I mean, seriously. I put Vincent to bed every night and we usually top things off with a story or two. Now, don't think I'm a disinterested parent, but I've been known to yawn a few times during the process. It's 8ish, I've had a long day at work, I'm reading a book I've read 50 times - I know what's going to happen.
Just over the past few weeks, Vincent has gotten more into a couple of the good doctor's titles - Oh The Places You'll Go!, The Lorax, Green Eggs & Ham and If I Ran the Zoo specifically . Man are they great. We all know the stories are weird and great and incredibly imaginative, but the bonus is the language. It keeps me awake just trying to navigate through all the barbaloots and Zomba Ma Tants. I may have missed the boat on Dr. Seuss when I was younger because I don't remember a lot of the plots (So there's a Cat and he's in a Hat?! Get out of here!). So I've been enjoying revisiting all of these classics. Amazing how much they've held up.
5/30/07
5/27/07
5/22/07
Root for the home team?
Something kind of scary hit me the other day. I'm raising two new Phillies fans. Okay - so Peter's a little young to realize, but Vincent knows of the existence of the Fightins and knows Daddy prefers them over other teams (especially the Devil Mets). Why should I care about this? Because my beloved Phils are the losingest (Is that a word? It's used often enough in sports. I kind of hate it.) franchise in the history of professional sports.Over the course of their 124 year history, they are 8786-9978 and have only won one World Series. That ain't good. I'm actively involving my children in a losing enterprise. What kind of father am I? Just because we live in the same relative geographic location to 25 men playing baseball means I have to subject them to the same torture I've been through (along with my father and my father's father....)?
Yep. I mean - I can't raise Mets fans because the Mets are Satan's Descendents. Nationals? Orioles? What a bore.
And that's it. Rooting for the Phillies isn't boring. You've either got blinding hope that the rare winning streaks will continue, or something kind of fun to complain about with other like-minded masochists. Hopefully the boys will thank me some day for this. I mean - I could be raising them in Pittsburgh.
By the way - they lost 5-3 tonight to the Marlins, a team with no fans whatsoever. What's the fun in rooting for them?
(photo caption: Me and the boys with our Phillies fan faces.)
5/18/07
Dear Hollywood,
Where are all the kids' movies? Maybe I haven't been paying attention but it seems like G-rated movies barely exist anymore. Am I wrong? We've been jazzed about taking Vincent to his first movie for a long time now but every time we look at the listings, there's nothing.
He was a little young when Cars and Over the Hedge came out but since then there's been what - Charlotte's Web (too sad) and Meet the Robinsons (too much for a 2 year old, methinks)? I did a little research (By "a little" I mean 30 seconds) and it seems that only about four G-rated movies come out each year. It sure seemed like more when I was a kid. Where is this generation's Follow that Bird?!
Now that we're getting into summer, there better be some family films out there. Anybody out there have any word on what's coming out? This drought is getting to be too much.
Recommendations welcome.
5/14/07
Brother's Day
We were driving yesterday and Peter was starting to get hungry. After a few minutes of grunts and waking-up sounds, he really started to rip. We were about 5 minutes from home, so I just kept on rolling as fast as I could without a.) Endangering my family or b.) Getting pulled over on Mother's Day.
The amazing part was that 2 feet away, Vincent was sound asleep.
It's so interesting that in only 2 1/2 weeks, Vincent has incorporated this little dude into his life. I mean, if you think about it - all of his experiences have been as the main focal point and with the full attention of both of his parents. Now he has to share his everything with this new little thing he barely knows. Conversely, Peter has lived his first 2 1/2 weeks with Vincent's occasional screams (Old MacDonald had a FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARM!), face and head rubs, and close-call jumps without as much as a flinch.
Rose said they both seem like old souls - both aware of each other's existence before each other existed. I'm just waiting for the time when Peter wants to turn off the Wiggles. Then we'll see how close they really are.
5/9/07
5/7/07
TVs, Waffles, & Bodily Functions
This past weekend we had our first extended outing as a four-piece. We had to go TV shopping. Ours is ten years old & blurry. We can't have Vincent's young eyes at 20/4000 before he's even 3.
Time permitting, we would also get groceries. Rosalie read that Earth's Best just put out organic, Sesame St. branded mini waffles http://www.earthsbest.com/sesame_street/products/category/267.php and made the mistake of telling Vincent. He wouldn't let us forget that we'd better come home with some damn waffles.
It started innocently enough. Peter slept through the entire TV shopping portion of the day (approx. 2:20 pm - 4:30pm) and Vincent enjoyed bouncing around the mall. We knew he would need a snack to keep him until dinner so we figured we would go to what I'll call, Grocery Store That's Not Trader Joe's (G.S.T.N.T.J), Vincent would come in with me, I'd get him some cheese while we shopped and Rose could feed Peter in the car (Ah, to be a woman - exposing yourself in a parking lot.).
The problem was that G.S.T.N.T.J. was awful and I couldn't find anything we needed (Is that their problem or mine? Let's blame them.). So just as Rose was about to feed Peter, I called and told her that the store was awful and I couldn't find anything we needed. I bought cheese for the V Man and we got out of there. By this time Peter was stirring and ready to eat. So instead of being smart and going home, we figured we'd stop at Trader Joe's (the greatest store ever) and repeat what we had attempted at G.S.T.N.T.J. Hell - it was only 3 minutes down the road.
Vincent and I shopped for about 30 min. When we got back to the car, Rose greeted me with a clear plastic bag containing the remains of an explosion these parts hadn't seen in a loooong time. Apparently, Peter took care of business a few minutes into his afternoon snack. While Rose was changing him, he made it very clear that he hadn't quite finished by...um...finishing... across the car and onto the driver's side seat. So my poor wife had to feed a crying infant and clean up the car at the same time. Which, I might add, she did a fantastic job of on both accounts.
