When I Grow Up

The other night I asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. Katie thought for a few seconds, and then decided that she wanted to be a writer, and write books for kids and adults. I could actually see her doing this. She like to spend a lot of time drawing and making up stories to go with her pictures. She even started making a book this week called, "The Cat with Red Eyes". Coming soon to a store near you.

Andy thought hard about the question, and finally decided not to choose. "I don't want to tell you" he said. I let it go, and then tonight while I was putting him down for bed, he brought it up to me. "Dad, when I grow up, I want to be a Ninja." I chuckled of course. He quickly followed this up with some questions about the profession: "Are Ninjas bad?", "Do Ninjas use Lightsabers?", and most importantly, "Can I be a GOOD Ninja?"

So, it looks like I have one kids who is going to write books for the betterment of society, and one good natured assassian. I guess it could be worse!

Heat

Its been boiling the last few days. 90 in the shade in our house. Pool is a godsend. Kids swimming today, Jen and I taking turns sweating.

Dad's Day

We had a nice quiet dad's day today. Some very special presents with my very special family.

Negotiations

As the kids have gotten older, and more savvy to Jen's and my management skills, they have started to master the art of negotiation. I think all parents know what I am talking about here. I can't remember the first time it happened to be honest. I'm sure it was something as infantile as crying in response to something they don't like, and then us letting them off the hook. It's at that moment that they begin to realize they have some control over the outcome of thier lives.

Crying as a tactic is still in full effect, however, they are beginning to use more strategic means to get thier way as well; like compromising, or trying to create win-win situations. A few examples:

Us: "Eat your dinner."
Them: "Well, what if I just eat 2 of my chicken nuggets?"

Us: "We are turning off the TV in 5 minutes."
Them: "10 Minutes!" (Andy this morning)

Us: "Go pick out a book."
Them: "3 Books!"

Ok, well, none of those are win-win, but you get the point.

The scenarios are endless. To be honest, we are both getting quite tired of it. It's easy to objectively say, 'we are going to have zero tolerance' and therefor diffuse any elements of control. The reality is, there are situations where a compromise is far better than a meltdown, and there are other times when we are just so darn tired at the end of the day, that we just don't have the energy to uphold the law.

Last night, I put the kids to bed (which is always a battle) and Andy snuk back out to watch TV with Jen and snuggle with her on the couch. I was in the den. He had taken a very long nap earlier, and so Jen let it slide. Within a few minutes, he was fast asleep next to her on the couch.

Now Andy knows that if daddy catches him out of bed after bedtime, that I will raise my voice at him and usually take away some upcoming privalge. So when Jen called for me to come put him in his bed, Andy instantly woke from a dead sleep, and sprinted back to his bed! We both had to laugh at his response. It's good to know that we still have a little authority, even when we don't always work for it.

I am sure that these challenges will only become more intese as the kids mature. I dread the teenage years. Until then, I will continue to appreciate any level of influence we have, and try to remind myself that independence and creative problem solving are good skills for my chidren to have.

Bella

Katie often ends up having to endure a lot more Hot Wheels and Power Rangers than most girls, considering many of our close friends have boys. However, once and a while she busts out "Bella Bella Dancerella" and strongly reconnects with her 'shego' -- the result is a lot of confusion on the boys faces. They don't know what to do but just stand there.

The Spoils of No-Soils

Andy has had a "Pee Pee" chart going on his wall. The idea is, that if he can go seven days without an accident, and without drinking juice at night before bed, that we would take him to Toy R Us to get something of his choice. Well, the big day finally came, and to celebrate his apple juice sobriety and clean sheets, we took him to the toy store as promised. You can see what he got: Darth Vader with removable helmet. And I quote: "See dad, he's good underneath."

Scooting

We have recently gotten scooters for the kids. Katie has it mastered already, Andy is still coming up the curve. So far no serious injuries. Andy gets mad at his scooter sometimes when it dosen't do what he wants.

Old Friends

Special treat for me this weekend. My old buddy Jeff "Zeeke" Ruzicka, came home for a week from Costa Rica to celebrate the 1-year birthday of his boy, Suede. Many old bros from the SD spin-off clan were in attendance, including: Karl "The Schlicker" Schlaich, Tony "Salami" Anselmi, Travis "T-Tau" Taylor, and Paul "PT" Torres. We had a great time catching-up and seeing each others kids. Travis is in the lead with 3, and Karl and I are in a tie for second with 2 each, followed by Zeeke, with one on the board, and one on deck. (Of course everything is a competition.)

