Owner: Raising Eli URL:http://www.raisingeli.com Join Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:59:26 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A guide to all new parents especially dads who want to understand the day to day. A log of my son's activities from birth to present day and all the fun being a dad can be! Site statistics:Click here
Turkey Poisoning! 2007-11-25 16:37:14
I am a man. I am not complex. Like some dinosaurs I am a meat eater. I go out to the wilderness (the supermarket) and hunt my prey (Beef, Chicken and more Beef). I want, expect and demand that for the effort I put in, I get rewarded by being given man treats such as New York Strip steak, Ribeye, and big thick Angus beef hamburgers and I rarely bitch and complain about birds like Chicken and Turkey
. As a man, feed me man foods. That is all I ask.
Before tonight, I have never had to complain about man foods and my eating habits. Yet my wife, my equal in the cave has purchased ground turkey and plans on making turkey meatballs. She expects me to try this willingly, to declare to the world that substituting turkey for my favorite cow is an acceptable thing. She screams out, “It’s better for you!” in which I yell back, “NOT IF I STARVE TO DEATH BECAUSE I WON’T EAT IT”
Immediately and without hesitation I began to whine like a two year old. Man likes meat
Holiday Spirit 2007-11-25 12:14:19 Surprisingly enough I find myself in a joyous and happy holiday mood. Probably because I went out and got a really fantastic deal on an amazing gift for my wife. I have one or two more things to get but it is nice to know that the big gift is purchased, wrapped and on the mantle (wait…we don’t have a mantle). You get the picture.
Next steps are to find the perfect gift for Eli. I have some things in mind but everything takes up space, which is a luxury item right now. Our two bedroom apartment is getting cramped. I am thinking it is time to lose my private space (my office) or to finally take the jump and buy a house. Scary thought. Read more:Holiday
My Little Ansel Adams 2007-12-04 19:24:59 Eli is a lucky boy. For Hannukah he received his very own Mickey Mouse Digital Camera. To showcase his natural talent, I have decided to upload some of his first photos! I hope you enjoy!
Not a bad start. Although he took about 100 more of his feet, the floor, the tiles, a few of the dogs tush…. Read more:Adams
Month of Medical Mistakes 2007-12-04 17:33:42 This has been an interesting month for my family. Let’s start off with my wife. She is getting older (ouch, that is going to hurt me later…I still have time to delete…press….delete) and while doing a private training session for a goal keeper (Jodi was a Professional soccer player) she decided to try to teach one of her players how to dive. Unfortunately, the brain and the body were not in sync (but if you ask her she will blame it on the turf, her shoes or the moon being in waxing gibbous) and she landed wrong. The result is a torn ACL, torn MCL and some major bruising of the knee. This will require surgery of course and for the last few days she has been quite unhappy.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for my wife, she had to go to the dentist a few times which resulted in a couple of root canals and crowns. Ouch to the mouth, ouch to the knee and ouch to the wallet.
Add to this the cluster of boulders that had been traveling through my Read more:Month
Arizona Day 2 (movie review: The Golden Compass) 2007-12-13 08:56:54 Arizona day 2 was a lot of fun. I took my niece out to the mall where we looked at stores and items that we could not afford. Found puppy dogs we both wanted to buy and saw the worst movie
ever made.
To say that “The GoldenCompass
” was bad is an understatement of biblical scale. Everything from the acting to the special affects to the musical score sucked. When it ended we cheered because we were so bored and ready to leave the theatre that we bound from our seats and ran out shaking our heads.
The acting: I think Nicole kidman is hot, always have. She was hot in this movie but her acting was plastic. The little girl who Lyra played by Dakota Blue Richards was cute and she wasn’t so bad. The only actor who seemed to know how to act was Sam Elliott who is the ultimate cowboy in any movie.
The score: The score should accompany a movie, never overwhelm it and above all never really be an actor in the movie. Great scores like Braveheart can set the mood, help develop a Read more:Arizona
, review
Arizona Day 1 2007-12-12 09:15:18 Well after a very long and bumpy flight I made it to Arizona
. With nothing really big to complain about on the flight and the entire process of boarding, luggage, parking, rental car etc it was really just an easy event. I was kinda shocked.
My first stop was my dad, who looks pretty good for being an old grumpy man. He is a converted Phoenix Coyotes fan and of course he had to be wearing as many coyote items on as he could just to rub it in. I grew up a Rangers fan with a dad who was a huge Rangers fan. Somewhere along the way he converted and that has always been a disappointment for me. He will never taste the nectar from the cup. He has locked himself into a life of hockey dispair. It is really a shame.
