There she was, looking up at me with her big brown eyes. She had a confused look on her face, as if asking, why Daddy why? She gazed at the hard cement flooring on our porch in absolute horror. She just wanted to know how this outdoor wonder land which she loves so much had just reached up, tripped her, and drawn the first blood she had ever seen. I had no answer for her, only an outstretched hand of help. I picked up my little girl, dusted her off, and assessed the damage. It is official. She had gotten her first boo boo.
Now, I’m taking about her first actual boo boo that counts. This one drew some blood. Yes it wasn’t really “bleeding” per se, but it was a scrape. It is the first boo boo that signals my little baby girl is not a baby anymore. She is officially transitioning into becoming a toddler. The baby injuries are not a boo boo. Starting around the three month mark bumps and bruises started coming as she learned to move around. Just like any kid learning to crawl and walk, she has gotten plenty of small bumps and bruises. When she started climbing? Forget it! Her shins constantly had little bumps and bruises. But this day, this day was different. This day the cement part of our porch had reached up and tripped my child. In broad day light, the ground struck my little girl and had drawn blood!
I’m still not exactly sure what happened. Much like most 15 month olds, my daughter is still mastering the art of walking and running. She was banging on our fence one moment, trying to entice the neighbor’s dogs to come out, and the next she was on the ground. I think she was practicing her ninja moves, for when she is a superhero. Anyways, I ran over and scooped her up. I saw the damage had been done, and she just looked at me like what happened. She didn’t cry too much, which is surprising, because I would have cried (somewhere my parent’s have a video of a baseball hitting my finger and I fell to the ground crying. I’m coming out with this before they can try to make fun of me with it again. In fact when I recounted my daughter’s first boo boo to them, they immediately brought up the baseball story. They would). Back to the story though. I quickly went inside and along with mommy, we cleaned up the little scrape. I kept telling her it would be ok, and she would get a band-aid. On the band-aid went, and immediately she wanted it off. I told her it would help her in the long run. Something tells me that didn’t click with my daughter because she kept trying to rip it off.
Now the babying started. I went and got her a juice box, which is a special treat for her. She immediately clapped and cheered. We then sat down to watch THE Elmo DVD. If you don’t know what THE Elmo DVD is, read here. I then went into the bedroom and along with Kaylee we explained to mommy that she needed ice cream. Sadly it was getting late at this point, so she had to settle for some goldfish. She quickly figured out that she had all the power now. Daddy wanted to make her feel better, and she knew it. Anytime she wanted something she would point, and then look down at her knee and go “oh”. Once again I had been out done by 1 year old. So for the rest of the night, I got her whatever she wanted.
I know there will be more boo boos along the way, but I hope to avoid them as much as possible. The few moments of real pain I saw in her eyes is something I never want to see. Oh and if you think a man of my age should use another word than boo boo, too bad. That is the correct medical terminology!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Toy Thursday #3 - The Ball Pit
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. I'm pretty sure that one of every kid's first words is "ball." Once they learn this word they say it over and over and over. I'm not sure what it is about this spherical shape, but kids love it. Pretty early on in Kaylee's life we got her a bunch of the little round plastic Ball Pit Balls. There are about a hundred different options of these, but here is what one such set would look like:
We even found her a Disney Princess Ball Pit to put those balls in. I have never seen a kid so happy before in my life. Of course, there are all sorts of different kinds of ball pits, they don't all have to look like this:
The ball pit is both a blessing and a curse. My daughter loves it and will hide her other toys in it. She will play with all the balls, and we play catch with her. The downside you ask? You find these plastic balls everywhere... under the couch, under the TV, under the bed, in your drawers, etc. The overall fun we have though is worth it.
That's all for now!
Be looking out for the next adventure this upcoming Tuesday...
