My Favorite Photo: 4th Month

Dear Conrad,

This picture isn't really anything special. It's a little blurry, and a bit yellow. It was taken at the Applebee's in Columbia after we had come back from Arkansas. But it's special to me.

Whenever we went out to eat when you were this small, Daddy would take you out and hold you. You always liked sitting at the table with us. If we tried to keep you in your car seat, you would start to cry because you wanted to be part of whatever we were doing. While we were holding you, you would just take in everything. You never cried when we were eating out when you were this small (unless you were hungry, but we were always prepared and were able to stop the crying quickly.)

This picture also reminds me just how much your daddy loves you. Whenever he came home from school, one of the first things he wanted to do was hold you. You were his special little buddy.

We Love You, Conrad

Dear Conrad,

We came back to Missouri from Arkansas in January, but only for a few days before we rushed back to our family and friends. It was extremely cold in Columbia. Your daddy had been practicing at the university to get ready for his recital, and as we were leaving we ran into one of his friends who was getting his master's in choral conducting. He was one of those guys who is totally into choir music literature and Broadway literature. When we introduced him to you, he said, "Oh, like Conrad Birdie?" Neither of us had seen Bye Bye Birdie, so he told us "There's this little song that the chorus sings, and it goes something like ... oh, how does it go ... 'We love you Conrad, oh yes we do, we don't ... hmm ... something something, when you're not with us, we're blue, oh Conrad we love you.'"

When we got back home I looked on YouTube to find the song so I could learn it. Unfortunately, the only ones online are from high school performances, so the audio quality isn't that great, but at the time it was enough to teach your dad and me the melody. We ended up changing one of the lines on accident, but we think it sounds better our way.

We love you Conrad, oh yes we do,
We don't love anyone as much as you,
When you're not with us, we're blue,
Oh Conrad we love you.

And that's been your song ever since.