An Ill Father's Day Omen

We didn't have anything planned this evening, and we knew that the city of Meridian, Idaho was planning on having the annual Dairy Days festival they do every year. There was a parade yesterday, various events showing off dairy animals (although, gratefully, I don't believe they have a dairy cat competition yet), and a small carnival with a couple of fun houses and carnival rides. Nothing too bit, but for Munchkin, we knew it would be a great time.

We drove over to Storey Park, right next to the speedway, where the carnival was all set up. The strange thing was, there were no lights on, and a very minimal throng loitering about. By very minimal, I mean that I am pretty sure I saw one adult and two children who were not working there walk through the carnival. Wondering if there was some strange set of rules regarding what hours the carnival could be open this year, we consulted the Internet.

And we found that the carnival was cancelled because they failed an electricity check.

Munchkin was slightly devastated that she would not be able to ride the merry-go-round that we had told her about. She loves the one at the zoo, but it is small, as merry-go-rounds go.

So, on to plan b—go and check out the animals in the Speedway. As we were walking there, we noticed another severe lack of a throng, so we consulted the trusty Internet again. This time, we found that the animals had all left by 3:00 in the afternoon today.

Once again, Munchkin's hopes were dashed to pieces. She really wanted to see the animals.

On the brink of tears, she conceded to go play on the slides at the park. And that was fun, as it was a park we don't frequent. The evening was slightly saved. And we were still planning on grabbing a sno cone later in the evening.

But before we claimed the snow cones, we decided to make a few stops, as the night was still young, and the outdoors were warm enough to make my children's Swedish heritage shine through their ruddy cheeks. Wifey can run for five minutes and have fiery red cheeks. Munchkin and Munchkenna follow suit.

Stop number one was at a used clothing store for kids. Munchkenna is growing out of anything and everything we have for her (as in she is wearing Munchkin's clothes from five months ago), so some new leggings were in order. Munchkin loves the fact that there is generally a Disney flick playing near a bunch of toys there, so she was eager to go.

She had a full-blown meltdown when she was not able to close a door that another child was opening. I escorted her from the store and stopped the tears and screaming. The night went back down a notch.

Our last stop before sno cones was a book store chain. We just went to browse, and as Wifey was showing me a book in the kid's section, Munchkin and Munchkenna meandered over to a rack of stuffed toys ten feet away. A creepy guy was looking directly at Munchkin and Munchkenna, and popped his head around the corner. He might have just been a concerned person seeing if the children's parents were around, but I got the heebie-jeebies, so I stuck in the kids books for the whole night. This man left shortly after I saw him, so I would like to think my instincts were right.

Night goes down another notch.

We put everything away that Munchkenna pulled from the shelves (her new favorite game, by the way), and left to claim our sno cones. We ordered three kiddie sizes, as this place puts them in a ten ounce cup, then heaps a snowball at least five inches around on top. I don't know how anyone would want to order more than a kiddie from this place, but they do.

The sno cones were quite tasty, and we figured that we would have a relatively good end to our evening, despite all the set backs and potential stained clothing from the messy Munchkin, and then our luck struck anew. Munchkenna was sitting peacefully in a chair that decided to tip over. She face planted into the grass, which was made exponentially worse by how tired she was. Large tears streamed down her face.

The one saving grace of tonight was the fact that Munchkin needed to go potty while we were eating sno cones. Missy had already brought her to the bathroom once before while we were at one of our stops, so it was my turn. We had to run across the parking lot to the nearby gas station to get to the nearest bathroom, so Munchkin was holding my hand as we ran. She started giggling up a storm, and looked up at me with a look of pure delight. Her eyes sparkled, her cheeks were no longer flush, but the grin on her face was possibly bigger than a smirk you would see on a billboard.

I never knew you could have so much fun on your way to use the restroom. Maybe that is why many girls choose to go in herds. But needless to say, no matter if our luck stays the same tomorrow, I know it will be a great Father's Day, because Munchkin is going to need to go to the bathroom.

Grandma and Grandpa Day

Saturday was Grandma and Grandpa Day. If it wasn't a national holiday, it should have been. Munchkin and Munchkenna spent all day with their grandparents, and had a ball.

