Memorial Day Weekend

So, it’s Monday night and this family is tired. We spent Saturday at my dad’s to do a few chores on his property and have a family BBQ. Sunday was a birthday party, and today we spent the morning at the lake for a picnic.
Needless to say, I’m spent. So, instead of a bunch of words, I’m going to put up a bunch of pictures. I’ll be back with my usual musings next week, but enjoy the pictures of the weekend.

Universal Daddy

It’s never easy spending time away from the family. 

Even if it’s just a weekend, I find myself missing saying goodnight to my girls. I don’t get to read books in funny voices or get hugs and kisses before bedtime. It’s funny how used to those things you get.

I guess that after doing the same routine every night, it gets engrained in your head. So much so, that I have many of Finley’s favorite books memorized, and probably didn’t even know it. It makes sense, though. When she finds a book she likes, she sticks with it for a LONG time. And since the books are rarely more than ten pages long, they’re pretty easy to memorize. But I didn’t realize I had these stories in my brain until this weekend, when I went away with the old gang for a concert/campout in central Washington.

It was an all-day concert featuring some old bands; The Doobie Brothers, The Allman Brothers, and The Dead. And as is par for the course at these all-day shows, there were plenty of families on the lawn, enjoying the music. We happened to pick a patch of grass next to a family of three, including a 19-month old blonde girl with pigtails. Go figure.

And as the afternoon rolled on, I found myself playing peek-a-boo and talking to her parents about toddlerhood. Kaylee, it turns out, is also a big fan of Winnie the Pooh and had her Pooh and Piglet dolls with her. Bonus points.

Of course, this all just made me miss my munchkin more and more. I found myself looking at the time on the phone to see if it was dinner time back home or how much longer she had to play until bedtime. Like I said, you get used to that routine.

Eventually, as the last band played on, the sun went down, and Kaylee started running out of steam, her mom worked on putting her down for bed. They had a little kid tent and some blankets, but like any kid – especially mine – she just didn’t want to give up the fight and go to sleep.

So, my dad instinct kicked in and I started asking her about what nighttime books she had at home. When I found out she had “Goodnight Moon,” I started reciting it word-for-word. Kaylee was pretty amazed – not that I knew the whole book from memory – but in her 19-month old brain, she probably thinks she’s the sole owner of that book.

Needless to say, she was a bit mesmerized by all of this and calmed down to the point that her mom was able to put her in that little tent. Just a few minutes later, she was sound asleep.

Now, I’m not saying I’m some sort of baby whisperer because of this little episode. Any parent knows that their kids react differently to different techniques. It’s just that I was able to strike a chord in the brain of this little one.

It’s not a miracle, just a bit of experience with my own little blonde pigtailed girl. But it’s good to know that there is some sort of universal language out there amongst the toddlers. And if you can find that Rosetta stone and speak that language, they’ll listen.

Plus, there’s something about how kids listen better when it’s not their parents talking. Just because I can recite “Good Night Moon,” doesn’t mean Finley will calm down every night. It takes a few more tricks up the sleeve when it’s your own kid.

All I know is that even though I got to help one little blonde fall asleep, the one closest to my heart was still very far away. Which meant that tonight’s reading of “Goodnight Moon” to Finley meant a little bit more this time around.

Goodnight stars. Goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere.

Three Big Words

Finally. I’ve been waiting, patiently, for two years and two months. And Friday it finally arrived. 

What was it? I’ll tell you, in a moment. You see, there are a few things we dads secretly long for from our children.  If we have boys, we want a strong left arm and/or a good backswing (for golf or tennis or guitar or all). For our girls, we might want those two things as well, but we tend to lean more toward good grades and utter devotion to the dad. These are all things we want to come naturally. Sure, we could help mold them, refine them, but you want to see these things appear early on.

But for me, there was one more little, itsy bitsy thing I wanted to have happen. One little, slightly selfish request from my daughter, that I couldn’t prompt. Something she had to derive on her own. And on Friday, she delivered.