After visiting dad we all went to go see my niece play in her strings concert. She plays the viola and it is always fun on the ears listening to 5th graders play in an orchestra. They actually did really well, of course Sarah was the star of the show and I only heard good things fro
Arizona 2007-12-10 20:47:17 I am heading down to Arizona
tomorrow to see my niece graduate from Northern Arizona University. I am really proud of her, she rushed through college taking a huge number of credits and sacrificing a lot of fun for lower student loans and well just to get it done. She did really well and I couldn’t be happier for her.
Unfortunately I am going alone, which sucks. I hate leaving Jodi and Eli behind and I know how hard it is. I wish they would come with me but the way the vacation period works for me at work and how it does not work for Jodi makes it impossible. I always feel like there is some impending disaster headed my way when I travel. I get these thoughts in my head that this could I might be seeing them for the last time. It is a haunting feeling and I pray and cry each time I have to leave. Nothing hurts more than not tucking him in each night, hearing about his day and getting his hugs. Makes me want to cancel the trip and stay at home.
It is going to be an interesting re
Dissertation on Divorce 2007-12-09 09:09:46 I think I could easily write a dissertation on the reasons why people get divorced. Clearly it is easier to walk away from a bad situation than work hard to resolve it. There are so many options for husbands and wives to try to work through their problems that divorce should be the result of a lot of hard work and continued irresolvable failure.
But what happens when your level of dissatisfaction surpasses the want or desire to do anything about it? How do you go about changing this negative energy into positive action that will result in change? It is even possible to change? That answer really depends on whether or not you are active or passive in life.
I don’t think people have the ability to change their fundamental programming. They may be able to alter their programming for short periods of time but always revert back to the same original code that they were born with. People do this when they date, trying to put their best foot forward as to lure the opposite sex into beli Read more:Dissertation
Movie of the Month: 300 2007-12-08 14:50:50 Eli is sleeping and I am watching 300 on HD DVD. What a gruesome and enjoyable movie. The story is based on a a story from history in which a very small number of Spartans take on the entire Persian Army.
The cool thing about this movie is the way it was filmed. It was all done on the computer and the fight scenes and acting were amazing. I didn’t think it was possible to show such brutality, emotion and even humor like they did.
I highly suggest it and although I have always picked funny movies as my movie of the month, this is a serious film, full of blood and gore and adult situations. The kiddies should be asleep when you watch it.
Need another review? For Extra Cedit here is to Joeprah! Read more:Month
Cool Toddler Holiday Gifts 2007-12-07 14:36:47 Being Jewish gives me a few benefits. One of which is being able to give Eli toys and get his reaction to them prior to everyone else going shopping for their Christmas toys. Granted Hannukah does not always fall at the beginning of the month…in other words…just enjoy this preview.
Mickey Digital Camera - These come in different shapes and sizes. Fisher Price makes them and so does V-tec. Basically you get a 640×480 color picture which has crappy quality but in a shell that is almost indestructible. Eli loves his and is constantly taking pictures now. He even says, “Cheeeeeeeeeese”
Elmo Water Doodle Pad- Now you are probably saying, water? NO WAY! not with my kids but it is a cool invention. Basically the kid gets a giant decorated pad with a stamp, a car, a pad and a water crayon that draws on this special paper, and only that paper. No damage to the carpet, walls, furniture etc. The pad dries after a few minutes and you have a brand new page to play wi Read more:Holiday
, Gifts
Falling Asleep Loved 2007-12-22 20:32:35 Eli definitely knows that when he falls asleep he is loved by his mommy and daddy. I think when a kid falls asleep there has to be a little apprehension involved. Maybe it goes deeper than what we as parents can see. I personally think it would be kinda scary to be put into a bed, in a dark room with stuffed animals staring at me and expected to fall asleep. Tired or not, it has to be a scary situation.
I do my best to try to conquer this possible fear by making bedtime fun and showering Eli with affection. I think getting him to laugh, smile and play right before bed accomplishes a few things:
It tires him out!
He knows he is loved!
He understands that Daddy will be there in the morning when he wakes up to make him breakfast and take care of him!
