Owner: Being Michael's Daddy URL:http://being-michaels-daddy.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:17:55 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: A day-to-day chronicle of being daddy to Michael, the entirely unexpected son of a second-time married couple and their brand-new blended family. Site statistics:Click here
Ear Abuse 2008-03-21 17:31:00 I still hear the ringing in my ears from last night’s assault. It reached full force during a tooth-brushing session, while Michael was in the throes of a shriek-fest tantrum.I’m not exactly sure what it was that made life so horrible for him last night, whether it was the grilled lime cilantro chicken I made for dinner, or the fact that The Lion King eventually ended along with his turn at TV choice, or the unsatisfactory paper cutting experience he had after dinner. He may have been in a simmer all day long, and the combination of the above offenses brought him to the rolling boil that I got to deal with.Whatever the reason, he was good and cranky when I whisked him off to get his teeth brushed. I brought him into the bathroom, set him on the stool in front of the sink, turned on the
Sure, Dad 2008-03-21 11:15:00 Michael: "What's N...O... spell?"Daddy: "That spells 'NO'"Michael: "What's O...F...F... spell?"Daddy: "You know what that spells."Michael: "It spells 'OFF'"Daddy: "That's right."Michael: "What S doos?"Daddy: "It depends upon context."Michael: "It spells 'SISTER'"Daddy: "Not quite... you spell that S...I...S...T...E...R"Michael: "What's my name spelled?"Daddy: "M...I...C...H...A...E...L... spells 'Michael'"Michael: "M for Michael!"Daddy: "M for Michael, M for Monster, M for monkey."Michael: "Whatever."
Oh, Yeah? 2008-03-20 15:27:00 Michael's mom has just sat down to rest her injured leg, after being on her feet pretty much all day long.Michael: "Mama, wanna come up to my room?"Mama: "Michael, I'm going to stay in here. How about we snuggle?"Michael: "You want to come up to my room." (Note that this is issued as a statement of fact)Mama: "No, I really don't right now. But we can play legos right here!"Michael: "Please? We need to go up to my room!"Mama: "We can play legos right here, Michael. I'm not going up stairs right now."Michael: "Fine! Then I'm going away!" (he stomps into the living room)(from a distance): "And I'm not going to be your friend! Any more!"
Needles and Fingers 2008-03-23 20:02:00 Michael had to have his blood drawn Saturday. We have to do this twice a year so the neurologist can be sure his anti-seizure medication is at the right level. Hopefully by the end of next summer he can be done with it entirely.Michael was very brave getting his blood drawn. He usually is; I don’t know where he gets his fearlessness, but it certainly wasn’t from my genetic contribution. Both of the technicians who did the blood draw said that Michael could teach some adults how to take a poke. He can watch the needle being shoved into his vein and offer little more than a slight "ouch." Not even a wince, to say nothing of a tear.But it was his insistence that everyone admire the owie he’d gotten the other day that really took the cake. I don’t really remember how he got it, but on Read more:Fingers
Making Faces 2008-03-22 20:26:00 It’s a beautiful spring day. Michael, his mom and I are outside drawing with chalk on the sidewalk.Michael: “Make a circle, daddy.”I draw a circle.Michael: “Now put in eyes, and ears.”I draw in eyes, and ears.Michael: “Now make it a sad face.”I draw a droopy mouth to make the face sad.Michael: “Now make another circle, and make a happy face.”I have no idea why we’re drawing emotions here, but I doos what I’m told. So I make another circle, and make this face happy. It’s next to the sad face.Michael: “Now make a mad face.”I obligingly draw a mad face, right underneath the sad face.Michael, pointing to the mad face: “That’s daddy.”Sigh.Michael: "Stand on the mad face. I'll stand on the sad face."I guess I know my place.It’s all good. He let me be the happy
Easter Clothes 2008-03-25 11:01:00 What I find immensely perplexing is Michael's ability to handle 18 gauge needles jabbed into his arms with the emotional equivalent of a yawn, but throw an ever-loving fit over his clothes.Easter
was no exception to this.His mom went to great lengths to find a "little man" shirt for him to wear on Easter Sunday, so he didn't look like a refugee. We took him with us shopping so he'd have some choice in the matter. We showed him shirts. He refused every one.Finally, I had a little heart-to-heart with him."Your mother wants you to look decent for one day out of the year. You are going to wear one of these shirts. Pick one."He settled on a blue and brown striped knit polo shirt. His mom preferred a different one, but we were at least at some level of closure here. And at least he wouldn't be w Read more:Clothes