It happened in the morning, after she got up and I was getting her dressed for daycare. As many of you can relate, two-year olds don’t stay perfectly still during a scheduled pit stop. So, like any other parent, I have to find a way to keep her from wriggling off the changing table, while swapping the old tire for a new one. My usual weapon is silliness. I try to make her laugh or have her sing along with me… anything to keep her from focusing on getting away. A distraction technique, really.

This morning I chose a silly voice and not only did it work, I got a nice surprise in return. She giggled, sighed and said the three big words I’ve been waiting for… “You’re funny, daddy.” A chorus of angels arose from the crib, confetti filled the room and crowds erupted in applause. Actually, I just gave her a great big kiss, but that’s what it felt like.

For a guy like me, who tries to find the funny in pretty much everything I do, I longed for the day when my daughter would not only recognize humor, but acknowledge it… me.

And it was such a spontaneous thing. I hadn’t coached her on it or practiced it with her. No, I didn’t want to cheapen the moment. There was no performance enhancement going on, with my girl. She just came to the conclusion on her own and I can pretty much say she not only made my day, but my week/month/year.

As I think about why this was such a big deal to me, I find it interesting that we put so much emphasis on our kids’ firsts. First words, first steps, first tooth… And then it all becomes so mundane. Maybe it’s just because I’m a first-time dad, but I am amazed with pretty much everything she does.

Sure, her first steps were fun to see. But now as I watch her run through the house and navigate obstacles and jump on to cushions, I find it amazing how well she carries herself. When she said “Da Da” we clapped. Now she’s turning words into sentences, with her own special brand of emphasis. And I am astounded.

I know that as time moves on, I will get used to her moves and her speech to the point where it will be frustrating when she won’t want to go anywhere or won’t want to tell us what happened. But for this brief point in time, I get to watch her body and brain develop right before my eyes. And I get to help shape it.

I can teach her how to take care of herself and introduce her to a world of books and music that will expand her vocabulary and the ways she can express herself. And that’s really what being a parent is all about, isn’t it? We get to help create the next generation. Whether she’s some sort of artist or thinker or whatever she chooses, I can help her get there. But that seems a little much to put on a two-year old, right now. For now, I’m fine with her thinking I’m the funniest man alive. She’s my biggest fan and that’s all I need.

In this corner…

My daughter can be a pill. There. I said it. 

Now the grandma’s can write me nasty notes about how perfect she is. But we all know that secretly they are thinking to themselves, “HAH! Payback time!”

It’s not that she is actively TRYING to be a pill. There is no pre-meditated pilling going on, here. I’ve pretty much decided that most of what she does is reactionary; She wakes up, nobody is there, she makes noise. We go in to get her, she gives us love, she wants down. She sees food, she wants to eat. It’s all reaction.

So, when something doesn’t go her way, she does what most two-year olds do best… She cries about it. Actually, you could say that about all of us, but for a little kid, crying is the first and most trusted weapon in the war for what they want. And that’s something we learn to tolerate as parents.

After the first few little tirades you start to get used to the writhing and the simulated “end of the world” wailing. But the little ones are smart, I tell you. They adapt. They figure out pretty quickly that if the crying and the screaming isn’t working, they have to move on to another approach. Unfortunately, for our girl, that leads to hitting.

The hard part isn’t telling her time and time again that hitting is naughty. The hard part is that she thinks it’s funny. So, after time and time again of telling her that not to hit… to be nice… she developed her own little workaround. She would get to the point where she would smack your arm and then immediately pat it, nicely and say “Be nice.”

And as we continued to remind her not to hit, it seemed as if she began to tone down her violent tendencies… That is until a few weeks ago.

