little crippled boy talked with me.
I tried hard to swallow, the lump just wouldn't stay down
As I thought about my boy back in Greenville town.

"Dad was gonna take Mom and me with him later on this year.
Why, I remember him saying, 'Someday this old truck'll be yours, Teddy Bear.'
But I know I'll never get to ride an 18-wheeler again,
But this old base will keep me in touch with all my trucker friends.
Teddy Bear's gonna back on out now and leave you alone
'Cause it's about time for Mom to come home.
But you give me a shout when you're passing through
And I'll sure be happy to come back to you."

Well, I came back and I said, "Before you go ten-ten,
What's your home-twenty, little CB friend?"
Well, he gave me his address and I didn't once hesitate
'Cause this hot load of freight was just gonna have to wait.
I turned that truck around on a dime
And headed straight for Jackson Street, 229.

And as I rounded the corner, boy, I got one heck of a shock--
Eighteen-wheelers were lined up for three city blocks!
Why, I guess every driver for miles around had caught Teddy Bear's call
And that little crippled boy was having a ball.
For as fast as one driver would carry him in,
Another would carry him to his truck and take off again.
Well, you better believe I took my turn at riding Teddy Bear
And then I carried him back in and put him down in his chair.
And, buddy, if I never live to see happiness again
I want you to know I saw it that day, in the face of that little man.

We took up a collection for him before his mama got home
And each driver said goodbye and then they were all gone.
He shook my hand with a mile-long grin
And said, "So long, trucker, I'll catch you again!"
I hit that interstate with tears in my eyes
And I turned on the radio and I got another surprise.
"Breaker, one-nine," came a voice on the air,
"Just one word of thanks from Mama Teddy Bear.
We wish each and every one a special prayer for you
'Cause you just made my little boy's dream come true.
I'll sign off now before I start to cry.
May God ride with you.  Ten-four, and goodbye."

I had to call vital records today because we have been waiting about ten months now for Bruno’s birth certificate. after being on the phone for about fifteen minutes of hold and recorded messages I got through to a very nice operator. after giving her the information she needed to look up my request, she lets me know that it will be up to twelve months of wait time from the time they received the request which was back in NOVEMBER. sheesh. only after getting off the phone do i realize that they have Bruno’s last name spelled Torresbowser instead of Torres-Bowser. now i have to call back.

LensCrafters is sending me money due to a class action suit. that’s a nice bonus.

bought two of the new Playstation 3 rumble controllers. I like that they are heavier than the non-rumble ones. now we got 4 controllers for multiplayer madness.

tony and i have been calling around and sending in applications for Bruno’s new daycare. nothing really happening on that front, though we have a “worst situation” place to go. not that it’s a bad place, but the tuition is $1400 a month. the same as our rent! yes, thank goddess for rent control but still, double our rent to include daycare?

tony wound up getting the flu i had last week. he was out of work for two days but is doing better now.

we are also planning a whirlwind trip to Seattle next weekend. i have never been and am looking forward to going. it will be the first time that tony and i have taken a trip minus Bruno. he’ll be home with grandma Geri and grandpa Pat. he won’t miss us because they’ll keep him busy. but will we miss him? probably. but getting to sleep until 10 am will be GLORIOUS!