A Family Affair
When it comes
to his precious year-old baby girl, Makena Grace, GENERAL HOSPITAL's Steve
Burton (Jason) 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 iwth 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 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."