Uncaged

Meggan had to work last night so the kids and I had to entertain ourselves without her.  As usual, our entertainment involved making a mess, Jimmy Fallon videos, and dancing that devolved into Wrestlemania....

Checkup

When you bring this kind of ferocious physique to the table...

....two things occur - 1) you can wear your mom's glasses and still feel confident and 2) you measure in at the 25th percentile height and 17th percentile weight at your 3 year-old checkup. 

Full House

It finally happened last night.  After a few weeks of Everett staying in his bed, he had a bad dream.  I'm not sure what he was dreaming about, but he wouldn't let me out of his sight for an hour afterwards.  When I eventually tried to head back to my bed, he dropped "please lay with me, daddy. I'm afraid."  After that, my options were pretty limited. There was no way I could leave him.  By the end of the night, we ended up in my bed.  Less than an hour later, Amelia ended up in my bed as well. Two parents, two kids, and a dog don't make for a comfortable queen size bed.  Sophie and the kids slept like rocks. I ended up on the couch. Meggan ended up exhausted. Let's hope tonight goes a little better.  If not, I hear the guest bed calling my name.

Hola

Now that Everett is in the 3 year-old class at school, he is getting exposed to different learning opportunities. I had already forgotten how young Amelia was when she started to learn everything. So, it was as surprising as it was adorable tonight to hear Ev sing "adios...adiooooos...adiooos means goodbyyyyeee" and to listen to him tell us how to say yellow, orange, green, blue, white, red, brown, etc. in Spanish.  Now, if we can just get him to finish learning all his English...

Vintage Style

Amelia decided to channel an old school Audrey Hepburn look with her scarf today...

Bad Influence

Today, my brother left a voicemail message for Amelia and Everett on my phone. Before I screened it, I let them listen. It was him using a voice changing app to sound like a chipmunk asking them if their dad had taken them for ice cream or to the playground yet today. I had not. I also did not have any plans to do either. However, once he put those activities in their minds, there was no way to stop that train....


 Milkshakes count as ice cream, right?

Bedside Manner

The good thing about Everett's new big boy bed is that he doesn't know he's allowed to get out of it. He will pretty much just sit there until you come break him out of jail.  The other good thing is his big sister loves him and doesn't mind sneaking in to hang with him in the mornings.  We caught them the other day...

Work

The bad news - in the past 60 hours, I've seen my kids about 3 of them.

The good news - I got home just in time tonight for prayers and bedtime.

The best news - since they miss me, they were so happy to see me that they argued over who I got to put to bed.  It's nice to be loved.

Birthday "Cake"

When you've already had cake 4 days in a row because your dad had a birthday and you had an early party, you have to look for alternatives when your actual birthday comes around. Why not go with your personal favorite, Krispy Kreme?

Beds

I'm not sure if it will be possible to teach an old dog new tricks and get Sophie to move from our bed to a dog bed.  However,  if it doesn't work out, I did find someone who apparently likes to lay in it....

Turning 3

Apparently, just being unable to believe your child is turning three isn't enough to stop your child from actually turning three.  Everett had his Gymboree birthday party today. It was a complete hit and I'm sure his friends are all passed out from exhaustion tonight.  Unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of pictures or video. Fortunately, that's because we were too busy playing with the kids, talking to parents, and enjoying ourselves....

I grabbed a quick picture of Ev enjoying his cake...

For some reason, the man loves throwing himself on the ground like a pro wrestler....

Promises Made, Promises Kept

Yesterday, I was invited my first ever father-daughter dance. This will also be Amelia's first ever school dance. Naturally, this brought back memories of my school dances. However, this also brought back the memory of a list of promises I made 6 years ago to my soon-to-be-born daughter (see: #7 on the list below). I figured now was a pretty good time to revisit the list to see how I'm doing.

On January 28th, 2009 I said....

As the big day nears, I think it is only natural to wonder what type of father I will be. This being my first foray into fatherhood, I can't say I know for certain how I will be in all situations. However, I have compiled a list of promises that I think all fathers should try to stick to throughout the years.

1. I promise to mute my fears and natural gag reflexes at 2 a.m. when you decide to defy all laws of biology and fill your diaper with 3 times more substance than you have ever ingested.

2. I promise to exhibit the patience of Job when your inquisitive little mind tests your hypothesis that my Blackberry not only can and should be flushed down the toilet, but that watching it swirl will be a hilarious feat indeed.

3. I promise to be a brave warrior when you hear monsters under your bed or in your closet even though I'm far closer to the indian in the Village People than any in The Last of the Mohicans.

4. I promise to proudly display your artwork at my office - completely disregarding the fact that I have no idea what you drew or why it looks like you potentially were holding the crayon with your feet instead of your hands while coloring.

5. I promise to take you for ice cream after we have a hard day putting in time at the Build-A-Bear workshop. This double scoop and a new teddy will make your Saturday .... simply hanging with you will make mine.

6. I promise to confidently answer questions like "why aren't there 'B' batteries" and "do people yawn in their sleep" because even though I have no idea the actual answers, all little girls deserve the luxury of thinking their dad's know everything.

7. I promise to dance with you when your school or girl scout troop hosts a Father - Daughter dance. This way, no matter what stage of bodily awkwardness you are going through, you will certainly not be the worst dancer there.

