Our Baby Size Life! » Family

2nd Birthday Blowout!

John — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:31:16 +0000

Holy Cow Folks! The party just ended! I had to finally kick the grandparents out after 3 weeks… No choice, the house is falling apart. We’re still finding people passed out under piles of Sam’s toys. We had kids swinging from the chandelier and adults on all fours. We had two birthday cakes that absolutely demanded we eat at least one piece from each. I found a policeman’s holster, no gun yet, and there’s a goat locked in the upstairs bathroom. There’s two strangers living in my car and something has been making funny noises from my shed. The turkey baster has been used, but the two toilets haven’t. There’s also the rotten smell coming from the basement and the neighbor is missing, but I am sure those two things aren’t related. I do have some good news! The mystery meat in the buffet turned out not to be my aunt’s cat as we found it in the microwave…

So all in all, it was a typical Irish 2 year-olds birthday party.

Sammy was dumbfounded by all the attention he got, especially during the Happy Birthday song. A deer in the headlights comes to mind. But he suddenly warmed up when he figured out he was allowed to actually rip paper off of some new TOYS!!! Freakin’ kid was flying left and right to protect his gifts from the other little kiddies trolling for treasure. No fights broke out, however, as he quickly decided to share the newly unwrapped gift when he saw another package waiting for him. We also taught Sam to tell people how old he was because we thought it would be cute to see him tell people he was two years old at his party. He did pretty well:

Here are some pics of the day… We have too many to post, and my brother still hasn’t sent me all of the pics he took that day yet:

We had a BIG gang of family and friends over and we’d like to thank them all, albeit belatedly, for their generosity and good humor. We had a great time and we loved having everyone over… now we get to rest up and put the house back in order in time for… Saint-Patrick’s Day!!!!

P.S. My Aunt is looking to adopt a new cat…

Belated Xmas Wrap Up!

John — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:59:31 +0000

It’s taken me a little longer than last year to write a Christmas round up, well, mainly because the post Christmas-I’m-fed-up-with-anything-Christmas feeling I get lasted a little longer than usual. Don’t get me wrong, we had a wonderful and happy Christmas with family and friends. Things couldn’t really have gone better, but I think the Xmas burn out is due to the fact that this year was Sam’s first real Christmas. Last year, he was like a bump on a log, sitting and watching all the merriment and traditions happen around him. He barely touched some wrapping paper. This year was a completely different story. He’s almost two, and the hyper-active, ever inquisitive little guy was fully in the Christmas spirit: which burned us out!

He had his fingers in everything! Let it be Melissa and I wrapping gifts in front of the T.V. in the basement, or cooking in the kitchen. Sam was there to sample, fiddle and disrupt all. He figured out Santa Claus was a good guy and never shed a tear when he sat on his lap (two times this year!) . He also got to indulge in some of Mom’s awesome holiday cooking. No dessert was safe if placed on a low-enough table or even the edges of a higher up kitchen counter! Sam hikes up onto his tiptoes to let his little fingers crest the top of the counter and begin their blind search for… well anything! Many gingerbread men have lost their lives this way We’d find the bodies laying in Sam’s toy bin or under a couch, the heads or limbs missing…sniff, it was terrible!

Speaking of the toy bin, I think we’re gonna need a bigger one as his toy collection grew (like our credit card debt) over the holidays. Amongst all the books, crayons, clothes and other nifty gifts, Sam got two gifts that I had when I was a tot: the Fisher Price farm and the Fisher Price parking garage! Sam loves these two toys and plays constantly with them. We have freakin’ Hot Wheels cars flyin’ out of the parking garage ramp, rolling through the dining area, only to rest up next to a cow in the barn. Hot Wheels are NOT friends to busy parents, especially Dads with big feet. It’s akin to a teen leaving his skateboard in the driveway… yeah, I can’t wait for that either!

Another great gift: My PJs can kick your PJs ass!

Born to ride: tattoos and biker babes are forthcoming.

While Sam loved ripping open presents, even those that weren’t his, the big, big winner of the season was all the Christmas lights. This kid would go blind looking at those lights if we didn’t stop him. Talk about your “deer-in the -headlights” syndrome. You want to get something out of his hands without as fuss?