I went to pick up our little angel at daycare and in the little report on her daily activities, there was a note saying she had pulled the hair of the other kids AND one of the teachers.  Now, it’s hard for any parent to think their kid could be “the bad kid.” After all, she never pulled our hair at home. But when I asked Finley about it, she got all shy and quiet on me. Perhaps it was just a bit of guilt and shame. I tried to get her to tell the teacher she was sorry, but she was obviously uncomfortable, so I didn’t push it. I waited until we got home and tried to talk to her about it, but all she had on her mind was playing.

So our dilemma becomes trying to enforce a rule or a punishment or even just trying to discuss a problem with a kid so little, she would have a hard time keeping her attention on you for just a few minutes. But try we did. Explaining how it hurts others and how you wouldn’t want anyone to do that to you. Who knows if it really sunk in? The fact is, she hasn’t pulled hair since. She’s moved on. This past week we learned that our little trouble maker is kicking and throwing toys at her teachers. Good times.

I have to admit that it’s a little frustrating because she such a sweet girl, normally. And it’s because she’s normally so good, that leads to a theory of why she’s acting the way she is. Just a few weeks ago, the daycare folks decided to move Finley out of the one-year old toddler section and into the two-year old toddler section. And this was fine with us.

We figured that she was getting bored with the little kids stuff and was ready to do some advanced learning. Which is probably true. But what I think is happening is that she went from being the oldest kid in one area to the new and youngest – and maybe even littlest – kid in the other area. She’s uncomfortable. And when she’s out of that comfort zone… different teacher, different kids, different toys and behavior… she lashes out. If my theory is correct, the more comfortable she becomes in her new situation, the nicer she will be.

In the meantime, we have to have our time outs and talk with her about what it is that she’s doing and how she can be a big girl by being much nicer. And that goes for all of us.  It’s only natural to lash out when you’re feeling uncomfortable in a new situation. Many of us can deal with it and move on. But there are some out there who never got the talk when they were little. And that’s the last thing I want my daughter to be… one of those people.

She’ll get there. It just takes time and patience from everyone, including us and the teachers at school. For now, it’s just a matter of laying down the rules, sticking with them and making sure she learns as she goes. Besides, I’d rather spend my time reading to her than being her punching bag. That’s just me. 

The Smartest Monkey

It seems like every week, Finley shows us something new. Sometimes it’s a new word or phrase or just the way she uses inflexion in her speech. Other times she has learned a song or some sort of physical accomplishment. 

No matter what it is, it usually catches us by surprise and gets us laughing. And that can be good and bad. Because if she sees us laughing, then she thinks it’s okay to do it over and over again.

And that’s fine for things that are positive – like songs and niceties – but not so fine for things like hitting or some of the crazier things she does. For instance, every once in a while she gets into a hopping mode. She jumps and jumps and thinks it’s so funny. And then – out of nowhere – she’ll jump up, kick her legs out and land directly on her bottom. I’m talking about leaping and landing on her butt.

The first time you see it, it’s pretty darn funny. But you have to try to keep from laughing because you don’t want her to keep doing it and potentially hurt herself. And she knows that it’s funny. Because she keeps doing it. At this point, it’s probably not so bad because of all the padding in her diaper. Plus there’s the fact that she doesn’t have a long way to drop. I just wonder what our downstairs neighbor thinks.

She’ll surprise us with little tricks like this, now and again. She’s got a great bit where she thinks she’s doing a somersault, when she just has her hands and feet and head on the floor… and that’s it. She still likes to climb all over the couch and use the arm as a balance beam. And she’ll even climb on to the dining room table like the queen of the hill, until we ask her to get down. But this weekend, we got the biggest surprise so far from our little stunt toddler.

I have to set this story up by reminding everyone that Finley is now two years old and very good at being two years old. That is, she likes to throw food, books and tantrums equally. And in this day and age where corporal punishment is forbidden, we have introduced the “time out” to the mix. In our case, the time out means she has to go into her room and sit in her chair for a few minutes with the door closed. Usually this leads to a pounding on the door with her little fists as she cries for justice. But Saturday, there was a little too much quiet, even just a few seconds after closing the door.

