Drew's First Executive Meeting

At the ripe old age of 55 weeks, Andrew Thomas attended and participated in his first executive meeting. His major contributions included enthusiastic vocalizations to encourage discussion and repeated attempts to dial out for pizza when the meeting ran late.

I mentioned that I had to come back to Colorado for the DDJ with the Drew Monster in tow. At first, my Wednesday afternoon was supposed to be used in reviewing our presentation with just one or two of the folks I worked with on this particular project, and my manager had OK'd me to bring Andrew in order to maximize the time I could spend with the team. As I was signing for my rental mini-van, I got a call telling me that we would be meeting with the pres to go over the presentation and to go straight there. I think that was the final piece of insanity that pushed me into thinking of this trip in a positive light. I mean, bring my son to a meeting with the president of my company? We've just wandered into the land of cheesy, feel-good, happy ending eighties movies. (By rights I should be getting a sweet house, finding Mr. Right, and raking in a major windfall. Since I took care of the second item years ago and the first item was settled on Saturday (more on this later), I should be expecting that six-figure publishing contract any day now, right?)

It was definitely surreal to not only be in the president's office wearing my comfy clothes from the flight (jeans, T-shirt), but also to find myself pushing a stroller into said office that was full of male VP's as well as the pres. Everything after that was just icing. Excusing myself to change not one but two smelly diapers. Dashing out to mix up a bottle of formula (still trying to get him adjusted to whole milk). Playing peek-a-boo under the meeting table. By the time we got to the dry-run of the presentation, Drew wanted only to be held by me. That's right, folks. I presented a project to the president of the company (and by this time it was late enough that most of the crowd in the room had left) while holding and bouncing my child.

Seriously, Drew was very well-behaved. All the people in the meeting were very patient and willing to have him there. Most of them took time to coo and smile at the little bugger and several of them even played with him. No one had a problem with him crawling over the meeting table and punching the buttons on the phone as he did. And everyone helped me find his missing sock (socks are the new Elmo, I swear). I don't know if this is because I happen to be very fortunate in my selection of coworkers or because Drew is just the cutest little thing on two legs.

I will make sure that Drew keeps this momentous occasion in mind for his first resume.