New Teacher 2008-03-27 15:18:00 Michael has a new teacher at Ms K's daycare, Ms R.She has kids of her own, and thus has earned her color bars.On her first day and using only her voice, she was able to stop Michael from hopping around the room like a flea on a hot brick and actually sit himself down and be calm for story time.She was obviously sent here directly by God.I'll wager it'll be only a few more days before I hear reports that he's eating his lunch with his utensils and going down for a full nap without intervention.I'll keep you posted. Read more:Teacher
Correction 2008-03-26 10:54:00 Dear 42 regulars, I must correct yesterday's post.My staff has informed me that the needles used to do Michael's blood draw were 22-gauge, not 18-gauge. I have to concede, since my wife is my staff are a nurse with years of experience in IV therapy.What do I know. Those needles looked huge to me. I would have cried.
Whatever works 2008-04-01 14:49:00 So the word is, Ms R has been getting Michael to go to sleep quickly and take long naps at Ms K's.She does this by swaddling him. Yup, just like we used to do back when he was a newborn. Wrap him up like a burrito. I don't know where she got the notion to try this method. And he sure didn't like it the first time she tried it.Well, I'm good with the practical solution. If this is working there for getting him down during the day, then more power to them.But it also probably explains why Michael laid in his bed from 8:00 until 10:00 last night, wide awake and not even remotely sleepy.
From the archives: Teamwork 2008-03-31 11:54:00 While I prepare other, more verbose posts, I shall regale you with the tale of Michael and the Guinea pig cage.It was back in May of 2005, after Michael had turned one and learned to walk. We simply weren't properly acclimated to the fact that he was getting into anything and everything within reach.We had two Guinea pigs. They were pets of my daughters, from years before. We didn't really have any good spot in the house for their cage; the kids didn't take care of them well enough to have them be in their bedroom, and most horizontal surfaces downstairs were already claimed by important, decorative and non-smelly things. So the Guinea pig cage got relocated a lot.At the time of the event, it was in the living room on a table.On this particular Saturday morning, the girls were watching TV,
The Hamster Wheel 2008-04-04 12:50:00 Being a parent has an aspect of forever running and apparently never getting anywhere.Last night was typical: drive home, pick up two daughters from their mom’s house, pick up a few miscellaneous items at the store, head home.The minute my feet hit the floor at home I head to the kitchen to make dinner. My two girls put their backpacks in random spots in the entry, the remaining sister is on the computer working on homework, Michael is playing with his Leapster at the kitchen table, after having created yet another new version of grayish-brown playdoh. My wife is busy vacuuming the family room, eating area and kitchen. This is a futile task, trying to keep up with the mess as it’s being created; it’s akin to stacking newspapers in a hurricane. It’s the task of Sisyphus. And yet, it
No Bunny Today 2008-04-03 10:45:00 Michael must have slept well last night.At midnight his sister woke up but didn't drag him out of his room. Instead, she knocked on our door. I was blissfully unaware of all of this; my wife told me about it later, how sister was having trouble sleeping. I didn't actually find out what it was that my wife used to put said sister back to sleep, but it worked. And Michael's slumbers went on undisturbed.So this morning he got up extra early.I happened to be heading out of our bedroom when I heard the unmistakable sound of Michael hurriedly galloping downstairs and thumping around in the family room.When I got there, I called out "Michael, what are you doing up so early? There's nobody down here yet."I saw him poking around over by the fireplace, looking in the bookcase and under the couch.He Read more:Bunny
, Today
