Quick update on your head!

Hi Max!

You are doing so well with the helmet. We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and you went from a 19 (not good) to a 16 in a matter of 10-12 days! We can SEE the difference (especially at the front). I've been so proud of you with your smile and laugh. The helmet doesn't bother you. You've slept and kept your schedule. That helps mommy and daddy tremendously. 

You are getting much more mobile. I heard the cabinet doors open and close this morning. You are active in your walker, but still getting used to moving around. Sometimes you just like to sit in the walker and play with the toys. You're doing awesome, I'm so happy you are my son and I love you. 

To Your Success, 

Max's Dad (Michael)

WHERE IS THE SNOW?!

Hi Max!

I was so ready to build our first snowman this morning, but we didn't get as much snow as they predicted (8-10 inches turned into 1 or 2). 

We probably would have had to put that on hold anyway as you kept us up late. Your first sinus issue and your first vomit (projectile, streaming blast of white vomit) were highlights to our night as you fought to go to sleep. You finally conquered it and we appreciate the sleep. 

We'll have to wait until next year for the snowman, but for now, we'll build it with toothpicks and marshmallows. After all, Lucky goes nuts when you give him one. It's fun to watch. LOL.

To Your Success (and all the fun on the way), 

Max's Dad (Michael)

Obama is a copy-cat...

Hi Max!

The title of today's blog post is said tongue-in-cheek as I'm sure parents have written letters to their children before I started this blog. Borack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States yesterday and he wrote a letter to his children, Malia and Sasha telling them why he began his run for the presidency. Here it is:

"Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you’ve both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn’t have let you have. But I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn’t make up for all the time we’ve been apart. I know how much I’ve missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me—about how I’d make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn’t seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their parents aren’t rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you’ll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country—but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free—that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better—and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It’s a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you’ve had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much—although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you—to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That’s why I’ve taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love, Dad"

His words are full of wisdom. I've certainly seen my goals take a step back and your care and attention take a step forward. I'm still working on the delicate balance of being an excellent father, being an excellent team leader and real estate professional, while also being an excellent speaker and writer. It's a tough balance, but you're worth it. When in doubt, your interests come first and that is most evident in my actions and changing of plans. I see a world of opportunity in you and we are so blessed to live in the United States, a place where any dream can be believed and achieved. 

I love watching you grow daily. 

To Your Success, 

Michael

P.S. I've had a couple people mention the closing "To Your Success". That is my role in your life. I can't make you happy. I can't make you a professional athlete or dancer. I can't make you succeed even. But I CAN put an environment in place that 

1) provides unconditional love

2) provides tremendous support for your failures 

3) helps you understand right and wrong

4) provides the power of discipline, both external and self-discipline

5) helps you go from dependent to independent to interdependent

That's not in any book anywhere, but that is my role. 

From Dumpster to Dominator, Dick "Night Train" Lane

Hi Bay-Bee,

Many have never heard of Dick "Night Train" Lane, but as the NFL season is upon us, I felt it was apropos to relate his story for Max. Born in Austin, Texas, Richard Lane was raised by Ella Lane. Ella had found Richard in a dumpster. Ella found Richard in a dumpster! He grew up in a loving environment and proceeded through school. After graduating high school and a year of community college, he enlisted in the Army. He spent four years there and even played on the Fort's football team. As a wide receiver, he had 18 TDs in one year against admittedly weak competition.

After the Army, he started working at an airline manufacturing factory. Every day, he would ride the bus to work. On the way to work, he would pass the training camp facility of the Los Angeles Rams (now the St. Louis Rams). He would do this daily. He would ride in his bus sometimes seeing the players working out and sometimes just gazing over the empty football field. He knew his passion was there. He knew he belonged there. He knew he had to get to work. So he showed up day after day at the airline plant, a dirty and monotonous place to work.

Then one day, Dick Lane decided to get off the bus. He showed up at the training facility for a tryout. I imagine the conversation went like this.

Dick Lane (you have to understand that he had a VERY DIFFICULT Texas/Louisiana accent): "I'm har ta play ball."

LA Ram official: "What?"

Dick Lane: "I'm har ta play ball."

LA Ram official: "You're here to play football?"

Dick Lane: "Yap."

LA Ram official: "You want to tryout? Okay, well, we're getting ready to get started. What position do you play?"

Dick Lane: "Racaver."

LA Ram official: "Receiver? Wide Receiver? Just so you know we have two of the best wide receivers in the league (future Hall-of-Famers Tom Fears and Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch). Still want to get out there?" (This would have been a great opportunity for Dick to exit semi-gracefully).

Dick Lane: "Shore."

So Dick practiced that day with the LA Rams. He practiced at wide receiver for half the practice until Coach Joe Stydahar decided to try him at defensive back defending wide receivers. In practice, he had the opportunity to defend against Fears and Hirsch. He started out getting beat repeatedly, but he was living his passion. He was playing a game he loved. He felt fortunate that he was getting dirty and grimy at football instead of getting dirty and grimy at the airplane factory.

In his rookie season (1952) he set an NFL single season record for interceptions with 14, which stands to this day. And he did it in 12 games! Today's seasons are 16 games (and could be 19 with a Super Bowl team) and nobody has even come close to touching his record. ESPN just listed Lane's rookie season as one of the Top 10 Greatest Seasons of All Time.

From 1954 to 1963, Lane made the All-Pro team 6 times and was selected to 7 Pro Bowls. He recorded 3 interceptions in all but 4 of his 14 NFL seasons. He was particularly noted as a hard hitter, who liked to tackle by the head and neck (a technique outlawed today). This tackle was sometimes called a Night Train Necktie.

Lane was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974. In 1969 he was named the best cornerback of the first fifty years of pro football. In 1999, he was ranked number 19 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, making him the highest-ranked defensive back.

An incredible story. Dick "Night Train" Lane went from being found in a dumpster to being one of the most dominant defensive players in history. But I go back to one moment for the lesson:

What if he didn't get off that bus?

Don't you think he would have lived a life of regret? What kind of fears do you think he had when he got off that bus? He knew he would probably lose his job and income at the airplane plant. As an African-American, he wouldn't get a second shot at the factory. He was walking away from that income, that security, and that stability and walking up to a risk, a chance, a long-shot. Not only that, but as a black man, jobs were hard to come by and he'd probably be without income for 6 months. But he did it. He overcame his fears to step into the unknown. Would you have done that?

Let me ask you: Would you rather overcome your fears or live a life of regret? Where are you struggling with fears when you know that conquering your fear would give you a better life? What are you holding onto that is preventing you from getting what you are really wanting?

There is a story of the research team in Africa who was trying to catch spider monkeys. There was a rampant upswing in the numbers of spider monkeys and they were causing a tremendous amount of trouble for the area's animal population, tribes, and water supply. The research team tried an assortment of a traps without luck. They tried bait, nets, and pits to no avail. The spider monkeys were just too smart, too quick, or too strategic. Then, a young researcher had an idea. The spider monkeys loved macadamia nuts. He took Coke bottles and put a macadamia nut in the bottom of it. He then secured the Coke bottle to a tree. It worked.

The spider monkeys would smell the nut and get curious. They would reach into the bottle and grab the nut. When they balled their hand into a fist to hold onto the nut, they couldn't get their hand out of the bottle. Researchers would find spider monkeys who had died with their fist inside the bottles. And all they had to do was what? All they had to do was LET GO. All they had to do was let go of the nut and they would have survived.

What do you need to let go of to live the life you've always imagined?

To Your Success,

Bay-Bee's Papa (Michael)