I know i'm not the only one in here who's a papa. What are some things about being a dad (or about nephews/nieces, or any other children in your life) that make you happy?

I'll start: I've been trying to teach my boy (I'll call him Everson) to play with legos since he was about 6 months old (he's now about a 1.75 yrs old). Yesterday, he found some megablocks at his grandparents' house. So we took them home, and he started playing with them. It was so exciting to watch build little towers with them. He'd stack a few blocks on top of each other and say "TALL! TALL!" He was building on the coffee table in our living room. Every now and then, he'd use up all the blocks on the table, and shout "more more more!" as he'd run to get more to make the tower even taller.

So what are some ways that kids make you happy?

Today my oldest (5) was building a cat carrier out of a box for her stuffed cat. The following dialogue is hers:
Luna, here is your new home, what do you think?
*meow*
Yes, I agree.

When Edward was small we had a little 19' Mastercraft Prostar 190 ski boat. We would wakeboard and the kids would inner-tube behind it. One time we were in the car, in traffic, and Edward started yelling "boat! boat!" and it took me a while to figure out what he was talking about. He was pointing at a car... but it was a convertible with the top down, and from the side, same profile as the boat. It's really really interesting how people learn stuff.

My daughter is starting kindergarten in September and this summer she said "I'm going to go to kindergarten and learn how to read all by myself"? It warmed my heart.

Today I bought a kickstand for my daughter's bike. On the drive home she couldn't stop talking about kickstands and how chuffed she was about it.
Daughter: When we get home I'm going to tell our neighbors how I'm the richest person on earth.
Me: Oh?
Daughter: Not in money, but in kickstands!

Unrelated by after we got home she said this:
I cry every day because I've been making grown-up poops!

I just turned 40 and my oldest is a few months younger than I was when I found this site. We recently built his first gaming pc and he asked if I ever had many online friends on the "old net." Felt ancient and thought of this place.

aw

Rofl
The “old net”

OMG please feed that kid some vegetables!

Oh I remembered another one. One day when he was very young my son told me, "my neck hurts, dad." I was like... what? Then he pointed to his throat. Aawwwwww

I DO! She just eats a lot and poops small mountains.

Back on topic.
My 3 year old is obsessed with our rabbit who is named Cinnamon. She often gets carried away and tires laying on him, squeezing him, etc.
Today I was supervising her as she was petting him in his cage. Then she started saying:
"Lock me in! Lock me in! Lock me in with Cinn-a-mon!"
Very quickly it turned into a song. I was impressed with her improvisation.

At another point today my 5 year old was playing with sculpting clay and was making aliens.
Her: This one has three legs!
Me: Why?
Her: Because it comes from a shaky planet
Me: That makes sense.
Her: It also has six eyes
Me: Why does it have six eyes?
Her: Because it is more scary that way.

So great!! Kids are whack.

Recently before putting my kids to bed we sat on the front porch to listen to night sounds. I was explaining what all of the different sounds were and when I got to describing crickets my 3 year old suddenly yells out as loud as she can:
DON'T WORRY CRICKETS, WE WONT EAT YOU!

Everson just discovered ice cream. When I bring him to my parents' house, he insists on eating it with my dad on my parents' stoop. They share a cone. Very cute.

Kids developing rituals is really weird and fun to watch. Once I ate graham crackers on the front porch with my oldest when she was 2, and after that she wanted to do it daily and would freak out if we didn't.

Today we were doing yard work and my oldest says: Yard work is so hard!
Me: Yep, but it pays big dividends.
Her: I guess so. Maybe small M&Ms at first, then Big M&Ms later.

My 3rd youngest of 4 who's 8yo just came home from school with a drawing of hitler with the swastika flags and all. He said it was an assignment to draw something from history. I couldn't hate that.

*there was no note from the teacher in regards to the artwork he produced.

Today my 5 year old was scared when a loud High Schooler was yelling at his friend as we were leaving the grocery store. When I was buckling her into her car seat she asks:
"Dad, are we safe?"
"Yeah, we're pretty safe." I say, thinking she is going to talk about the High Schooler "What are you worried about?"
"That I'll get attacked by pool noodles." She says very deadpan.
I laugh, "How would pool noodles hurt you?"
"With swords!"

A little bit ago I had this exchange with my 3 year old.
Me: Please put your plate in the sink
3 year old: I cant.
Me: Yes you can
3 Year old: I doesn't have legs.

lol

I tell the wife all the time, "You're going to miss this stage"

I have similar mantra. When they make huge messes or do really insane things I tell my wife it isn't worth it if we don't take a picture.

And save them in a photo album so you can embarrass them when they're teenagers.

Last week I was trying to find snow boots for my 5 year old. Alas all of the boots, and most of the shoes in her size were cleaned out. We went to 5 different stores and it was the same story in each place. While leaving one of the stores there was an upbeat song playing over the speakers to which my daughter in a bewildered tone said “This music doesn't even match how things are going right now.”