More Nighttime Fun 2008-04-02 12:38:00 The last few nights has brought a fresh, new weirdness to our home.When I get up in the morning, Michael's bedroom door is open, and he is gone.The first day he did this, I was a little worried. He knows how to work the locks on the doors, so I've had to take extra measures to ensure that he can't just go on a midnight stroll around the neighborhood. The front door now has one of those external latches on it, installed high enough that he couldn't reach it even if he stood on a chair. The back door lock has been rendered extra-difficult to unlatch, enough that he can't work it.After checking the doors, I peeked into his sister's room. There he was, snuggled up next to her.Okay, no need to panic. He's safe and sleeping.The second day he did this, I thought nothing of it. But my wife asked h
Tagging Day 2008-04-05 14:07:00 Excuse me if I gush a little… but I have been tagged for a meme, so it is my internetory duty to keep it going. You may thank Antique Mommy for this singular honor.Never let it be said that I shirk my duties, particularly in the blogosphere (By the way – if any of you believe I have shirked something, feel free to comment. I’m a novice.).So here’s the deal with this tag:1. Link back to the person who tagged you.2. Post these rules on your blog.3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry.Thing number one: I grew up in Carmichael, California. It's a little suburb of Sacramento, which despite being the capital of the state, certainly holds less interest for the average tourist than say, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Anaheim, Carmel, P Read more:Tagging
Addendum 2008-04-08 10:56:00 After reading yesterday's post, my wife promptly got up from the computer, marched smartly into the living room, searched through one of Michael's toy baskets, and handed Michael the "mp3 player" of which I wrote."Go show your daddy," she prompted him.He came trotting in to the family room and showed me his prize."Look what I have, daddy!" he said, holding it up. He then turned it on to play "Here We Go Loo-bee-loo" as he merrily danced back into the living room.Thanks so much, honey. I love you too. Read more:Addendum
Traveling Music 2008-04-07 14:20:00 Michael decided to drag his toy microphone along while running errands Saturday morning, and it’s been in the car since. I’m debating whether to just leave it in the car and endure it up close and in person during relatively short car trips, or bring it back in the house and have relatively peaceful car rides but then risk having him play with it evening long at home.It’s this one. Makes me shudder just to look at it.This thing is made by the fine people who brought you that “mp3 player” I used to love so much. Fortunately that little delight has mysteriously disappeared.The microphone has several features, two of which are artfully annoying: 1) Grating music, and 2) a pitch adjustment.The songs themselves sound like they were arranged by Charles Ives and performed on a calliope Read more:Traveling
, Music
An Award, and Changes 2008-04-09 10:51:00 I’ve made a few little changes to the appearance of the page you’re looking at, taking the pictures of Michael and moving them over into a slide show on the left here (at least... I hope you can see it; it comes through on my PC at home but I am having trouble getting it to load elsewhere).I have received a “You Make My Day!” award from Tyler over at Building Camelot, which is incredibly flattering. Thus I made room for my new badge, which I’m proud to display, over on the right. Tyler brings warmth and realness to his writings of his life as a dad and a dad-to-be, sharing with us the challenges, joys and education of his own experiences. I encourage you to go take a look.Now, the rules of the award specify that I need to pass it along to ten other bloggers who make my day.No swe Read more:Award
Simply Saturday 2008-04-12 21:47:00 Today the weather was beautiful. For Portland, or anywhere. Highs nearing 80, cloudless sky, sun all day.Michael got a haircut today, much to his sisters' horror. They prefer him to have that shaggy, youthful look. But his mom has the final word on the matter, and off we went to the haircut place.This is a place specifically designed for cutting kids' hair. They have neat little cars and planes and things for the kids to sit in while they're getting their locks trimmed and coifs primped. Much to my consternation, Michael decided against the red truck with the knobby tires and opted instead for the bright pink Barbie jeep with the purple wheels and the built-in phone. And he kept it floored in reverse for the duration of his haircut.Sigh. It's a phase. It'll pass. He still has some notion t Read more:Saturday
