I am....

A sneaky ninja.

Little did I realize that being a sneaky ninja was part of the job of being a parent. We have started transitioning Katie from rocking her to sleep to putting her straight into the crib so she can be a "big girl" and put herself to sleep. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts where I had to eventually pick her up from crying so much, she has gotten the idea. Now what we do is take her in, after she starts indicating that she is tired (she's pretty good and communicating using just expressions and/or hand gestures) and as we walk upstairs, keep telling her that it's time to go nite-nite. Seems to work.

We lay her in her bed and lay down beside the bed to indicate that it's nite-nite time for everyone. After we start hearing her breath a little heavier, the sneaky ninja parent crawls out on the floor like I'm in a foxhole, looking for cover from oncoming fire and slowly crawl out of the room. I have yet to fix it but the last inch or two before the door gets completely closed, there's this very subtle creak that the door makes. Every time it makes me think that she's going to rise up out of the crib and bust us. We have actually been busted before. Just as we were making our way out of the room, she would rise up and look at us like "and just where do you think your going?" Then, sheepishly, we would go back in, start the process over again and attempt to sneak out again. Pretty funny actually.

Who would have thought that there would be so much to learn??

Katie and I went for a much needed walk yesterday after the bad rain storm that dumped several inches of rain on us over the past few days. Needless to say, I think the both of us needed a break and to get over our bout of cabin fever. As we strolled along, we came across an older lader with a walker. As I normally do, I said hello and started talking to her. Come to find out that she had just turned 100 back in May. She has an aunt she calls her "cousin" for some unknown reason that lives just down the street that is 104. Amazing. I just thought it was a little ironic (doncha think?) that here I am taking care of one that is just starting out life and run across a little old lady still going at age 100. The only thing that was wrong with her was her eyesight. But she could tell the difference between the grass on the side of the road and the gravel. Pretty neat. Hopefully we'll run into her again soon.

No dog this trip. We had a dog try to follow us home the other day. He was friendly but I wasn't comfortable getting too close to a dog I didn't know, especially with Katie. Fortunately, the dog caught wind of a dead animal smell (I think it comes across as something like the Golden Corral buffet to them or something) so he headed in one direction and I picked up the pace and headed in a different direction.

Katie wants a pet. Still working on that with her mom. :)

Silence is Golden....

Katie is down for a nap right now, which is always a blessed break in the house. I can't believe that it's been two whole weeks since I've been on duty. Seems that time is flying. I don't know if it's pure coincedence or tha fact that I've been spending more one on one time with her (or it could be the fact that she's coming into that age where her vocabulary is starting to pick up) but it just seems that the words that she's saying has increased dramatically. The wife and I went to Babies R Us (I really don't know why we don't buy stock in that place - but I think every parent can say that) to pick up the staple items and ended up picking up a great alphabet tool that Leap Frog makes (thanks to our friends Eric and Amie for recommending).

I know that the box says that it's for 2 years old but here's what I'm thinking. Right now, her little braining is developing at like 50 mph and any opportunity that I can expose her to new things in a way that is fun and that can increase her knowledge, I'm going to. Sometimes it'll stick and other times it won't but never give up on the phrase "what if". I think now a days, as a society, we have given up on our dreams and have become complacement with being mediocre. We're mediocre with the jobs that we have (letting other determine what we're worth). We're mediocre in our marriages (turning on the TV instead of spending time with our spouse talking about our days and being sincere about how the other person feels) and we're mediocre with our kids. We think it's okay to send the kids to an educational system that says all you have to do is spit back information that we give you and you are considered educated instead of challenging the child to do the best and the most they can do. We currently can't afford the program but for anyone who can, I highly recommend montessori education. It's really hard to explain in words and without seeing it in person, it's difficult to really capture what they do but in a nutshell, they empower the child, even at a young age, to think for themselves and to be independent. The child is not assumed to not be able to handle tasks (within reason) and the result is a child that is more confident, enjoys learning and is a model citizen. Pretty neat program. I had a chance to check out one in Greensboro a while back. To say that my mouth wasn't constantly hitting the ground with what I was would be an understatement.

