Chinese Dragon Dad

Bob the Builder - Yes We Can!

2011-07-02T07:53:00.000-05:00

Nathan imitates Bob the Builder. Time to get him a tool belt.

Barefoot Running benefits of a Midfoot/Frontfoot Strike

2011-07-01T00:23:00.001-05:00

By way of background, this Father's Day, Abbie thoughtfully decided that I needed a new pair of sandals and had Mommy procure a pair. Umm, thanks Abbie, but I've got my eye on some different footwear. Yes, yes, it's the thought that counts but have fun in the return line.

A few weeks pass and today I decided to buy a pair of Vibram FiveFinger shoes and incorporate them into my running.

I bring them home, put them on and telling Abbie that it's her substitute Father's Day's day present to me.

See?

Abbie looks the shoes a queer look and this conversation happens:

Abbie: Daaaad-eee? (Asking in her curious inquisitive voice)
Me: Yes?
Abbie: Are those sandals for handicap people?

Opinion of the shoes: After putting Abbie and Nathan to bed, I ran ~2 miles in the shoes. Running in these barefoot shoes is like day and night compared to normal running shoes. Not only do you run faster due to the lighter weight shoe, my foot striking has moved close to the front of my foot on impact and I don't "clip-clop" along with a heel striking motion during my run. The heel striking is especially pronounced when I tire and my running form gets sloppy. As a result, I didn't experience the normal minor joint aches and pains that I normally have while running.

I think we can preliminarily say there's a correlation with the new footwear and less joint pain, but so far so good.

More trials to come...

Nathan ends his sentences with the phase: "ANYMORE!" as a point of emphasis

2011-06-22T18:53:00.001-05:00

Nathan started ending his sentences with "ANYMORE!" as a point of emphasis a few months back.

For example, if he gets in a verbal dispute with his sister, the argument will devolve into him spouting his displeasure with a declaration such as: I don't like you Abbie, ANYMORE!

Or say at dinnertime, if he is asked to finish his meal, it might go something like this: I don't like you chocolate milk, ANYMORE!

Or say he's being disciplined by his mom, it might go something like this: I don't like you mommie, ANYMORE!

You get the idea.

So I thought it would a good idea to take advantage of his exuberance in the potty training department. From this video, I think we can safely say that he knows what needs to be done.

Sadly, the exubrance hasn't translated to him performing the function at a satisfactory level. Well, not at the level that would allow him to matriculate to preschool in the fall.

I think the life lesson here is that you can't take a 2-year old at his word.

Toliet Training Gone Awry

2011-06-17T21:20:00.000-05:00

Nathan Potty Training Update

2011-05-22T08:45:00.001-05:00

He knows what he has to do, but in true Nathan fashion, he refuses to do so. We've been making candy an incentive, but that's not good enough anymore.

Somehow I don't think this would further entice him:

http://blog.pricecharting.com/2011/05/how-to-build-video-game-urinal.html

Abbie's First Soccer Game

2011-04-30T21:45:00.001-05:00

Zero goals, which makes sense inasmuch as Abbie made 0 attempt to run to the scrub of 4-year olds.

We sat by the sideline for the game but Nathan didn't understand the white line is a demarcation that can't be cross when the game is in session.

It's like the field is North Korea and the sideline is South Korea. STAY ON THE SOUTH KOREAN SIDE NATHAN!

Umm, I'll represent to you when he's not in North Korean territory, he likes to tiptoe around the DMZ.

At least he's clapping for his sister, well, sort of.

Bad negotiations by a four-year old, doesn't understand the concept of pre-existing parental duty

2011-04-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

Soccer practice is scheduled for 5:30PM tonight.

I called to see if practice is cancelled.

Me: Looks like it's not going to rain*, so there's soccer practice tonight, right?

Wife: Well maybe, Abbie is being difficult and I've been trying to convince her all day to go. She says doesn't want to go to soccer practice.

Me: Alright, put her on the phone.

(long pause, with Lora saying in the background, "talk in the phone, don't be rude")

Abbie: Daddy?

Me: Are you going to soccer today?

Abbie: No...

Me: How about I meet you there (at the soccer field) after work?

Abbie: (begrudgingly) Okkkay....

Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather watch the NBA playoffs at home tonight instead of hanging around a soccer field on a cloudy and windy 40 degree evening.

*It was in fact raining during practice.

Nathan Tells a Knock-Knock joke

2011-04-24T17:48:00.001-05:00

Too bad he doesn't do it in a Borat voice

Bottling time after 24 days of Fermentation

2011-04-03T21:06:00.000-05:00

Today is beer bottling day. I enlisted Abbie's help. She was happy to oblige when she learned part of her duties included dispensing a teaspoon of sugar into each ~16 oz Groulsh bottles. Well, that and she got to use a funnel.

