Melting Heart

Every night we go through the same routine. After bath time, Trey and I play in the floor while Holly feeds Claire Kate. At the end of our play time, kisses abound, as do "I love you" and "night, night." It is all very sweet and beautiful. I look forward to it every day. Tonight was more of the same. I carried Trey in his room and laid him in his bed. He wanted to hold Elmo and listen to his Veggie Tales cd, which was pretty normal. As I made my exit from the room, I went over, kissed him on the forehead, and told him "I love you Big Man." When I got to the door as I began to close it I heard, "Daddy?" "Yes Buddy?" "I love you."

It was so tender and sincere. My chest swelled up, and tears filled my eyes. He meant it from the bottom of his two year old heart.

Our routine is great. I love it, and the 16 times during the day when Trey tells me, "I love you" are all very special, but there was something different about tonight at that moment. Perhaps God is similar toward us as His children. No doubt He is likely pleased with our worship, and even our "I love you" routines. But there is this part of me that just realized it's those times when we break from typical, and stop normal life to say I love you that make the Heart of a Father melt.

Gallbladder Non-Update

Would have posted this yesterday, but youtube just published the video. Enjoy!

Potty Training

Hey parents, what age do kids normally begin potty training?

Trey is 22 months, and has gone number 2 twice this week in the potty. I'm not sure if it's just because of the m&m's he gets for going in the potty or if he's ready. Being our first, I'm not real sure how all of this works.

Leave me a comment with some help, and I apologize for all the bathroom stories this week.

The Fringes of Two

Trey is almost 22 months old, and has already begun the infamous terrible two syndrome. For the most part he's a pretty awesome little kid, and doesn't give us too much trouble. There are, however, the few times when he really kicks things into gear to make us truly grateful for his "seasons" of obedience. Trey has a lot of personality, and is extremely smart. Tonight we learned that he knows how to cover up things that he has done wrong.

Holly and I were getting ready for a meeting tonight while Trey and Claire Kate entertained themselves in the bedroom. The Wild Man was tickling Sister when I wandered into the closet. After a minute or two, I could hear Holly in her "I'm trying to be stern and not laugh where Trey can see me" voice. I asked what happened and Holly relayed that Trey had used his baby sister and a pillow as a ladder to climb up higher on the bed. When his feet became firmly planted in her stomach and chest, she began to cry. Trey was unfazed by her tears until he heard mom's footsteps coming to check on them. At this point he quickly jumped off of her and stuck her pacifier in her mouth to cover up the fact that he did it. 

Yeah, this should be fun in the years to come. He's not even 2 yet!

Yummy

Most people know that I have a pretty weak stomach. I always thought that I would be better when I had kids, but not much has changed. My gag reflex is pretty immediate upon something that looks or smells pretty gross. Kids tend to manufacture these smells and displays of grossness on a daily basis.

Anyway, tonight after church Holly and I took the kids to a carnival at the church where Holly grew up. When I got there I was starving, so it didn't take me long to find the food line for some delicious BBQ. I had a pork plate with some delicious slaw and baked beans. The sweet tea was awesome and I even scored a bag of Fritos. I was doing alright!

Trey got a bag of Doritos (possibly his favorite chip) and began to chow down while sitting in my lap. He loves chips, but often tries to swallow them before they have been properly chewed. Tonight was no exception. As he was sitting in my lap, he became choked on a chip that he inhaled. I had the last bite of my sandwich in my right hand, and had my left hand around Trey holding him, when his choke turned to a gag. Then it happened. He, um, purged. Out of instinct I caught it in my left hand. All of his dinner and chips lay in an orange liquid in my hand. Insert my gag sound here. I poured out my hand onto my plate, speedily handed Trey to Holly, and ran into the kitchen to wash my hand. I did not puke! 

I suppose that being a father really has helped my guttural weakness after all!

Barnicles of Beardia, or Last of the Mohicans

Dueling Floaters

Tonight was one of those nights where I was gonna be a great husband. I let Holly go to Walmart by herself, which I have found earns me MAJOR brownie points. While she was grocery shopping I was gonna surprise her by having the babies bathed and ready for bed with a load of clothes already in the washer and the trash out to the street by the time she got home. I came in and everything was right on schedule. I put Trey and Claire Kate in the tub, and they were clean. I ran to their room and got Trey's pajamas and diaper, then ran back to check on them (at which time I had to tell Trey to quit pouring water on sister's face). Then, I ran back to their room to get all of the same stuff for Baby Girl. As I re-entered the bathroom, Trey said, "Uh oh Daddy doo doo!" I looked and there by the drain of the tub was a man sized stinky. Claire Kate, not to be outdone had managed to work up a little carrot colored doo doo of her own. Hers however was piled up on her bath hammock. This, by the way, is the first time they have ever both pooped in the tub at the same time. I paused. What do you do first in this situation? In all my years of schooling and growing up, this had never been addressed. Now I faced two babies under two in a steaming pool of their own feces. I did what any man would do in this grave situation. I walked out of the bathroom. I closed the door. I walked over to the cellphone and frantically searched for Holly's number. 

"Where are you?" 

"In the check out line." 

"Crap!" I thought as I hung up. "I will have to face this on my own!" So I got Trey out and laid him on his towel. I grabbed the wet wipes and speedily cleaned the hanger on from out of his behind and put his diaper on him. I instructed him, "Trey, listen to Daddy. Stand right here. Daddy has to clean Sister up and you don't have your pajamas on." He looked at me with a smile and a quick chuckle as he said, "Sisty doo doo."

