Daddy's Daycare Northern UT

Perfect Moments

2013-06-24T18:13:00.002-07:00

You know those moments in life that are just perfect? Sometimes they are brief, fleeting moments that last merely a few seconds, or they can be a day made up of perfect moments. Sure, you know when certain perfect moments are going to occur, like when one of your children are born, or when you hold and look into the eyes of your child for the first time. But I am talking about the unplanned moments that just happen. They are typically quite rare. They are impossible to plan, because they will never live up to the expectations you build up in your mind. And if you've had one, they are impossible to replicate because you can never duplicate the spontaneity that created the moment the first time. I have been lucky enough to have some of these moments that I keep locked away in the recesses of my mind and try to pull them out on 'blue' days to re-live the moment - as slowly as possible - so that I can for just a fraction of a second feel a splinter of that joy again. In order to really experience these types of moments you have to be the type of person that is willing to open yourself up and let the experience happen to you. You can't be a shut off person. You need to be in touch with yourself and the world around you.

One of these moments involve my son 'Jake' and me. It was on his 10th birthday. We were on a family vacation with my wife and our daughter as well in Oceanside, California. I told Jake for his birthday that, within reason, it was a day of yes'. I would do my best to avoid saying "no". His choice was to go to Disneyland. Margaret and my daughter would stay in Oceanside for the day. So Jake and I headed out bright and early for Anaheim. We got to Disneyland before the park opened and stayed until it closed. We went on every ride he wanted to, in the order he wanted to, regardless of which park it was in. We took full advantage of the park hopper tickets and the fast trac access to the attractions. We ate what he wanted, where he wanted, and we had one of the best days of our lives. I re-live that day often. So does Jake. He mentions it to me nearly every weekend he comes up to stay with us.

Another one of these perfect moments happened just last Wednesday evening. This was one of the rare spontaneous moments that to the outside world makes little or no sense. My dear wife got me a zero-gravity chair for Fathers Day this year. She liked it so well that she got herself one too. My brother-in-law and his wife also got me a Fathers Day gift of a 'bug zapper' that uses two AA batteries and looks very much like a racketball racket. The idea behind this is you press a small black button until a red light comes on, then you swing it at the bug and with 2,700 volts, it incinerates the insect. On Wednesday evening, my wife and I were sitting on our zero-gravity chairs and watching the sunset. Our 2 1/2 year old daughter was jumping on her small trampoline and doing 'bumbies'. Our nearly month old son was asleep in my wifes arms. Tom Petty was playing on the iPod - classic songs off of Wild Flowers. We had cold Otter Pops that we were eating after dinner and I was swatting bugs with my bug zapper. To the four of us, this was a perfect moment. A beautiful sunset, no whining, everybody happy, good music and bugs under control. May sound odd to you but we enjoyed this as a perfect moment for us.

Here's to you and yours hoping you have many perfect moments and may they come often and may you be receptive to them. Cheers...

Whirlwind of the past 24 hours

2012-09-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

OK, here it is the 25th of September, less than 24 hours from my last post, and I have had some news come to light that is going to rock my world come the end of May to sometime in June of 2013.

For about the past two weeks Margaret has been complaining of allergies and feeling sick to her stomach every evening. I thought it was just her way of saying she was not interested in doing the wild thing. (Like a sniffley nose or her not feeling good for two weeks in a row would stop me, OK it did.) I would say as I always do, "then take a pregnancy test."

That is my pat answer to anything she complains about.

She would always say "No, it's not like morning sickness, I just don't feel good."

To which I would reply "Then call the doctor in the morning and go see what is going on, maybe you have an ulcer or something."

Well last night, Margaret took my advice and took a pregnancy test. Thirty seconds later, in bold Ariel type the ClearBlue results were in. Pregnant Margaret kept looking at it and shaking it waiting for the Not to appear in front of pregnant. But it never appeared. We're going to add a member to our family for Sophia to be a big sister too. As a stay at home dad, I will be at least twice as busy with two little ones to care for, plus looking for additional income to help out with our day-to-day expenses. Margaret's first doctor appointment is not until 9:00 a.m. on November 7th, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything to do between now and then. We have to start getting the house ready, find homes for the cats, (YEA!) tear up the carpet in the downstairs and replace it with tile or hardwood. Change rooms for Ethan, (not that, that will change where Ethan sleeps when he comes up here to stay.) It will just be more crowded in our room at night.

I know, I know, you're thinking, how did Margaret get pregnant with other people sleeping in their room all the time. Because we are sneaky. Hee Hee Hee. And trust me, where there is a will, there is a way. Anyways, now that my sister is blushing and my brothers-in-law are about to lose their lunch lets change subjects.

Let's talk baby names. If this baby is a boy, I really REALLY like the name Trajan, for several reasons. First it is unusual in the western world. Second, I like what Trajan stands for. Trajan was a Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 A.D. He was a great and just ruler that freed many of the prisoners that his predecessor's imprisoned unjustly and returned personal property that was taken unfairly from main of the Roman subjects. After his death of a stroke in 117, the Senate deified him and each of the following emperors were bestowed with the wish of felicior Augusto, melior Traiano which means may you be luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan. [Wikipedia]

One of my sisters-in-law, claim he will be teased in school as Trojan, (the condom). However, I think he will be called Tray for short and it is a great, noble name and a great person to be named after. Of course, this could all be moot as the baby could be a girl, leaving me open to additional suggestions. I have some ideas, but I will save them for a future blog.

It is now the 27th of September and we have told our families. Of course everyone asks what do you want a boy or a girl, and we always answer "Healthy." We pray for a healthy baby and for Margaret to go this time without the pre-eclampsia that plagued her the third tri-mester last time and brought Sophia to us 3 weeks early. We were very lucky with Sophia that she only spent 40 minutes in the NICU and we had the totally best OB/GYN for our needs. She seemed to always have the time for us and the time to explain everything to us in layman's terms and she was always available and never rushed, yet we never had to wait very long for her. And come to find out she is one of the highest demand OB/GYN's at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake. I swear, she is really one of a set of triplets.

When we told Rory and Ethan last night it was after Ethan's scouting awards ceremony where he got a whole bunch of awards, and moved from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts with his Arrow of Light Ceremony. He was really cute with it all and got his face painted by the four mom's of the boys that were moving on to Boy Scouts last night. He is really looking like a grown up to me now, a good looking kid. He was really excited about having a new brother or sister next year and he was cute about it. Rory said "Congratulations," and then didn't really know what else to say. That's okay, I think I understand.

Well, I'm going to post this now and get back to taking care of Sophia, Caillou (her other TV love addiction) is almost over. Talk at you again soon.

2012-09-24T14:19:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been quite a while since the last posting - sorry to keep you waiting - I know most of you have probably been loosing sleep over this, LOL. Anyway, here is what has gone on, in a nutshell, since that last posting in June. Sophia has had her 2nd birthday come and go. We had a blast at a 6 person birthday party where we rented an inflatable bounce house and an inflatable water slide. It was a blast and we all had fun, there were about 25 of us that were all there including Sophia's brother Ethan whose birthday was also celebrated during that party. About a week or two before the birthday party, Sophia, Ethan, Mommy and Daddy went on a road trip to visit Aunt Susan and Uncle Bob in Colorado. The kids were real troopers for the road trip and hardly complained about the long hours in the car. We visited Rocky Mountain National Park and saw moose and elk and deer and other wildlife, as well as traveling the Trail Ridge Road that exceeds 11,000 feet above sea level and is a beautiful drive. We stayed in Estes Park and Ethan was intrigued with the Stanley Hotel and the stories of it being haunted. One of the elk we saw close to the road just outside of the National Park had apparently gotten tangled up with someones Christmas lights and had its' antlers all wound up in the lights and wires. I am sure the elk is looking forward to losing this years rack of antlers and growing new ones next year as they were a bit in the way of eating.