Once order was restored and groceries were loaded, Vincent informed us that he had to do pee-pees. I grabbed his Sesame St. porta-seat and we headed back inside to Trader Joe's. The seat in the bathroom was large and difficult for a 2 1/2 year old to navigate so I figured I'd help the kid out by lifting his legs up a little bit to give his clothes half a chance of staying dry. He tried his best to hit the target but the seat it was just too tough and before I knew it, the levee had broken and the Trader Joe's bathroom floor was soaked.
I spent the next few minutes throwing paper towels down while simultaneously trying to keep Vincent from helping.
We got everything cleaned up (His clothes stayed dry! Woo-hoo!) and returned to the car to head home after spending a good hour in and around the store.
MORAL: When traveling as a four-piece, pay attention to the cues. If you've been out and about for a while and everything is going okay, GO HOME IMMEDIATELY. If you don't, you'll be cleaning poop off your car and cleaning pee off a public restroom floor very shortly.
We both agreed on the way home that we wouldn't have traded it. We had to make a separate trip later for the damn waffles, though.
Time permitting, we would also get groceries. Rosalie read that Earth's Best just put out organic, Sesame St. branded mini waffles http://www.earthsbest.com/sesame_street/products/category/267.php and made the mistake of telling Vincent. He wouldn't let us forget that we'd better come home with some damn waffles.
It started innocently enough. Peter slept through the entire TV shopping portion of the day (approx. 2:20 pm - 4:30pm) and Vincent enjoyed bouncing around the mall. We knew he would need a snack to keep him until dinner so we figured we would go to what I'll call, Grocery Store That's Not Trader Joe's (G.S.T.N.T.J), Vincent would come in with me, I'd get him some cheese while we shopped and Rose could feed Peter in the car (Ah, to be a woman - exposing yourself in a parking lot.).
The problem was that G.S.T.N.T.J. was awful and I couldn't find anything we needed (Is that their problem or mine? Let's blame them.). So just as Rose was about to feed Peter, I called and told her that the store was awful and I couldn't find anything we needed. I bought cheese for the V Man and we got out of there. By this time Peter was stirring and ready to eat. So instead of being smart and going home, we figured we'd stop at Trader Joe's (the greatest store ever) and repeat what we had attempted at G.S.T.N.T.J. Hell - it was only 3 minutes down the road.
Vincent and I shopped for about 30 min. When we got back to the car, Rose greeted me with a clear plastic bag containing the remains of an explosion these parts hadn't seen in a loooong time. Apparently, Peter took care of business a few minutes into his afternoon snack. While Rose was changing him, he made it very clear that he hadn't quite finished by...um...finishing... across the car and onto the driver's side seat. So my poor wife had to feed a crying infant and clean up the car at the same time. Which, I might add, she did a fantastic job of on both accounts.
Once order was restored and groceries were loaded, Vincent informed us that he had to do pee-pees. I grabbed his Sesame St. porta-seat and we headed back inside to Trader Joe's. The seat in the bathroom was large and difficult for a 2 1/2 year old to navigate so I figured I'd help the kid out by lifting his legs up a little bit to give his clothes half a chance of staying dry. He tried his best to hit the target but the seat it was just too tough and before I knew it, the levee had broken and the Trader Joe's bathroom floor was soaked.
I spent the next few minutes throwing paper towels down while simultaneously trying to keep Vincent from helping.
We got everything cleaned up (His clothes stayed dry! Woo-hoo!) and returned to the car to head home after spending a good hour in and around the store.
MORAL: When traveling as a four-piece, pay attention to the cues. If you've been out and about for a while and everything is going okay, GO HOME IMMEDIATELY. If you don't, you'll be cleaning poop off your car and cleaning pee off a public restroom floor very shortly.
We both agreed on the way home that we wouldn't have traded it. We had to make a separate trip later for the damn waffles, though.
5/3/07
Sleeping?
Are we sleeping?
You know what? Yes! We actually are!
Peter has basically been on schedule since Day 1 (Which was last Wednesday, by the way. Isn't it nice to actually have a day to refer to when using that term?). He's been sleeping solid from 10:30 pm until about 8 a.m. with 1-2 wakeups to eat somewhere in there.
Vincent is still making the transition to his big boy bed and doing pretty well. Two nights ago he slept in there by himself for the entire night (other than from 4-7:30 a.m. when I joined him, which is the trend). Last night though, he had some trouble and chose to go back to his crib.
I can't blame him for being freaked out. If one night someone told me I had to go sleep someplace new (porch swing? above the garage?) and that I would be a big boy if I did it, I'd disagree a little, too. All part of the big boy transition, I guess.
Current audio: Coincidentally enough, a Denis Leary bit called "My Kids" just came up on shuffle.
Recent eats: Kate's chocolate peanut butter chip cookies. Right?
You know what? Yes! We actually are!
Peter has basically been on schedule since Day 1 (Which was last Wednesday, by the way. Isn't it nice to actually have a day to refer to when using that term?). He's been sleeping solid from 10:30 pm until about 8 a.m. with 1-2 wakeups to eat somewhere in there.
Vincent is still making the transition to his big boy bed and doing pretty well. Two nights ago he slept in there by himself for the entire night (other than from 4-7:30 a.m. when I joined him, which is the trend). Last night though, he had some trouble and chose to go back to his crib.
I can't blame him for being freaked out. If one night someone told me I had to go sleep someplace new (porch swing? above the garage?) and that I would be a big boy if I did it, I'd disagree a little, too. All part of the big boy transition, I guess.
Current audio: Coincidentally enough, a Denis Leary bit called "My Kids" just came up on shuffle.
Recent eats: Kate's chocolate peanut butter chip cookies. Right?
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