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Dad And The First 2 Months
Down the white hallway we went. I had been up and down the elevator what seemed like a thousand times, carrying all the various items that were brought over the course of five days out to the car. This last time down the hallway was different though. This time my wife and our brand new daughter were walking with me. Well sort of. Kristin was in a wheelchair cause that’s how they roll at the hospital. (I hope you got that roll joke. If not go back and read that last sentence, cause I was on a roll with it.) So there we were, being escorted out of the hospital and then left at the curb. For days now, we had been surrounded by nurses and doctors. Honestly, for months we had professional people telling us exactly what was going on with our daughter; how she was developing, what we could expect, how to take care of Kristin while she was carrying this little thing inside of her that “fed” off of her. Seriously, pregnancy is like having an alien inside of you. If you have ever seen those sonograms, especially the early ones, you could definitely make the argument that the kids look like some kind of lizard. But the story of the sonograms are for another day. Back to the curb, where we find ourselves staring at our silver mini suv. The nurse that was escorting us out of the hospital said good bye, waved, then turned around and walked back toward the hospital. I’m pretty sure I heard an evil maniacal laugh and a “good luck, suckers” while she headed back into the hospital, but I can’t be 100% sure. I was too busy trying to figure out how to lock the car seat into the base unit that was already in the car. I’m pretty sure while I was struggling to figure it out, my 5 day old daughter was staring at me thinking, “oh gosh please don’t drop me!”
We were so happy to be out of that hospital after a few complications and a 5 day stay, we forgot to ask for our manual. I’m sure you have heard of it, right? It is the manual with a step by step guide the hospital gives you, and then a nurse will come to your house and make sure everything is good at least once a day. The nurse will guide you until you are ready. They kind of wean you off the help, and leave you with the all knowing manual that can answer any question you have now that you are in charge of the well being of an actual person’s life. Wait, what? That’s right, that’s not how it goes at all! It actually goes something like, alright you guys are done here at the hospital, so we will see you at your one month check up. Good luck!
Luck has nothing to do with surviving those first two months. Life still goes on. Luckily my parents live just five minutes away, and my wife’s parents were able to stay with us for about a week after Kaylee was born. I seriously have no idea how we would have survived without our families’ help. I experienced what true selflessness is. Anyone can say they aren’t selfish, but I now believe that the true test of how you will react under extreme conditions is having a baby.
After years of the world revolving around myself, it was now around this little human. Getting married does force one to learn to be unselfish at times, but still it is all about the two of us. Kristin and I did everything together, and were very rarely apart. If we wanted to go to a midnight release of a movie at the last minute, we went. If we decided to go to Orlando for a weekend, we went. If we wanted to take a nap at four in the afternoon, we did it. Basically, we still could do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. That changed instantly.
In the first two months, there was almost no sleep. The world warped itself into a 2-4 hour cycle. Eat, Poop, Sleep, Repeat. That was the baby’s cycle. Our cycle was feed, change diaper, someone sleep for 30 min, repeat. We entered what seemed like an endless void of sleeplessness. All the while, our normal responsibilities continued. For the first two weeks, you have people coming over, bringing you food, seeing the baby, etc. Then nothing. You get into the cycle of sleeplessness and it seems it will never end. Kind of like the “It’s A Small World” ride at Disney. The world doesn’t stop either. Work still needed to be done. Groceries need to be bought. The dog needs to be feed (We totally forgot we had a dog at times). Kristin did her best to let me sleep as much as possible so I wouldn’t be completely dead at work, and I tried to give Kristin as many breaks as possible. Kristin still wanted to do all the grocery shopping, just so she could get out of the house.
I remember our first date after Kaylee was born. She was around the two month mark, and we brought her over to my parents’ house. Kristin and I went shoe and grocery shopping. That was our date. Sounds fun right? Well to us, being able to just do simple, boring errands was like an all expense paid trip to Disney Land. Each shoe we looked at was like a forbidden look into a magical kingdom. Each grocery we put into the cart was like finding a golden goose, and taking the eggs it laid. Teenagers thought we were crazy, parents understood.
Fourteen months later, and we see our all grown up little girl. She is very independent and walks around the house with a notepad in one hand, and a crayon in the other taking “notes” about all the things she sees around the house. We can’t even remember those first two months at times. Although, when we look back and are able to look at them through rested eyes (Kaylee has basically slept through the night since she was around a month and a half) we miss that fragile little human being who depended on us for everything. We miss how she would just lay on our chest and sleep for an hour or two at a time. We miss cradling our little girl with one arm. Our little baby isn’t a baby anymore. She is about 80% into the “toddler” stage. She gives hugs out of love, which is awesome. Sometimes, Kristin and I miss the embrace out of dependance.
