•  I took Thursday off to go to Disneyland.  The Babito and I met my parents and my Dad’s boyhood friend from Decatur, Illinois.  Fun times.
• We’ve spent the last few days just hanging out at home and going swimming.  It’s been about 100 degrees each of the last two days, so the pool’s been nice.
• Tomorrow we’re heading out to Disneyland again after church.  The Babito can’t get enough of that place.  He went on the teacups for the first time and loved them!

I hope you’re all having a great holiday weekend!

What I can say is that his latest book, Bright Shiny Morning, is a fantastic book.

The book takes place entirely in Los Angeles, and the city itself is a main character in the book.  The rest of the book focuses on four main stories, but there are many other very short stories throughout the book that give you a taste of what it’s like to live in L.A.

The four main stories are:

• Amberton, a vain, world-famous, macho actor who is not what he appears.  
• Esperanza, a “border baby” with big thighs who’s looking for love for the first time in her life.
• Dylan and Maddie, two teenagers from the southeast who run away from home to get away from abusive parents.
• Old Man Joe, a bum that lives on Venice Beach, looking for meaning in his life.

Each of these four stories keeps you riveted, and each could easily be an entire novel on their own.  I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book.  I thought it was amazing.  One thing that may bother some readers is Frey’s peculiar writing style (little punctuation, run-on sentences, etc.), but you get used to it quickly and it actually (to me) enhances the story as it really puts you in the mind of the characters.

Go read this book!  You won’t regret it.

• The theme is going to be Elmo.  Babito has an Elmo chair, Elmo Books, a tickle-me Elmo, and various other Elmo-themed toys.  I’m actually Elmo’d out, but he loves him.  He loves him so much that he actually hates when we actually tickle his tickle-me Elmo.  He used to cry whenever we set it off and would run over and pick him up.  He’s not as bad now, but he still doesn’t like for Elmo to be tickled.
• My wife looked into getting an Elmo to come to the party, but the prices were ridiculous - $200 an hour!  Elmo is not on the invitation list.
• The funny thing, to me, is that the party company that provides the “Elmo” doesn’t call him Elmo.  When you ask if they have an Elmo available they say that they have a “Red Monster” available for the party.  I guess they’re afraid of the Sesame Street lawyers coming after them.
• My wife and I agreed that this year’s party would be more intimate.  Last year we had the party on the hottest day of the year.  We had canopies set up outside around the pool, but everyone ended up cramming into the house because it was 110 degrees outside, probably 105 in the shade.
• The preliminary guest list is 100 people!  (so much for intimate)  I looked over the list but had a hard time picking anyone to cut.  After all, my wife has 8 brothers and sisters, so half the list is just her immediate family.
• We plan on having a “Taco Man” come to provide the food.  We’ve been to several other parties with this type of catering and it’s really good.  They set up in the back yard and cook up carne asada and carnitas and serve real Mexican tacos, rice, and beans.
• To replace Elmo, we’re looking into getting a mobile petting zoo.  Has anyone done this for a party, and if so, how did it go?  The company we may go with sets up a 20′ by 20′ pen that includes mini goats, mini sheep, a rabbit, chickens, a tortoise, and an alpaca (which is like a much smaller and fluffier llama, according to their website).  They also have a larger zoo that includes all of the above, plus a pig (that does tricks!) and a miniature horse or donkey.
• We thought about getting a bouncer, but The Babito is still a little young to be going in there with other kids, and Daddy doesn’t want to spend the day (especially if it’s 110 degrees again) inside the bouncer!

What have you done for a 2-year old’s birthday?  Anything that really stood out as fun and exciting?  Please give us some ideas in the comments…..

Did anybody miss me?

How is this for a change….as you can see on the right, I made only one single, tiny post in June.  My vow for July is to write something every single day. Can I do it?  Stay tuned.  Will anyone read it, or have I lost my small but loyal following?

By the way, everything’s going well for me, my wife, and The Babito. 

Babito had a great time and danced non-stop throughout the 6-hour party. He and I were both exhausted by the end of the night.

I hope you all have a wonderful day, and I hope all of your efforts have been as appreciated as my wife’s efforts have been appreciated by me, although I may not tell her as often as I should.

My wife, as I always knew she would be, is an excellent mother. She is warm and caring and always puts The Babito’s best interests first.

We’ve made great partners and have consistently worked together to ensure that The Babito is raised to the best of our abilities. We talk often about all of the many issues we’ve faced in our learning process for the hardest, but most rewarding job of all, parenting. I know we don’t always agree 100% on everything related to raising The Babito (and what couple ever does?), but I appreciate the fact that we always discuss things, make a decision we can both live with, and both stay consistent with each other in the decisions we make.

I know we often say that we lucked out in getting such a good baby, and that is most definitely true, but him having you as his Mommy has played a huge role in the person he is becoming, and I hope you know that.

So on this Mother’s Day I just want you to know Honey that I appreciate you so much. The Babito is so lucky to have such a wonderful mother, and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful wife. Happy Mother’s Day! I Love You!

He got on the phone and said “Hi Doddy”  (that’s his pronounciation of Daddy.  Sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s talking about me or the doggies.)

