The Princess Walks and Talks - Almost

Twice today, once at the park and once with Mommy (thank goodness, because I was not telling The Boss Lady about the park until she saw it for herself) The Princess tried to take a step.

At the park, she was sitting in pea gravel, she stood up and she lifted her left foot. She balanced for a fraction of a second and then she put her foot down again in the same spot. Then she sat. And ate pea gravel.

But tonight, The Boss Lady and The Princess were standing in the living room, when Mommy stomped her foot and Baby Girl repeated. Three or four times.

She never made any forward progress, but it is a step. Or a stomp. Or something.

Something that she could not do 24 hours ago. Amazing.

If that is not enough, she has also picked up another sign language sign. The Princess is great at signing 'more' when she is eating. Today at lunchtime, without me showing her, she signed 'please more'. When I made a huge fuss over her new skill, she repeated it for a minute, solid. She had great fun, showing off for Mommy, tonight.

We bought the book Baby Signs, when The Talker was a few months old. We used a combination of baby signs and ASL signs, since that is what I used with a lot of the kids at my old job. At his peak, The Talker was using 50 or more signs. He actually GOT IT. The sign language was a useful tool until he was 20 months old, or so. Even still, he remembers his signs, when prompted. But he does not use them unless we ask him. Usually when we want him to show The Princess a new sign.

So, little girl, I am anxious to see more great things, please, out of you, tomorrow.

What a Day!

80 degrees and sunny as heck. Of course, that means allergy season is here. But as I have proven so many times before, I am a moron. Eventhough my allergies are driving me nuts, we were outside for hours and hours today.

When I had finally had enough of sneezing, we headed to the library. I needed to change The Princess while we were there, but there is no diaper deck in the men's room. Yes, they have one in the ladies room. After they suggested I sneak into the ladies room to change the baby, I decided to make it a quick visit.

Oh yeah, I changed the baby, on the floor in the middle of the kids section. But only because it was the only clear floorspace and all of the reading tables were in use. I don't know what the staff thought about me changing the baby beside the books, but. A dad's gotta do...

Afterwards, we skipped lunch and headed to the park. The Talker immediately made a couple of friends. Then the 'three year old boy game' began. Same game as always. Someone runs, someone else chases. Someone gets tackled, someone cries. Mommies stress, daddies laugh. Good times.

I think The Talker won. Because he was dirtier than the others, and their mommies took them home after a while. We stayed well into naptime. Because I was afraid that if I headed for the car, the boy might tackle me, too.

Baby Boot Camp Begins

The Boss Lady and The Princess have started an epic battle. This era of AtHomeFamily time might come to be known as 'he Battle of the Nights'. It seems The Boss Lady wants to sleep more than 2 hours at a stretch.

The Princess? She likes to sleep until 2 am. Then, she wants mommy. Not much else will get the girl back to sleep. The Boss Lady has learned to get back to sleep quickly. Some nights The Boss Lady only gets 3 hours of sleep. Fun days at work surely follow.

Me? True confession time, I usually sleep through it. Once I am up with The Princess, then I am usually awake for the night. No more sleep. And the days that follow are NOT fun, I assure you.

Plus, I am not nearly as effective in the middle of the night brawls with Baby Girl, so the crying goes lots longer and the chances of us waking the entire family go way, WAY up. So, we end up sitting in the recliner and snoozing the rest of the night away. But mainly, we try not to violate Rule Number One, Don't wake The Boy. Because, like me, he will instantly be up and ready to play, midnight or 3 am.

All that is changing, now that THE HOW TO GET YOUR BABY TO SLEEP BOOK has been bought. The Princess might as well give in to the program. The Boss Lady has created a schedule for when we will respond to nighttime crying. I think my peaceful nights of slumber are going away for a while. But guess what?

I skipped to the end of the book. The Boss Lady wins!

Yep, I did

Spend three hours watching Dukes of Hazzard re-runs on CMT tonight. Watching a good car chase or sixty, while running on the treadmill, hardly seems like exercise

Bet your night was not that exciting.

Seen Wags?

This morning, while straightening toys, The Talker suddenly wanted his Wags the Dog toy. I have not see this stuffed animal in 3 months, at least. He knew right where it was, though, so I obliged.

When it was not in either of the toy drawers under his bed, The Talker was highly annoyed. After yesterday's high-energy-fest, I am still a little scared of the boy. I hope he never goes off like that again. So I searched. The entire house.

Anywhere a stuffed dog toy might hide, I looked there. Yep, even in mommy's bathroom!?! Because he said it was in there, after telling 12145 other places that Wags was hiding.

After an hour of putting away toys as I searched, no Wags. So I distracted the boy. Different toys surely would keep his mind off of Wags the Dog. So we got out every piece of Fisher Price Little People stuff that he owns. He has been in heaven for the past two hours, with an entire town set-up. Right on the living room floor.