We first went over to my parent's house. I spent most of the morning helping my dad around the yard—mowing lawn, tearing out a dead grape vine, planting two posts to accommodate the existing grapevines, pruned two trees, and a few other things. While I was out with Dad, Munchkenna was taking a nap, and Munchkin was making sugar cookies with Mom. She especially loved frosting and sprinkling the cookies. I think she used about half a bottle of sprinkles on a couple dozen cookies using the one sprinkle for you, two sprinkles for me methodology. There was a healthy pile of sprinkles left on the cabinet that didn't stick to a cookie or find its way into Munchkin's mouth, but she had a ball. I think Mom had just as much fun as Munchkin.

Munchkin had to get her dose of playing in with Dad, so he and I spent turns turning the tricycle around so she could go back and forth in the living room on it. I wouldn't be surprised to find ruts in the carpet the next time we go there. I've never seen the Cherry Bomb go so fast.
 
We had cheese soup with them for lunch after all the work and play was done. Munchkin loves soup, and love cheese, so she especially loves this dish. After prying her away with a bribe of a banana (she always has to have one when she leaves their house), we headed home for naps.

After naps were over, we headed over to Wifey's parent's house. The routine started all over again. Play, followed by more playing, followed by a healthy dose of playtime. She went on a walk, she played with the train set, and rode the rocking horse. We had dinner with them, then I went to sing in a choir Wifey's dad was directing for a church meeting that night.

Perhaps the most entertaining portion of the night was the fact that I forgot my suit pants that evening for the meeting. I had my olive green jacket, but no pants. Being a bit taller than my father-in-law, I asked if he might have some pants I could borrow. He found me a pair that were a bit more brown than my suit, and I tried them on.

He wears a size 38. The pants he gave me were a size 44.

I wear a size 30.

I was grateful I remembered a belt, but even more grateful that I had a suit coat to cover up the folds of fabric in the back. And yet even more gratefuller that I got to sit for a majority of the time until we had to stand and sing. I strategically placed myself directly behind the organ so as to hide my lower half as much as possible.

And it worked. The only person who noticed was my sister-in-law, and I had to prompt her to notice them.

All in all, it was a great day, and we got to repeat parts of it again on Sunday when we spent most of the day with Wifey's family. And then we spent most of Monday evening with my parents.

In short, Munchkin and Munchkenna got whatever they wanted over the weekend. There is not much a parent can do when you're at Grandma and Grandpa's house...

My Proud English Major Moment

Yesterday I had a very proud (yet incredibly nerdy) English major moment. Munchkin offered us her first pun. I can't be sure it was intentional, but I can dream, can't I?

Munchkin is obsessed with crocodiles getting her. If she is up on the bed, couch, or even a blanket, she always warns us to watch out so the crocodiles don't get us.

After coming into our room in the morning with her amazing bed head, she climbed up on the bed. Instead of the usual warning, she told Wifey that she was the mommy crocodile. Then she proceeded to tell us that she was hungry, and that we needed to get out of bed.

And then it came.

"Come on mommy crocodile! Snap, snap!"

I cracked up pretty hard, and it got me laughing throughout the day as I thought about it. I can only hope that there will be more to come.

How to Completely Engage a Four and a Half Month Old

One of my brothers mozied his way up to my parents house with his family during his Thanksgiving break. We were able to spend time with them on Saturday night. In the words of Junie B. Jones, Munchkenna "got all jazzied up."

Munchkenna is starting to become quite interactive. She smiles and sticks out her standard issue chameleon tongue (yes, it seems that long) when someone she recognizes talks to her. She coos and talks to you as well. When she gets really excited, her fists ball up and lose some of the limited control she has mustered. Her leg often starts pistoning up and down as well. But there is something that completely entranced her that my brother's family brought—a chiwawa.

I don't know if it was the fact that there was something smaller than her that was highly mobile, or jingle from his tags, but Munchkenna was GLUED to Mojo for a good 30 minutes. Her eyes would enlarge when she spotted him, then she would hold still as a statue until Mojo moved.