It was tough to survive, but probably the most either of us had grown in our lives. We had to depend on each other, and be willing to give up our individual needs. For all the adventures we already have had, as well as the ones coming, it was all totally worth it!
We were so happy to be out of that hospital after a few complications and a 5 day stay, we forgot to ask for our manual. I’m sure you have heard of it, right? It is the manual with a step by step guide the hospital gives you, and then a nurse will come to your house and make sure everything is good at least once a day. The nurse will guide you until you are ready. They kind of wean you off the help, and leave you with the all knowing manual that can answer any question you have now that you are in charge of the well being of an actual person’s life. Wait, what? That’s right, that’s not how it goes at all! It actually goes something like, alright you guys are done here at the hospital, so we will see you at your one month check up. Good luck!
Luck has nothing to do with surviving those first two months. Life still goes on. Luckily my parents live just five minutes away, and my wife’s parents were able to stay with us for about a week after Kaylee was born. I seriously have no idea how we would have survived without our families’ help. I experienced what true selflessness is. Anyone can say they aren’t selfish, but I now believe that the true test of how you will react under extreme conditions is having a baby.
After years of the world revolving around myself, it was now around this little human. Getting married does force one to learn to be unselfish at times, but still it is all about the two of us. Kristin and I did everything together, and were very rarely apart. If we wanted to go to a midnight release of a movie at the last minute, we went. If we decided to go to Orlando for a weekend, we went. If we wanted to take a nap at four in the afternoon, we did it. Basically, we still could do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. That changed instantly.
In the first two months, there was almost no sleep. The world warped itself into a 2-4 hour cycle. Eat, Poop, Sleep, Repeat. That was the baby’s cycle. Our cycle was feed, change diaper, someone sleep for 30 min, repeat. We entered what seemed like an endless void of sleeplessness. All the while, our normal responsibilities continued. For the first two weeks, you have people coming over, bringing you food, seeing the baby, etc. Then nothing. You get into the cycle of sleeplessness and it seems it will never end. Kind of like the “It’s A Small World” ride at Disney. The world doesn’t stop either. Work still needed to be done. Groceries need to be bought. The dog needs to be feed (We totally forgot we had a dog at times). Kristin did her best to let me sleep as much as possible so I wouldn’t be completely dead at work, and I tried to give Kristin as many breaks as possible. Kristin still wanted to do all the grocery shopping, just so she could get out of the house.
I remember our first date after Kaylee was born. She was around the two month mark, and we brought her over to my parents’ house. Kristin and I went shoe and grocery shopping. That was our date. Sounds fun right? Well to us, being able to just do simple, boring errands was like an all expense paid trip to Disney Land. Each shoe we looked at was like a forbidden look into a magical kingdom. Each grocery we put into the cart was like finding a golden goose, and taking the eggs it laid. Teenagers thought we were crazy, parents understood.
Fourteen months later, and we see our all grown up little girl. She is very independent and walks around the house with a notepad in one hand, and a crayon in the other taking “notes” about all the things she sees around the house. We can’t even remember those first two months at times. Although, when we look back and are able to look at them through rested eyes (Kaylee has basically slept through the night since she was around a month and a half) we miss that fragile little human being who depended on us for everything. We miss how she would just lay on our chest and sleep for an hour or two at a time. We miss cradling our little girl with one arm. Our little baby isn’t a baby anymore. She is about 80% into the “toddler” stage. She gives hugs out of love, which is awesome. Sometimes, Kristin and I miss the embrace out of dependance.
It was tough to survive, but probably the most either of us had grown in our lives. We had to depend on each other, and be willing to give up our individual needs. For all the adventures we already have had, as well as the ones coming, it was all totally worth it!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Toy Thusday #2 - The Super Heros
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. I love playing with my daughter and last week I shared one of her favorite toys, the The Little People Happy Sounds Home. Well, having a playhouse with a bunch of "girly" people is great and all for my daughter, but as a man - yeah I said it - playing with dolls all the time can get old. Enter the Little People DC Super Friends Wonder Woman & Batgirl Figure Pack. That's right, the same people that make the playhouse makes superheros:
Now not only do I feel a bit better playing with dolls, but my daughter can grow up knowing she can put on a costume and fight crime! Bonus!