Turn on the Xmas lights!

You want to keep him from crying in the car?

Show him some Xmas lights!

The best, however, was when Sam figured out that flicking the red button on the power bar beside the tree turned the lights on and off… Well, you can imagine the rapture he was in! The first time he figured it out, Melissa and I are in the kitchen getting supper ready and Sam was coloring on his play table a mere ten feet away. We’re chatting away all the while listening for any signs of trouble from Sam. After a few minutes of unusual quiet coming from Sam’s area, meaning he’s up to something, we decided to check up on him. We turned to see what’s up as the silence usually indicates one of two things: a parental law being broken or poop time. Upon turning towards the living room to spot the little guy, we see the Xmas tree blinking on and off at an unusual interval… riiiight. A little investigating found Sam hunched down behind the couch with a huge smile, and his little index finger, straight as an arrow, flicking the power bar button on and off. Cute… If only his other straight-as-an-arrow index finger wasn’t buried hilt deep in his left nostril…

Overall, the holidays blew by and left us exhausted in their wake. No matter how much we think we are in control with all the planning and organizing, once everything is done, you realize you made it through regardless of how your well-laid plans turned out. My one, brilliant plan for this holiday season did go as planned for once. I splurged a bit on my holiday budget (Santa helped a bit) and got Melissa something she’s been wanting forever…

She’s a Mac girl, so I indulged her with her very own! We had promised each other to only get little gifts, but I can’t obey a rule like that with all she does for me and Sam! Come on folks, that wouldn’t have been fair! And, besides, she’s on Santa’s “Nice” list, which is tough to do for an adult these days… She was all surprised/ mad/ happy/ crying/ threatening/ grateful /worried when I gave it to her on Christmas morning, but as you can see in the above pic, she got over that quick. Maybe I’ll post the video of her opening her gift on Christmas morning… Hmmmm

Well, it’s been a long one and I guess it’s time for bed… Oh! What? You want to know what I got for Christmas? Well sure I’ll show you… Hold on I got a pic here somewhere… Ah yes, here you go… Better than all the Fisher Price farms, kick ass pyjamas and iMacs you could unwrap under the tree… I got these incredible gifts that just keep on giving, no matter what, every day of my life. I hope your Holidays were are fulfilling as mine, I really do, because all the tinsel and wrapping in the world can’t warm my heart a like big bear hug from my son or a tender kiss from my love.

My gifts: They kick ass too!

Back from Holidays!

John — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:44:57 +0000

Hey everybody! No the blog is most definitely not dead! Yes everyone is doing just great! We were just away from our online lives a little bit for the holidays! And now that those depressing, dark and long January days are now here, it’s time to shut out the real world once again, and delve back into our digital persona’s to help make us forget the cold outside.

Since I didn’t do this before the holidays, Melissa, Sam and I hope you all had the best of holidays! We can, however, still wish you all a very happy, healthy, successful, sexy and rich New-Year!!!! You can re-arrange those characteristics in the order of your preference

So, check back in soon, for some Holiday Hijinx as I am waiting on my bro to get me the pictures he took over the holidays! Come on brotha!!!

Until then, here’s a family pic we took in our pyjamas one night in front of the tree. Ahhh, cozy winter nights, snuggled with my loves! Nothin’ beats it folks! Nothin’ I tells ya!!!

Getting Ready for the Fat Man

John — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:02:01 +0000

My little Xmas Elf!

Well we are now in December and the season is upon us and so far, Sam has not disappointed. Melissa and I really get into the spirit of things, as you can see on the left, and we love the goodwill that flows this time of year… Too bad it’s not year round eh? Now I realize that this isn’t the first Christmas we’ve had with Sam, but this year he is much more aware and active than his younger self was last year. This is a huge difference for us, not only the way it brings us back to our own childhoods and the innocent wonder of the season, but also on a level of parent alertness that was previously, seemingly, dormant. Take for instance, the Christmas tree…

My branch! Mine!!!