Once Mojo moved, everything in Munchkenna's power came to life. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit surprised she didn't break a sweat. Her arms waved, her feet stamped in the air like Thumper, and she started to try to sing her siren song to get Mojo's attention. I guess husky voices just don't work as an irresistible siren's call for a tiny dog. Every once in a while the treble range would come out in the form of a squeal, but other than that, Mojo was aloof.

She sure got everyone else's attention though. Next time you are looking for something to get your baby engaged, try a chiwawa. And pull out the video camera.

Flushed

Yesterday morning I was going through some morning rituals with Munchkin. We had just finished the morning potty ritual, and Munchkin was headed on her way to tell Wifey that she had successfully gone. Realizing that she didn't have her binky, she turned around to come claim it. It was sitting on the counter next to the sink. As she ran to grab it, she fumbled the binky and it ended up falling right into the toilet as the final swish was leaving our view.

And thus ended binky.

Munchkin asked for it a bit after it was gone because she likes to have it in the morning after she gets up for a bit. Then she goes and throws it on her bed until nap time, when she gets it again. After naps, she generally just throws it on her bed when she gets up and doesn't think twice about it until bedtime.

Nap time came and went without incident. She asked for binky once, and I reminded her that she had flushed it down the toilet. She didn't fuss or ask again, just wiggled a bit more before falling asleep.

So tonight we tried just putting her to bed without binky. She asked for binky when we laid her down to sleep, and we reminded her again that it had been flushed. As soon as we left the room, she started crying a bit. This is not uncommon for her to cry for a minute or two as she expresses her disgust that we are going to be doing something without her. But her crying continued, so Wifey went up to try to console her.

All was quiet through the monitor, but as soon as Wifey left the room, she started crying again. So then I gave it a try. I got her calmed down, but once again, right after I had left the room (after singing her two songs and telling her one impromptu story about a girl who happens to share her name who went to school), she started crying again. And hard.

We (like any sane parents) have backup binkies for emergencies. Last night was an emergency. We gave her the binky, and she informed us that her "purple binky flushed down the potty." Right after that, she rolled over and fell asleep.

Even though Munchkin is growing up, I still have to remember that she isn't a kid yet. She is still a toddler who understands a lot, but not everything. She will still have problems dealing with small changes. And I am willing to let her have her binky while she is handling the substantial change of being a big sister incredibly well.

I'll know next time not to set the binky so close to the toilet when she runs out of the room, and I'm sure that she'll make sure not to fumble it so easily next time she tries to grab her binky.

Rewired

Hello again. It has been a while, hasn't it? Things e starting to settle down again after some momentous occasions. The new job started getting busy, but it is still going well. I had the opportunity to start doing some things that I hadn't done before, but also done some things that I haven't done in quite some time. It has been a good challenge. I overheard from a colleague that my boss was worried that I didn't have enough to do. So far I have only had to ask him for more work once.

We also had a baby! Well, not me (naturally). We had the greatest nurse ever known to a woman in labor who was greater than I would have ever expected a nurse to be. I felt good that I only almost fainted twice.

The funny thing is, I didn't have the urge to faint with the parts that I thought might make me queasy. I inherited a bit of queasiness around blood from my father. But I was able to do fine with all of that. The things that got me were all the surgical tools. When they came in to give Wifey her epidural, I just stared at the contraction monitor, knowing that the big needle made me a bit light-headed last time. I didn't look, but started feeling my hands tingle after hearing the conversation about placing the needle. This guy did great, and wo Wifey's epidural didn't wear off this time.

The next time I got woozy was after Munchkenna (Munchkin II's official name on this blog) was born. I took a peek over at all the unused medical tools sitting out in case of emergency, and that got me again.

We had a pleasant surprise when a girl I sang with in high school choir came in to help out with Munchkenna after she was born.

All in all, Wifey had an exponentially better experience this time when compared to Munchkin's delivery. It was half as long, and much more enjoyable for all parties involved, despite my queasiness.

Munchkin has been doing great being a big sister also. There have been some very minor jealousy issues that quickly get resolved. You can see how much they like each other, take a peek at this picture.

I should be making more frequent appearances here, but if you don't find me here, know that I am busy holding a sweet little girl.