Sleeping Arrangements 2008-04-11 11:45:00 Michael's once again bailing out of his own bed some time during the night and bunking with his sister S.I had thought that the last run of this particular activity had played out and was over with.Apparently not. And now, it sounds as though it really is all his own doing; sister S reports that she doesn't even wake up when he comes in anymore. She wakes up in the morning and surprise! there he is. And the cat is free.She's been dragging her poor cat into the room at night so she'll have company. Her bedtime ritual begins with her locating the cat, extracting her from whatever hiding place her pet has found, and then carrying the limp-boned, pitiable creature around while she does her ablutions. As she stands there bidding us goodnight and stroking the cat's neck, she reminds me of a shor Read more:Sleeping
, Arrangements
For Dads To Be 2008-04-14 23:35:00 For all of you dads to be, whose wives are currently (or even potentially) in that delicate condition of pregnancy, I offer some advice.These are but a few of the more significant things that I wish I had heard as a young, inexperienced expectant father.Because we are not ourselves dealing with being pregnant and all that it entails, it is easy to become rather detached from the event, and even aloof. Let me assure you: it is not something that your wife can become detached from. If she had a choice, I guarantee you that you'd get to be pregnant for a while.It is said that the energy a pregnant woman has to put out every day is comparable to climbing a mountain. So it's no wonder that she's tired, maybe cranky, maybe reeeeeally cranky, and needs a lot from you.So arm yourself with knowledg
Humbled, a little 2008-04-14 12:05:00 Once again my wife has proven her mettle. I have learned, over the years we’ve been married, not to underestimate her or her ability to solve a problem practically and using available materials.We have a hummingbird feeder that hangs from the pergola over our deck. Since Saturday was such a nice day she decided to fill it up with sugar syrup. She invariably asks me for the recipe because the ratio of sugar to water is important, and boiling it is important too, in order to break the sucrose molecules down into the component glucose and fructose. As she filled the feeder, I was busy filling up tiki torches. She stood back, and then saw that feeder was dripping steadily. I know this occurs, because the feeder is poorly made with a loosely-fitting plastic base, circular metal escutcheon wit Read more:little
Give Me That! 2008-04-16 11:45:00 A very simple change in approach in dealing with one particular aspect of parenting makes all the difference to the relationship you have with your child.I am speaking specifically of how I handle taking something away from him.When your child has something he shouldn’t have, or something he should but he’s doing something he shouldn’t with it, you need to retrieve it. Michael has historically been very tool-oriented, and when he’s grown bored with his dinner, he’ll often use his fork to explore the gaps between the table leaves, poke the cat, comb his hair or carve mystic pre-school runes into the back of his chair. Any of these activities will incite in me some level of irritation, leading me to respond in some way.This is the critical juncture: controlling my response.My natur
Random Acts 2008-04-16 19:42:00 I'm working on dinner, browning ground beef preparatory to making tacos.I love tacos.Michael is sitting in his booster chair at the table, which is directly behind the stove where I'm working. My wife is standing next to me, deciding which kitchen mess to attack first.I'm vaguely aware of the fact that he's counting."...26...27...28...29...30!" he finishes up."He can count to 30? When did that happen?" My wife asks me.I look up at him. He has his fingers laced behind his head, and is repeatedly bending over at the waist, restarting his count. "1...2...3...""He can do sit-ups? Who taught him that?" I ask her back.Sometimes, I wonder what they're doing over at Ms K's. Read more:Random
Quoth Michael 2008-04-18 10:44:00 This morning Michael
and I stood in the driveway waving to his mom as she drove off to work.Michael noticed the tulips his mom had planted in our front garden, that were now in bloom."I like the tulips!""You do? Mommy planted those. Aren't they nice?" I said."I like the blue tulips," Michael said. Blue tulips? We don't have any blue tulips. I don't think I've ever seen a blue tulip. Is there such a thing?"You like the blue tulips?" I asked him."Yes! They make me very soft," he said.Hmmmm.If that's true, I wonder if the yellow tulips make him crunchy.