I asked him if Mommy was going to read him a book before he went to bed.  He started crying and said “No!  Doddy read book!  No!”

I decided then that three straight days without seeing him at all was enough.  When I got to work today I told my manager, who is a family guy and very understanding, that I was leaving by 6:00 today, no matter what.  He was fine with it.

I ended up getting home around 7:00.  The Babito was VERY excited to see me.  Almost as excited as I was to see him.

We played cars, played ball, and generally had a great time.  I gave him a bath, read him several books, and sang songs with him.  (Have I mentioned on here yet that he knows all the words to ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?’  He does.)  

He did call me Mommy several times tonight (yikes!) I guess I have been working a little too much.

I let him stay up about an hour past his normal bedtime.  My wife wasn’t too happy about it.  He’ll probably be cranky when she has to wake him up in the morning.

But she doesn’t mind all that much.  

She was happy that I got to finally spend some quality time with him, and she ended up getting a little break.  

It was a great night.   

I’m currently into my second week of the following work schedule:

Arrive at work: 6:30am
Leave work: anywhere from 7:30-9:30
Arrive at home: Eat dinner, look in at a sleeping Babito, go to bed
Weekends; In the office all day Saturday, work from home approximately 6 hours

This schedule to continue through next week, most likely to include Mother’s Day.

Life sucks right now.

And how are you all doing? Tell me something fun you’ve been up to in the comments so I can live vicariously through you. =)

But lately he’s begun to test us.  He’ll do things he knows he’s not supposed to do, like stand up and walk on the couch, get on the fireplace, throw things, etc.  When we tell him to stop he ignores us until either: (1) he can tell we really mean business; or (2) he ends up in ‘time-out.’

I know this is a normal phase that toddlers go through, but it really is irritating.

The advice I’m asking for is this:  How did you handle the ‘testing’ phase?  What worked and didn’t work?  And most importantly, for two impatient parents, HOW LONG DOES IT LAST???

Save us. 

(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

A scene from the May Day demonstration in Downtown L.A. today.  The marchers want amnesty for illegal immigrants and a stop to raids on companies employing them.

Mexico flag wavers for people wanting to become U.S. citizens?  Major pet peeve of mine.

A 21-year old Texas man was arrested at a Fort Worth bank for allegedly trying to cash a forged check.

Apparently the teller was tipped off because the check was for $360 BILLION DOLLARS!

The man told the bank that his girlfriend’s mother had given him the money to start a record company.   

That would be one HELL of a record company!

Here’s some examples:

• When it’s time for me to give him his bath, he walks upstairs, takes his teddy bear and binky into his room and puts it on the chair, without me even telling him to do it.  He knows after his bath we’ll be coming back to that chair to read a few books before he goes to bed.
• In the bathroom, he gets the kneeling pad off the counter and puts it on the floor next to the bathtub.  While the water is filling up he throws all of his bath toys in the bathtub.
• He knows Target.  If we’re driving by a Target anywhere he recognizes the sign and yells “Tahhh-get!!!”  (Do you think we shop there too much?  And do you think he likes Target too much because he knows he’s going to get a toy or a book EVERY time we go there, despite my wife and I always agreeing that he has ENOUGH stuff already?)
• He remembers things from earlier in the day, and tells me about them the minute I get home.  Today it was “I bump my head.”  He bumped it early this morning when my wife dropped him off at the sitter’s.  After that it was the usual “Want play cars?”
• One night, when he was extra wired up, I was chasing him around the house after his bath, trying to brush his teeth.  I finally caught up to him in the hallway.  I sat down on the floor, put him on my lap, and brushed his teeth.  Now, every time I finish getting him in his PJs he goes and sits in the hall and waits for me to come and brush his teeth.

Tonight was the first time I’ve seen him since Sunday night.  I’ve been leaving the house before he wakes up (which is normal), and getting home after he’s gone to bed.  It’s been tough, but he remembered every ritual we have together and he did them all again tonight.  I love that we have these little special things together.  My wife has similar morning rituals with him too.

When our phone rings he almost always says “Papa,”  because my Dad calls a lot and doesn’t get to see The Babito too often.  Tonight was different.  As I was giving him a bath, the phone rang and he said “Daddy.”  I think I need to get home a little earlier, and that’s what I plan to do as much as possible.  I have a few more really busy weeks at work, but it should be fairly clear sailing after that for the rest of the summer.

Maybe we’ll go to Tah-get.

Did you hear about Barack Obama FINALLY fully denouncing Rev. Wright today?

It was his strongest condemnation yet of the Reverend and Obama truly seemed angry today.  I think it’s something he really needed to do, as his association with Reverend Wright was truly isolating Obama from the potential voters he needs to attract if he’s going to win the election in November.  Reverend Wright’s comments yesterday at the National Press Club were over the top.  

In case you missed it, here’s some of what Obama said today:

 I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday. I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992. I’ve known Reverend Wright for almost 20 years. The person that I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church.  They certainly don’t portray accurately my values and beliefs. And if Reverend Wright thinks that that’s political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn’t know me very well. And based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought either. 