8a. I promise to be a shoulder to cry on when your heart gets broken by the 15 year old you just knew you were going to marry. 

8b. I will secretly hide my joy over this recent relationship development as even though I am 15 years from meeting said boy, I already don't like him.

9. I promise to do my best to hold it together as I give away the most beautiful girl in the world on your wedding day... AFTER college...to a DOCTOR. (Disclaimer: "hold it together" in no way means I won't cry. After all, I'm a father, not a robot)

10. I promise to be the kind of grandpa that spoils your children so badly that they literally cry the whole ride back home and can't get to sleep until midnight because they are hopped up on the candy I stashed in their suitcases.

As time passes and life gets in the way, lists like this get harder and harder to stick by. So, perhaps I will do myself a favor and make a slightly shorter one - I promise to bring God into your life as I am so very thankful he has brought you into mine. I promise to love your mother in a way that sets the highest standard and example for all men who will come into your life. Lastly, and most importantly, Amelia, I promise to put you FIRST on all my lists.

I'm proud to say I've held true to numbers 1 through 6 (on a side note, is 6 still relevant if your daughter thinks SHE knows everything??) as various opportunities have presented themselves. I fear no diaper.  I scoff at any monsters. And we've eaten more ice cream than any humans should.  So, while it's been awhile since I've been at a school dance, I'm excited to show off my moves as my first chance at #7 approaches.  I just hope I still fit into my MC Hammer pants.

Birthday

I've mentioned on here that Everett's birthday being a few days after mine has taken some of the luster off my day.  This was obvious tonight when due to all the "Ev's birthday is coming" talk, he thought my cake was his. When the candles were lit, he even said "probably I should blow them out first". Luckily for me, watching him celebrate is more fun than I could ever have celebrating myself.

Bedtime Stories

One of the perks of having a big boy bed instead of a crib is story time with Mom.  Usually, he reads to her, but tonight, he let her do the talking....

Big Boy

Apparently, Everett's bedtime success had nothing to do with the comfortable surroundings of his crib.  The kid is just an angel when it comes to sleeping.  In his first two nights of having his big boy bed, he has climbed in, said his prayers with us, laid down on his pillow, fallen asleep, and stayed asleep in his bed all night. Meanwhile, in related news, Amelia has gotten into borderline drunken brawls with us while putting on her pajamas and has shown up in our bed for roughly the 299th and 300th nights in a row.

The Baby Has Left the Building

A major pillar of Everett's time as a baby/toddler has come crashing down. He is no longer in a crib.  My man now has his own big boy bed (well, you know, except for the headboard and footboard thanks to the furniture company)....

Almost 3

The preparations for Everett's Ninja Turtle birthday party have begun.....

Help Wanted

Meggan just told me she is going to a three day conference in mid-February.  That means multiple days of getting both kids up, dressed, fed, and dropped off at two different schools before I have to be at work. It also means driving across town to pick them up after school, getting them fed, and getting them to bed somehow.  If anyone out there is free and at all adept at not letting kids die on their watch, I have a guest bedroom with your name on it.

Magic

Amelia performed a magic trick for me where she put all her little Minion toys in one side of Meggan's eyeglass case, closed the lid, put it behind her back and showed me they had moved to the other side of the case. Now, because I'm not 5 years-old, this trick fell short of blowing my mind. I'm guessing maybe, just maybe, she simply turned the case over. That said, I still acted like she had made the Empire State Building disappear. I checked behind her back for a trick eyeglass case. I asked her if she was a fairy. I even excitedly had her go show her mom the trick because it was so unbelievable.

Later that night, I was playing with Everett's trains that magnetically link together and decided to return the favor. I knew I would absolutely send her head into orbit by placing the magnets together in a way that they would repel each other and make the trains move without me touching them.  Thus, I would seem like a real magician and possibly the best dad on Earth.

It was time.  I called her over. I placed the trains in the correct position. I slowly moved one train closer to the other and the second train slowly started moving without me touching it at all. I quickly looked at her so I could soak in all her admiration and joy. She slowly looked back at me and said "That's not magic. That's just magnetic force."  And with that comment, I immediately hate Kindergarten, science class, or whoever made my daughter smarter than me.

Dressed for Success

Tomorrow morning when Amelia wakes up for school, she will have been wearing her pajamas for 60 consecutive hours. She literally has not gotten out of her nightgown since Friday evening other than to take a bath and put on another nightgown. No, she is not sick. She is completely healthy and completely happy. She has thoroughly enjoyed relaxing around the house in her final weekend of break. In fact, she enjoyed it so much that she asked me tonight if tomorrow was pajama day at school. Sadly for her, it is not.

Breakfast Buddy

Yesterday, Everett helped me work on my DIY project. This morning, he was kind enough to wake up very early with me and help me make breakfast for the sleeping beauties in our house....

Building Buddy

My father-in-law and I decided to take on a DIY project (I'll post a pic when it's finished) in the kids' playroom. So far, I think we've done a pretty good job. Most importantly, our crew foreman seems to be happy with our progress...

Hanging Tough

Amelia had a sleepover with a friend of hers. Those two girls can go hard at a party.  Everett was severely outmatched, but did all he could to hold his own with the big girls.  I'll give him credit for his perseverance.