Napster

Andy's naps are getting out of control. Every day it 4pm its like someone slips him a mickey.

On the bright side, it gives Katie and I opportunities to play games like "Uno". She is really pretty good. I especially like watching her use strategy. You can see the wheels turn as she thinks about what happens 'if'...

Memorable First

We went to the beach on Monday. It was windy, sunny, and warm. Some friends had brought a boogie board and I decided I would take Andy out for a first attempt at riding waves. he did great. He was a little scared going out, but once he caught that first wave, it was all good.

An Escalation of Power

Yesterday Andy and his friend Austin were playing "War" with one of the most classic toys ever; the good 'ol Green Army Men. They used the train table to serve as a battlefield and erected a glorious battle as you can see above. After taking a while to blow each others men up, it dawned on Andy that their other toys in the vicinity might be able to improve his strength against his opponent.

Andy then grabbed Donatello (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure), proudly planted him on the field and then things kinda went like this:

Andy: "I got Ninja Turtle on MY Army!"

Austin: (Joining in and grabbing his own ninja turtle) "I got a Ninja Turtle on MY Army too!"

Andy: "I got a Giraffe on MY Army!"

Austin: "I got an Elephant on MY Army!"

Andy: "I got a motorcycle on MY Army!"

Austin: "I got a X-Wing Fighter on My Army!"

Andy: "I got a Tie Fighter on MY Army!"

Things kept going like this until the toys ran out, and then the battle began. In the end, all toys were killed in this super mega battle. I guess I won't be holding out for world peace in Andy's generation.

Crazyhair

Another "Crazy Hair" day for Katie at school.

Homer and the Sneeches

About 2 months ago, Andy realized that we have a lot of neat leatherbound classics in the den. He likes being read to, and so he took an interest in the books, with their fancy covers with gold-painted pictures.

Not long after discovering the collection, Andy found Homer's Illiad and Odyessy. He really liked the two Trojan warriors on the cover, and since that day, has asked me nearly every night to read him that book. Often times, he will get the book from the shelf, and bring it to me. Each time I laugh and tell him, "You won't understand it."

Tonight he brought the book to me again, clearly undeterred by my warnings. Tired of fending off his ceaseless requests, I agreed to read it to him.

After about two pages, he stops me and says, "Dad, it's hard to understand." I smiled at him and said, "What do you want to read?". He says, "How about Sneeches?" (Dr. Seuess...)

And so I took Homer back to the shelf in the den, and I thought about the irony that my son could not understand that he would not be able to understand the book. I thought about how many other things I will try to help him understand that will inevitably fall on deaf ears. I then started to feel some urgency, to share with him the little knowledge that I have gathered over the years... maybe I should set up some 'life lesson time', or something...

Then it occured to me that Andy is one of the happiest people I know in this world. Not long after that realization, I decided with supreme confidence that he should be in no rush to understand life. After all, ignorance is truly bliss. Now, if I could only find a way to return to ignorance...

I think I am starting to understand why I am always so eager to keep reading Seuess, and the Sneeches.

Swimagain

We hit the pool again this am. Andy fared much better. Relxaing day. I saw Ironman tonight with an old friend of mine.

Summertime

It was in the 80s today. Warm in the house. The feeling like: "it's a little too hot but you don't care cause you want Summer to come so bad"

I worked from home today and took the kids swimming around 5pm. It was our first real swim of the season. The pool was 83, and felt great. Katie is simply a fish. I keep looking for the gills and webbed feet as she darts around underwater like a seal -- turning, lunging, popping-out and diving in. It makes me really happy to see her having so much fun.

Andy normally loves the water too, but not today. He took a late nap... that means monster-child upon waking up. We got him up at 5 and he basically screamed-crying for pretty much an hour. First it was because he didn't want to wear the Elmo swimsuit I put out for him, then it was because Katie splashed him before he was ready to get in, then it was because the swimsuit he was wearing was too big and he wanted his Elmo suit, then it was because Katie and I got out before he could even get in... yes he spent the whole time crying and missed out on the swimming.