We read stories, jump and bounce in the bed, snuggle, tackle, tickle and talk about the day. Maybe I am full of crap and going to sleep for a child is just a normal non-scary event but even if that is true, I know that I am more comfortable g
I hate Hospitals 2007-12-21 10:20:12 Having worked for a hospital in an IT job and then serving shortly as a volunteer firefighter I have grown to hate hospitals. The nurses, doctors and general staff always seem to be on the losing edge of frustration and take it out on everyone around them.
When I was working in the IT department of a hospital the nurses would destroy the printers and take out all their frustration and aggression on the paper trays. It got so bad that we actually taped a nurse beating the printer with its own paper tray. We called The Society for the Protection of Printers (SPP) but that achieved nothing.
My attitude was changed yesterday when Jodi went for reconstructive Knee surgery. The admitting staff, nurses, doctors were amazing. I have never seen in my life such professional and caring treatment. Even the guys doing the valet parking were nice. Everyone was so concerned for not only my wife’s well being but mine as well. When was the last time you were given free drinks and snacks in the wa Read more:Hospitals
Better to Recieve 2007-12-19 07:34:15
Who are we kidding when we use the adage It is better to give than to receive? Come on, drop the bullshit act and just admit it. When it comes to the holidays, giving is fun but receiving is best. If you are like me I go all out during the holidays to make everyone else happy, it is not surprising that when it comes to receiving I am always disappointed. Not because others around me didn’t try, just because they didn’t go to the extreme like I did.
For example this season I got two sweaters, a shirt (with Eli’s picture), 2 hybrid golf clubs, and an electric razor but I gave an Ipod iTouch 16gb, a HD DVD player, 3 HD movies, and two Nintendo Wii Games. Now I know you are all thinking that I did pretty well, and I did. No complaints. But what would have knocked me off my feet would have been a Kayak, some camping/fishing gear, an iPhone or new pipes for my motorcycle.
In years past we would always rely on lists, which I hated doing. I don’t want to give a list, a
Dora Destroys Language 2007-12-17 04:21:26
I am sure I will get a lot of flak for this but removing Dora the Explorer from Eli’s acceptable TV list has boosted is talking and vocabulary. Granted, Eli counts in Spanish but in all other aspects of language he picked up some really bad habits such as talking in threes and repeating and using her phraseology. Dora was created not just to entertain but to bridge the gap between English and Spanish speakers. Educating the youth early in Spanish is such a great idea, but not at the destruction of English speaking skills.
Door, Car, Supermarket and Forest, Gate, Pirates Cove is all Eli would say. He was addicted. Whenever he walked in the house he would immediately ask for Dora the Explorer. He would ignore toys, want to eat dinner while watching (in which he would never eat just stare at the TV) and would constantly talk about his backpack. It got so bad that whenever he needed to look for something he would tell me to look in the backpack because everything could be found the
My Jewish Santa Story 2007-12-25 07:33:18 This is based on the my memory and is completely true. Unexplained but true. Way back when I was a young lad I went with my family to a Christmas “party” and my neighbors on Christy Drive in Phoenix, Arizona. I do not remember the party but I do specifically remember the events after the party.
I can’t remember how old I was but I distinctly remember looking up in the sky and seeing Santa
’s sleigh. Not a small speck in the dark night sky but it was right over my house, full in size and bright red with gold trim. There were no reindeer or Santa himself, just the giant red sleigh hovering above my house. I remember blinking a few times and pointing it out to my three older sisters who reacted with confusion and awe. Think about it, we are Jews programmed to be anti-santa and suddenly right above us his is sleigh. How would you feel?
My parents shuffled us into the house and sent us to bed. In the morning was the largest pile of presents I have ever seen. I got ev Read more:Jewish
Importance of Eye Contact and Language 2007-12-24 06:56:34 As a parent I have a lot to learn. I guess that is partially why I do this blog, simply to learn as much as I can and to pass on lessons to others who are searching for the same info.
One of the things I learned yesterday is the importance of eye contact when communicating with your child. I was always content with Eli answering my questions and talking to me, but I never realized that him maintaining eye contact during the conversation was just as important as the words he is using. So we now embark on trying to change his behavior in terms of him looking at us when he is talking to us, and forcing him to use sentences instead of just one word answers.