This particular time out was instituted by Heather, and when she went to check on it being a little too quiet she found that Finley was no longer in her chair. In fact, she was in her crib.

Heather called me over and told me that she didn’t put Finley there. Sure enough, there was the munchkin sitting in her crib with her little grin saying, “I’m in my crib, Daddy.” So either our little girl has wings or she climbed the three feet up the side and dropped in. I figured there was really only one way to find out.

I plucked her out and put her on the floor. “Show Daddy how you got into your crib.” And she did. The little monkey put one foot in between the slats, grabbed the other slats with her hands and hoisted herself up so she almost, but not quite, had her belly over the edge of the rail. A couple of kicks later, she let gravity do the rest and plopped head-first into the crib. She even did a little tuck and side roll to keep from hurting her head.

This tells us a couple of things. First, she is quite a clever little monkey. And secondly, it looks like it’s time to buy a toddler bed. Of course the problem with that is, we worry she’ll never get to sleep from getting out of bed all the time. But it’s much safer than having her climb on the furniture.

The thing about it – and I always try to find a positive – is that she figured it all out. She got it in her head that to get into the crib, she had to climb. And to climb she had to get a foot hold and a hand hold. And to get UP she had to create leverage. It probably wasn’t as complicated as that in her thinking process, but it’s impressive to me. And don’t’ forget the lack of fear. She just did it, without hesitation.

Of course, that means I’ll be going around the house making sure it’s more and more difficult for her to climb everything. But I like the fact that she came up with a plan and executed it. That’s one smart monkey. As long as she is smart enough to play it safe, this Poppa Ape says keep it up. Well, at least until the Momma Ape catches you!

Just the Two of Us

So, I’m tired. I’m not complaining, I’m just stating a fact. I am tired. 

I know I’m not in the shape I once was, all those years ago, playing soccer every day and running when I wasn’t playing soccer. Far from it. And there’s nothing better to remind you just how out of shape you are than to be alone with a 2-year old for a week.

And it’s not just that I’m physically tired. I’m mentally tired. My conversations as of late have been limited to some version of explaining what I am doing at every moment or some sort of warning or command.

Let me back up a bit. How is it – you may ask – that I have been blessed to be alone with Finley for a whole week? Where is the Momma? Well, unfortunately, a family emergency pulled Heather back to Pennsylvania for a few days that turned into a few more days when her plane got cancelled. So, instead of coming back this afternoon, she won’t be back until LATE Tuesday evening. She left last Wednesday.

This all means that I was in charge. Well, as in charge as I can be over Finderella. She pretty much runs the show. I’m just here for support and cleanup. But, I had to take on all the parental duties for a full week. And we’re both somewhat sane after all of this, so it wasn’t too bad.

The first thing I can tell you – and I KNOW it’s not really news to most people – there is a lot to do when you fly solo. Talk about multi-tasking. You have to stay ahead of everything in this game. Which means personal time is limited to the time the kid is asleep (if you’re not cleaning).

As I look back at this past week, I realize that taking care of a 2-year old is really a two-part job. It’s one part traffic cop and one part disaster cleanup. It’s funny how you can have a fairly clean room until Finley – who has somehow transformed into the Tasmanian Devil – walks through. I can always find her by following her trail of debris.

I learned very quickly the drill to making things work efficiently. It came down to a two-word phrase: “Give up.” Seriously. I can say that I want to be a perfect parent and hold firm to not giving in and letting her have her way. But the reality is, a happy girl is a happy dad.

Of course, there are certain things you have to be firm on. But unless you want to spend 30 minutes trying to calm down a hysterical lunatic, just give her the chocolate (Yes, I’m talking about Finley not Heather).

Ultimately it comes down to how patient you are with her and how patient she is with you. I can tell you right now, 2-year olds don’t understand patience, so it’s really about how patient YOU can be. The key is to keep them entertained as much as you can. Because when boredom hits, that’s when they find something to get into. And you have to spend their nap time scrubbing ink out of a patch of carpet. Not that it happened to me. It’s just an example.