Sorry not photos, was too busy having fun to capture the moment.

Flashback

I recently got a new PC. For you tech heads, its a 1.8GHz Dual Core, 1Gb Memory, 500Gb Hard drive, all for $295. I was very impressed by the value. This new PC has Vista. One of the neat features is this 'widget' that basically creates a picture frame on your desktop, and plays a slide show of all your photos.

This feature has proven to be very powerful to me. At first it had me giggling, as I was occasionally shown old photos and reminded how tiny the kids used to be. But now I find it a bit much, as the constant nostalgia tends to make me feel old! I am trying to figure out how to tweak the settings to get the right amount of memories in my life.

This is a photo of Dad and Katie. It was taken about 5 years ago. I find it hard to believe how much things can change in such a short time, and how quickly such a short time can pass. OK, enough deep stuff.. enjoy the photo!

Double Celebration

We had a pretty special day today, not only was it Mother's Day, but Daddy turned 38 at the same time! Whew, lots to celebrate. We had a pretty mellow day in response, highlighted by a trip to the ER to handle a ruptured ear infection for Andy... Still, we had a nice time celebrating each other.

Date Night

Ever since Katie and I had a "Date Night" in Hawaii, she has been asking repeatedly to have another one back here in SD. So tonight we decided to head over to Red Robin (WooHoo Fancy!) for a little Daddy & Daughter time. Katie got all dressed up, did her nails, hair, and wore her Easter Sunday dress. Daddy was a bit more casual, but still managed to put on a clean shirt and some nice shoes. Katie ordered a Shirley Temple, Hamburger and Fries. She macked it all down, but after eating about half her fries, she decided to hold off so she could, "Save room for the Ice Cream Sundae."

Indeed it was close enough to my birthday that we used a cupon for a free burger, and of course got the complementary ice cream sundae. Katie actually used a straw to get the last of the melted Ice Cream out of the sundae glass -- little girl was hungry!

Andy and mommy met us after dinner at the local ice rink where we watched some hockey before we all headed home.

Dead Tired?

One of the struggles with Andy is that he LOVES his naps. Now, please understand that this should not be confused with "Loves to TAKE naps". He hates to take them, but when he decides he wants to sleep... you had better get out of the way, or be ready to deal with the spawn of hell.

Typically, when he is riding in the car in the afternoons, you will sometimes hear, "I'M TIIIIIRED!!!" In a long, whiny, high-pitch tone. This is both a request for permission and a warning. The danger is, that if we let him sleep around 3, he is up till 10 (or later) of course. Sometimes the response is, "OK Andy, go to sleep." which is followed by a smile, closing of eyes, and a curling up in his car-seat.

Sometimes, the answer is, "No, you can't sleep, we're about to have dinner!". WHich is then followed by much crying, and well... you know.

Today Jen did her best, carried him in from the car, there was still some life left in his eyes, but somewhere between the kitchen and the hallway, he zonked out. Jen handed him to me, where I held him by his armpits and dangled him a bit... no response. I then set him down in the position you see here.

We finally dropped him in the bath about 10 minutes later. That was ugly...

Mr. Mom

Krispy Kreme
Matching Buzz Cuts
Living Room Fort
Round Table Pizza

What do all these things have in common? These are the shenanigans that we do when mommy leaves me alone with the kids for the weekend!

We started the day off by bringing a dozen yummy doughnuts to the local T-Ball game. We watched and hung out with some friends while we ate our gooey breakfast. It was a lot of fun, the only wierd part was that I noticed all the boys playing T-ball (from Katie's calss) were yelling "I love you Katie!" from the field and while running the bases... ummm, hey wait a minute here! No more friends for Katie, in fact no more leaving the house until she is 30. What the heck? She's 5! I thought girls had Kooties until I was 11...

Later we went and got matching buzz haircuts! (Well Andy and me at least). I gotta get a pic up, the little guy is so cute! Jen is gonna kill me when she gets home...

Last night we tore the living room apart and built a giant fort that the kids slept in in their sleeping bags. We had the whole thing tented. I was amazed that they actually went to sleep right away. I think they were so amazed at the experience, that when I threatened them with, "Now go to sleep fast or we won't do this again..." they actually believed me...

We sure do miss mommy though. She's having a girls weekend out. Come home soon, the house is a mess and we are running out of food!!! :)