Sophia has progressed very well with her academics over the past 4 months. She not only knew her ABC's song before her 2nd birthday, she also knows each letter by name and where in the alphabet it goes. We have a 'Melissa & Doug' puzzle of the alphabet that she loves to play with and she says the letter of the alphabet and then puts it into the proper place in the puzzle without hesitation. She also has been counting up to 16 without assistance since the end of July. Margaret and I attribute a great deal of her learning to several of the learning apps that Sophia loves to use in 'her' iPad. We can kid ourselves and say it is Margaret's iPad, but Sophia uses it 90%-95% of the time now, and calls it "MINE". Sophia is sleeping about 8 hours a night and then about 90 minutes for a midday nap. She also loves to play basketball. Ethan has an adjustable hoop up here at our home and when it is on the lowest setting of 8.5 feet, I can lift her up high enough for her to roll the basketball over the rim and through the hoop. I then set her down and she chases after the ball, comes back with it, stands under the hoop and says "Dada, bask-eyball", to which I am supposed to pick her up again and let her do her impression of Karl Malone once again.

The night before last she was singing songs to Margaret and I. Her favorites are the Barney songs (I Love You, You Love Me), Crap now I have that song stuck in my head again, and "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Sponge Bob, Happy Birthday to you". The funny thing about that is that she has only seen Sponge Bob Square Pants a hand full of times, but she got a McDonald's toy of that creature during the Olympics and became fascinated with him ever since.

Her 2 year follow up doctor appointment is not until the 3rd of October and we are a little concerned the doctor is going to rip us a new one because she is so damn skinny. She is taller than kids older than she is, but even 18 month pants won't stay up on her bony butt. We buy 24 month pants and I take them in by hand, (I know, I'm very versatile and some day I'll make a great wife, yeah, yeah, yeah), but you do what you gotta do to cover up the diaper. Well, she is beginning to stir, so I better end for now, I promise it won't be as long till I write again, and maybe I'll have a funny story or two by then. If you like the blog, please share with your friends, if not, share it anyways. Thanks and enjoy.

Mexico (Or I need a vacation from my vacation)

2012-06-12T15:36:00.001-07:00

Today is Tuesday June 12th, 2012. We've been home from Mexico for 3 days and it was, lets say, an adventure. It all started on Saturday June 2nd. we got up at 4:00 am so we could make it to our 7:30 flight to Denver to catch our connecting flight to Cancun. We all three got up and piled into the old Nissan Xterra and headed for Margaret's brother Ethans house in Kaysville. We got there about 5:30 with no problems. Then we went to get Margarets mother in West Bountiful. We made it there without any hitches. Little did I know or realize things were going too smoothly. Next, we get to the airport by 6:30 and checking for our flight to Denver and also check in for the international leg of our flight to Mexico. Got through security with only one minor glitch, Margaret had a lucky pair of tweezers that was confiscated from her going through TSA. Maybe they were afraid that she would tweeze the pilots unibrow during the flight, i dunno.

We get to DIA in Denver a little early and get a breakfast burrito at Quizznos. Then we had 90 more minutes to kill before they started boarding the plane.LaNan and Margaret took Sophia up the escalator and down the escalator half a dozen times at least at DIA. We go to the gate and find out that we were supposed to get to the gate 30 minutes ago because they needed to check our documents (lame, since we checked in at SLC with our passports). We find out as we are trying to board the plane early that we don't have a stamp on our boarding pass that says "Documents OK". so we go to the desk that checks the passport and documents and get our little stamp, then we are the last people on the plane. we put our carry on luggage in the overhead bins and under the seat in front of us. The plane takes off with the four of us (Ethan was just driving us to and from the airport in SLC). We have a fairly uneventful flight to Cancun. Then we land in Cancun and the flight attendant come on the intercom and says that we have to wait on the tarmac a few more minutes cuz our flight arrived early and someone else is parked at our gate. No worries, we can handle this.

We finally get off the plane and have to go through customs. This should be a breeze right? Wel 50 minutes later we are finally to the customs agent. We get through customs with only margarets baggs being searched and her purse, then we go out to the baggage claim and surprise, surprise, our luggage has beat us through customs. Then we walk fast to get past all the people trying to sell us a timeshare and with a little difficulty find our driver to driv e us the extra 1 1/2 hours to our resort in the rivera maya. Outside temp 87 degrees F, Humidity about 80%. The van is air conditioned, and our driver speaks fairly good english. He offers to take us to a 7-11 to get a water for the drive, very thoughtful. I go in and for 3 one liter bottles of evian and one bottle (500ml) of Coke, $11 USD.figured that was a little steep but then again it was a 7-11. LaNan (Margarets mom) speaks fluent Spanish and carries on a conversation with the driver most of the way to our resort at the Grand Palladium Kanteneh. We get thre and get checked in and the bell bot drives us to our jr. suite. This is just another room with Mexican Queen size beds, aka, US Full size beds. Glad we upgraded. We are starving by this point and so we just decide to hit the buffet for dinner and get a good nights sleep for the next days adventures. Word to the wise: DO NOT EAT ANY MEXICAN PORK PRODUCT. I paid for it all the next day. The morning started off a bit rainy, but it cleared by 1:00 pm so we went to the pool and to the beach. The resort is too big to have the bar maids walking around taking drink orders so we had to walk up to one of the bars to order drinks. TIPS EXPECTED even though it is an all inclusive resort. At about 4 banana-mamas we decided to go back to the room and get cleaned up and dressed for dinner. the thing that sucks for guys is you have to wear long pants to any of the full service resturants. In the heat and humidity, that was asking a bit much, but we complied. Just as we were getting ready for dinner, the skies opened up and it POURED as hard as Margaret had ever seen it in her life.I took a really cool picture and the flash relfected off the rain drops that made a really artistic picture. We then went to a meditrainian resturant for dinner and the food was much better than the service. The waiters only know enought english to talk about the menu. Sophia was ordered some roasted chicken and fries. The Chicken was more like jerky - inetable. Thank goodness she likes fries and couscous. The lamb was exceptional as was the salmon. Then back to the room. Unfortunately, Margaret got a visit from mother nature and needed some cotton plugs. The resort knows that they have you by the short and curlies because you are out in the middle of the fricken jungle. $11 USD for a box of 8 tampons. Ridiculous!!!! But we had no other recourse that to pay the ungodly amount of money and deal with it. Not going to let that ruin our whole trip. Monday was a nice overcast day that we spent mostly at the beach. Monday night we went to the Brazilian Steak House for dinner. Good meat, yes it was beef, but thinly sliced. then back to the room. Tuesday we went on our only excursion, to Tulum and Xel Ha (pronounsed Shell Ha). The ruins were neat to see and I wish they would have had a pamphlet that we could see what each of the buildings was supposedly used for and information about it, but that would have put the guides who charge $50-$70 USD out of business. Yeah, I was cheap and didn't hire a local to make up stories about buildings to romantisize the already neeat buildings. We spent about 1.5 hours there and then took the little train pulled by a 1956 FarmAll Tractor back to where we were supposed to meet our driver. He was no where to be seen. So Margaret calls the office and he shows right up. We then go to Xel Ha. It is like a commercialized National Park with snorkling, zip lines, and people wanting to take your picture for their push to show you were there and in the water. Margaret and I went snorkeling first and saw sting rays, parrot fish, damsels, chubs, barbs, cichlids, etc. Xel ha is supposedly the best place on earth to witness a river flowing into the ocean . The layer of water between the ocean and the fresh water is a little murky as the salt water stays on the bottom and the fresh water on top. Margaret and her mom went snorkeling next and I stayed out and watched Sophia. It was HOT like almost 100 degrees F. Sophia had on a sun protecting swim suit that was more like a shorty wet suit. This afternoon is when things started to go down hill. We get back to the room with out any incident. We ate at the Japanese resturaunt that night. Food was ok. The next day was Wednesday. Sophia was a little cranky this morning. She also felt a little warm. It is cooler at the beach so we went down to the beach Sophia seemed to get worse as the day went on. Fortunately, Margaret had rememebered to pack the childrens Tylenol. We took everything off except her diaper, its ok, it was a topless beach. When she still felt hot an hour after the tylenol, we took her back to the room and I put her in a cool bath. That along with the tylenol brought her fever down, for a short while. We also turned the room temperature down. She got worse as the evening wore on. It was a restless night for everyone. the next morning Thursday, we called the house dr to come and see her. $200 later he said she had strep and some kind of a skin rash (we knew this much) and he called the pharmacy 20 minutes away and ordered amoxicillinand some steroid for her rash. In Mexico you dont need a dr to order amoxicillin not the steroid. We toyed with the idea of flying home a day early,but decided to just wait the one more day to fly home. On Friday, her rash looked like little and big white heads all over her arms and legs and the bottom of her feet.and a few on her face by her mouth. By this time we all were ready to get back to the good ol' USA. I will write about our flight home in tomorrows blog. The short of it all we got home late on Friday night and on Saturday we were the second patients at the insta care facility and the dr there told us it was hand,foot, and mouth virus that is very common and has an incubation period of about 3 days. she probably got it at the pool and that it affects younger children usually under 10. The US dr also told us that she did NOT have strep and that the amoxicillin would do no good, same with the steroid. The virus is fairly common although none of us had heard of it before and it spreads like a cold virus. Through direct contact with an infected person or surface or POOL. There were several other kids we saw at the resort that had the same sort of rash. We think the pool was infected. Today is Tuesday again and she is doing much better but it sure had us scared in a foreign country and foreign language for her health. The mexican dr spoke broken english and had studied medicine in mexico city. Apparently most dr's in mexico throw amoxicillin at everything. Tired of writning today - more tomorrow or the next day. End part I.

