FOR THE FIRST-TIME FATHERS

Cherish Each Moment Before Your Kid Wants The Keys To Your Car

Miles To Go

I HEARD YA, DAD (I ROLLED MY EYES, BUT I HEARD YOU)

he believes in community reporting, giving back and life on the waters.

Sitting in my favorite recliner, I watch my now 8-month-old son on the floor mat chewing on his favorite teether — drool pouring out the mouth as he blabs. He just recently found his voice, and it won’t be long before he starts to crawl all over the house.

Next comes the walking — and running and baby proofing. And it won’t be long until he reverberates that one word we wish never existed in our child’s vocabulary, “no.”

Before I know it, he’ll be off to kindergarten. And in a snap of a finger, he’ll be in high school and eventually off to college, ready to take on the real world.

In my eighth month of fatherhood, one thing rings true as I talk to parents here in the Keys whose kids flew the nest. “Enjoy it now. Before you know it, they’ll be taking the keys to your car.”

The time really does fly by as I sit here just a few months away from my son’s first birthday. Where did the time go?

Rewind eight months back, my little guy, Lucas, entered the world at a hospital in Miami. Emotions poured as I saw him for the first time — his mouth wide open and eyes shut as he cried. He already had a full head of blonde hair, which I couldn’t believe, and his rolls made him a miniature Pillsbury Doughboy. Sitting in the hospital room, my girlfriend, Brie, and I watched him as we were enamored at his facial features, little toes and tiny fingers. Excitement began to build as we prepared to bring him back to our Keys home.

As a first-time father, I had a lot to get accustomed to and learn — like the fact that he would dictate our sleep schedule for the months to come (thank you Red Bull for keeping us going). The diaper changing wasn’t so bad (I had the honor of changing the first-ever diaper.) And I certainly enjoyed watching him sleep in his high-tech baby swing that swayed back and forth at different speeds with the press of a button on the remote. The technology in these chairs and swings nowadays is pretty incredible; they even play soothing sounds.

At 4 months, he kept us up routinely through the night as we fed him bottles and rocked him back to sleep. It was no doubt a challenge, but we worked through it. Eventually, we started giving him solid baby food to settle that fierce hunger. By 6 months, Lucas was sitting in a high chair with his mouth wide open as we shoveled jars of food into his mouth. I gotta give it up to the kid, he’s eating everything from peas and sweet potato to pear and mango.

In a matter of months, his newborn weight transformed into something similar to a 20 pound dumbbell. I found myself switching him from one arm to the other in just minutes. I think it’s time I get back to Froggy’s gym.

There are many moments in my son’s young life that I continue to look back on as I spend each day feeding him, getting down on the play mat to rattle toys and putting him to sleep. After all, these times won’t last forever; they’ll become a memory and a story worth telling or a picture stored in the iPhone to look back at in the months and years to come.

For all those first-time fathers out there, cherish each moment you have as you sit in the playpen and rattle toys, listen to “Cocomelon” (younglings are addicted to this show) and devour baby food in the high-chair. Each moment with your baby is different from the previous one. And, before you know it, they’ll be all grown up.

Happy Father’s Day to all the rockstar dads out there. And here’s a special shout out to the first-time dads working hard and having the time of their lives.

Mandy Miles

drops stuff, breaks things and falls down more than any adult should. She’s married to a saintly — and handy — fisherman, and has been stringing words together in Key West since 1998.

arents never think their kids are listening to them. They’re convinced our whole lives that their words fall on deaf ears. And admittedly, sometimes they do. But not always. There are some things that permeate our thick skulls and stick there forever.

So in honor of Father’s Day, I went through my mental catalog of quotes from Bob Bolen, who has made frequent appearances in this space.

• “Of COURSE I have a double standard when it comes to you and your brother. Of COURSE he can stay out later than you. Why? Because boys have sex and girls have babies.”

• During a driving lesson at age 16, Dad had been preparing me for one of Jersey’s infamous traffic circles the whole 45-minute ride. “When you enter the circle, always stay in the outside lane. Then you won’t get stuck inside. Remember, stay in the outside lane.” Then, as the Somers Point Circle came into view, it was, “Here we go, just stay in the outside OUTSIDE, OUTSIDE LANE!” (The only thing louder than his panicked voice during this “teachable moment” was the sound of his right foot stomping uselessly against the passenger floorboard and its nonexistent brake.)

• “What gave you the idea that this family is a democracy where all things are fair and equal?”

• “Where are you? We’re on our way.” (His response to my 11 p.m. call from a high school party when I was in no

Pshape to drive home. On the way home, it was, “Your mother and I will ALWAYS come get you. Always. No questions asked.” And they did.)

• “No daughter of mine will throw like a girl.” (I don’t. And my dad or mom was at every high school softball, basketball and field hockey game — and I was terrible at field hockey. My only appearance in the highlights film was when my uniform skirt fell off in the middle of a play. I had shorts underneath, but it was my most interesting contribution to the sport.)

• “I’d have four more sons before another daughter. You’re killing me, kid.” (You brought a lot of that on yourself, Dad. I spent my adolescence telling Mom to have you tested. “There’s something wrong with your husband,” I said on more than one overprotective, eye-rolling occasion.)

• “Just because the state of New Jersey says you can drive doesn’t mean I do. Now you’ll take MY test.” (Thanks to his test, I can change a tire and jump a battery on my own.)

• “What happened to ‘Shithead?’” (Dad’s nickname for a long-ago boyfriend, and although my mom wouldn’t say the word aloud, she held the same opinion. Of course, they were right.)

• “I will always worry about you, kid. I’ll never stop, no matter how crazy you think I am; no matter how old you are. It’s my job and I love you, your mom and brother more than anything in this world.” (I will always roll my eyes in exasperation while telling Mom you’re insane. But I will always love you guys more than anything in the world and will never doubt for a second that I’m loved beyond measure. Happy Father’s Day, Dad. Want to go for a ride around the circle?)

Spinning necktie hangers, shoe shine kits and “World’s Best Dad” mugs are fine Father’s Day gifts, sort of, even if they’re not entirely useful in the Florida Keys. And while moms get treated to brunch, runny eggs served in bed or a spa day for Mother’s Day, dads do things a bit differently. Always here to help, we give you…

10. Thirty minutes of bathroom time with no interruption. No knocking. No yelling. Just the sweet bliss of silence.

9. Sticky green.

8. Sixteen holes of cocktails, two holes of golf.