Not So Neeky

Munchkin decided to be not so neeky today. Or maybe she was super neeky. After we got home from my parents' house tonight, I happened to peek over at the couch to find this:

Oops

Munchkin is to the point where she loves coloring. If there are pens, pencils, crayons, markers, or other writing implements around, she wants to color.

Wifey told me that she caught Munchkin with a pen today sitting on the stair, but didn't think that she had tagged anything. She is just too neeky.

If the end of the world would have come on Saturday like some were predicting, then I could have officially said that Munchkin was the perfect child. Her reputation is slightly tarnished, but how can I be mad at this:

"You're not mad, are you Daddy?"

On a not-so-random tangent, my nephews decided to celebrate last Saturday by making this awesome video. Hopefully they will make more.

Neeky: Part II

Yesterday night, we were over for our weekly meal with my parents. Munchkin has gotten into quite a routine. We get there, we eat, shortly before dessert is served, she gets antsy and reaches for my dad to go play, we tell her to wait and give her a pudding cup (which she devours), she gets antsy again, my dad wolfs down his dessert, we clean her up, she is released and belly laughs/screams with delight that she gets to go play, my dad lays down on the floor while Munchkin plays with the toys and occasionally shows him something that has piqued her interest and we do the dishes.

Rinse, then repeat.

This happens like clockwork, with surprisingly little variation. My mom is secretly a bit jealous that Munchkin doesn't come looking for her, so she was very excited tonight that after dinner Munchkin approached her to give her an unsolicited hug.

Munchkin doesn't just hand out unsolicited hugs. She is to the point where she really doesn't snuggle with you for fear that she will fall asleep (unless she is reading a book with you, where she will be utterly content to sit and turn the pages as you read to her). I was a bit surprised that she would go so far as to come up and give my mom a hug.

Munchkin and Grandma

As she had her arms sweetly wrapped around Grandma's neck and her head resting on Grandma's shoulder, Munchkin quietly repeated one word—treat.

To bribe Munchkin, Grandma gives her m&ms every time she comes. This generally occurs before we leave. Tonight she got some early and came back for seconds about a half an hour later by being neeky. To my surprise, Grandma didn't give in.

But I'm sure it won't stop Munchkin from being neeky and trying again.

Neeky: Part I

As a good father should, I try to teach my daughter some of the finer things in life, like scaring people. When I’m holding her, we walk up to Wifey real quiet—well, Munchkin generally whispers “Neek, neek, neek” as we are walking—and then Munchkin yells, “Boo!” Wifey makes a good show of it, and acts surprised. Munchkin immediately starts saying, “Again! Again!”

Lately, she has started trying to be sneaky on her own. One time, she put her hands on her thighs and started walking like a sumo wrestler preparing for a match. We were cracking up, because her loud footfalls did not match her furtive whispers of “Neek, neek, neek.”

Neek, neek, neek.

Shortly after my alarm went off this morning, I heard Munchkin moving around and moaning in her bed. She had done this a few times before during the night, so I didn’t think much of it and pressed the snooze button again.

Ten minutes later, I heard the door start to creak open. This was followed by the pitter patter of little feet running toward the bed. The footfalls were punctuated by as large of a resounding thud as a 19-month-old can make while jumping and an excited exclamation of, “Boo,” which woke up Wifey (without a scream).

She was so proud of herself that she had snuck into our room. And I have to say that although this was pretty darn funny that she had created this scenario in her mind that she was going to scare us awake, it worries me a skosh at the same time.

Is this going to be the start of Munchkin getting out of bed in the middle of the night? Is she going to start getting out of bed whenever she is awake, regardless of the time? Instead of coming into our room to scare us awake, is she going to start realizing that she can go downstairs and find her toys?

I hope the answer is no, but she is a pretty smart little cookie. I’ll just have to see how neeky she ends up being.

Munchkin + @MindyGledhill = Awesome

We love our Munchkin. We love our Mac. We also love an artist named Mindy Gledhill. Wifey decided to mix them all together and this is what she came up with:



If you are wondering how we found Mindy Gledhill, it was kind of an interesting story. Wifey likes reading a blog about a woman and a man who were burned in a plane crash. She tells her story about all her treatments and how she struggles with her appearance since most of her body was burned. Her husband wasn't burned nearly as badly (although they both still had major reconstructive surgeries, if memory serves me correctly).