I Finally Figured it Out

2012-03-12T09:24:00.001-07:00

Ever since Sophia started walking something has looked vaguely familiar about it. I couldn't quite put my finger on it until this morning when I was watching her in my coffeeless stupor. She walks, then runs, then walks again, all while flailing her arms around in random motions. All this while trying to move forward in a straight line, but bouncing off the left wal then the right and so on and so on. She is doing her impression of Johnny Depp doing an impression of Captain Jack Sparrow doing an impression of Keith Richards. She hasn't even seen the Pirates of the Carribean movies yet, but maybe she go it through osmosis while invitro. It is the most perfect impression of the walk I have ever seen. It is brilliant.

Additionally, she is starting to string two words together to form simple sentences. When Margaret leaves us for work in the mornings, she always tells each of us goodbye, then as she is walking down the stairs to leave she will shout back "Bye guys, see you later." so now when Sophia is saying good-bye to anything it is "Bye guys." Whether it is good bye to one person or good bye to the television set, it's "Bye guys." Even at the end of her favorite TV programs she says, "Bye guys". Same goes for when we leave the house, she repeats the phrase to the cats and dogs. The drive thru dude at McDonalds, same thing goes. So don't be offended if your a gal and not a guy and she says, "Bye guys" either when she is leaving you or thinks it is time we were on our way, it's just her way of saying good-bye.

Yesterday it was a BEAUTIFUL day along the Wasatch Front. The thermometer here at our home said it got up to 72ºF. We decided to take Sophia to the Hogle Zoo down in Salt Lake by the University of Utah. She spent about 20% of the time in her stroller and 80% of her time running around like a drunken pirate. She even insisted on climing up the steep hills all by her self. It was a good activity for her since it wore her out and helped to make up for the change to daylight savings time. Her Grandma LaNan and Auntie McCall came with us too. It is aq good thing we had all four of us to keep tabs on the little stinker. She was always insisting we go the opposite direction than we needed to go, so one of us would lead the way and the other two would walk by her side and the fourth would bring up the rear to make sure she was not turning around and bolting the other way. When we would leave one area of animals she would tell them "Bye guys", and saunter off to see what was next. She really liked seeing our four Amur Tigers, and she loved the Carrousel and wanted to do that part of the zoo a second time. The poor little sweet-cakes also got bit by a bee while we were eating lunch. Atleast it wasn't a sting. At the end of the zoo-fari experience, Grandma watched Sophia while Margaret and I were picking out a treat for her from the gift shop. Sophia finally warmed up to the "floating marble world globe" fountain and got soaked. She was very cute about it and wanted to go do it again but we didn't have enough dry clothes for her to do it a second time. We wound up the trip to the zoo with a train ride, then we walked back to the car, and she was a little like a Captian Jack Sparrow getting to the car, but very tired by the time we got there. All in all, it was a good family day (except we didn't have Ethan), and we were all exhausted and ready for the day to be over. Thanks Grandma for going with and for everything and thanks Auntie Cally for coming with.

I've created my Grandfathers (Pops) and Dads Little Monster

2012-02-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, growing up, at times both of my parents worked outside the home to make ends meet and to give my sister and I a more priviledged childhood, with family trips to Disneyland, Hawaii, Washington DC, Calgary Canada, etc. My sister, a.k.a. Sisti-uglar, is 9 years, 5 months, and 9 days older than me. I don't let her forget it too often. She was well into school long before I ever got to go to kindergarten. On occassions when both my Mom and Dad were needed to work in the office, I would sometimes get dropped off at my grandparents home. These were my Mom's parents that we called Mom and Pops. They adored me because I was so cute and imaginative. (No conceit on my part). Pops always had a pocket full of butterscotch life savers. Pops, to say he had a sweet tooth, is a major understatement. I guess that is what made Mom and Pops such sweet people to be around and why all the grandkids wanted to be at their house. At their home I was intoduced to fresh squeezed orange juice with about 8 teaspoons full (heaping full) of sugar. It was very good and Pops made the OJ for Mom (his wife) every morning. On mornings that I would arrive, he would also make the OJ for me too. At their home I was also introduced to Coca-Cola. Still love it. And one of Pops vices, Oreo's. I don't know how many times I ate his complete stash of Oreo cookies, but I know it was a lot. My Dad also loves Oreo's and has taught my two older boys to enjoy and devour the tiny chocolate morsels of ambrosia, with a cream filling that preserves your insides so mummification is not necessary, in a flash. I, to this day still love Oreo's. I think my Mom is right when she says I was raised on Coke and Oreo's. Well, I have had to pass this tradition along to my daughter Sophia. She, at 18 months young, will take a half eaten Oreo from me and pound it down, then come back and get a whole cookie from me and snarf that one as well. When the Oreo's are all gone, she will put on her cute little pouty face for 30 to 45 minutes, until I can get her involved in something else. I try to make her eat something with nutritional value like grapes or strawberries, after the cookies are gone. Some times it works, some times we put on our shoes and head to the grocery store to get some more (for her of course). Needless to say, if we would have invested in Nabisco, as a company, more than that of a consumer, when I was young, I may not still be paying on student loans. But that was not meant to be, so I will continue to pay my student loans and eating Oreo's (much to my wife's discouragement - at 240 lbs, I am not a svelt man), and continue to allow my children to enjoy one of the few childhood memories I am able to share in a safe, or semi safe activity.

It is sad to me that many of the things I enjoyed as a child, my kids will never get to enjoy. Things like Hide n Seek, Kick the Can, Steal the Flag, and No Bears are out Tonight, all played until 10:00 or 11:00 pm. Todays scarey environment with creeps walking the streets make it so you don't trust your kids to be out of your site outdoors for more than a few minutes. In the late spring, summer, and early fall, the parents can take their lawn chairs out to the front yard and keep a better eye on them. It is also better if you are in a neighborhood that has a number of kids the same age as your kids, the old strength in numbers adage. Creeps are less likely to try something if there are a number of kids around that can identify them, get license plate numbers and the make and model of creeps in cars, etc. I don't know how this blog digressed from eating Oreo's to child safety, but let's just say it is inspired and hopefully it will be of help to someone who reads it. I know I have said, semi-jokingly, that Sophia will be allowed to date once she hits 25 years old and she will have to have her prospective suiter fill out an application, complete with references, and have it approved prior to any dating. I have begun creating the application, but it has a long way to go before she hits 25 and the form is put into use. I still have 23 1/2 years to go before it will be necessary to have it available for use.