I would always ask Eli what he wanted for breakfast. He would answer French Toast. Is that a bad answer? No. But a better answer for his development would be. Daddy can you make me French Toast for breakfast or Daddy I want French Toast please. To me, I would always just say yes to French Toast. Now I am asking him to tell me more compl
Guys Night Out 2008-03-11 19:10:17 Nothing is better than a guys night out. A time for you and your buddies to get in the car, go to the local food establishment and just hang out. Just the boys. So tonight, Eli and I went to Chuck E. Cheese for a night out. We had pizza, Soda (fruit punch for Eli) [...] Read more:Night
Reload, Ready…Aim…Fire! 2008-02-27 12:48:59 Looks like we are officially “trying” to have another child. I love being a dad and things have been crazy, so I ask myself just how insane I am to be thinking that now is a good time to start thinking of adding another child to the mix. I close my eyes, suck some air [...]
Where is the Devil? 2008-02-19 20:24:12 After last night, well actually the last few nights I was actually afraid to go home tonight. I was not sure which kid would show up and last night was so draining that I didn’t think I could handle another bad night.
I got home and Eli was a perfect little boy, laughing, playing, listening and [...] Read more:Devil
The Golf Club War 2008-02-19 08:09:15 Combat between child and parent is unavoidable. As kids get older they believe that they should have more control over their lives and possessions and begin to explore their boundaries. My son has taken this to a new level and I am sad to announce that we have declared war on each other. You would [...]
Where is my real son? 2008-02-17 21:09:24 my son is missing! His physical body is in my home but his mind, attitude and behavior has shifted in a way that makes me want to go to boarding school! Suddenly Eli understands that he has us wrapped around his little finger and is now pressing all the wrong buttons in hoped of getting [...]
So Nice to Sleep 2008-02-16 07:11:54 It is a lucky morning. Eli usually wakes up around 6am on the weekends and it is now turning 8:10. He is sleeping so nicely, snuggled up with his blanket and cover. His stuffed cow right next to him and Cooper (the dog) on the bed. I keep pacing back and forth waiting for him [...] Read more:Sleep
Boogers Boogers Everywhere 2008-02-15 06:00:52 My son has the worst cold ever. The doctors say it was close to being pneumonia but we were able to ward it off. One of the results of this cold is the constant faucet of snot that is always dribbling from his nose to his mouth. Eli is smart enough to say he wants [...]
Berkeley City Council 2008-02-13 07:18:40 Can you believe this? The Berkeley
City Council
voted last week to BAN Marine Corp recruiting in Berkley stating that they are “Not Welcome in this City”. Is this some sort of bad joke? The vote and ban has already been lifted but the measure was aimed at the war in Iraq and Berkeley’s staunch [...]
Fever 2008-02-11 06:13:59 Eli got up this morning with a nice temperature of 101.3. Now it all makes sense, he was waking up each hour last night because he was not feeling well. We didn’t notice the fever…looks like the wife will take today off and I will take tomorrow.
This is the first time he has been [...] Read more:Fever
Mommy Mommy, every hour last night 2008-02-11 05:34:25 My poor wife didn’t sleep very much last night. Eli kept waking up and saying Mommy
Mommy. It was like he was having a nightmare or something and just wanted to make sure she was ok. Of course, she would go into his room and he would ask her to lay down in the bed [...] Read more:every
Horton Hears A Who 2008-03-16 20:24:15 Jodi and I were very nervous about taking Eli to see his first movie in the theater. Although Eli loves TV, he just recently got into watching movies like Cars, Toy Story and Tarzan. We were not sure if Eli was capable of sitting through a full movie at the theater because of the super [...] Read more:Horton
Band-Aid for daddy 2008-03-16 08:29:08 A few weeks ago I burned my arm pretty bad and it left a nasty scar on the inside of my left forearm. It is about 2 inches long and a half an inch wide. This upset Eli in a huge way because Daddy should not have a boo boo. Since then, Eli has taken [...]
Photographic Memory 2008-03-15 10:24:42 Can it get any crazier right now for me and my family? Buying a house, having Eli in special services (which is working beyond belief) and now to find out that Eli has a truly photographic memory. He remembers EVERYTHING he visually sees. In other words, if you lay out a series of pictures and [...] Read more:Photographic
, Memory
I am Man! Bra Shopping! 2008-03-21 08:52:55 I am man.
I am a macho man
I love hockey, boxing, football and ultimate fighting
I play hard, I play rough
Yesterday, while taking a friend from overseas to the outlets for some shopping, I was in the Under Armour store and remembered my wife saying that the UA sport bra’s were the most comfortable bras on the [...] Read more:Shopping
Recommend Site To A Friend
