The Stork

The day after Gabe was born, our friend Julie had a stork placed in our front yard as a surprise. Mind you, this was not the normal "Congrats on the kid" stork. No, this was a gargantuan monster stork. This was the Storkie, the Loch Stork monster. It had to have been at least 30 feet tall (okay, maybe six feet tall). Either way, it was big. (As a humorous aside, my Dad came over to put a normal sized stork in the yard. When he saw ol' Storkie there, he got a case of stork envy and decided one stork was enough).

"Hey Kidnappers! Come here for newborns!"

The stork was actually a rental. Who knew you could rent giant avians? At the end of the week, Storks by the Yard came and took ol' Storkie away. But they left the birth announcement. Of course, we did what any new parent would do, and immediately hung it on the wall. Over the changing table.

The sign on the wall

Now, little did we know at the time, but this would turn out to be the best decision that we would make in the entirety of Baby Gabe's life to date. Set up a college fund? Nah. Baby-proof the house? Can be done later. Nope...the best thing in the world was hanging that stupid birth announcement on the wall over his changing pad.

You see, for reasons that Jules and I can't fathom, every time he is laying on that pad he looks up at that sign. And he cracks up. Not an occasional, maybe coincidental grin. Nope, a full on smile, accompanied by a sound I can only take to be baby laughter. And talking. Lots of talking to the sign.

What the hell does he see?

Look, I have been drunk enough to probably have a conversation with an inanimate object. Lord knows that in my past I have dated women that are probably dumber than that sign. But I can't figure out why Gabe laughs each and every time he sees the sign. It baffles me. It's like the sign is telling him really good jokes that only he can hear when he is laying there.

Whatever the reason, it is, by far, the most rewarding thing we have done in our short time as parents. His overwhelming joy at that sign just makes your heart melt.

I wonder if I can get a sign made for me....

"Gotta get more stork sign!"