My kids are what keep me going. I can't imagine losing one even while shopping at WalMart for 5 minutes. My head is filled with the fear of something like Adam Walsh happening and I could not bear it. The loss of a child has to be the hardest thing a parent would ever have to deal with. Sure there are times when we get on each others nerves and need a break from each other, but that happenes in separate rooms, not by them going outside.

Okay, back to the Oreo's. I think all three of my kids would be happy with a birthday present of either Oreo's or the extra creamy goodness of Double Stuff Oreo's. I have done extensive research (eating) on the benefits of eating anything chocolate, and it is nearly impossible to frown or be sad when chocolate is in your mouth. My research has extended to the observation of my kids and wife. Whenever they are upset or grumpy, I try to force feed a little chocolate and that seems to make things much better. When I was a child, and I would get an ouwey, my Mom would give me a small sandwich baggie with about an 1/8 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (she called them chocolate bumps for my bumps and bruises). They always made me feel better and I would share this recipe for healing with my friends growing up. One time a friend got into a fight with his brother at his house and after he got beat up, he came to my house for some chocolate bumps. I also recall one time I got into a fight with a friend and slugged him in the stomach and immediately I felt horrible. I ran home and got some chocolate bumps for him and took them to him to apologize. It took a few minutes, but by the end of the day we were good friends again.

So if you have a little one that is hurting from falling while learning to walk, or ride a bike, I highly recommend chocolate bumps to make it all better. Wishing you all health and happiness and a little chocolate to make it over the bumps in your life.

Need to get this off of my chest.

2012-02-14T12:45:00.000-08:00

OK, it's Tuesday, February 14th, 2012. valentines day... Can we just say this is the most stupid semi-holiday ever invented. It is nothing more than an excuse for Hallmark and American Greetings to create useless cards that say what you should say to your loved ones everyday, a reason for candy companies to jack up prices, along with florists, and then resturants to be overbooked so your 6:30 reservation gets you seated at 8:30, and they are all out of the valentines day special they advertised to get you to make the damn reservation in the first place. It is a day for popular kids at school to have their valentines boxes over stuffed and nerds like me to feel left out. A day for spending money on another useless stuffed animal that you know will end up in a D.I. pile in less than a years time. A day when mom and/or dad to console their child that "I'm sure it was just an accidental oversight that the person they have a crush on didn't send you a valentine."

Needless to say, I have not had great luck with valentines day in the past, and every year that passes, puts me into a deeper depression because it just doesn't live up to its' hype. I just can't wait until I have to console Sophia on the let down of the day. That is why I choose to celebrate unvalentines day. I do not send flowers or chocolates on Feb 14th, I do not buy valentines day cards (especially at $6.00 a pop), I choose to wear black rather than red, and I wish people Happy V.D. Most people think I am wishing them a shorthand version of valentines day, but I am talking about the STD's that they are bound to get from sleeping around on the 14th of February.

I shop around and find a florist that will deliver for a reasonable rate at least a week before the dreaded day. I give chocolates for Christmas, I give cards just for the hell of it throughout the year, and I write my own mushy message instead of a meaningless message written by a complete stranger that is supposed to convey my thoughts and feelings.

So, if you were expecting a greeting from me this, the most meaningless day of days, I'm sorry to disappoint you, look for green beer in your mailbox in about a month, for the 2nd most meaningless holiday on the calendar. And to top it all off, most employers ignore all semi-holidays between New Years Day and Memorial Day, thus forcing those in slave labor to work more than five months without a day off other than weekends, and soemtimes not even weekends are off in February-the middle of May. So if you choose to celebrate valentines, enjoy it knowing you are getting ripped off, and if you agree with me, wait until tomorrow to tell that special someone that your world revolves around them and you can't wait for the next day they have off to spend with you. Begrudgingly greetings from an unsupporter of February 14th. There, now I feel better. Thanks for reading.

Next Phase Begins - Full Throtle

2012-02-10T00:56:00.000-08:00

OK, we have made it (for the most part) past the "Oh Shit" phase by replacing the bad word (which I am most certain she learned from her mom), with other words. I know it doesn't have the same satisfaction as the bad word, but it is a frustration she will just have to learn to deal with until she is old enough to make those choices for herself. Let me back up a little bit here...

Sophia is a very bright girl who loves to mimic mom and dad in a number of respects. She especially is proud of her exagerated motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and loves to feed herself most of what mom and dad are eating for dinner. She likes trying to use a spork (the spoon with rounded fork tongs) to feed herself as well. She hasn't quite mastered the use of the spork yet, but she gets an "A" for trying very hard. I know, I know, another level of frustration she is dealing with. Anyhow, this next phase began without Margaret nor I really seeing it coming. Sophia will go along merrily eating with her fingers and humming her cute little version of "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" (have you ever noticed that that tune is the same as the "ABC song" and several other toddler tunes), right up to the point where she is full enough to stop eating. At this point she will hurriedly grab any remaining food on her high chair tray and with the speed of an umpire calling a runner safe at home, swing her little arms and letting the food fly. This is followed immediately by an "uh-oh, all done". Fortunately for Margaret and I we have two four legged vacuums that clear most of the spilled food up, nearly before it hits the wall or floor.

I think Blue and Apollo can sense when she is about done eating and position themselves strategically on either side of Sophia in order to get to the food before her mother or I can say a word, and have it lapped up in a jiffy. This behavior, while not unique to our sweet little daughter, is something to see with your own eyes. I swear the entire exchange between grabbing the food, flinging it to the walls and floor, and dogs snarfing it down happens in nano-seconds. We are awestruck with the efficiency of Sophia and the dogs. This is fine and well at home (for the time being), but it is a little less acceptable when she is out to eat at a restruaunt, and pelts neighboring tables with her efficient (and accurate) throwing abilities. She has the cutest little smile at the end of the exchange that it makes it hard to discipline her with out cracking a smile yourself, no matter how mortified you are that she just landed a chip with salsa on the back of former Mayor of Salt Lake City, Ted Wilson's $1,000 suit. OK, she didn't really hit his suit, but can come very close when given the opportunity. And in public places we don't have the dogs to help devour the evidence.

So the word "uh-oh" has replaced "oh shit", at least for the time being, because that is the first thing out of mom and dads mouth when she launches the remaining food from her launch pad. And I know servers all along the Wasatch Front are hoping we never darken the thresholds of the establishments they are working in, at least until the spork is mastered and the thrashing of arms has been contained. Most servers, I have to give props to for being generally good natured about it as Margaret and I are helping them (or them helping us) to clean up the mess. We have been very fortunate in not having to explain too much the to servers, and they seem to take it pretty well in-stride. I am sure Sophia isn't the first toddler to relocate food in an eating establishment and will not be the last.

But now it has gotten to the point where anytime she is doing something she KNOWS she should not be doing, it is proceeded with an "uh-oh" rather than followed by one. The biggest uh-oh came for mommy and daddy a week ago when Grandma LaNan was up to our home to see the cute little munchkin, and we had not put the champagne flutes out of her reach. We turned our backs for no more than 3 seconds and she raced from the living room, across to the dining room, picked up one of the flutes (now located beyond her reach), shouted "Uh-oh!" and threw the flute on to the wood floor. Margaret, her mother and I raced into the dining room, I immediately picked up Sophia, and Margaret and her mother went into overdrive and had the shattered flute picked up and put in the garbage nearly as fast as the dogs clean up after Sophia is through eating. I tell ya, we have to be very careful about EVERYTHING now. I thought we had baby proofed everything, but it seems like each week she finds a new thing to get into. Love her to bits, but she can sure be a stinker sometimes. Well, it is now 2:00 am, and I will sign off the blog for now. Seems like this is the only time of day I can blog anymore. BTW, the thing on her head is a ladies golfing visor turned upside down and perched like a Pope hat. She does this herself all the time.