Gotta go... I think the silence is about to be broken. :)

The Great Juggling Act


Today my dad came up to help me out with some landscaping work we're doing around the house. So between my dad, myself, Katie and his dog, we went out searching for compost for a flowerbed. The neighbor had Katie for the first hour and a half, which gave he and I time to get to the place to get the dirt. Unfortunately, we also had to take it slow coming back because of the strain it put on the back of his jeep. So here we were, shoveling to get the dirt off so we could go and get more. I picked up Katie and the now 4 of us went off to try to rent a bigger truck to haul dirt. Katie did fairly well the entire day, only complaining maybe once and happily munched on cheerios and crackers while babling away to the dog, which was sitting next to her in the back of the car.

My dad and I, on the other hand, struggled to get that second dirt delivered, after having to wait to get the truck filled up with gas because the idiots who had the truck before us didn't do it. Not on that, but it was around 90 degress today, which didn't help. Needless to say, we got what we wanted to done but I ended up with more of a rash than Katie did (ironic, I think) from the sweat and the moving around while throwing dirt and Katie didn't get as much sleep during the day as she normally does (which made going down for the night easier for momma to do). In any event, it was good to have my dad be able to spend time with Katie and he and I talked about the decision my wife and I had made about me staying home. Surprising, the old man came through with total support of our decision, which makes it easier on me to not have to hear any sort of negativity. Too much negative ways in the world as it is. The last thing anyone needs is more of it.. but I digress.

So between trying to haul, shovel and move dirt, chase a 16 month around in the process while doing so, keep a dog out of the neighbor's yard and keep from passing out in 90 degree heat, I'd say you can sign me up for the high wire act for Ringling Bros. immediately!

dadstayshome.com

Not to be confused with my blog but this website is absolutely great support for the newly growing list of stay at home dads in America. The forums are filled with very respectful and supportive dads in very similar situations and is highly recommended for the dads you know in your life.

CNN.com - Study: Strict parenting might lead to obese kids - Jun 5, 2006

Well, as of right now, I don't know if this is going to be a problem for Katie, since she has me wrapped so tightly that she pretty much gets away with most. I do have to admit that yesterday was better than Monday and today wasn't bad at all, considering that this morning my neighbor was kind enough to watch Katie while I went to the dentist. That is one thing that I'm going to have to get used to and adjust to. I just won't be able to get up and go any more without considering Katie. We did go to the YMCA this morning and will probably have to go back. She was fine as long as I had some little trail mix snacks for her to munch on. That and let her stretch her legs from time to time. We'll have to see how the rest of the day goes. She has a little cold/teeth coming in so it seems that her nose is running like a faucet.

Today ... was the first day of the rest of my life .

I survived. I did it really.. barely. Actually, the day didn't go that bad until the wife had me trying to talk to the landscaping guy who didn't speaka dat a gooda inglis. So with baby in tow, a >!muddy backyard after a recent rain, I tried explaining what needed done. Oh, and then there were the phone calls that I wanted to get done today. . Not when you have a little one with a major runny nose and the disposition to not want to go to sleep for any length of time today. Ah stress... it's FANTASTIC!

But, the good news is that I did survive and tomorrow is another day awaiting adventure. Wish me luck !

www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/05/31/fatherhood.study.ap/index.html

Interesting study that finds that fathers who have a higher education spend more time with their kids and end up having less kids. Um.. something about the word "duh" comes to mind. Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Okay, so the past few weeks have been a good down time for me and time to start adjusting to what's ahead. My wife and I have been converting my office into "our" office now, since I won't need it exclusively for work. Also, I've been talking to people about what's been going on and for the most part they've been great. Tomorrow actually starts the big day and I do have to admit that I'm a little nervous and not quite as prepared as I'd like to have been. But I know that this is all part of the master plan so that part of it does excite me. I just want to be able to give and teach my daughter so much. Part of me knows that I just have to be patient and try not to do too much at one time. The other part of me knows that I need to branch out and make sure that there will be enough for me to do with my daughter so we both don't go crazy. BTW - Here's a recent picture of us. ;)