Anyway, Mindy Gledhill wrote a song for this blogger that you can listen to on YouTube if you want. And then you can go buy her album because you like her music so much.

Munchkin the Big Girl

For the past week, we have been getting things ready to move Munchkin to a new room that is just a little farther away than her current one. With Baby #2 on the way, we need to keep the room with the crib available for the child that will need it. We have been painting, getting decor ready, as well as picking up items like a bed rail so that Munchkin won't fall out of the twin bed in there.

We have let Munchkin see the room quite a bit, and she loves it. I don't know if it is the novelty of having another space to roam in, or if she is just super gullible and believes that our excited tone every time we say, "new room" has worked like some form of endorphin-releasing trigger, but either way, we are happy that she is happy.

Saturday night we actually picked up the bed rail and decided to see if Munchkin would be game to sleep there. We asked her if she wanted to, and she gave us the customary answer (Uh-huh with a quick head nod). We were so a bit anxious to see if she would go through with it. I had thoughts of our little girl growing up.

And then we had one of those dinners.

If you don't know what I'm eluding to, either

1. You have never had a toddler.
2. You don't remember the mess your toddler can make at dinner.
3. You have never heard the word toddler before.

Munchkin was eating some yogurt. We have been trying to teach her that yogurt isn't just a great tasting line of skincare products. She tends to get a large glob on her spoon and then place it on her left hand and start to rub it around. We looked away for one moment to go refill a water cup or take a bite. When we turned back, we both were amazed at what we saw.

From this silent little girl (things like this always happen when kids are silent if you fall into option 3 above), we saw a creature emerge. There was yogurt on her hands and in her hair. We made the mistake of saying that we don't put yogurt in our hair, which prompted a yogurt-laden hand to immediately travel up to her hair to point to it.

Needless to say, after dinner Munchkin was put into the tub for bath number two of the day.

After bathtime, she was right back to her big self. When bedtime came, we walked right up to her room, gave her a binky and her monkey, laid her down after saying our customary things to psych her up (like Sleep all night and such). We walked out the door after blowing kisses and waving, and she didn't make a peep.

I had to go back in a few hours later because her head and torso were hanging off the edge of the bed while her legs were preventing her from falling out of the bed. At least the rail works.

She slept until 5:00AM, when she started to wake up and, feeling a bit disoriented in her new surroundings, had her eyes wide open when I walked in. I laid with her and got her a drink, and she ended up falling asleep.

With that said, I think that she did pretty well. She took a good nap in the bed today, and went right down again tonight. There haven't been any more attempts to skydive from the mattress, which I consider a success. There are plenty creative sleeping angles going on (like perpendicular to her pillow), but that will probably work itself out in time. In the mean time, I am just hoping that she'll continue to do as well as she is doing and sleep all night tonight.

Keep your fingers crossed...

The Day Munchkin Will Always Remember

Munchkin was incredibly happy today. It helped that she slept 12 hours the previous night. She woke up super happy and that carried her through most of the day.

We first went to story time at the library. The Meridian Public Library has a great story time for toddlers that is more of an activity time than just reading time. They sing songs, they have stuffed animals for the kids to play with, and read stories as well. Libraries are great places, but that is besides the point. This is about Munchkin.

Today's experience at story time started off better than normal because we walked to the Library. We pulled out the stroller and she got to ride. Munchkin likes loves experiences Nirvana whenever she is outside. She doesn't want to go back in. Even though she loves story time, she put up a bit of a fuss that she had to go inside. She probably doesn't remember much about nice sunny weather in the low 60's from last year, but since she had it today she didn't want to go in. She wasn't even wearing a jacket. Less encumberment = better playtime for her.

She didn't get into story time as much today until near the end. I think it was the weather distracting her.  She did like it though.