And while I was looking for Mrs. Noah, to go with the ark playset, I found Wags the Dog. In a laundry basket under the train table that is full of cars and train parts. Right where The Talker said it was...

Insanity run amok times 3 to the power of 13

It is almost winter again. It has been cold and drizzly enough that we have only been outside to get in the car. The Talker is going crazy from being cooped up all day long. The Princess? Well she is always a little goofy, so who knows?

Yesterday, I was fully aware that The AtHomeTrio would be playing inside. All day long. But, I was not prepared for a semi-surprise 13 hour day. Semi-surprise, because The Boss Lady swears I knew about it last weekend, but the first I remember hearing that she had to work late, was about 11:30 am. So we adjusted. Late naps and extra TV time, mixed with hotwheel racing tracks, wooden trains, a little bit of pirate play and some jumping on mommy and daddy's big bed. None of it seemed to wear out The Talker.

By 6:30 pm, he was running through the house like a wild bear. The Princess was pretty good all day long, but in the end, I think she wanted the boy to sit down and be quiet, too. Every time he would run past her, she would cringe and brace for the bear growl that he was about to release.

In the end, The Boss Lady got home about 45 minutes earlier than she expected. So the bear hunt was suspended and The Talker was finally tranquilized and relocated for his bath and bedtime.

And The Princess, she has gone nocturnal. So The Boss Lady kept her until 2:45 this morning. By 3 am, she and I were snoozing on the couch until daybreak. She really is cute when she sleeps. You should come see her. But don't waste your time looking at night. She will be wide awake, then.

Is it good...

When the pediatrician tells your kid "You are getting to be high maintenance."?

The Talker only sees the Dr for regular checkups and shots. The Princess has seen him at least twice a month, forever. Getting to be high maintenance, my butt.

This girl started out high maintenance, with 21 people, an entire neo-natal crisis team, waiting on her in the delivery room. And she is now used to that kind of attention. She has most recently decided that sleeptime is 'Mommy and Me' playtime. Seems to be an effective way to get three or five hours of uninterrupted 'Mommy time'.

So if you see a neo-natal crisis team running around with nothing to do, let me know. Maybe a couple of them can babysit this weekend and The Boss Lady can catch a quick nap.

Ear we go again

The Princess is on her way to The Pediatrician's office this morning. It has been about three days since she slept well and she has turned into an ogre.

Though her brother enjoys having a relative of Shrek visiting us, The Boss Lady and I are worn out from all of the crying. This kid should be timed for The Guinness Book of World Records. She must be a crying champion.

Right now, she is not crying. She is eating a hotwheel. They only cost $.80 each, so if that is all it takes to keep her happy, I'll be feeding her die-cast cars all day!

What the....?

The Boss Lady and I had a friend from church watch the kids today for a few hours. All I want to know is,

How in the heck did she get them both to nap for 95 straight minutes at the exact same time?

She must be into voodoo. That is all there is to it. Voodoo.

I ought to get me a book on voodoo. Maybe I can get me some naptimes like that, too.

HoverDaddy?

I am not a hovering daddy. When we go to the park, I am not one of those parents that has to be within fingertip reach of their children at all times. If I ever was like that, having two quickly-mobile children taught me quickly that I can't cover the entire park at once.

Occasionally I get looks from other parents, OK, let's be honest, moms, - seldom do I see a dad who is concerned about how someone else is 'daddy-ing', who must think I am not keeping close enough to The Princess. And 99.99% of the time they are wrong. I am usually pretty quick to notice when The Talker has wandered too far or when The Princess has put herself in mortal danger.

This morning was one of the 0.01% times.

I was chatting with another SAHD when I noticed The Princess was no longer trying to climb the steps of the playscape. So I looked all around the base of the playscape without seeing her. Then I realized, she had climbed up the steps of the playscape, gotten to a landing about three feet off of the ground. She made her way across a bouncy bridge, with no low hand-rail, to another landing. She was getting ready to go headfirst down a slide when I got to her. Her entire adventure lasted maybe 30 seconds.

And once I set her back at the playscape steps, her second trip, via the same route,took less than 15 seconds. Each trip thereafter made even quicker. She wore herself out, without ever getting to slide. She wore me out, too, because after the first trip, I was hovering like a helicopter.

Screw Housework

The AtHomeTrio is heading out to the park this morning to hang out. Our house is a disaster. The toys have won the revolution. The dishes attacked on a second front and there were mass casualties.

I am sure I'll change my mind quickly this afternoon. The Queen Mother and Dad will be in town tonight and Tuesday. Luckily, they have heard reports from the front and will be staying at a hotel. So we will have to get some of this stuff picked up, but maybe not until tonight.

Anybody got a few extra 'grenades or a Bobcat tractor I could use to clean up this house?

Yeah, it may be a SAHD's work, but I ought to be able to do it in my own way, right?