We set ours up towards the end of November. We slowly but surely got the 600 lights into the tree and on a gray Saturday morning, we began hanging the ornaments. Of course, we got Sammy involved and he was so happy to help! What with all these little “toys” just sitting there! Thirty seconds and a couple of quick grabs later, the death toll was at one ceramic ornament and one glass Christmas ball. So we then decided to limit Sam’s access and let him play with the, well I’ll just say it, uglier ornaments. You know, the ones that go to the back of the tree? That went much better. I reduced our stress level and Sam seemed to appreciate the greater freedom of sticking those ornaments where ever he wanted in the tree. He had a favorite branch too. It’s was at the back of the tree, down below the window line. He had about three balls, two snowflakes and a bird ornament on the same branch! It was cute. We think it’s because when we showed him what to do, we hung the ball on that branch. So now he was walking to the ornament table, picking one up, walking all the way back around the tree, squeezing himself between the tree and the window until he found the branch, and hung the ornament there. He did this six times before we caught on! Man I love this kid!

What the f...

Then we started unpacking all the other decorations we own, and while we are not overtly crazy in the deco department, actually Melissa is, I’m not , we do have more than most people. Sam went crazy here by opening all the different containers and boxes we have. With his big eyes and curious hands, he would reach into the box and pull out some festive treasure. Sometime he’d let out a “Whoa!”. It was too cute I tells ya!

Carrot nose. Check!

All that aside, We think Sam’s biggest addiction so far has been the lights! They may be found on the tree, or in our Christmas village, but Sam has an uncanny love for the lights on the houses outside. Every night, while driving home, Sam just flips out pointing all the houses that have lights out to us. We ask him “See any lights Sam?”, and he enthusiastically points them out while blurting out his not-so-well pronounced “Lights!”. It’s funny to see, because he’s stuffed in his overly puffy winter jacket, with his neck stretched up like a turtle and his little arm (equally puffy) sticking out with his little finger pointed dead at the house.

Good times folks, good times. Got to run now, the weekend beckons!

Take care!

Halloween: Haunted Happenings

John — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:29:08 +0000

Well folks, it was a crazy Halloween… and I am pooped out! So for now, only some pics. But soon I will throw together a nice vid to see Aunt Ingrid in action, in her finished form! So here are a bunch of pics to tide you over as I am now going to bed!

(Click the images for larger)

I’ll be back later in the week when I wake up!

Take care all!

High Flying Lad, Low Lying Dad

John — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:57:29 +0000

Sam in his flight suit! Geckos!!!

Hey folks, it’s been a while, but I just got so busy with certain projects that were time sensitive that the blog took a hit. Aunt Ingrid is a big reason for this, and I’ll be posting more on that for sure, but the other time bandit that’s been infecting our little lives is, well Season 4 of Bones on DVD. Good characters and good writing a TV show make! Can’t get enough, which is what makes it so dangerous to own on DVD: you watch ’till you drop! Oh well, things are looking to lighten up however, and I think we should be back on track! Big news this week: Sam can fly!!!

Initial estimates say he was actually air-born for 1.367 seconds. Well, technically, he fell through the air, which might be considered flying even if it was gravity doing all the work! Now I am making light of this issues, so suffice to say he is uninjured and suffered a bigger scare than anything else. Which is not to say Melissa and I didn’t crap our pants when the event I am about to convey to you happened, because we did… Figuratively, of course… ahem! So! On to the story of Sam’s solo manned flight.

Sam is twenty months old, meaning he runs, jumps, crawls and climbs. He is an active toddler and he loves playing and having fun. It also means he’s getting to that age were he doesn’t want to sleep alone, and he wakes up crying at odd intervals throughout the night, inconsolable unless we sit by his crib, or bring him into our bed with us. We tried everything here folks: giving him water, warm milk, playing music, back rubs, night lights (in different positions around his room), different child separation techniques for sleep time, etc. We’ve run the gamut and the crying sessions were sometimes going on for two hours at a time… and this is at three in the morning people! So one night this week, I was locked in the midst of another epic battle of father’s patience vs son’s insistence, when I decided to try the old “leave the room for 15 minutes, let him cry and come back in and tuck him in”.

Now, let’s be clear: We do not like hearing him cry and we do not like this supposed technique that’s in some books. We’ve very rarely used it because it just didn’t seem fair and it felt wrong to us and our instincts. As a parent, we trust our instinct as a rule.

