Fatherhood – Travis Biziorek

Ryder turns three

July 24, 2021August 2, 2021 Travis

Ryder, how are you only three?! It’s hard to believe you aren’t already four. Our bathroom scale says you’re 44 pounds, I was reminded of that today when I had to carry you for about a mile back home from the park. Beyond that, your conversational skills are insane. You seem to be ahead of the curve on pretty much everything.

And I’m thankful for that, because I’m ready to get out of the baby/toddler phase.

You are a ball of energy. You literally don’t stop. I love it most of the time, but it is incredibly draining!

You are persistent as all hell. Everything is a negotiation. Everything we try to get you to stop doing (and it’s a lot) is met with a, “But I’m just…” or “How about…”. You don’t concede and it leads to a lot of threats until you do. Telling you we’re going to call the “police” or the “witch” no longer works. I’ve had to resort to putting a dab of hot sauce in your mouth (just once). Now I start counting to three and it generally works, because when I get to three the hot sauce comes out.

Tucker Turns Five

June 4, 2021August 2, 2021 Travis

Tucker, the first thing that comes to mind when I look back on this past year is that you’ve gotten easier. Reading back, it’s clear last year was still a struggle. Things continue to be hard, but it’s different… usually fights with your brother rather than seemingly irrational fits and reactions to things.

It’s been a year of growth for you. And a year of surprises for us.

Tucker Turns Four

June 4, 2020August 2, 2021 Travis

Four years ago this morning I held our 4.5 pound boy against my bare chest in the NICU, waiting for Kaitlin to arrive via wheelchair. It had been an intense, unexpected night given his due date wasn’t until the end of July.

The hardest part, especially for Kaitlin, was not being able to take him home for over a month. It nearly drove her mad.

Tucker didn’t make it easy on us from the very beginning. He hasn’t changed. He’s a challenging little dude in ways, we’ve found, that only we can really grasp. It’s hard.