3:30pm -

I surrendered. I caved in and have now started a second load of dishes and a third load of laundry. The house will be clean tonight. We need a baby-sitter to come over tomorrow afternoon, so we can attend a funeral. I don't want the babysitter to report us to the health department.

Daytona 500, T Minus 45 minutes...

Was it an overwhelming sense of romance that led us to go out on a date last night. Nope. The Daytona 500 is today, so The Boss Lady deserved a little time. After all, I'll be busy for most of the next 40+ weekends.

Drive the Truck, Dale!

Two in a Hundred Years

Actually, The Boss Lady and I have watched 2, TWO movies this weekend. Truthfully, one was a documentary on PBS, called Okie Noodling, that we watched on TV. The other, we actually went to a cinema and paid to see.

The new Will Smith movie, Hitch, was the best movie we have gone to see in years. Of course, we couldn't remember the last movie we saw in a theater. Possibly Star Wars Episode I or Finding Nemo.

Date Night

Evidently, leaving the kids with their cousin, once every two or three years, so we can go to a movie will not kill them. They may come home stinking of girl scout cookies and golden retrievers, but they will live.

They may cry when they leave their cousin's house. But, that is OK, because neither The Boss Lady, nor I, cried when we dropped them off.

Road Trip Planning

How did people plan summer road trips before the 'net? I got online and requested travel info from most of the states that we are thinking about for our summer escape. This post gives a little detail about the trips that we are considering.

And these are the states that I have gotten info from so far:

1.South Dakota. The first to respond and my trip preference, too.
2.Oklahoma. We will just be passing through, I swear.
3.North Dakota. A possible side trip from Mt Rushmore.
4.Missouri. Bass Pro Shop, anyone?
5.Kansas. Wide open spaces and Chevy Duty...
That's all so far, I'll update as we get more info from other states.

TruckinDaddy

TruckinDaddy is where I am going to post stuff about the truck. I want to keep AtHomeDaddy about family stuff.

I imagine getting the truck running again will not be a family adventure. It will be Rated R, due to lots and lots of cursing. The kids may never get to play in the driveway again.

So hide your children, and come over sometime. No rush, there is not much there now...

Yahoo! Search Results for female deathbattle

OK, this is getting weird. Why is AtHomeDaddy the Number 1 search result for FEMALE DEATHBATTLE? Please, Boss Lady, tell them it is not THAT bad.

Wait a Few Years, and I'll give You a Ride

There will soon be an addition to The AtHomeFamily. I am going to bring my Grandpa's truck home from the family farm. It has been stuck in the mud out there for years. Now, it can be stuck in our driveway. For years and years.

It is in rough shape, but in this post you can read why I want it. And here is a follow up post, I made a few days later.

Wow! Just this week I was blogging elsewhere that I am not a 'Car Guy". I guess it is time for me to start becoming one. I have sworn to The Boss Lady that this truck will not be going to the shop. I'll be learning as I go, but I'll be making it go, someday. Soon after that, hopefully, I'll be figuring out how to make it stop, too. Then, I'll be making my trips to Lowe's and Home Depot in style!

That truck sure will add some rustic charm, sitting out in front of the house, don't you think?

Besides, there are at least two non-running cars parked on the neighborhood streets. An 80's Isuzu Trooper and a 90's Nissan Sentra. At least mine will be an American Classic. AND in the driveway.

Hunting Season

You a hunter? Not me. I am so not a hunter that I don't even know what hunting season it is right now. Except that I wish it was open season on the Bambi and his friends in my front yard.

But, this morning I have been using all of my survival and tracking skills. Am I hunting big game? The biggest. Seems that a sippy-cup with milk in it has gone AWOL. After twenty minutes spent tracking and sniffing my way through the house, I found my prey.

Sitting in the bottom of the sink. Trying to camouflage himself with the other dirty dishes. Never fear. He is now safely gutted and mounted in the dishwasher with all of his little friends. Most of them, anyways. Evidently, he has more friends than we have dishwasher space this morning...

The Black Escort Blues

The AtHomeFamily went last night to pick up The Boss Lady's car. The shop completed everything except the alignment. Which was one of the things we actually took it in to have done. It will need to go back again, soon.

The new wheel I bought at the tire store does not match the others, as the salesman assured me that it would. "Perfectly", keeps echoing through my brain. Did you know about wheel offset? Yeah, I wish I did not, either..

So now I need to find a replacement wheel, hopefully used... have the new tire mounted on the new/used/replacement wheel, return the new/new/replacement wheel for a refund at the tire store, have the new tire mounted on the new/used/replacement wheel and mounted on the car. THEN, and only then, will they be able to do an alignment on the car.

My real frustration is that the car sat at the shop for two days. If they had told me about the wheel, we could have dealt with everything during that time. Instead, we get to drive it like this for a few days. Nothing like dropping a chunk of change on the car and still have it drive like junk.

Someone, please. Run me over with an Escort Wagon in my sleep. But be careful. Cause it is a real pain in the butt if you dent one of the wheels.