But I was frustrated, burnt out and exhausted, sick with the flu and had gotten hardly any sleep that week, so I decided to give it a shot. I tucked him in, gave him his turtle doll and his blanky, rubbed his back a few times, popped on the soft music, raised his crib wall and walked away to my own bed. Well, the crying started before I’d left his room and he was on his feet before I had gotten under my own covers. Melissa, the ever watchful and insightful mother that she is, was keeping an eye on Sam from our bed as he danced around in his crib, his cries bordering on screams. I was just leaning over Melissa’s shoulder to look at Sam myself, to reassure him we were close by when Melissa said:

“Oh no! He’s going!”

She hops out of bed faster than I’ve ever seen her move, which is saying something as I’ve seen her shopping at boxing day sales, and starts running for Sam’s room. She gets five feet from our bed and I hear a loud SLAP! Then crying…Sam had gone over the railing…

Now I’ve mentioned before what a great person Melissa is, and I’ve praised her for being an excellent mother to Sam. Higher up in this post I qualified her as “ever watchful and insightful”, which is a good thing, because she had previously placed a mattress at the foot of Sam’s crib after noticing he’d been starting to climb the bars. What more can I say?

Sam spun a complete flip over the raised crib bar and landed, flat on his back, on the mattress. Melissa was there in a flash to cradle him up in her arms, as I arrived a few seconds later, ashamed at my actions and feelings. I was on the one hand frightened that he had hurt himself, but I was also angry that he had actually made it over the bars… as if he’d done it on purpose, which is, of course, complete and utter non-sense! Just me being a frustrated-tired-moron. But that anger was short lived and it faded as soon as I saw his scared, little eyes. Poor kid, my heart broke… We settled in for a family hug and Sam immediately pointed to our bedroom, to our bed. Little bugger was OK, and he was still trying to get his way!

So, then and there, we pulled his mattress out of his crib and put it on the floor next to the one Melissa had previously placed there. I grabbed a pillow and a blanket and slept there, on the floor with my son for his first night out of his crib. He was grateful for that, I can tell. For as we lay face to face, he kept reaching over with his little warm hand around my neck, pulling my head closer and closer until our foreheads touched…then with a deep sigh, he fell asleep.

That’s when I sighed…

When, Melissa woke us up at 6 in the morning to get ready for work and daycare, Sam had somehow taken my pillow and was sleeping comfortably in a little, warm ball half upon it… And I was lying flat faced on this dinky, little, kiddie mattress with a kink in my neck…

Way to go kid, you got one back on Dad

End of Summer

John — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:28:54 +0000

We are a couple of weeks past the official end of the summer season, which brings with it mixed feelings. On one hand: summer is awesome. The weather, overall, wasn’t that bad and we had some good times with family and friends in all sorts of place and all sorts of situations. On the other hand: Fall is awesommer! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am a Halloween nut! Slowly but surely I am indoctrinating Melissa into the ways of All- Hallows-Eve, and hopefully Sam will be into it later on… Melissa and I are currently working on a couple projects for our Halloween display, which gets bigger every year. So Fall is a fun time for us but before we welcome those chilly nights, and leaves rustling in the wind, lets say goodbye to another summer with a smattering of pics that I’ve neglected to post.

We did so much during the summer, that if I was to post about it all, well, I’d have to give up my day job to write it all up… which is a tempting thought.

Sam Park’s It

John — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:01:42 +0000

A sure fire staple of toddler entertainment for summer has got to be the neighborhood park. Hands down, the easiest, cheapest and quickest of the available activities with which to keep your youngsters happy. Parents love them for the previously mentioned reasons, and kiddies love them for the slides, swings, monkey bars and the sand! Bloody sand that gets everywhere! Being rookie parents, our first visit to the park was end capped by us arriving at home, hauling an exhausted Sam inside, sitting him on the couch and removing his sandals… that were full of sand!

It. Gets. Everywhere. Sand just loves to hide in those little inconspicuous areas, and who has said areas, oh I don’t know, all over their bodies? Freakin’ kiddy-toddler people that’s who!!!

“Oh! He’s such a cute, little chubby baby!”, says the lady.

“I beg your pardon Ma’am”, I retort. “But are you out of your freakin mind!?”