BTW: Here is a link to a Daddy Daycare Support / Play group if anyof you are interested in joining.

http://www.raisingthem.com/groups/view/100622/Stay_At_Home_Dads/

Save Sprout TV

2012-01-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I don't typically ask you to do things, however, for the sake of my sanity and my daughters' learning and entertainment, I am BEGGING you to do one small thing for me. DirecTV has decided that they no longer want to offer the PBS Learning channel of Sprout TV as part of their basic package. They are still offering it, but as a part of a premium package that obviously costs more money. I am asking you to click on the link at the end of this blog and tell DirecTV to stop nickel and diming their customers and leave Sprout TV where it is. Sprout TV is not asking for a larger portion of money, just to renew their existing contract which expires this February 1st. So it isn't costing DirecTV anymore to carry the programming of Sprout, but they are lining the pockets of the big wigs at DirecTV. In our area, DirecTV is the only service provider that carries the channel, so we are kind of stuck betweena arock and a hard place with this. Your help is GREATLY APPRECIATED. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this serious matter. If clicking on the link does not work with your browser, please cut and paste the link into your address bar and hit enter.

http://www.savesprout.com/?intcmp=savesprout-microsite

Thanks again, Scott

Watch Out Usain Bolt

2012-01-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting the next great threat to Usain Bolt, the fastest person in the world - Miss Sophia Mathis. I tell you what, she is at least the fastest baby in the world. Try as I might, she is always one step ahead of me. She is always getting out in front of me and making messes faster than I can keep up with. if it isn't the dirty laundry in the hamper, it's the drawer of kitchen utinsels, or her toys, or her books, or grabbing the remote to the TV, or my cell phone. By the way, if any of you get a call from my cell phone and there is no one there, I apologize. That usually means that Sophia has gotten a hold of my cell phone, navigated it off the lock screen, and gone into the call log, then hit the picture of someone that she recognizes or wants to be new friends with. Once the phone starts to ring she usually discards the phone where ever she is and goes onto the next adventure.

The cats and dogs are also getting a workout from Sophia chasing them around and trying, somewhat successfully, to grab a handful of fur. They are starting to recognize her footstep patterns and move out of the way as soon as she starts heading their way. Dusty, our "googley eyed" cat is extremely patient with her and seems to like having her fur pulled gently. She will allow Sophis to catch up to her (it's a game she plays with Sophia) and let her pull one or two handfuls of fur. I, in the meantime, am chasing Sophia down to get her before the handful of fur ends up in her mouth. This is a daily ritual that occurs several times a day. The rest -of the cats and the dogs are not quite as patient.

Another thing that occupies some of Sophia's time is watching Sprout TV. She definately has shows she likes and others that don't interest her (yet). She loves the early morning show with Chica (a puppet that is a chicken) and a live person that works with Chica. I think her favorite is Shaun, who is the only male on the program. The other three are Liz, Danisha and Kelly. She likes Kelly a lot too. The saddest part of all this is that I know who all the people are and when her favorite shows are coming on. It is a routine that I have memorized whether I want to know it or not. Sometimes I feel like I am digressing and learning the things that she is learning. My personal favorite is Zaboomafu which is on in the afternoons. I personally have a disdain for Caillou (pronounced KI-ew). a new program began in the early evenings from Jim Hensen Studios called The Pajanimals. It is really cute. Okay, enough about my preschool education.

Back to the little terror. She has her favorite kitchen utinsels to pull out of the drawer. She loves wire whisks, plastic spoons, and wooden cutting boards. Don't worry, all the sharp stuff is put away and out of her reach or in a cupboard or drawer that is locked. Maybe I should find a cupboard to put the pets in so she stops harassing them, just kidding. I just want to convince the animals that they are, and were intended to be OUTSIDE pets. Well it is time for Sesame Street, one of our favorites, so I gotta run. Eat well, exercise and be happy. Talk to you again soon.

Oh Dear...

2012-01-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

While 10% of America was glued to their television sets, waiting to find out who was the winner of the Iowa Caucuses, my wife and I were trying to figure out the best way out of a dilemma WE had created.

To begin the tale, let me start by saying that our daughter, Sophia, is the most precious thing in our daily lives. It seems that nearly every waking moment of her life is spent with one of us and we would never allow anything to harm her. We try our best to teach her the right things for a 16 month old should know. We play with her, we read her books, and we do everything in our power to make sure she is happy and has what she needs. We have a difficult time telling her "No", to anything that won't hurt her.

Now, on to the dilemma... Neither, Margaret, my wife, nor I claim to be saints. We both have our share of skeletons in our closets and have been known to slip an expletive or two into our daily conversation. Same goes for most of our friends and families. Good people. We all will do whatever it takes to get a stranger out of danger. We give to charities, put a buck or two into the Salvation Army kettle at Christmas time, (and no, we do not ask for a receipt).

The other day, sweet little Sophia was playing with (throwing her various toys) at the floor. We were laughing at her doing this because she doesn't throw things too hard at this point. I should say, we were laughing UNTIL...

Until we realized what she was saying. with each throw she was saying "shit". Immediately we both tried to correct the behavior and get her to say "shoot" or "shucks". This effort did nothing but bring out her beautiful laughter which is contagious. We would laugh when she laughed and she again would say "shit". The corrective actions continued for nearly 30 minutes. We would try to get her involved in a different toy or book, to which she would participate with for a moment, and then take it from us, throw it and say "shit". Finally, we got her interested in some treats to eat, but I fear this is positive reinforcement to an undesireable behavior.

Since this first incident, she has begun a ritual of saying "shit", anytime she wants a laugh from mom or dad, or even to announce, "I am awake now and require your attention". It is nearly impossible to not laugh at her saying this word, and several nights later she repeated the action at Grandma LaNan's house with books. It isn't that she wasn't the center of attention, because she was. She was doing it for pure enjoyment of making people laugh. My wife and I promised each other long before Sophia began immitating us that a swear word would not be the first thing out of her mouth (not counting the creamed peas - bleh). Well, we succeeded in that, she has mama, dada and bye-bye that beat her to the first word. But seriously, the fourth word a cuss word. Please, there has to be a linguist out there that can explain to me why this is such a fulfilling word to use at any stage of our lives. All in all, she could have chosen a different, more embarrassing word to use, and I am glad she didn't do that. The situation we face is how to correct this behavior now before it is ingrained into her vocabulary and we get a call from her preschool teacher informing us of the colorful vocabulary our daughter has at three years old. I guess home schooling has a place in all of this, but as a parent I would have to give myself a failing grade so far. Any words of comfort or wisdom will be greatly appreciated.

Look Whose Walking

2011-12-06T12:54:00.000-08:00

NOTE: Sorry it has been a few weeks since the last entry. I have had a couple of minor proceedures done and it has put me out of commission lately.

Now on to Sophia and the latest antics of the little princess. Two nights ago she was getting into a drawer that she knows that it is off limits, but she insists on pushing those limits and seeing what she can get away with. I have no idea, nor does Margaret, on where she has developed this defiant streak. Anyhow, she has pushed the limits and has acquired the turkey baster and is chewing on the bulb end. She has been told "No" several times but continued along with her escapade. She is now walking and chewing on the bulb, not thinking about what she is doing. Sophia first takes three steps, then four, five, six , seven, still chewing on the turkey baster. The next thing we know is that she has walked all the way from the "no-no" drawer in the kitchen into the front room and to the book case without balancing herself on anything. She has taken at least 15 steps on her own, all because she is not thinking about what she is doing. Bothe Margaret and I are exchanging stares and then looking at Sophia with our mouths open wide in amazement. Sophia has taken several steps in a row on her own before, but thiswas the longest that she has walked on her own without grabbing at something for support. Time to batten down the hatches, she is on her own and it is just a few weeks away from taking more and more steps on her own and getting into more and more things. It is funny how parents, at least first time parents, are so anxious for their child to become mobile, first crawling, then walking, then running - only to then realize that they are pushing for more and more work and what to baby-proof in the house so that the more mobile carpet critter remains safe.

