Dad And The Bear Whisperer

I am disappointed with one aspect of my life... I never discovered a super power. I thought one would evolve at some point before I was 18, but it never happened. No ability to fly, teleport, shoot lasers from my eyes, super strength, amazing accuracy with a bow and arrow, ring from the sky that can turn into anything, nothing! I didn’t even get the ability to pop a kernel of popcorn by sneezing! That is probably why I love Batman. He has no super power, and yet, he is awesome.

Even though my dream of a super power didn’t come true, I can hold out for my kids. Maybe one of them will be able to fly or throw metal things around like Magneto (minus the evil part though). I have been waiting with great anticipation for over 16 months now to see if any kind of super ability will shine in my daughter. Well those months of waiting have paid off. My daughter is a bear whisperer. That’s right, bears do whatever she wants apparently. My wife and I learned this today while at the zoo. This was our first trip to the zoo with our daughter, and what a day it was with the discovery of her super power. I couldn’t be more proud.

The trip started out pretty normal. It was hot, humid, and rained just a little bit as we weaved our way through the giant trees and winding paths through the different animal exhibits. We saw tigers, birds, snakes, birds, frogs, birds, all sorts of dogs, birds, koala bears, birds, ant eaters, and of course more birds. Zoos have a lot of birds these days. Sadly no elephants! Which was one of the main reasons for the trip! Our daughter loves elephants! She walks around and at least 3 times a day makes an elephant sound and brings her arm above her head. She loved the birds, especially when mommy busted out a quarter and we fed them. She loves ducks and got to feed a mixture of ducks and swans. The whole time she is saying, “duck! duck!” When we ran out of food she begged in her little way for more, but alas, we had no more quarters so we moved on.

After 2 hours, we pretty much had walked through the entire zoo and seen all the different animals. We did notice that we missed the bears and they supposedly had a Florida Panther (we had to preface to our daughter that it was not a hockey player, but an actual Florida Panther. She has gone to some hockey practices and games with us, so I wasn’t sure if maybe she thought Stephen Weiss lived in the zoo or something. At least that is what I would have thought.) We walked down the path and noticed that the bear was pretty close to the fence. The enclosure had a fence, then 4ft of space, then another fence. There was also a 6 foot area where there was a swimming area for the bear and separating the visitors was a thick piece of glass. We made our way to the glass, because it was the most unobstructed view of the medium sized bear. Then it happened! My daughter’s super power manifested itself! As soon as she went to that glass, the bear swam over and started splashing! The bear came right over and put his nose up against the glass, as if to say, “Yes, how can I be of service?” I thought for sure my daughter would say, “go and stop evil!” She instead tried to pet him through the glass. Some other kids ran over to see the bear up so close, and my daughter started to walk away. Wouldn’t you know that as soon as she walked away the bear swam away? Further proof of the super power! Then after looking at some bushes, she ran back up to the glass and tried her best growl. The bear looked back, turned, and swam right back up to the glass!!! It was amazing! She loved it and was laughing the whole time. Honestly, i was pretty impressed. For a person so small, and a bear so big, i thought for sure she would be a little intimidated. The bear came up out of the water and shook himself right in front of him. He looked huge in that moment, and she just laughed at him! Here is a look:





Overall it was a very great day, and now I have the great responsibility to teach my daughter to use her powers for good.

With great bears, comes great responsibility.

Oh, and we never did find that Florida Panther... maybe they were hiding some of the actual hockey players?

Toy Thursday - Picnic Table

It's Thursday so that means a new toy idea!

Toy Thursday is all about a toy or piece of equipment my wife and I have found useful.  Again, I can't guarantee your results will be exactly the same, I'm just throwing out an opinion and what has worked for us and others we know.

One of the most fun toys my daughter has gotten is a picnic table that was given to her by my sister. It is the Shapes And Sharing Picnic Basket the by leapfrog and it loks like this:

 

My wife and I love sitting down and having pretend picnics with her.  She even sets it up on her own now.  It is a great little toy.  It also makes sounds, and plays music.

So check it out here:

LeapFrog Shapes And Sharing Picnic Basket

and be on the look out for Tuesday's adventure!

Toy Thursday - The Coupe

Today is Thursday and that means a new toy!

Toy Thursday is all about a toy or piece of equipment my wife and I have found useful.  Again, I can't guarantee your results will be exactly the same, I'm just throwing out an opinion and what has worked for us and others we know.

One of my favorite toys when I was a kid was my very first car.  No, not the real kind of car, the Little Tikes car.  You know the red one that smiled at you?  I'm not sure how that thing was always smiling, especially being driven and pushed into so many walls, hills, and free falls.  Although the design has changed some, Little Tikes still makes those cars, and my daughter is in love with hers.  Her grandparents got her one for Christmas, and she practically lived in it for a month.  The company makes a generic one, and one for a little princess:


 


So if you are interested, check them out here:

Little Tikes Princess Cozy Coupe - 30th Anniversary

Little Tikes Cozy Coupe 30th Anniversary Car 

and be on the look out for Tuesdays adventure!