I got CK out and cleaned up. She had cakes of baby lotion on her as I slathered her into her pajamas. Trey was then given the same quick and mostly thorough treatment. As I walked them out of the bathroom I noticed Holly coming in the door. By the time I got them settled down she had already cleaned the tub, took out the garbage, unloaded the groceries, and washed and dried 3 loads of clothes. It was like magic! How she does this day in and day out so effectively I will never know. One thing I am certain of, I won't soon forget the night Trey and Claire Kate treated me to a game of dueling floaters!

Barnicles of Beardia Part 5

My wife is a stinky cake eater, and Trey speaks Spanish!

Trey's first song

Trey sang his first song today. I guess to clarify, it was the first song that he's sung with words we could understand. He sings all the time, but we have no clue what he is singing. Trey also is in a big stage of association. For example, my brother Adam has a dog named Max. Every day, about 6 times a day, Trey goes through a roll of everyone he knows, and wants to know where they are. It was very cute the first 10,000 times he did it. Whenever he mentions "Uncle Adii" he quickly follows with asking about Max. Yesterday, he began associating Uncle Jo Jo with sleep, and he calls my dad Bobbo (Imagine Bob with a long o sound). All that being explained, his song today went something like this:

Bobboooooooo Bobbooooo

Adiiiiiiiiii

Jo Jo Night night

Max

It was a pretty funny, yet beautiful first song. Like father like son I suppose.

Valentine's Edition of Barnicles of Beardia

Barnicles of Beardia Part 3

Caption Please

Please write a caption for this photo. Haha! I love it!

Barnicles of Beardia Part 2

Trey has a special message for you at the end.

Family Dance Night Part 2

I taught him the sweet move he uses at about 0:14.

Lemons anyone?

I know, I know, I'm a horrible parent, but this is SOOO funny. This is Trey's first experience with lemons. It's a couple of months old, but still funny. He loves them now.

Oh, also, tonight when I was in the tub with Trey giving him a bath, he dropped a floater on me. There was a quick evacuation and extraction followed by a swift drain and refill and we progressed on just as pretty as we pleased. Ah the joys of having kids!

Tough

Trey is tough! Here's one of the reasons why. Holly thought about sending this video to AFV. Do you think it's worthy?

Family Dance Night

Trey getting down to some Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Claire Kate working out her sweet Air Drum Skills to AC/DC.

Poison Control

This afternoon I was at work when my cell phone rang.  Holly called to let me know she had to call poison control for our son.

Holly is such a GREAT mom.  I have no idea how she gets everything done around the house with 2 babies.  Claire Kate isn't moving yet, but Trey is into everything!  I think if we had a pet raccoon it would get into less than Trey does.  When he is awake he is constantly moving.  We decided early on that we would let our kids be kids and enjoy life, so we let Trey explore.  Holly and I give him boundaries, but he's pretty free to play and move.

Today, Trey was awake during one of Claire Kate's meals.  Holly was watching him, but it's impossible to follow Trey while she is breast feeding.  He came in the room holding a squeeze tube.  No big deal! He carries things around the house all the time.  As Trey got closer Holly could see that there was white cream around his mouth, and he was chewing.  Holly put Claire Kate down and found that our son had confiscated Desitin diaper rash ointment from Baby Girl's bag.  He helped himself to a couple of squeezes, and seemed quite happy about it.  It says on the tube, and I quote, "For external use only.  If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away."  Oh great!  So, Holly called them, and they instructed her to give him something to drink.  She did just as they said, and he never acted like there was anything wrong.  They also called a few hours later to check on him, which I thought was nice.

Anyway, this was our first call to Poison Control as parents.  I anticipate it won't be the last with a little pet coon, Desitin eater on our hands.

Changes Part 2

This blog is a follow up to this one.

I could not have dreamed of things adjusting as naturally as they have.  I realized today that it's already to the point that I don't remember what life was like before Claire Kate.  Trey has taken to his "tister" so well.  He never acted jealous, although he did check on her from time to time with this look in his eyes like, "is she still here?"  All in all, I would say it's been pretty awesome becoming a family of four.  

I would like it to stay that way for a little longer than 15 months this time around!

Will You Read to Me?

There are certain things that happen only when you have kids.  This is one of them.

Let me explain:  Trey loves about three things more than me.  1) A ball - any ball, it doesn't matter, although right now he is fixated on "putballs" (footballs).  He throws balls about 10 hours a day.  If he is awake he has a ball.  2) "Nute Nacks" - to the common person these are called Fruit Snacks.  He walks in the kitchen, points to the cabinet where we keep them and says "nute nacks".  3) laundry - if Trey can find a basket with clothes in them, he loves to pull them out all over the room.  Recently, this has spawned into something a bit more sinister.  He loves adding things to a pile of dirty clothes ready to go in the washer.  His favorite things are his nute nack wrappers, a brush, or in the case of these pictures, one of his books.  It was a book that he purposefully leaves in the hallway to read and play with in the hallway.  Coincidentally, the hallway is where we pile the dirty clothes as they are loaded into the washer.  Imagine Holly's surprise when she opened the door up to find Trey's hallway book in a thousand pieces.  

This never happened before we had kids.