Quoth Michael (II) 2008-04-22 10:54:00 Upon being awakened this morning, Michael
told his mother his morning woes:"My eyes are all burned out and I mixed up the toys so now they're all broked."That'll teach him to eat Polish sausage and grilled onions right before bed.
Sleep deprived Sunday 2008-04-21 11:32:00 There is nothing quite as delightful as being torn from a sound sleep by a preschooler barging into your room and raving about bathroom functions.My wife and I were both blissfully asleep Sunday
morning when Michael busted right in to inform us of something very newsworthy."I just pooed on the floor and the cat he sniffed it and I don't think it's there anymore and it got flushed down the toilet but the cat was drinking and he did that.""WHAAAAAAT?!!!" my wife shouted, bolting out of bed to investigate.Good morning! I'm awake now.Michael led his mother off to the scene of the incident. I heard him repeat his incongruous report as they descended the stairs.I lay there, having some intention to arise, and even a little bit of motivation as well, but not nearly enough to overcome the pull of Read more:Sleep
Sending up the White Flag 2008-04-23 18:59:00 Okay, I give.Michael is going to go into his sister’s room at some point during the night and crawl into her bed and that’s just how it’s going to be. I must accept this and move on. I’ve mentioned this happening once or twice before, but I’d assumed they were isolated incidents.No, this behavior has upgraded from “Sporadic Event” to “Phase”.A couple of nights ago, Michael’s sister was sentenced to go to bed at the same time as his bedtime. My wife and I bade them both goodnight, shut their doors and went downstairs to wrap up the evening. When we came back upstairs an hour later, Michael’s door was open and the light in his sister’s room was on. I knocked, then entered the room to find them both wide awake and reading some picture book.I immediately issued the orde Read more:Sending
, White
I'm Too Old For This 2008-04-22 13:27:00 Last night Michael was playing in his “tubes”: long, collapsible cloth-covered tunnels that we bought at Ikea. The game was to crawl through to escape the daddy monster. Every time he’d get to one end, the daddy monster would roar and scuttle on all fours over to get him. Then Michael would scream and turn around and crawl back through to escape.Eventually this began to fatigue the daddy monster, which had to sit down for a bit and pant. And hopefully not lose consciousness.“Daddy, you go through there!” Michael said, pointing to the tunnel.“Michael, daddy can’t fit in there. And even so, daddy needs to take a breather for just a bit.”“Please?” he asked, sweetly.“I can’t go through the tubes but I will chase you again in just a minute,” I said in between heavy puf
Hot Sauce 2008-04-25 11:02:00 At dinner last night, with Michael playing with his markers and not touching his plate of spaghetti:Daddy: “Eat your spaghetti, Michael.”Michael: “No, I can’t because I’ll put it in my mouth and it will go down into my tummy and it will burn me and I’ll say ‘AAAAAAAA! Hot sauce! It burns!’ so I can’t eat it the sauce because it’s hot.”Mama: “Do you want some hot dogs?”Michael: “Yes.”
I'm Squidward 2008-04-26 18:41:00 We're outside just now, and Michael is playing in his little sandbox. The weather is being supportive of outside activities, a rare but welcome thing.Michael: "What happened to Squidward?" (referring to the character in SpongeBob)Daddy: "In what episode?" Michael: "He says: 'It all started when I was born...'"Daddy: "Oh, yeah, that."Grandma (who's visiting): "What's he mean?"Daddy: "In one particular episode, Squidward was on his therapists' couch explaining why his life is so bad, and that it all started when he was born."Michael: "What happened to him?"Daddy: "Squidward thinks he's had a really hard life."Michael: "Just like you!"At least I don't try to play the clarinet.
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