Carpet critters is just the next stage or kids in my book. Kids start out as infants, moving to rug rats, then carpet critters, then yard apes, and finally onto gutter snipes. Infants just lay there,they don't roll over or anything. Safe to leave them alone on the floor for a few minutes. Rug rats roll around and semi crawl. They are not safe to be left alone for more than a few seconds. Carpet critters are full crawlers to "scooters" where they will stand and hold onto things to move around the room. They are in this stage for several months until they are walking on their own without any assistance. At this point nthey become yard apes. They will walk around the house sometimes shakeily, sometimes walking fast. They are safe to takeoutside at this point and walk around the back yard while you do gardening, as long as you don't have domesticated animals that the child can get into the animal droppings. Once they start hanging with friends in the neighborhood, they become gutter snipes. This is when you need to make sure they stay out of the road, learn about the dangers of cars, and the importance of checking in with mom and/or dad on occassion so that their whereabouts are well known. They remain in the gutter snipe roll until they are pre-teens which is a long way down the road. Once they are full fledged teens, the next step, you just hope that everything you have taught them from rolling over until now has stuck. Kids are a great joy to have and you should take time to enjoy each stage, and not be in such a hurry for them to make it to the next stage. The time flies too quickly. I currently have one that is an adult (19), one who is a pre-teen (10) and one who is a Carpet Critter (15 Months). It seems like just yesterday that the pre-teen was a yard ape or a carpet critter. Time flies too fast as a parent and if someone finds an unpainful way to make it last longer and it will be better than finding the fountain of youth. Enjoy your time with your kids while you can. The next thing you know you will be a grandparent.

DMD - Diapers of Mass Destruction

2011-11-10T11:33:00.000-08:00

OK, we have all experienced, or soon will, a diaper blowout. Currently there is a cute television commercial for a diaper blowout (animated, thank goodness), by three cute babies, and rated by three other baby judges. They make lite of a potentially, very messy situation. It's all fun and games until it happenes to you.

Well, here is my, currently, most awful blow out experience. To begin with, it was a cold and stormy day. Perfect for a crock pot dinner of chili. I browned the ground beef, (no vegans in this house), added the rest of the ingredients and seasonings, and set the crock pot to simmer for the day. I went about doing my other chores like laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. while Sophia played with her toys and looked at her books. She is very good about letting me get to the household chores and playing by herself, as long as I take frequent breaks to play with her as well.
Margaret was working a little late that day, so the chili remained cooking a little longer, which just made the beans more tender and set the flavors to mix better together. Little did I know, I was creating a crock pot with bodily nuclear reactions awaiting.

Margaret made it home safely at about 7:00 p.m. and she hurried and changed out of her work clothes, put on comfies, and came into the kitchen for dinner. Sophia sat in her high chair next to Margaret and me. Margaret mashed up the chili so that Sophia could easily gum the chili and swallow it. Sophia LOVED the chili. She ate it very well, and was on "auto-eat" (nearly sleeping while continuing to eat) by the end of it, because she was very tired. The time change is still working its magic on Sophia and she is going to sleep at 8:00-8:30 p.m., which is last weeks 9:00-9:30 p.m.

Well, she got cleaned up and put in her jammies, and went right to bed following dinner. The chili is now at work - fermenting over the nights sleep...

The next morning we all awoke, Margaret changed Sophia's diaper, no damage yet, and Margaret and I had our morning coffee, while Sophia had her morning breakfast that she is currently hooked on, Oatmeal cereal and mashed up raspberries - the final ingredient. Margaret finished getting ready and left for work. About half an hour later, Sophia and I were playing with her toys when my phone rang. I answered it as it was about a prospective job opportunity that I have been cultivating for about two weeks. I swear, I was only on the phone for about 10-15 minutes. Just enough time... Sophia never left my sight and I could tell from her facial expressions that she was doing her business. The call ended and I walked over to her, picked her up, and nearly passed out from the 'fragrance' she presented to me.

I immediately headed with her for her bedroom to change her, when I noticed my hand was moist. I moved my hand from where it was supporting her backside. It was covered in a gooey brown mess and had the same lovely odor that was permeating the rest of the house. I made a quick right turn into the bathroom. I gently set her into the empty bath tub. I rinsed off my hand and then just picked up the 'little flower' from under her arms to inspect the damage. The lighting in the bathroom was much better than in the front room.

Sophia's clothes were covered from mid-back to her knees in a redish-brown mess. I knew at this time we had a D.M.D. we were dealing with. She has had diapers in the past that will bring tears to your eyes, make the dogs run for the backdoor to get out, and have the cats trying to bury the diaper pail. Well, the cats and dogs were nowhere to be found. I was on my own. This was beyond anything I have ever experienced. I have had doggy diarrha that I have had to clean up off carpet that was less messy than this was. I wanted to puke, and nealy did. You know the gag reflex and how your mouth gets all watery before you vomit? Well, I am all over that action.

Without thinking, I instinctively, went to the bathroom drawer and pulled out some scissors. I began by cutting off her shirt, then her pants, then her onesie. There was no way I was pulling these clothes over her head or touching more than I had too with her pants to get them off her cute, chubby legs. If I wasn't in panic mode, I may have saved the clothes in a garbage bag and mailed them to an old boss. Once I had the clothes off, I cut the diaper off and set it on top of the trashed clothes. I then got the shower head that is attached to a hose and began rinsing her off with warm water. She had never had a shower before only a bath, so this was new to her as well. Sophia, in her cute usually happy self, was giggling the whole time, bless her cute little heart.

I could easily tell that the culpret was the chili, and the kidney beans gave it the redish color. What gave it the odor, I do not know, but it was the most horrific stentch I think I have ever encountered. After rinsing her off, I filled the tub with water and Mr. Bubbles bubble bath. I then proceded to wash her from head to toe, TWICE, just to be sure. I then rinsed her again and took her out of the tub and dried her off. We then continued our stroll to her bedroom, where a clean diaper and clean clothes awaited and were applied.

Now I had the dirty clothes to deal with. I needed to clean them up and throw them away. I just got a garbage bag from the kitchen, turned it inside outand picked up the soiled clothes and diaper without having to touch the poopy mess again and immediately took the bag out to the garbage can, I did not pass GO, I did not collect $200. With Sophia safely in her crib with a bottle, I opened the bathroom window, and scrubbed the bathtub.

If ever the U.S. Army or Air Force are looking for a substitute to nuclear weapons, I have the recipe. My sweet Sophia and simmered all day chili could do the trick, although the area the they use it on may not be inhabitable for many years to come. I am sure the atomic half life is near that of Plutonium 232.

Thank goodness this happenes only once in a very long time. I don't think I could handle it more often.

California

2011-11-04T00:42:00.000-07:00

This past September we took Ethan & Sophia to southern California. All in all it was a good to great trip. On our first day it was Ethan's 10th birthday. Everyone else was too.tired from the long drive, I'm cheap that way and would drive to Hawaii if it were an option. Anyway, Ethan and I went to.Disneyland - just the two of us. We had a great time and I.told Ethan before the trip, that within reason, his birthday he would not hear any "No's". He played.it.perfectly.and had the best b-day ever. He first wanted to go on Space Mountain. We got fast passes that were good in one your, so we decided to.wait.in lime for.20 minutes, them use our fast passes and.go on it again.immediately. He then wanted to do Thunder.Mountain Railroad. He was dragging.me all.over.the park until I gave him the idea of.staying.in one area for a while, then.move to.another area. This solution worked.out.much better.on my tired, out of shape legs. We ate breakfast in tomorrow land, and Ethan was trying to catch the little birds that flutter around eating whatever people drop. To my delight, it burned.off some of my nuclear kids energy. I also noticed that there are no.stones to throw in the entire park. Who knows, probably a union or OSHA thing. But whenever during the day he said something like "may I please have a popcorn, or a soda", all he heard from me was."yes". I figured that was a good present besides the trip. It was difficult for me at first, but I eventually.got.the hang of it and it was fun.for me as well to know I.was making his day. The next day we were going to go back.to.Disneyland too since we.had 2 day park.hopper tickets but I was too.sore to make the trip. Additional things we did.on the first day was go.over.to.California Adventure. We went on Grizzly Rapids until Ethan was certain I was soaked.clear to the bone. We also.split a.pizza and while.we were eating.it, a float came.by playing Bowling for Soup song that is the.theme song to.Phenius & Ferb. A Disney channel cartoon. Ethan loves Bowling for Soup and heard the song long before I did. We.followed the.float. munching on pizza and watched.some.of the .performance, then did.a few things more in Ca Adv. Then went back.over to the magic kingdom.