Before attracting bugs with sugar

I located the bottling operation to the patio. The operation went smoothly for the first 4 bottles and Abbie was also happy to pressed the spigot handle to fill the bottles.

In bottling round two, some sugar spilled on Abbie's Fisher Price patio set attracted a few flies. The cleanliness portion of Abbie's personality clashed with the entomophobia side and she refused to dispense anymore sugar. She to went seeking shelter indoors from the "bugs".

I finished bottling solo. The result was a tally of twelve bottles that's relatively translucent, brown in color, and smells like beer. I expect to call this the good batch.

5 bottles of doom

When the spigot was down to a trickle, what remained in the fermentor was cloudy brew along with clumps of waste product. Since I was outside, I unscrewed the spigot, scrapped the bottom of the barrel for the remaining cloudy liquid and filled 5 bottles that contained clumps of dead yeast, gluten, hops, and other yeast sediment waste products. These five bottles of doom look like bottled oatmeal.

We shall see. Just need to refrain from mixing these five with the main batch.

To be continued with the tasting in ~2 weeks...

Kylie, this is you.

2011-03-22T22:11:00.001-05:00

Well, not exactly, minus the white spot on her chest.

6-Pack De Jour and Misc. Animated Gifs

2011-03-20T20:54:00.000-05:00

If I were in New Hampshire, this would be my local brew of choice.

Conversely, I wouldn't recommend this as local brew choice while in Florida:

Random Animated Gifs

On Tom Sawyer Island at Disney World

At Dayton Beach

Taking a break at Disney

Nathan's Revenge Fantasy

2011-03-20T08:21:00.000-05:00

In the continuing saga of Nathan's quest to join the civilized world, he's getting the hang of how potty training works. By getting the hang of things, he understand what needs to be done and has done the deed in the past, but he generally doesn't have the patience to sit and wait.

Well today it's business as usual as he's sitting on the potty. Waiting for it, waiting for it...
I decide to brush my teeth in the bathroom while waiting for Nathan to finish. In the interim, Nathan saunters out of the bathroom into the master bedroom. 10 seconds later he's taking a crap inches away from Kylie's bedding.

Ummm, I thought we were friends

Brewing a Maibock German Style Lager with Abbie

2011-03-10T23:22:00.001-06:00

In time for spring, I decided to take the Mr. Beer kit out of hibernation to brew a Maibock German Style Lager that is described by Mr. Beer as complex, bready, and having a slightly honey-like malt sweetness. This is probably the first time I've brewed since moving to Peoria. I mention this as the Lake Michigan water via the DuPage Water Commission used in my earlier endeavors didn't cause any problems. Let's see what the water tables of Peoria gives us. (That said, the water in Peoria has a much higher magnesium and calcium content compared against Lake Michigan water. However those ions are mitigated by the water softer.)

My complaint with my earlier trials was that the alcohol by volume wasn't as high as I'd like it to be. This Maibock has a ABV of 6.5% which is pretty high by stand-alone fermention. My other complaint with my earlier endeavors was the end product had the same tasting range of being light, wheaty, and yeasty as I used a weizenbier refill kit. Certainly drinkable, and better than any macro-brew, but I wish to deviate from this taste range. Hence the Maibock.

OK, so here we go. We get the fermentor out along with the malted two row barley maibock with hops added already.

I deviate from the instructions by adding an extra helping of hops that was leftover from the last batch.

Here is Abbie staring at the wort as it cools after she adds the extra, no long fresh, pelleted Tettnanger hops.

Next, we pour the wort into the fermentor and move the whole operation from the kitchen to the ~~man-cave~~ basement where it is cooler and the temperature is in the optimal range for fermentation for this yeast strain.

Abbie adds the most important ingredient to the concoction, Saflager S-23 Yeast. Most likely this is a dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. I've previously used a liquid yeast, but it ultimately didn't change the taste of the brewed end product. Let the fermentation begin!

We put the lid back on the 2.5-gallon fermentor, shake, and play the waiting game. I place a tent tarp over the fermentor to keep it dark.

To be continued in ~21 days with the bottling process...

Nathan Get His First Mitt

2011-03-08T19:29:00.001-06:00

So my first mitt was for right-handed throwers. For those that don't know, I throw left-handed. This led to some confusion as a kid as I always wanted to put a ball in my mitt and in the same motion throw my mitt.

Not wanting to commit the same confusion with Nathan, I've watched him throw balls such as tennis balls, footballs, golf balls, and bouncy balls, and every single time he has a right-handed throwing motion.

So I went out and bought him his first mitt that included a decal of all MLB teams. I chose the appropriate Chicago MLB team decal to dedicate the occasion with a sprinkling of team loyalty infusion.

So here he is, sporting the decal on his mitt.