Now, I’ve already denounced the comments that had appeared in these previous sermons. As I said, I had not heard them before. And I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in Philadelphia, explaining that he has done enormous good in the church. He has built a wonderful congregation. The people of Trinity are wonderful people, and what attracted me has always been their ministries reach beyond the church walls.

But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS, when he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st centuries, when he equates the United States wartime efforts with terrorism, then there are no excuses.

They offend me. The rightly offend all Americans. And they should be denounced. And that’s what I’m doing very clearly and unequivocally here today.

Let me just close by saying this. We started this campaign with the idea that the problems that we face as a country are too great to continue to be divided, that in fact all across America people are hungry to get out of the old, divisive politics of the past.

I have spoken and written about the need for us to all recognize each other as Americans, regardless of race or religion or region of the country, that the only way we can deal with critical issues like energy and health care and education and the war on terrorism is if we are joined together.  And the reason our campaign has been so successful is because we have moved beyond these old arguments.

What we saw yesterday out of Reverend Wright was a resurfacing and, I believe, an exploitation of those old divisions. Whatever his intentions, that was the result. It is antithetical to our campaign. It is antithetical to what I am about. It is not what I think America stands for.

And I want to be very clear that, moving forward, Reverend Wright does not speak for me. He does not speak for our campaign. I cannot prevent him from continuing to make these outrageous remarks, but what I do want him to be very clear about, as well as all of you and the American people, is that when I say that I find these comments appalling, I mean it. 

The full transcript is here.
It was a very strong statement by Barack Obama.  It’s not fair that he’s being dragged down by Reverend Wright.  No matter who you’re supporting in this campaign, I hope you can agree with that, and hopefully, after today, we can move forward and the campaign can focus on the real issues.

I guess I’m hoping that bringing it out into the light will help me to get the help I need.

Tonight, around 10:00pm I was driving down the street to get me and my wife something to eat.  As I reached the crest of the hill, I saw it.  A DUI checkpoint.  I immediately panicked, hoping against hope that somehow I could make it through without notice.

The officer asked for my driver’s license and registration.  As she was looking over the documentation and then looking back at me, I knew that I was busted.  She could tell that there was something amiss.

She told me to pull my car off to the side of the road and wait for another officer to handle me.  She also told me to turn off the engine when I reached the side of the road.  As I pulled over, I saw the unlucky others sitting on the curb behind their cars, their hands behind their backs in handcuffs.  Was this my fate?

An officer walked over to my truck and asked me if I knew why I’d been asked to pull off to the side.  I wasn’t going to lie.  I know I had done wrong.  Thoughts ran through my mind.  “What is my wife going to say?  She’s going to kill me!”  She’s told me several times that I had to take care of this problem, but I never did.  And now it was too late.  I admitted my crime to the officer.

Surprisingly, he was very nice to me.  He said, “Not a big deal, Bud.  It’s just a fix-it ticket.  Get that registration taken care of and that’ll be it.”

Yes, I do have a problem.  I am a procrastinator. 

IN MY DEFENSE:  I have paid my registration, but California law requires that each car get a smog certificate before a new registration is issued.  I took my truck in for a smog check and it failed because the ‘check engine’ light was on.  The emissions and everything else passed with flying colors.  It was just that damn light.  I had planned to take the truck in to the dealership to determine the cause of the ‘check engine’ light, but I just hadn’t gotten around to it.  The state will not issue the actual tags and registration until it receives the smog certificate.

I don’t panic because I think I may be going to hell for things I have or haven’t done.  I panic because I start thinking about the fact that there could just be nothing after death.  You’re just gone.  It’s very frightening when it happens.

Usually I don’t put much thought into it.  I think most of us just try to put it out of our mind.   Don’t get me wrong, usually I have faith in God, and I think it’s grown stronger since I’ve been married and have started going to Mass regularly, but still, the lingering doubt hits me every once in a while, and I really hate when it does.

What about you? 

I also got the bright idea to change my theme.  I was up until 1:00am working on it, and now I’m paying the price.  Why do I do these things to myself?  I never should have started working on it, because I know my OCD will kick in and I can’t stop myself.  I still have some work to do on it.  I want to change the white background to a nice, clean color but I haven’t decided on one yet.

Please let me know what you think in the comments.  =)

I had never been to Catalina before I had to start going there for work.  Now, in the past four years, I’ve been there about 10-15 times.  The first time I went I really had no idea what to expect, but I thought it was some kind of vacation paradise, with sandy beaches and lots of fun things to do.  It’s really anything but a paradise, despite the Catalina marketing department doing their best to say otherwise.  To say the least, I was a little disappointed.

If you’ve ever been curious about Catalina Island, stay tuned.  I plan on taking a lot of pictures in the next two days, and I’ll share them when I return.

Why does everyone freak out about potty training?  Do you have any adult friends who “just never quite got the hang of it?

Is it really possible for a human being to greatly enjoy a food and then one day decide never to eat it again?  Or is that done solely to drive one’s father insane?

What lasts longer?  That fresh new baby smell or that fresh new car smell?  I’m just wondering because my car still smells pretty good but my daughter’s feet smell like vinegar.