They make more than Batgirl and Wonder Woman though. I personally am looking forward to introducing her to Batman... The whole set they make are called the Fisher Price Little People DC Super Friends Figures ~ Set of 6
and those look like this:
The price on this goes up and down, just got to watch for them. I love super heros, and now my daughter can too. Plus they fit her doll house!
That's all for now!
Be looking out for the next adventure this upcoming Tuesday...
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. I love playing with my daughter and last week I shared one of her favorite toys, the The Little People Happy Sounds Home. Well, having a playhouse with a bunch of "girly" people is great and all for my daughter, but as a man - yeah I said it - playing with dolls all the time can get old. Enter the Little People DC Super Friends Wonder Woman & Batgirl Figure Pack. That's right, the same people that make the playhouse makes superheros:
Now not only do I feel a bit better playing with dolls, but my daughter can grow up knowing she can put on a costume and fight crime! Bonus!
They make more than Batgirl and Wonder Woman though. I personally am looking forward to introducing her to Batman... The whole set they make are called the Fisher Price Little People DC Super Friends Figures ~ Set of 6
and those look like this:
The price on this goes up and down, just got to watch for them. I love super heros, and now my daughter can too. Plus they fit her doll house!
That's all for now!
Be looking out for the next adventure this upcoming Tuesday...
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Dad And The Timeout
There comes a time in every child’s life when they start doing things that are no longer cute and cuddly. This usually starts when they can move on their own. As soon as they taste the freedom, they must “explore” every inch of every place. All of a sudden you find a cabinet completely emptied onto the kitchen floor, or your TV box completely void of the wires attaching it to the TV, or your child jumping from your couch, swinging from the ceiling fan, and then drop kicking a lamp. Well, that last one would actually be pretty impressive and great practice in case your home was ever broken into. Not sure if I would discourage that one, just give them better targets. Anyways, there comes a point when discipline needs to be introduced. This is not fun, but absolutely necessary. Boundaries are so important for kids!
My wife and I have been working with kids for a long time now. We understand the principle of setting up boundaries and rules with a child. Children actually want these boundaries. Without rules and guidelines, a parent can lose control of a kid pretty quick and the earlier you start establishing these rules the easier time you will have. Our daughter started getting time outs as soon as she could crawl over and rip the DVR out from under the TV, or dump our dog’s food all over the kitchen floor. At the time of her first timeout, she was probably around 10 months old. The timeout only lasted about 20 seconds at the time, but she got the message. Well sort of. At first she screamed the whole time, and kept trying to wiggle her way off the little tiny blue stool we use as the timeout stool. There are a lot of people who may think that it was useless at that age for a timeout, but after a few times she started figuring it out. Kids understand a whole lot more than what most would give them credit for. Our daughter definitely understood, and would start to sit there all on her own for the 20 seconds. She also stopped ripping out the DVR and Alf was allowed to eat once again.
As time went on, our daughter eventually stopped crying and trying to get out of her timeout. The timeout has grown to a full minute now that she is older. This minute though is a practice of self control on us the parents. My wife and I have to do our best not to laugh. She now just talks in her gibberish. I can only imagine what she is saying. Probably things like “You know, timeout really isn’t fun daddy. Can I at least have a ball to play with?” I know it has something to do with a ball, because she sits there smiling and pointing everywhere going “ball, ball, ball, ball.” She also knows how to work me over too. There was a time where she had randomly gone back to flipping our dog’s bowl over again which she hadn’t done in months. So she went right to the timeout stool. I stood there trying to be tough, and she sat there with her eyes half down and half piercing through my soul. She didn’t cry, but jutted out that bottom lip of hers. 15 seconds into the minute timeout she looks straight at me with that lip, reaches up with her arms, and says, “da da?” Of course that timeout was cut short... daddy wanted his hug.
Fast forward a few months, and the timeout has been established. She very rarely even needs to actually go to the timeout stool. Just the threat of the small blue stool is enough. She can now climb on the couch, and loves to stand, run, and then try to jump from the couch to a chair right next to the couch. This of course is almost as dangerous as the swinging from the ceiling fan trying to drop kick home invaders. Well, maybe not that dangerous, but unsafe none the less. The standing on the couch had to be stopped. We did not want her getting hurt. Most of the time just saying, “you want a timeout?” and she shakes her head “no” then sits.
