the joys of parenting

REALLY tired parents shouldn't talk to each other when they are insane from lack of sleep.
If either one has a cold or the flu, they shouldn't stay in the same room with each other.
IMHO

Positions

Lately, we have discovered that Squawker will sleep in just about any position but on his back in his basket.
He will sleep on his side, either in my lap or on the couch.
He will sleep chest on my shoulder while I slouch on the couch or in the rocker.
He will sleep chest to chest on my chest as I take a nap on the couch.
He will even sleep scrunched up in a vinyl bean bag chair for hours on end with not a sound.




He will sleep folded over Wife’s arm as she works on her Calc II homework.

But put him in his basket for the night and 15 minutes later we hear, “uh, heh, mbmb, huh”
Not hungry, not wet, just doesn’t like the laying on his back position for long periods of time.
I cannot wait until he turns 5 and we can put him on his tummy to sleep for the night!

Spaghetti Manners

Ages and ages ago, when I wanted to impress my girlfriend, I made her a home cooked meal.
What does a guy make when he wants to make a meal?
The easiest meal for a guy to make is spaghetti. How hard can it be? Buy some meat, box of noodles, jar of sauce and some italian bread in foil. Wash pots and pans and silverware and plates and glasses so that they are noticeably clean.
Don't forget the wine. Something red, who cares what. Preferably not "Junkyard Dog Red"*.
The rest of the directions are, essentially, cook it and throw it together. Take pains to make sure the noodles are done well.
In retrospect, I cannot imagine why a woman would even fake acting honored by this cheesy offering, other than every relationship has to start somewhere.
Anyway, one of Kat's favorite meals is spaghetti. Wife makes the most awesome sauce from scratch. As I watch Kat eat, I think to myself, as long as her table manners don't change over the next 25 years, the 'make her a meal' date will make quite an impression.




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*Got a bottle of this as a gift for Christmas with the price tag still on - 1.98 marked down from 2.99

Make Up Driving

Ten years ago I worked with a woman that came into work one morning with one of her eyes all red and puffy. I thought she had been crying and didn’t want to pry, so I ignored it and went about the day.
Later, I overheard her telling one of her friends that she had been putting on her mascara while she drove to work. The puffy eye was from when she got distracted and poked herself in the eye.
I thought about how foolish that was to be putting on make up while driving down the road. I didn’t understand why in the world a woman would do that. Why? Why would someone risk themselves by being vain and putting on makeup while they drove down the road. For goodness sakes, wake up five minutes, ten minutes earlier and put your make up on before you leave for work. Jeez…
Then I had an experience.
Earlier this week I didn’t get much sleep because Squawk was fussy. Wife had the BRILLIANT idea to turn the volume down on the alarm clock so that when it went off, it wouldn’t wake the baby. NEWS FLASH! It won’t wake anyone else, either!
So I was tired and late when I got out of bed. As I got out of the shower I pulled the covers off of Wife and told her that she needed to dress Kat while I got dressed so that I could get out the door ASAP.
While trying to figure out what to shorten or cut out of my daily routine I stuck my teethbrush in my shirt pocket and put a bottle of water in my coat pocket.
After I got Kat to daycare, I added paste, dunked it in the water and brushed my teeth as I drove to work. When I pulled up to a stoplight at the edge of town I rolled down my window to spit and realized the woman in the car next to me was putting on her make up.
OH. MY. GOD. I realized then that she, that lady, and I were the same person!
Because I was running behind, I was the lady putting on his make up. Sure, I didn’t use blush or mascara or foundation (really I don’t) but I was in the same boat that she was. It was more convenient for me to brush my tooth while driving down the road so that I could save time and still carry out my morning routine.
Not that I am necessarily a poor planner and for all I knew, neither was the lady in the car beside me with my teethpaste spit on her trunk, we were just trying to keep up with the beginning of a day and get done what needed to be done.
Never again will I adopt a smug and superior attitude when I see someone involved with their morning routine while they drive down the road. I will be more understanding because I now know that there, but for the grace of a good nights sleep, goes I.

Dozen donuts

Slacker Mom over at GrowinglikeaStanfield (see the link, click it. Over there, on the right) blogged two stories about maintaining the image of a busy parent.
As she details in her post, her Hubs is all help (not much) with the hard decisions.
Her funny story reminded me of a situation that happened at work about 5 years ago. And while I found it funny, there really was a co-worker who was VERY offended at this situation and held a grudge until he left the team.
Anyway...
There we are, 5 years ago and someone is having a 50th Birthday. The big deal was going to be a themed lunch. One guy, call him Yaj (name changed, cuz I don't know who knows who {6 degrees of separation}) volunteers that since he won't be around for said lunch party, he will bring breakfast treats for the team. At that time the team consisted of Manager, Admin, and 16 team members.
The next morning, I had a meeting that started early so I had already left the cube farm before Jay came in. Since he was bringing breakfast, I had skipped at home. When I got to cubeville, I didn't notice that anyone had left any treats for me. Oh, well.
After sitting down and opening my mail, I asked my fellow cube dweller What Yaj had brought, thinking that I was the butt of a joke, hiding the treats.
"All gone", She grunts. With quite a bit of acid in her voice.
Now I am puzzled. "Um, did they not taste good or turn out right?"
She looked at me, disgust clear in her eyes. "They were good, all right. He went to Crispy Creme and picked up a dozen fresh glazed donuts."
"Oh." (now I am really puzzled)
I turned back to my computer and started working. Suddenly it dawned on me. Food day for a 50th birthday for a team of 18 people. TWELVE DONUTS!
"Wow. Who decided who got donuts and who didn't?"
"Nobody. Yaj took his, left for a meeting and we looked around at each other. Jan took one, laughing and we put the rest out for the engineers and went and got bagels from the cafe"
I did, and still do, find this whole incident to be funny. And I had forgotten about it until I read her post.
And ever since then, if I am to bring treats for EVERYONE on the team, I make sure I bring enough for everyone so no one calls me a jackass the next day.