At this point he thinks the mitt is a decorative piece, but he's comfortable with it as he's trying to breaking in the glove by punching it and working to loosen it up.

Seeing that he's comfortable with his mitt, I decide to start Spring Training by tossing him a few grounders to field. Every single time, he makes a barehanded pickup and tosses the tennis ball in the mitt. I encourage him to throw the ball back to me. "Here! Throw it back to Dad!"

He then proceeds to make a throwing motion with his left hand with the tennis ball in his mitt. This happened at least 10x.

With that said, I still think he's right-handed, has he throws it freakishly hard for a 2-year old. Hell, he probably throws it harder and with more accuracy that I throw with my right hand.

At the Hilton Oceanfront Resort

2011-02-23T10:02:00.003-06:00

Video of a telephone conversation between Abbie and Nathan.

It's packed with hilarious moments, the main joking being that they're 3 feet from each other, but here are two highlights:

Abbie: Kids are causing crazies!

Nathan: I'M ON MY TRIP, ABBIE!! (Spoken into a phone at Spinal Tap volume 11)

At Dayton Beach

2011-02-23T05:52:00.003-06:00

Abbie loved racing along the shoreline and racing the incoming and outgoing tide...until we saw some washed up jellyfish. She didn't like that they could sting her, so I decided to show her the difference between Michael Jordan's talcum toss and Lebron James' toss.

End of Day 1

2011-02-21T03:06:00.003-06:00

Chica con collar de "Hello Kitty" y la camisa en una toalla de "Hello Kitty"

2011-02-20T21:02:00.005-06:00

At Cocoa Beach, FL

Asking a 4 year old to pack results in packing like a 13 year old

2011-02-19T09:42:00.003-06:00

I asked Abbie to pack her own luggage for our upcoming trip. Subsequently she fills one whole bag of luggage with her items.

Also, she gets meta by taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury...

2011-02-15T23:41:00.003-06:00

Undisputed facts:

1. Nathan got into a fight and ~~bloodied up~~ scratched a kid in the face in two areas in pre-preschool today.
2. Nathan got in big trouble and was put in timeout by the teacher.
3. Spent the next hour kissing up to the teacher.

Issue: Whether Nathan has the mental mindset to know that he got in trouble? To use the legal vernacular, the issue is whether he exhibits the mens rea to know that his actions were improper.

Let's go to the direct examination.

First line of questioning.

Second line of questioning - same questions but asked again.

Click Here for Poll Online Survey
Conjoint Analysis
| Polls
| Email Marketing

| Feedback Tab
View MicroPoll

Nathan tries his hand in joining the civilized world by being potty trained

2011-02-06T13:57:00.002-06:00

Look at me. I can pee-pee poo-poo whenever I want. I don't care as someone else always cleans it up for me. Never fails.

Ominous Narrator: Atlas, little does 2-1/2 year old Nathan know, his days of defecating and urinating with impunity are numbered.

Step 1 of self-removal of diaper and sitting. Check. No problem. Something like a disposable toddler training panty would do nothing for him. E.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,649.

Step 2, we're a little confused on. It turns into a long waiting game. To no avail.

We bring in the closer to exult the virtues of potty training. She even does a dry-run walk-through.

Finally a trickle happens. Lots of praises all around.

Albert: Nathan, did you go pee-pee in the potty?

Click here for Nathan's response.

Clearly more work needs to be done.

Robin the Boy Wonder

2011-02-05T14:41:00.000-06:00

Boy Wonder's adventures in potty training coming to a blog near you.

Snow-mageddon 2011 Day Two

2011-02-02T12:21:00.000-06:00

Preparation for Snow-mageddon 2011

2011-02-01T08:51:00.000-06:00

No work and no school due to the impending 2011 Snow-mageddon. The prospect of two consecutive snow days prompted me to stock up at the grocery store.

Namely:

Meet the new boss...Same as the old boss

2011-01-30T12:17:00.000-06:00

Abbie believes by virtue of being 18 months older than Nathan, she is in a position to disciple her little brother. 90% of the time this belief results in her being motherly towards him as she is showing Nathan the ropes of life. It's the other 10% of the time that she abuses this belief. For instance, she believes that joint and several liability is applicable to her and Nathan if she gets in trouble.

This belief results in exchanges such as:

Abbie (In answering a parent) : I'm NOT in trouble. Nathan's in BIG trouble.

Nathan (Innocent of the accusation, but within earshot of the conversation): Hmmm??

Abbie (Reiterating her position): I'm NOT in trouble. Nathan's in BIG trouble.

Nathan (Walking over and upset): I'M NOT IN TROUBLE!

Abbie (Laughing): Yes you are Nathan! You're in BIG trouble!

Nathan (Realizing the injustice): I'M NOT!

Abbie: Yes you are!

Nathan (Full blown tears): WAAAHHHHHHH!!