The Stella Rae Workout

Right now I am in Upton, Ky. the home of my wife's family. We were here for the holidays. So lots of passing the Brooklyn Baby Baby around from family member to family member. And, eventually, she'd get upset, so either the BBM or I would take her back. And one thing I noticed is that this little girl LOVES being picked up and lifted in the air, over and over again. So much so that it's became a go-to thing to do in order to cheer her up. As a result I now have some guns now where my arms used to be.

Okay, so that sounds like bragging. And maybe if you saw them you wouldn't be all that impressed. In fact, that's likely. I considered posting a pic here of my "guns" but thought that would be a little bit too much information, for not all that much payoff. It's entirely possible that in the wide, wide world of men with guns for arms these don't even qualify. I can accept that. Maybe they're squirt guns. But they're big by my standards.

You see I hate the gym. And when I do go I typically do the exercises I already like. I like the elliptical machine, so I do that, I like to stretch, so I do that. I like chest exercises, so I do those. But I hate anything to do with my biceps. They've never been big, even when I have gone to the gym a lot. And neither have my calves. They've always been kind of small. So I typically skip those workouts.

But living with our 24 lb. baby has, without me even realizing it, created a daily workout for me. Whether I want to or not. She gets upset, I pick her up and lift her over my head. I do it about 10 times in a row, maybe 12 or 13 sometimes. She LOVES it. She smiles, she kicks out her legs. No matter how upset she had been before hand all of a sudden a massive grin spreads across her face, and she laughs and laughs. So I have to do it. And as she becomes heavier, which, believe me, she is, I become just a little bit stronger.

Again, maybe no one would notice, that's cool. But this is the ONE physical side effect of having a kid that's been positive. Randi's gotten stronger too, by the way. I feel her arm and it is far more solid than it has been at any time since I've known her. She too lifts the Brooklyn Baby Baby all day.

I've come to have a theory that maybe this all is a part of evolution. As parents lift their children more they become more powerful, and better able to defend them. Whoa unto the cave bear that would try to seperate the BBM from her BBB. Even I wouldn't want to get in the middle of that.

I look at my face in the mirror sometimes. My beard is way more gray than it was eight months ago. My eyes are baggier, my back hurts a bit, I look and feel older. It's a small price to pay for what we have received. But now, thanks to the Stella Rae Workout, I can open jars just a little bit more easily. So I can eat more. A fair trade all around.