Sleeping Kat

I am amazed at this little girls need for sleep these days.
she has gone to bed by 7pm the last three nights and today, she took a 2 hr nap this morning after waking up at 730 (about 12 hrs of sleep last night).
Now, after lunch, she has gone down for another nap.
She is very fussy and acts as though she doesn't feel well but we cannot find anything specifically wrong other than she has about 4 teeth busting through.
Oh, and it seems like she is about 3" taller than last week.
I hope her brother is tall like she is.

Aunt Gabs

Over the holidays Wife's best friend came to visit. I'll call her Gabs cuz she and Wife can talk for about 20 hours straight when they see each other.
Gabs blew into town with a lot of snow, just what a California girl needs when she comes to the friendly state of Iowa. In fact, I had to pull her out of a ditch when she got to the house.
In spite of that rough welcoming, when she got in the house you could see the sunny skies that she brought with her. With happiness shining out of her eyes and bursting from her smile she could warm the whole house and brighten the weekend. She looked fabulous and lighthearted and dominated the conversation with cheer.
Gabs and Kat had only met once before when Kat was a month old but Kat took to her like old true friends. Gabs of course spoiled her with laughter and gifts and Kat captured Gabs heart with her impish smile.
It is always good to see Gabs and we don't see her often enough. Back in her home, Gabs changes lives for the better with one class of students at a time. She is responsible for dozens if not hundreds of children having better skills and values as they move forward through life. She works with whole families from time to time when they have struggles. Goodness permeates her very being.
She went back into the cold that evening and drove back to her father's house. Maybe Wife will be able to visit her this summer and introduce her to Squawk.

rare post

Where have I been? I'll tell you. laying on the couch every evening with Squawk on my chest, bonding.
Every evening, all evening. Feeding, patting, burping, sleeping, and bonding.
Great times.

sick

I stayed home yesterday rather than try and share Kat's Cold with all of my deserving co-workers.
I woke up yesterday afternoon to the sound of Wife spraying Lie-sol on all surfaces I might have touched.
I had never seen her do that before. I wonder if she is turning into howard hughes?

25 thigs meme

1 I enjoy being a dad far more than I expected
2 I find it SO relaxing to rest Squawk on my chest for the evening. I frequently fall asleep.
3 Altho I cannot control it, I get very frustrated with my hearing and am concerned that there will come a time I cannot hear my kids call to me.
4 Our trip overseas was one of the best times of my life! Family and new experiences shared with my best friend ever.
5 As you can tell from the previous item, Wife is my best friend. I share everything with her and would rather do things with her than anyone else. Alas, she doesn't want to sit in a deer stand and shoot deer with me.
6 Living in the country is rewarding and relaxing because it gives me the opportunity to spend time watching animals.
8 I try to always watch Groundhog Day on February 2nd.
9 At 6'5" I am way taller than my brother.
11 On both feet, the second toe is longer than the big toe.
12 I like most of Kurt Russell's movies - especially Big Trouble in Little China
13 I am so glad I found a way to prepare venison so that Wife likes it. Ironically, it is cheaper to buy cheap roasts and can them than it is to pay locker fees for deer.
14 I may very well give into Wife's persistent suggestion that we build another house.
15 Two kids is IT! Love em both - don't need more.
17 I miss my dog terribly.
18 I like the company I work for and tend to enjoy my work. I can see me doing this for 25 more years. It is challenging, never boring and I harbor the illusion that I can make a difference for the company.
19 I enjoy my big diesel truck. Paying less than $1.00gal is very satisfying. Smells good, too.
21 I waited until I was 21 before I had my first martini.
22 I find opossum repulsive.
23 I intend to install a solar hot water heater on the house either this year or next.
24 I would like to have a different hairstyle but Wife likes this one.
25 wear a size 15 shoe. And what they say about men with big feet is true - shoes cost a FORTUNE!
one extra - I cannot count to 25

where have I been

been a little busy. A lot of things have happened that I have wanted to blog about but haven't made the time when I could log on.
oh well.
one thing that comes to mind is when Wife gave squawk a bath. Kat may have dribbled in the bath - Kyle shot a stream across the kitchen when wife put him in the bath.
boys sure are different.

while I wait for the pictures to upload I will rant a little about my frustration with our government and the big business that runs our country. 3-4 hundred billion dollars gone with no accountability. While I get the impression that President Obama is concerned about it, he is one person in a government that has been bought and paid for so many times that I don't think there is a senator or representative that has any idea what is the right thing to do for their constituents. Or for the country.
there are those that say that the thing to do to counter the political machine in crook town is to get involved at the local level and not just let it be business as usual in the USA. I think that is a good start, but I also think we need everyone to become more vocal in contacting our representatives and let them know what we think of the job we are doing.
so far, I haven't gotten an answer from any emails I have sent. I don't really expect anything more than a form letter. But I encourage everyone to try.