App's for Parents - Wee Sing & Learn ABC

I am a mac guy, and thanks to the pushing of my beautiful wife, I got an iPad for my birthday.  What I didn't realize is how many apps are out there for parents, whether it is entertaining kids or just to help run the house.

So as I come across apps that have helped us, I will pass them along to you.

The first is this app:



It is a pretty amazing learning app.  It has a whole bunch of different sections in it, and my daughter loves them all.  In the "read to myself" section, my daughter loves to push the different buttons with pictures of stuff on them, and then the app will say what it is.  Kaylee has already learned multiple words from this one amazing app.  She is constantly asking to play with it too, which could be a good or bad thing, since she always seems to want to play when I'm working on something.

So check it out, they make an iPad version here:



and an iPhone version here:



As always, be on the look out for Tuesday's adventure!

Toy Thursday #6 - LeapFrog My Pal

Today is Thursday and that means a new toy!

Toy Thursday is all about a toy or piece of equipment my wife and I have found useful.  Again, I can't guarantee your results will be exactly the same, I'm just throwing out an opinion and what has worked for us.  One of my daughters favorite stuffed animals is the LeapFrog My Pal Violet which Grandma got her for Christmas.  She loves this thing, and I have to admit it is pretty cool.  They also make a boy version called the LeapFrog My Pal Scout.  They look like this:




I have to admit they are pretty awesome.  You actually create an account with LeapFrog and then plug the toy into your computer and fill out some questions.  The questions are simple like what is your child's name, favorite color, animal, food, etc.  The toy will then call your child by their name and make up songs with their name and favorite stuff.  You can also pick an assortment of other songs that will show up when certain paws are pushed.  It is a great toy which my daughter wants to bring everywhere, and I get a kick with how customizable it is.

So check out the LeapFrog My Pal Violet for a girl and the LeapFrog My Pal Scout if you have a boy!

Also, be on the look out for this Tuesdays adventure as well as any updates!

Dad And The First Crying Night

Overall, if I had to describe my daughter, I would use words like smart, beautiful, cute, joyful, etc. But there was a night that the only word I could use was creepy. Yes, creepy. It was the first night that my wife and I let Kaylee put herself back to sleep. Now I know many people say you should start letting your kids “cry themselves to sleep” way earlier than the 14 month mark, but we didn’t do that. Kaylee started sleeping through the night after only a month, and if she did wake up, neither of us could stand hearing her cry. So we rocked her back to sleep. Around the 14 month mark, though, she would “wake” up but wouldn’t be awake. She was like sleep crying. Her eyes were closed, she would just start crying as soon as my wife or I would place her down or just randomly throughout the night. It was starting to get a bit frustrating, and it lead up to the night where the word creepy jumped off my tongue.

It was a Sunday night, or Monday morning depending on how you look at it, and Kristin and I were very tired from the weekend. We are children’s pastors with services on Saturday night, and Sunday morning, so weekends can get us pretty tired. She went to sleep at her normal time around 8pm, which was great! We thought we could relax a little a bit and then head to bed ourselves. Then the clock hit 2:30am. I woke up just long enough to see Kristin leave the room and head toward Kaylee’s room. What seemed like moments later, my beautiful wife came back in the room. She was standing near the bed, and I could still hear Kaylee crying. The following discussion happened (At least, as best I can remember. It was 3:00 in the morning, or something like that.):

Me: “Is everything ok?”
Kristin: “She won’t let me put her down, every time I do she wakes up and cries”
Me: “Its only been like 5 minutes though”
Kristin: “It’s been 2 hours”
Me: “What time is it?!?”
Kristin: “4:30”
Me: “Come to bed”
Kristin: “Let her cry?”
Me: “We’ve never let her cry before, and if we don’t get sleep we are gonna cry”
Kristin: “Ok”
Me: “Give her 5 min”

5 minutes later

Kristin: “Should I go now?”
Me: “Do five more minutes”

5 minutes later

Kristin: “What do you think?”
Me: “We’ve done 10 minutes, let’s go another 5”

5 minutes later

Kristin: “You think another 5?”
Me: “You do realize I’m not letting you go back in there right? The 5 more minutes thing is a sham.”