As she is growing, though, the connections are being made that she can get around this not being able to do what she wants. Every few months she goes back to the dog bowl. It stopped for awhile because of the timeouts, and the one time she lifted it not knowing we had just filled the bowl with water. She got an early surprise bath, which she did not enjoy at all! This stopped her for awhile. One day, though, she walked into the kitchen and had that look in her eyes. My wife immediately told her no. She headed toward the bowl with a wry smile any way. My wife once again said no and asked if she wanted a timeout? Kaylee, at her ripe old age of 14 months, sat there for a few seconds, contemplating the punishment and the joy of hearing dog food scattered all over the kitchen floor. After those few seconds, she made a decision. That decision was simple, she flipped the dog bowl over and immediately walked to her timeout stool and sat down, smiling. We had been outsmarted.
To her, the punishment was well worth it.
Luckily, she doesn’t make that choice very often!
My wife and I have been working with kids for a long time now. We understand the principle of setting up boundaries and rules with a child. Children actually want these boundaries. Without rules and guidelines, a parent can lose control of a kid pretty quick and the earlier you start establishing these rules the easier time you will have. Our daughter started getting time outs as soon as she could crawl over and rip the DVR out from under the TV, or dump our dog’s food all over the kitchen floor. At the time of her first timeout, she was probably around 10 months old. The timeout only lasted about 20 seconds at the time, but she got the message. Well sort of. At first she screamed the whole time, and kept trying to wiggle her way off the little tiny blue stool we use as the timeout stool. There are a lot of people who may think that it was useless at that age for a timeout, but after a few times she started figuring it out. Kids understand a whole lot more than what most would give them credit for. Our daughter definitely understood, and would start to sit there all on her own for the 20 seconds. She also stopped ripping out the DVR and Alf was allowed to eat once again.
As time went on, our daughter eventually stopped crying and trying to get out of her timeout. The timeout has grown to a full minute now that she is older. This minute though is a practice of self control on us the parents. My wife and I have to do our best not to laugh. She now just talks in her gibberish. I can only imagine what she is saying. Probably things like “You know, timeout really isn’t fun daddy. Can I at least have a ball to play with?” I know it has something to do with a ball, because she sits there smiling and pointing everywhere going “ball, ball, ball, ball.” She also knows how to work me over too. There was a time where she had randomly gone back to flipping our dog’s bowl over again which she hadn’t done in months. So she went right to the timeout stool. I stood there trying to be tough, and she sat there with her eyes half down and half piercing through my soul. She didn’t cry, but jutted out that bottom lip of hers. 15 seconds into the minute timeout she looks straight at me with that lip, reaches up with her arms, and says, “da da?” Of course that timeout was cut short... daddy wanted his hug.
Fast forward a few months, and the timeout has been established. She very rarely even needs to actually go to the timeout stool. Just the threat of the small blue stool is enough. She can now climb on the couch, and loves to stand, run, and then try to jump from the couch to a chair right next to the couch. This of course is almost as dangerous as the swinging from the ceiling fan trying to drop kick home invaders. Well, maybe not that dangerous, but unsafe none the less. The standing on the couch had to be stopped. We did not want her getting hurt. Most of the time just saying, “you want a timeout?” and she shakes her head “no” then sits.
As she is growing, though, the connections are being made that she can get around this not being able to do what she wants. Every few months she goes back to the dog bowl. It stopped for awhile because of the timeouts, and the one time she lifted it not knowing we had just filled the bowl with water. She got an early surprise bath, which she did not enjoy at all! This stopped her for awhile. One day, though, she walked into the kitchen and had that look in her eyes. My wife immediately told her no. She headed toward the bowl with a wry smile any way. My wife once again said no and asked if she wanted a timeout? Kaylee, at her ripe old age of 14 months, sat there for a few seconds, contemplating the punishment and the joy of hearing dog food scattered all over the kitchen floor. After those few seconds, she made a decision. That decision was simple, she flipped the dog bowl over and immediately walked to her timeout stool and sat down, smiling. We had been outsmarted.
To her, the punishment was well worth it.
Luckily, she doesn’t make that choice very often!
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