Luke Bryan Enjoys ‘Little Things’ About Parenthood

Luke Bryan wears many hats, including singer, songwriter and two-time ACM Award winner. But all of those titles pale in comparison to his favorite role of all -- being dad to his two boys, three-year-old Thomas Boyer "Bo" and one-year-old Tatum Christopher.

"It's all the little things, like watching them sleep in your bed, when they crawl in the bed with you in the morning, and you're up and they're sleeping," Luke tells The Boot of his favorite part of parenthood. "Bo hugged my leg the other morning, and he hugged it, and I knew the way he hugged it, he was fixing to say, 'I love you Daddy.' The fact, when you start seeing that they understand love is pretty cool. Watching them evolve into people."

Bo may be only a toddler but he already has an innate ability to express his emotions. "It was so funny -- Bo had made a little drawing at his pre-school, and it was laying by the trash can in our bathroom," the Georgia native recalls. "[My wife] Caroline wasn't going to throw it away, but he came in and was like, 'Mom, this doesn't go in the trash. I made this for you. This hurts my feelings. I made this for you.' The fact that he knew that his little drawing was in the trash, he was hurt by it ... and he was telling us he was. It was an interesting, simple thing that told me a lot about where he is as a person."

The 35-year-old is crossing the country with Tim McGraw on his Emotional Traffic tour, before he heads out as the headlining act on CMT on Tour: Luke Bryan Tailgates & Tanlines this fall. But while he's thrilled with his soaring success, it's a reward for his hard work that comes with a hefty price tag.

"It's the big negative of this business, just being away from family," acknowledges the 'Country Girl (Shake It for Me)' singer. "I'll text Caroline [and say that] gosh, I'm working harder and harder than ever, that we can just have our own bus and they can come out. [But] I don't want them following me around. I don't want their life to be following Daddy around. I want them to have their life, but I also want to do what I can to spend more time with them."

The tunesmith is enjoying a few days off the road, before he heads out again next week for stops in North Carolina and Virginia. Keep track of his schedule here.

Luke's new album, 'Tailgates & Tanlines,' hits shelves Tuesday, August 9.