2 minutes later

Kristin: “I think she is sleeping.”
Me: “I will go check on her. You know what would be creepy? If i walk in there and she is just sitting and starring at the door waiting like in a movie or something.”
Kristin: “That would be creepy.“

So I get up and head to her room. It is pitch black in the house, and we had turn the light on in our room, so my eyes were having trouble adjusting as I transitioned from the bedroom to the main part of the house. I slowly opened her door to check on her, and as my eyes adapted to the low light all I could see was Kaylee sitting straight up and staring at me! At first I was terrified that she would attack me for letting her cry. Then, I couldn’t stop laughing. Kristin heard me and came to the hallway just outside our daughter’s door, and asked me what was going on. I told her it was my biggest fear, our daughter was going to kill me with a death stare. I slowly moved further into the room, trying to not make any sudden movements. I was, after all, trying to avoid the laser beams I knew would start shooting out of Kaylee’s eyes. As I ninja-d my way into the room, I noticed her eyes did not follow me. I quickly thought of motioning to Kristin to get down. Perhaps Kristin was the target! I didn’t motion though, I thought Kristin would be able to get behind the door in time to avoid the laser rays while I threw a pillow or something at Kaylee. Yes this was all going through my mind... it is almost 5am at this point, give me a break! So after the ridiculous scenario had run its course in my head, I realized she had actually fallen asleep in this position, sitting straight up with her eyes open. I walked up to the crib and gently laid her down. She immediately rolled over onto her stomach (butt straight up in the air, like how all babies sleep) and went right to sleep.

It was a crazy night to say the least. It was a break through night though. Now anytime she wakes up, within 2 minutes of crying she is back asleep. I also realize that most parents will look at this story and tell us we lucked out that we only had to hold out 17 minutes. Well, yes, Kaylee rocks, what can I say? I may be a bit biased though :)

Dad And The Elmo Alien Invasion

I love Sesame Street, I really do. I think it is pretty amazing even after all these years. The show helps kids learn in a very fun way, and I know it keeps my daughter’s attention. My only problem with Sesame Street is Elmo. Yes that red monster who has completely invaded my home. You want to talk about an adventure? How about fighting off a mind controlling alien invasion. You may think that lumping in Elmo with the likes of other aliens who have tried to take over the earth in various movies, TV shows, and video games since the age of media is a little harsh, and I see your point. Elmo after all has never blown up the White House like in Independence Day, or made people where tin foil on their heads like that movie (I think it was “Signs”) with the aliens that looked like Power Ranger villains. If you don’t believe me about that last one just google it and leave some comments below with your apologies for doubting. Elmo may not have done any of those things, but he is slowly invading household by household. He already defeated Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert & Ernie, and every other Sesame Street character that used to be ahead of him when I was a kid. Now, I’m afraid to admit my house is under siege. Elmo’s plan is simple, invade and then mind control. It is already beginning. Here is how I know:

Step 1: Invasion
80% of the things in my home now have a picture of Elmo on them, and my daughter runs around the house saying “elmooooo”. Well, technically she doesn’t say it, it is more of singing it. Which is pretty impressive, since she can’t really talk yet. In fact, we are pretty sure Elmo was one of her first 5 words. She has multiple Elmo toys, three of which are stuffed dolls of various sizes. You may say, well it is easy to stop this invasion, just don’t buy her any more things with Elmo on them. That won’t work. She is 14 months old as of writing this and Elmo has worked himself into the American culture. When someone wants to get Kaylee something, the default is Elmo. Elmo is on t-shirts, singing toys, stuffed animals, plastic action figures, DVDs, etc. There is no stopping him!

Step 2: Mind Control
The other night we sat down to dinner. As a general rule, we try to put away all electronics and turn off the TV. We want to do our best to establish dinner time as a family time, and be, at least for the moment, disconnected to the outside world. Most nights this works out and it is great. Kristin and I laugh at our daughter as she learns to use spoons and forks, and mashes food all over the place while our dog, Alf, does his best to get every scrap she drops. It is an adventure every night.

But then came the night where the fog lifted from my eyes and I realized what Elmo was truly up too... world domination through mind control! Kaylee was sitting and eating when all of a sudden she looked over at the TV. It was not on. She quickly started pointing to it and saying Elmo? It technically sounds like em or elm or sometimes just o, but we know what she means. We told her she needed to finish eating, which she immediately did her arms in the air signal that means “I’m all done!” We then tried to explain to our 14 month old child that she had seen enough TV and we were going to play some games that had nothing to do with Elmo or the TV. That didn’t go so well. She immediately went over to the living room and pointed once again to the TV and very calmly said, Elmo? We once again said, no honey lets play with your toys over here. Now she got serious by grabbing the TV remote, pointing it toward the TV, mashing buttons, and then looking at us and saying in her still calm voice, Elmo? We once again assured her that we could watch Elmo later, but right now we were going to have lots of fun playing picnic and catch. Now the mind control escalated. She went to the cabinet where her Elmo DVD is stored and started pulling out, and throwing, every DVD case until she found the one she coveted... Elmo's Music Magic. She then pushed on the sound bar speaker we have (she thinks this is the manual way to turn on the TV) waving the DVD in the air saying over and over again in her still calm voice Elmo, Elmo, Elmo! Before we could once again try to explain and play with her, she put the DVD on top of the satellite box, hurried over to my recliner with remote in hand, climbed up by herself (this was one of the first times she did this. Apparently Elmo mind control gives super human strength), pulled a blanket over her lap, and then pointed the remote at the TV. She then said again in a calm voice while looking at us with her big brown eyes, Elmo?