The next day we spent at the beach in Oceanside. We buried Ethan up to his neck in sand and he boogie boarded on the waves. Sophia on the other hand was fearless with
the mighty Pacific ocean. We would set her in dry loose sand and she would make a beeline for the water. We thought she would have a fear.of the water, but that was not the case. We all walked around the water looking for sand dollars and found a few, plus some interesting shells.

The next day we.took it slow and went to the San Diego.Zoo. that was fun and interesting to see animals that we don't have at the zoo back.here at home. The most interesting animal for most of us was seeing the giant Panda Bears. They are on loan to the U.S. from China. There were three of them there. One Took a poop while we were watching it and it looked like.digested yellow squash - I know, just what you wanted.to read. There are only 4 zoo's in the U.S.that have.Panda's. The other 3 are back east.

The following day we went back to Disneyland. It was Sophia's first visit. Talk about sensory overload. She was looking at everything and trying to comprehend it all. Her first ride was Peter Pan, then Dumbo. She went on several rides and had a huge grin on her face. Ethan Took turns going on thrill rides with Margaret and me. In the late afternoon she finally got to small world. She saved the biggest smile and sense of amazement for this ride. To her it was people her own size, all singing the same song. I have been on that ride so many times that I made up my own verse for the song. It goes like this: "Its a small world after all its a small small world. Though we're oceans apart, you can still smell my farty, its a small world after.all". I know - crude.

The rest of the trip was fun too, and we have many memories and pics to help us remember it all. Sorry for all the extra periods in this post. I had to enter it on my phone rather than my laptop.

Raspberries and dogs

2011-10-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

This past Monday, my wife and I decided to finish winterizing the outside of the house and yard. I mowed and picked up after the dogs, while Margaret worked in the garden harvesting all of the remaining fruits and vegetables. Sophia was a good little angel and sat in her stroller and watched as mommy and daddy did their work. My job took the least amount of time and so I picked Sophia up from the stroller and we went for a little stroll around the raspberry bushes. I was picking the remaining raspberries and Sophia was eating them as fast as I could pick them. She loves her raspberries. Fortunately, for at least the last six months, Costco has had huge raspberries in stock and very reasonable. Her normal breakfast consists of either Oatmeal or Mixed Grains cereal and raspberries. Did I mention she loves her raspberries... Typically, I would think that a baby would find raspberries to be some what sour, but not this one. Sweet or sour, she will eat them and ask for more. She takes after her Panu and Dad in how she will eat these bits of ambrosia of the gods.

Anyway, back to Monday, it was such a nice day. The sun was out and the temp was in the mid seventies. We even got some sun on our cheeks and foreheads. Sophia enjoyed playing with the dogs outside as well. Blue, our 110 lbs. lap dog, loves to sniff Sophia and give her little kisses on the hands or cheek. He is very good with her. Apollo, our other dog, slightly smaller (75 lbs.) is still not to sure what to think about Sophia and usually takes a sniff of her feet and then steers clear of her. Apollo is Margarets dog and whenever he is inside, stays very close, if nto underfoot, to Margaret. Blue, on the other hand, is a dog that a close friend suggested I look for. Blue came from teh Humane Society of Utah and it was something that we (he and I) had a conection from teh start. I walked in and immediately saw his blue eyes, looked around at the other dogs and then kept coming back to him. We spent about an hour getting to know each other, went for a walk, etc. and it was immediate bonding. Blue is half yellow lab and half great dane with gorgous blue eyes. He has been my friend and confidont many times over the past seven years.

Apollo on the otherhand, was a fluke that we got him. Margaret and I had just finished up shopping at WalMart about 4 years ago and this lady came up to us and asked if we were interested in adopting a puppy. We thought, it doesnt cost anything to look, so we went over to their truck and there were two pure bred yellow labs in the back. Another family was looking at them too. I asked Margaret if she wanted to take on another dog and she said sure. So I told her to pick one out and she said "No, you pick it out fro me". I looked both puppies over closely and selected teh most active of the two and the people just gave him to us - no charge. He is an excellent fetcher and depending on what signals you give him, he will either drop the toy at your feet or he will set the toy in your hand so you dont have to bend over for it. He is not the brightest dog in the world but he has a great disposition and is always readys to play.

Whenever Ethan comes up to the house, the dogs hardly leave him alone, especially Blue. We make the exception of letting Blue sleep on a bed with Ethan, and Ethan loves it and having a big dog that loves to snuggle. At times I am jealous of Ethan and Blue's relationship, but it is a good thing that they have each other. Now to tie the two topics together, both Blue and Apollo love raspberries almost as much as Sophia does. If I dont get out to make the harvest of berries soon enough the dogs will eat them, and the ones they don't eat, they will both roll in them and make their coats stained red with the raspberries, then gradually lick the berries off their coats.

Definition

2011-10-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Sophia has many definitions to the learning of the word "No". She is a very independent thinker and marches to the beat of her own drum. Typically, the main meaning of the word is the same as saying in a very loving voice "Sophia, please giggle and them turn it into a full belly laugh." Other meanings vary from "Dear, please continue to do what you are doing", to "I'm not really speaking to you, so continue to ignore me". The continue to do what you are doing is usually confined to anything to do with the cats. If we were not better parents we would probably allow her to eat the cat food at her leisure, however, it is not a balanced diet (for growing babies because the label on the cat food is for one year and older). We try to have her eat her proteins, fruits and veggies, and dairy, however, she does have an affinity for the cat food. I cannot tell you how much of the cat food my wife and I have taken out of her mouth, nor can I tell you with any certainty how much she has managed to swallow. All I know is, we now keep the cat food up off the floor. Before we took the cat food away from her she also liked to grab a handful of it and then let it rain down all over the floor, I think she liked the sound of each pellet hitting the lamenite wood floor. In addition to the cat food, she loves to get into the pet water. She loves to play splashy, splashy, and also pick it up, (she is a very strong little girl) and pour it onto the floor. She has done this enough that the floor boards near the pets water has begun to warp. Great - I know. As I mentioned in an earlier post she is into everything. She loves to get out the lids to the pots and pans set them up into a little drum set, and play them by dropping dads old golf balls onto them, or just holding the golf ball and striking the pan lids. If I would have known this little line of joy earlier, I could have killed two birds with one stone and got my wife to ask for new pots and pans at the baby showers, and screw the new baby toys. By the way, she prefers the carry and solid feel of a Titlest ball the best. She has many different brands to choose from, but the Titlest is usually the one she prefers to throw and chase, and throw again. In all the things she loves to get into, I thank God that the cat boxes are in the lower level of the house and she is confined to the upper level of the house. Heaven knows what a disaster that would be, and I am certain that she would find the clumping litter to be the ideal thing to squish and throw around (BLEH!). If you have the time after reading this please post a comment as to what else I should be on the look out for her to get into. I know we have moved most things that we think she could get into out of her tippy toes reach, things includ vases, porcelain dolls, cat food, dog food, etc. I also know that this year our christmas tree will be decorated from about waist level up. Don't want/need to be cleaning up more of the orniments than usual - See the cats think the Christmas tree is an indoor jungle gym and love to climb it and knock down the orniments, then bat them around until they shatter. More on that item as the holidays approach. Thank you for taking the time to read this and please leave me any clues as to what else I should be on the look out for.

Caution must be exercised

2011-10-20T14:46:00.001-07:00

We all know how much babies love mom and dad's electronic gadgets, with the bells, whistles, colorful lights, ringy-dingy sounds, and, of course, the photos of themselves. Whenever a baby is fidgeting and we need them to be quiet and settle down, the first thing out of moms purse or dads pocket is usually the mobile phone. We put it on gallery and teach them how to slide between pictures of themselves with other family members - no harm done in showing these photos, right? Wrong. In teaching Sophia how to slide through the pictures on our Android devices, she has problem solved the task of unlocking the phone.