We walked home and got ready to head over to the park. Since it was spring break, our friends invited us to the park to play with their little boy. We spent a couple of solid hours at the park running, sliding, playing outdoor instruments, and swinging (her favorite). After a picnic (where once again she was incredibly distracted) and some more playing, we parted ways and got Munchkin down for a nap.

She slept for about an hour and a half, and then she started "helping" me fold the laundry. She ate half a pint of green beans and half a strawberry Nutrigrain bar, followed by a tour of the outside world. This includes walking around the yard with yours truly looking at all the plants and flowers to make sure that everything looks healthy and happy. She runs from the hyacinths to the tulips to the raspberry plant to the bonsai trees to the daffodils pointing out all the plants. Sometimes we throw the lilac bushes in there too.

After this, she ran around outside while I grilled a chicken breast for our chicken ceasar wraps for dinner. She chased her ball around the yard and only injured one daffodil, which I consider quite a success. I think it will live, but it was bent over. I'm glad it is still young and supple, and I am hoping that it is still in the stage where it is more flexible than anything else. It leans now, but didn't appear to have any breaks in the stems. I guess I'll have to wait and see when we get back in town  how it fares.

Tonight we read some books and watched a bit of Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse (which we bought as an Easter present for her, but we forgot to hide it, so she gets to watch it). All in all, a good day for her.

I don't think that she'll actually remember today in the grand scheme of things. But it is the type of day that was ingrained into my memory as a child. Plenty of time outside, plenty of fun activities, and even a slight sunburn. I would make a great Jeff Foxworthy joke right now. Well, maybe not so great. Only half of my neck got burned, so I would only be half a redneck.

Breathing Easy

Today has been pretty packed up until now. To celebrate, I thought I would take a breather and write a blog post.

I work up this morning and waited for my sister-in-law to drop off her kids. She was singing in a church thing today, so we watched them while she was there and her husband was at work. Munchkin loves playing with her cousins, so we don't mind.

Wifey was there to help out for the first few hours, and then she left to go to watch her sister sing. We just about finished watching Alladin before the kids got picked up by their dad. Munchkin and I went outside to check on the plants (more brainwashing on my part) and see if our daffodils are coming up yet (the answer is they are thinking about it). We removed a bit of sod from the yard to make sure that the year-old lilac bushes have enough opportunity to get their roots in without having to fight the grass. We had a hand trowel, so Munchkin thought she was helping out just as much as I was.

Then she got bored.

So we decided to get her ball out and kick it around, followed by a stint of chasing each other while she screamed and I growled. About this time, I could tell that Munchkin was getting tired, so I put her down for a nap. She told me that she didn't want to, but I put her down with Monks and her binky, and she was more than happy to fall asleep. It took her about 20 minutes, but she did. About five minutes before she fell asleep, I overheard her talking to herself. She just kept saying, "Happy" over and over again, making me believe that this morning was a success.

Wifey got home from the church thing, and then I put on a suit and tie. I was headed to a wedding to sing while the bride and groom walked down the aisle (not at the same time). Another sister-in-law was asked to sing at the wedding, and needed a boy to sing with her, so I was voluntold that I was that lucky duck. We sang "Can't Help Falling in Love with You." and it ended up not being awkward.

And now it is now. I'm sitting in my normal clothes and hiding from some of Wifey's high school acquaintances at her parents house. There is rumors that we are going to go to Mongolian Barbeque tonight, so I'm willing to hide myself for a few more hours until dinner rolls around. Nothing like gorging yourself on misnamed ethnic food to end your day.

I hope your day is going as well as mine.

Brainwash Initiated

Munchkin is turning into quite the parrot. It seems like she is using new words every day. And not only is she repeating the words relatively accurately, but she is also starting to form her own ideas. For this reason, I was delighted when we went to the store today.

Wifey was driving, and as I was putting Munchkin into her seat, she immediately said one of her favorite phrases: "By you!" She loves to have someone sit beside her in the car, so I obliged her whim this time.

Wifey began flipping through the radio stations, and upon finding nothing of interest, turned on the CD that was in the car. King of Anything by Sara Bareilles came on, so I started singing along. When the chorus came around, I was very surprised to hear Munchkin start to say, "Oh" and hum until she knew a word like me. When those words she knows and use came around, she sang them out loud and proud.