It was at this point the mind control transferred from our little girl to us. We turned on the DVD for the 3,091,293,409,409,841st time, and sang and danced with her through the movie.

Elmo won again...

Sadly, resistance was futile.

How about you, has Elmo taken control of your house? If not what has?

Dad And The Belly Button

Adventures are something everyone looks forward too. My wife and I have had many adventures both together and before we met. We both have been to multiple countries, have enjoyed meeting new people, trying new things, and overall have done a great deal in our lives so far. We have been married almost 5 years now and decided 3 years ago to start the adventure of having kids. We work with children for a living as children’s pastors so when we decided to start our own family we weren’t sure how different it would be - we are surrounded by kids 50% of our time anyway, what would another 50% change right?.

So after a year of trying and 9 months of pregnancy (my wife, not me), our little girl, Kaylee, was born. What I thought would be one big adventure has turned into daily adventures of hilarity, insanity, tiredness, craziness and most overall awesomeness. With this site, I’m hoping to share some of these adventures as well as have a place my wife, Kristin, and I can look back on and remember the crazy amounts of adventures we have had with Kaylee, and our future kids.

One of the first most vivid moments I can remember is the day the umbilical cord finally fell off. First of all, how nasty are those things? I know they say people aren’t born with tails, but isn’t that basically what an umbilical cord is - a tail coming out of our stomach? Of course, the tail... I mean umbilical cord does come off after a short while, so dreams of being able to swing from trees from a stomach tail are only for those who are still in the beginning stages of life. We were instructed by the nurse to make sure to keep the cord clean by using a q-tip and rubbing alcohol. She told us to be gentle when touching the cord so we wouldn’t hurt the baby. She then very quickly said to not be so careful you don’t get it clean around the base. This of course is in direct violation of another nurse who said the q-tip and alcohol method was outdated and not to use it. That second opinion is in direct opposition of a parenting website which said to rub guacamole on it so it stays nice a moist, kind of like that facial stuff girls put on at night. Anyways, we went with the keep it clean method and constantly debated whether we were being gentle enough or if we were not getting to the “base” of the cord. The umbilical cord was supposed to fall off within 2-4 weeks, but we found ourselves around the 5 week mark with Kaylee’s stomach tail still hanging on for dear life. I guess Kaylee really wanted to swing from trees hands and feet free! Kristin and I couldn’t wait for the thing to go though, it looked like a shriveled up freeze dried banana that had been on the counter for weeks...

One night Kristin and I are getting Kaylee ready for bed. This included a bath, change of clothes, and all the other usual stuff. Kristin went to the other room to get her some pajamas while I finished up. Kaylee was getting a little upset and possibly a little cold so I picked her up after I had her diaper on. She calmed down pretty quick, so I put her down on the changing table, when I noticed “it” was gone. The stomach tail was missing. I quickly looked around. It was no where to be found (yes I realize those two sentences rhyme. I’m reading a lot more Dr. Seuss now a days). Her little belly button was bleeding a bit and overall was pretty disgusting looking. I still wanted to know where that tail was when all of a sudden I look down and see it. The cord was caught on my shirt! It was trying to burrow its way into my belly button. I quickly smacked the alien invader off, and then called Kristin in the room to figure out what to do with Kaylee’s new belly button. We weren’t sure how to react so we did what any other 20 something parents of the 21st century would do - we pulled out our camera phones and sent a picture to our parents to ask them what to do. While awaiting a response the inni and outi belly button theories others had mentioned came to mind. Supposedly if you, but a silver dollar over the belly button you are 100% guaranteed to make it an inni. After a quick rehash of the methods, we decided to let nature take its course as to whether Kaylee would have an inni or outi belly button.

We ended up just cleaning out her belly button, and all was well. My parents actually laughed at me for sending them a picture. Once Kaylee was set and heading to bed, I had to find where I had swatted the remains of her stomach tail... luckily Alf, our dog, hadn’t eaten it. In case you are wondering, I threw away the remaining umbilical cord. I know there are people out there that will save it and make it into a teddy bear or something, but that’s not my cup of tea. The thing did after all try to attack me.

Umbilical cords are not much fun, but they make for one great adventure!