The other day I put Sophia down for a nap on our bed and eventually fell asleep myself right next to the little angel. We had been asleep for maybe 20 minutes and I awaken to the sound of a strange voice. I look over at Sophia and she is playing with some of her many books and a toy cell phone. I continue to hear a voice saying "Hello, Scott are you okay?" Am I losing my mind? Do I need my meds adjusted? No on both accounts.

The sweet little angel had reached under the pillow, grabbed my mobile phone, unlocked it, gotten into "My Favs" and randomly dialed my sister. Sue was just on her way back home from Tennessee and was stuck in the Denver International Airport waiting for her luggage. Again I hear "Scott, is everything okay?" I quickly pick up the phone without looking at who our little darling had dialed and began to speak. I thought it was my wife at first, and that she had called me. My wife was the one I had called last before taking a short rest. Not until a minute or so into the call do I realize it is Susan on the other end of the call.

"Yeah Sis, everything is okay here, did you call me?"
"No Brothiuglar,(loving names for each other Brothiuglar and Sistiuglar) you called me!"
"Oh shit" goes through my mind. How did this happen. I slowly come to and piece together what happened. I have been raising a techno-geek, and like her father she loves gadgets. I have been called inspector gadget on more than one occassion.

When I realize what is going on, I apologize to Sue for the errant call, and let her know what was going on. Mean while, Sophia is still innocently playing with her books and toys. Sue on the other hand is laughing up a storm - and having the good laugh at my expense - well deserved.

Once I get off the phone with Sue, I call my wife to tell her what happened. First she laughs, then reads me the riot act for taking a nap while Sophia is sleeping too. I guess I should stick to the 11:00pm to 7:00am sleeping time - which thank God, is only rarely interupted these days by our little sweetheart.

I have since moved my phone out of her reach (for the time being) and I have to be more careful in what I am teaching her to do with the gadgets we as parents use and rely upon. I just thank the good Lord above that she didn't get into the calling screen and hold down the number 1 for a few seconds, which would have gotten me a serious wake up call from 911. Who knows what they would have done, turn me over to the Division of Family Services. "Um, yes Mr. Mathis, I am sure you are a good father and you will have the opportunity to discuss this with the court." Caution is now exercised. Going forward, the phone is put away when she naps - IN HER CRIB!

I will be taking the weekend off, but will post more of our adventures on Monday - Have a GREAT weekend.

What not to wear...

2011-10-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

My wife enjoys a show on one of the chick channels called "What NOT To Wear", hosted by a guy named Clint and a gal named Stacy. My wife has said, (on more than one occasion), that they need to come up with a new version of the show just for me called "What NOT To Dress Your Baby Daughter In".

Now first off, I'm a guy. Jeans with out stains and a t-shirt that doesn't smell or have spills on it is completely acceptable attire. And if I am not taking Sophie out in public, I believe the same rules apply. Well, not so. Everyday her outfit has to have colors and they have to match. No mixing of stripes and plaids, and the shirt has to haved the exact color of the the pants at least one time, if not predominantly.

I will admit it - I am not fashionista (my wife's word not mine), and it is difficult to apply a different set of rules to Sophia than to me. I could probably dress myself a little better, but if no one is going to see me other than the back door neighbors when I stick my head out the door to yell at the dogs for howling at either sirens or F-15's as they cruise overhead, what's the big deal.

I do even worse in dressing Sophia than normal when I try to apply my wife's rules. The most recent time I dressed her in what I thought was a short sleeved shirt with green and white checkers as trim and some green and white checkered bloomers. Well, the greens, to my wifes opinion, did not match because the checkers on the shirt were faded green and the bloomers were bright green. They were the same color when I washed them (and no, I did not use bleach). So we now have a 15 minute session each evening before putting Sophia to bed, where I first pick out what I am planning on dressing her in the next day, and receive a lecture on why that is not the "best choice". Then, my wife picks out an appropriate outfit for the following day. I think I am getting better at selecting clothing for my daughter, but my wife thinks that I have been hard-wired and that the process is mostly hopeless for me.

The only times I do well is when I remember clothes that came together, like a shirt and pants that were on the same hanger in the store, when we purchased them, or match up the Garanimals on the clothing tags. Thank goodness for Garanimals. When I was a kid growing up, I thought that was a cool idea that Sears had, and they have now migrated to the store where we buy most clothing for Sophia, Wal*Mart. What would we be with out WallyWorld? I guess just a bunch of dads that dress their children in mis-matched clothing.

I will keep practicing and who knows maybe someday soon I will get it, but for now I am resigned to taking instruction and replying "Yes Dear". That way I can most always get the last word in.

More in the adventures of Sophie soon.

OK, it's been less than one earth day, but...

2011-10-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

...But on Mercury, it has been several days. Last night my wife was in class for her PHR (Professional of Human Resources) until 9:35, then she had the one hour drive home. Little Sophie decided that she had napped enough for the day and wanted to see Mom rather than go to bed. We tried everything under the sun to get her to go to sleep. We tried reading books, warm milk, laying down in mommy and daddy's room with all the lights off and the pets all OUT of the room. The final option finally worked (Thank Goodness). She fell asleep and I carried her into her room to sleep the night away. That worked really well - right up until the garage door went up when mommy came home - then it started all over again. At about midnight she did go to sleep for the night - but she just needed her mommy time - female bonding. Daddy is just an innocent by-stander whenever Mom is around. I tell myself that it is because she sees Dad everyday and all day. Mom is just a few minutes in the morning and then between when Mom gets home and Sophie has to go to bed.

This past weekend, Sophie's ten year old brother was up here for the weekend. They play so cute together. His name is Ethan. He loves his little sister very much. He likes getting in the empty laundry basket and going down various roller coasters made of stacked pillows. He got an idea that Sophie would like it too, but I had to put a stop to it before it began, so he hooked up one of the dog leashes to the laundry basket, lined it with pillows from the couch, placed Sophie in it and gave her a tour of the upstairs of the house. She was non-stop giggles and squealed her excitement. She never acts this way in the stroller, but this was different. It was because of Ethan. This went on for the better part of an hour. Talk about cheap entertainment, and allowed me time to catch up on doing laundry.

Sophie is very intriged by phone chargers right now, especially the USB2 connectors. This morning while I wasn't paying as close attention to her as I should have, she decided to give my phone charger a bath, in my coffee. Needless to say I pulled it out of the coffee, thanked her for her thoughtfulness, and placed the charger in a more safe place and gave her some books to occupy her attention. You know how they say the 40's are the new 20's? Well I think the 1's are the new terrible 2's. She is in to EVERYTHING! More on what she is into on a later post. She is awake now and I need to go rescue the cat from slobery kisses.

Thanks for reading and be sure to leave your comments/suggestions. I read them all and will try to respond when asked to.

First Entry

2011-10-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings fellow "stay @ home" dads. I first brought up this idea of blogging to my wife, and she thought it was a great idea to form a stay @ home dads support group. I originally wanted to call it "displaced daddy's", as I was laid off a little over a year ago, and just sort of fell into the role. The ideas I have will take a lot of work and input from others like you for what this will cover. I would initially like to have ideas of what we can do with our kids to entertain them, watching 7 hours of Fox News is apparently not the best going for a 13 month old, or so I'm told. As most of us are on a fixed income, we will be looking for free or greatly reduced prices for what will be offered. Additionally, I would like us to meet maybe every other week for play dates so our kids can be better socialized with other kids. I promise to be honest, sometimes brutally honest, and provide an occasions laugh or two. My sense of humor is a little dry at times, but it does occasionally work. With this said, I would appreciate the periodic feedback. My email address is Scott.mathis0@gmail.com. I will post more in a couple of days, and hopefully have some ideas to share. I may have to borrow some ideas from Good Things Utah, or Fresh Living. All dads are welcome to join up. This has no religious affiliation, and political views will be extremely limited.