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When it comes to his precious year-old baby girl, Makena Grace, Steve Burton is a big ol' softy. The mere inquiry of "How's she doing?" brings a smile to his eyes and an almost incredulous nod. "She's great," he says. "Kids are awesome." Being a daddy may be somewhat new to Burton, but he has a secret to his parenting success!
Baby Talk
So far, having a baby daughter around the house has been smooth sailing thanks to his fabulous wife of six years, Sheree, and a class they took by the authors of Babywise. After the class, Burton says he had 100 percent confidence, whereas before, he had zero. "It was all about putting the baby on a good schedule, what to do, how to analyze what the problem is when she's crying and all this stuff." explains Burton "Then, at 10 weeks, she was sleeping through the night! I'm telling you, it wasn't us - it was this program. We had friends who would be like, 'what's wrong with our baby. At six months, she won't sleep through the night.' We'd say, 'Here's the book. Just try to start implementing this.' Within four weeks [that baby was sleeping] through the night. It's unbelievable. People say 'You lucky son of a [bleep]!'" laughs Burton. "It's not luck. It's this program. I would have been like every other poor parent - kid sleeping with you at seven months, still not sleeping through the night... But she goes to bed now at 6:45 and sleeps until 6:45. We have a life!"
Aloha, Baby!
Although she's just a wee thing, Makena has already acclimated herself nicely to the Burton's lifestyle, including enjoying a family vacation to their favorite getaway spot, Hawaii. "We were there for summer vacation, and Makena did great!" says Burton. "I was nervous about it at first. But it was a about four hour flight and she took a two hour nap in the plane. I was nervous because I didn't want to be the parents with the screaming kid. Before, when I didn't have a baby, I'd get on a plane and look for the babies, see where they are compared to my seat. But, she did great, man. We were very surprised. The flight attendants passed her around. We're going to go to Hawaii every year for our summer vacation. It was just cool to see her on the sand, in the ocean, in the pool..."
The More, The Merrier
Burton calls wife Sheree "awesome" with an explanation point. Having a child together has done nothing but make him appreciate her that much more. "It's a whole other bond that you have with a person," he says. "It's hard to think how people can get divorced after having kids. You shared that special moment. It's deepened the bond between my wife and I."
As with any doting parents, there have been plenty of cutesy names unexpectedly popping out of their mouths. "Oh, you know, we have some nicknames for her ... and some of them are weird, and some aren't," Burton acknowledges with a grin. "My wife is, 'Um, maybe we need to start calling her by her name soon? She's not going to know her name if we keep up with the nicknames!'"
Although Makena just turned 1 in September, Burton is already anticipating the future. "She's a girl, so I'm going to be very strict. It's not going to be good for her...or any boy." The experience has been so rewarding that he knows the Burton clan will someday expand again. "We definitely want to give her brothers and sisters. Probably in a couple more years."
After Makena was born, Burton cut the umbilical cord and was surprised by his reaction. "I expected to get lightheaded during it and I really didn't. It was cool, man!"
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