Thursday, October 12th 2006

Dear Zachary

While I was at the Micron jobsite yesterday, your Mom called me to talk about your babysitters and daycare. We’ve had you stay with a lady named Danielle and I’ve only met her once and that was enough for me to not like her, and want to get you with someone else. She was dirty and scroungy looking and her house was filthy and it just seemed that she really didn’t seem to care about watching you. I picked you up about 1 pm and she said she hadn’t changed you since the morning. She had the TV on some adult talk show and some rap music blasting away. Definitely not a child friendly place, I was not impressed at all. In fact I feel bad for leaving you there all the time while your mom and I go to work.

From what your mom was saying she wasn’t happy at all with Danielle either. I don’t think she told me exactly why but it just sounded like she's had enough of her, and her $700+/month daycare bill. She mentioned she wanted to find a new daycare place for you and so she had taken a tour of a place called “Kids of Camelot” I think. A neat little daycare center out in West Valley near where your mom and I grew up. The price was about the same as the Danielle lady (I think a little cheaper), except this is an actual daycare center and a school. So maybe we’ll try that place and let you go there when we’re both at work.

Work stinks! But, it’s something we have to do. We have to get money so we can buy you lots of neat things and keep you smiling away, which in turn makes us happy! Of course, I wish that I could just stay home and spend the whole day with you and go crazy with all your toys and play games till we couldn’t move. But it can’t be that way, at least for now anyways. Maybe I’ll find a way one day to make a ton of money so I can buy you everything you’d ever need so I could stay with you all day long and play! That would be so awesome!

Last night you called my cell phone and left me a voice mail. I didn’t hear my phone ring or else I would have picked it up and talked to you. I love it when you call me! You’re always so cute and talk away like crazy about all the neat things you did during the day! I love it! You’re doing so well on learning new words and fitting them together! Usually on the weekends when I pick you up, it takes me a while to learn all the new words you picked up throughout the previous week! It’s so amazing to watch you grow and learn! You’re becoming such a big boy it’s scary! You used to be so little and would lie on my chest and sleep for hours and hours. Now if you were to lie on my chest I’d probably pass out. Ha ha! You’re getting so big and looking so handsome!

On the voicemail you left me, you talked quietly and didn’t say too much. I could hear your mom in the background telling you to say “Daddy, call me back” but I don’t think you were to motivated to say it. I don’t think you understand the voicemail concept yet, but all those messages you leave for me I hear and replay over and over and save them on my cell phone for as long as the service will let me! I’ll have to find a way to record them and stick them on a CD for you to hear later. You sound so cute when you talk!! You call me at work all the time, almost daily, and I couldn’t tell you how much it means to me, and how wonderful you make my day go after that! Even at the most stressful times, it’s nice to hear that your dogs took a poop outside, and that Riley puked on the floor. And that you played with your Spider Man and watched endless hours of Harry Potter and Toy Story! You help me remember what’s important in this life, and what my focus should be on. You help me remember how to have fun, and to forget about the small stuff and not be such an “adult” all the time.

Love always,

Daddy