But there is a big bright side to all of this. YOU are their life. For the past week, she has relied upon me to get her up, get her dressed, get her fed, get her to school, pick her up, bathe her, play with her, and put her to bed. That’s a pretty awesome responsibility.

And as daunting as it sounds, it’s all worth it when she randomly kisses me or sings to me or gives me a great big hug before bedtime. Because even though she doesn’t really know how or when to say it, she’s saying “Thank you, Daddy. Thank you for taking care of me and I’m sorry if I’ve been impatient. I’m just two. And that’s how it works.”

And my big hug back says “My pleasure. I’m your Daddy. And that’s how it works.” And when I sneak into her room to check on her and she’s asleep with a smile on her face, I can take solace in the fact that I did something right. But it still doesn’t mean I don’t want Momma to come home soon! Until then, I’ve got it covered. Now where did I put that stain remover?

She Drives Me Crazy

I’ve decided that two year olds are insane.

 I don’t mean it in a bad way… I just think that they must have so much going on in those little brains that sometimes they just can’t process it all normally.  But then again, maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the one going crazy. Because it seems like that at times, everything that worked and made her happy yesterday is making her a raving lunatic today.

Case in point… this morning. For the past week or so, Heather has been getting up and out of the house to go to school before Finley and I wake up. I usually get up a few minutes ahead of the munchkin and we have a little routine. She asks where Momma is, I explain she’s at school. She thinks about it for a moment, decides that’s okay with her and I pick her up and get her dressed. Pretty good routine. Nothing too difficult. Until today.

Today, I walk into her bedroom to find our little Houdini halfway out of her pajamas and in a foul mood. That should have been sign number one. Sign number two was that she wasn’t interested in where Momma was. She obviously had some ulterior motive on her mind. One that I was about to discover once I put her on the changing table.

For some reason, Finley decided that on this morning, she didn’t want to wear a diaper. And not just a diaper. She wanted nothing to do with clothes, either. And of course, to make me aware of this fact, she decided she wouldn’t just tell me… No. She decided to wriggle and writhe and fight and scream and cry anytime I came close to putting anything on. I still have no idea why.

So, I did my best to get her dressed. What is usually a fairly simple and cooperative affair turned into a battle royale, worthy of WWE pay-per-view standards. I had size and strength on my side, but she had elusiveness and scrappiness on hers. In the end, power won out, but not before she managed to have a complete and utter breakdown and fit that took her several minutes to recover from. I was exhausted, too!

Of course, just a few minutes after that, she was as happy as can be, ready to go to school and inflict her brand of craziness on the people we pay to deal with it. You can bet that tomorrow morning, I’ll be a little more aware of to expect from my bipolar baby. Which brings me to tonight. If this morning wasn’t a preview of what to expect in the teen years, then tonight was most definitely a glimpse of what we can expect in about 14 years.

For Easter this year, Finley’s Nana (Heather’s mom) gave our little princess a car. Okay, so technically it’s supposed to be a bus and it’s not for the highway, but it’s a car. A four-wheeled, self-powered vehicle to transport our kid. I have to say that at least it runs on batteries and not gas, so we’re saving the planet, anyway.

But to our amazement, our little Danica Patrick just hopped right in and zoomed around the condo without much damage to the furniture. I’m sure she knows a little about steering from tricycles and such, but to be able to control acceleration AND steering at the same time was pretty impressive. Take a look, below.

The next thing is to figure out how long it will take her to learn how to drive her fake little car while talking on her fake cell phone. On the bright side, maybe if she gets good at this, she’ll actually have a fairly easy time getting her real driver’s license. THAT I can wait 14 years for.

In the meantime, I’ll do my best to keep the attitude from this morning from mixing with the driving of this evening. I’m not sure I want to see mini road rage in my living room.