I might just be a proud daddy here, but I didn't know that kids started recognizing and singing songs at 18 months. I know it wasn't a fluke either, because the next song—Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Bublé—yielded the same response with special emphasis on the word yet.

I will continue my research, and possibly try to get a recording of it. She is soaking up songs like a dry sponge. Getting video of Munchkin is difficult at this point because she just wants to see the picture on the back of the digital camera. If we are using the video camera, she just wants to have us turn the screen around so that she can see herself and wave.

On a completely unrelated note, Wifey pinched me while we were walking into the store because I wasn't wearing green. Rude, don't you agree?

Excited?

If you are Wifey, the answer is a resounding YES! She is on the way to get a root canal right now.

And I'm not being sarcastic. Her mouth has been bothering her ever since Saturday night, and even though she had some work done Sunday afternoon, she has still been in pain since then. She told me that she would rather be in labor than have this pain in her mouth. I'll have to ask again when after she has Baby II which was worse.

But I am excited for the fact that we have tulips coming up. The weather here keeps teasing us that it is going to be warm, and then it snows and the wind blows. Today is pretty nice, so when Munchkin gets up from her nap, I think we might venture out into the sunlight and go play. It might just be running around the back yard, but it is better than nothing.

The other day while Wifey was trying to nap through the pain, Munchkin and I decided to go out into the yard. She was having so much fun running from me as I snuck up behind her and growled. She ran for about 30 minutes straight. Needless to say, I think Munchkin is going to be an outdoor girl. She craves being outside. Last night when it was raining, Wifey let her stick her hand outside and feel the rain coming down. She cried when we closed the door and kept pointing to the door while saying, "shide." It is her best version of outSIDE with only a hint of a drunken slur.

I have one more thing that I would like to post about, but I need to take some pictures first, so I'll go snap some pics and come back. Of course, Munchkin will probably wake up from her nap by then, so I might take some pics of her outside instead. We'll see.

Outnumbered

It appears that I am soon to be grossly outnumbered. We had our ultrasound today and found out that we are having another girl. Wifey is pretty excited that she is going to be able to use all the cute clothes she got for Munchkin yet again.

I must be following in my uncle's footsteps. When he and his wife got married, he had a name picked out for their first boy. They had three girls and no boys. I guess when we have our next baby, I'll have to see if I am really following in his footsteps.

Now I'll have to think of a clever nickname for said new baby. I'll keep you posted.

Technology Savvy at 15 Months

Today I received my first unassisted call from Munchkin. She loves playing with Wifey's phone, and because Wifey's speed dials don't work as expected, she generally doesn't call anyone. I guess she was successfully able to navigate to my name, push the green button to call me, all while jabbering. When I started talking to her, I don't think she realized I was on the line, mainly because it hasn't happened before. All the button pressing gave me a hint as well. Either that, or someone was censoring all the baby expletives on my wife's phone, which would just be creepy.

Munchkin did know that I was on the line by the time she left though. She said , "Bye bye dada," before hanging up. So it is legit.

For being 15 months old, I think a fifteen second conversation is pretty good on the phone.

Cheap Paternity Tests

Wifey just called me at work. She tried to get some cute pictures of Munchkin out in the snow (since we have about 6.5 inches at this point and it is supposed to rain later this afternoon and melt it away. Pity.) and here was the result:

In short, Munchkin doesn't like snow. I am not sure that she is my daughter any more. I mean, sure, she has the cowlick smack dab in front of her head like me, and our chins are similar shapes, but really? How can you not like snow and be related to me? She is only one, so maybe I'll give her a few more years before I threaten to disown her if she doesn't like snow.

But should I need it, please let me know where I can get a cheap paternity test besides the Maury Povich show.

I Must Be Silly

Saturday morning I was taking care of Munchkin while Wifey was out practicing for a children's program we had at church this week. Munchkin was sitting in her high chair, refusing to eat the generic-brand chocolate chip instant oatmeal that I had made for her. She used to love the stuff. Now, not so much. She has decided that certain textures are not approved.

