Not that anything could ever follow a post about Nick Carter's clothing habits, but . . .

Guess which 10 month old little girl took her first steps yesterday???

I don't get it - why doesn't Nick Carter get the crap kicked out of him by every black person on the planet? Come on, a bandana and an Iverson jersey? HE'S A BACKSTREET BOY!!

I am madly in love with three people. The first is my wife, who I will always love best. The second is Laney Elisabeth Barber, the newest (and littlest) love of my life. The third, and the one that I've been thinking about the most lately, is one Samuel Atticus Barber.

I am blessed that I have so much in common with a four-year-old. One of the great benefits for me of being the parent of such a youngster is that I get to do things that any self-respecting non-parent would be embarrassed about. For instance, if I had no children and I had gone to see Brother Bear at the theater last night, I would have looked pretty darn silly all alone there in the movie seat, munching on popcorn and sipping Sprite. But, because I have a four-year-old little boy, it is perfectly socially acceptable to do just that. This works out well for me because (shh . . . don't tell anybody) I have a deep affection for movies like Brother Bear. In fact, after last night, I have a deep affection for Brother Bear specifically. It was a swell flick - great music from Phil Collins. Really good stuff.

But the best part of the movie for me was not so much what was on the screen, but what was squirming in my lap for an hour and a half. Sam does this thing where he waits until my hand is in the popcorn bag, then his hand darts in to grab some popcorn, just so that our hands are in there at the same time. This is something he won't do five years from now.

I guess it's pretty important to me that Sam and I spend that time together. God bless you, Walt Disney. Not only did you make a good film, but you helped a boy and his dad grow closer.