After eating about five or six bites in quick succession, I was a bit startled to find that she firmly clamped her lips closed. Upon a second attempt to get the oatmeal to her mouth, she tried the arm swipe (which I quickly dodged) accompanied by a head nod. I felt a bit like the mother from the Incredibles trying to feed Jack Jack. Drawing upon her inspiration, I started making funny faces and asking Munchkin to say, "Aaaaah."

"See-yee Daddy," Munchkin retorted.

A bit surprised, I attempted again to insert the spoon into her mouth with a plea to say, "Aah." And again, she told me I was silly.

I didn't know Munchkin knew that word. Evidently she has picked it up and learned when to appropriately use it in context. While her pronunciation could use a bit of work, she clearly knows what it means. I can tell this because when I asked her if she thought I was silly, she smiled and looked at me with the smug satisfaction only a one-year-old can muster.

In other related news, Munchkin can now say, "No way." At this point it is more of a parroting, as she hasn't used it in context. Her pronunciation, however, is impeccable.

I'm Being Eaten by a Boa Constrictor

I was reminded of the famous poem by Shel Silverstein whose title I borrowed for this post tonight. We went out shopping with Munchkin tonight, looking to pick up a few things for Christmas. We went to one local shop in hunt of a shopping cart for Munchkin, as she is loving containers at this point. If you can put something in it, or take something out of it, Munchkin is hooked. We didn't have any luck.

Instead of calling the night a total bust, we decided to go to a book store on the way home. The store has a decent children's section, but at this point, the main draw for Munchkin is this round rack of stuffed animals. Last time we stopped there, Munchkin grabbed a siberian tiger (a good choice, I might add) and carried it around with her for about 45 minutes while we browsed through various shelves.

Tonight she found the same tiger in a different color. She picked it out of the rest of the items immediately and started carrying it around, but lost interest after about five minutes or so. I guess it is safe to say that Munchkin likes black and white more than tan. As she was looking for other options to play with, I found a stuffed snake that was probably about four feet long. I put the snake around her neck like a feather boa, and she thought that was pretty great. Some kids started to come over and look at books, so she got quickly distracted. With her distracted (and with Wifey's approval), I snuck away to look at some things besides kids books that might catch my eye.

After about a half an hour of perusal, I headed back to find Wifey and Munchkin to see how things were going. I saw Munchkin meandering her way through some racks, so I ducked behind a shelf and waited until I could ambush her. As she drunkenly stumbled my way (while looking the other way as she is currently prone to do), I growled and jumped out. She squealed with delight and started running back to her mom.

Munchkin kept running around through the empty shelves, giggling as I was walking behind her and occasionally pinching or tickling her shoulders or sides. Munchkin kept looking over her shoulder to make sure that I was following her, and if I started lagging behind to take a peek at a book, she would slow down as well to do the favor of letting me catch up. I didn't see any patrons perusing the aisles, but in hindsight, maybe they were scared off by the squeals of delight of a little girl and the over-dramatic roars of her father.

After Munchkin navigated multiple different paths through the aisles and returned repeatedly to her home base (Wifey who was now finding books for Christmas for Munchkin), I could tell that Munchkin was getting a bit tired. She was easier to keep up with and wasn't peeking over her shoulder as much. Hoping to distract her, I steered her toward the stuffed animals.

And the best part was the fact that Munchkin read my mind.

Munchkin immediately grabbed a snake like I had grabbed earlier and attempted to arrange it around her neck. After some help from me, she walked around the same aisles for another fifteen minutes babbling happily and proudly displaying her boa draped over her shoulders.

It was getting late, so we had to put the boa back on the shelf. Munchkin immediately started to complain, so I picked her up and tried to distract her with something else closer to the front of the store. As I scooped her into my arms and bent down to whisper something in her hear, I realized that the side of my face was wet from her sweaty brow. Driving home, Wifey informed me that Munchkin was walking or running around the whole time I was browsing on my own. that means that she definitely got her aerobic exercise in for the day.

We got home, changed a soggy diaper, put on jammies, fed her a bottle, and she was ready for bed. She didn't get to sleep with a boa constrictor tonight, but I have a feeling that she might dream of one who accompanies her through the jungle tonight.