Every one of those flabby folds hides a smattering of sticky sand that has somehow found it’s way into there. I changed Sammy-boys diaper when we got in, and he had sand in his butt crack. How? I have no idea! We were watching him constantly so he didn’t crack his noodle on any of the “safe” climbing toys, and I did not see him pick up and place any sand anywhere near his own bum! Forget Roswell folks, I got your unexplained phenomena right here. UFO’s my arse, explain to me the case of the appearing sand! Sam does seem to have a great time, however, so the sand chaffing must not bother him much. Another parenting mistake I did was forget the monkey rule. Allow me to enlighten you on this: when dealing with the toddler crowd, any and all action performed by the attention getting adult, will or attempt to be, copied. Monkey see, monkey do. As I ran up a slide, I seemed to forget this cardinal law of parenting and allowed Sam’s rapt attention to record every step I took. Again, up the slide. Sam, still grasping the concept of gravity like Wiley E. Coyote, attempted to climb the slide the way Daddy did only to be met with failure… and a face full of plastic. But he’s fine, didn’t even cry. He just got back up and tried it again. Nope, not gonna happen kiddo.

Sam loves the park. Half the time he just likes running around in the open grass all the while looking for something interesting to finger. OK, that didn’t come out right, but there is no other way to explain it. He see something in the grass, waddles over to it and hunkers down just above it. Then he whips out the pointing finger and hesitantly touches the mysterious object. If the object does not, in any way, cross Sam’s standards as to what he will and will not touch, he begins to poke and prod the object until we come over to see what he’s jabbing at. So far, he hasn’t put too many strange things in his mouth, which is a very good thing, cause parents tend to freak out a little wen kids do that… But, you know, not us…

Check out some pics from Sam’ various park adventures and take it easy folks. Remember to relax and park it yourselves from time to time.

Sammy’s Cheese Chair

John — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:18:08 +0000

The chair...

During the week, our routine is pretty standard: get home from work, get in the house, get some food in our bellies, get Sam in a bath and get him into bed. It’s not always that straight forward, we do throw in some good old on-the-floor playin’ around time, but that’s the gist of it. And while we go through this daily grind, Sam has pretty much been nice enough to play on his own and let us prepare supper undisturbed… unless we forget to give him his cheese! This kids loves the mozzarella and he knows when it’s time for it. We have barely all shuffled through the front door and Sammy-pants B lines right for the kitchen to stand at the counter where we cut his cheese. He also has a little plastic bowl that he goes and fishes out of his toy pile and gives it to the cheese-cutter. Then an impatient finger points into the bowl expecting his snack. Naturally, to keep the peace with his grumbling belly, we comply and drop in about a dozen little cubes for him to munch on. Sam likes a quiet meal, so he used to look around for someplace to sit while eating, usually in front of the sink or fridge, because he has to see what we are doing in the kitchen. But sitting in front of the sink or fridge is a recipe for toddler trouble. So, the we bought him the chair.

Sam likes his chair.

We place it near us in the kitchen and when he gets his dairy payment to leave us alone for a bit, he grabs his bowl and heads for the chair. At first,

Just sittin', eatin' cheese...

we needed to pick him up and sit him down on it. But Sam wasn’t going to take this pampering any longer; he wanted to do it himself! Now I don’t have a video of this yet, but when I do I’ll throw it up here. It’s the funniest thing to see. He walks up to the chair, stops about two feet away, turns around so his back is to the chair and slowly walks backwards until his heels hit the chair. Now, his reversing isn’t very good yet because he doesn’t look back at where his going; he looks up at you with a smile like he’s saying “Hey, check me out! I’m backing up man!” When his heels hit a part of the chair, his butt drops… And so does the bowl of cheese cubes! He’s missed the chair and cheese goes flying! We still find these little, hard and dried up cheese cubes under sofas and furniture across the house! He does manage to wedge his cheeks on the chair properly after a couple of tries. He then sits down with a smile and a new bowlful of cheese to watch us get his supper ready.

Hey! Get off my Dads grass!!!

On some evenings, maybe it’s the food were preparing or the pre-dinner conversation that bores him, he picks up his chair and puts it at the front door of the house! Our front door has a big glass window inset, so he just loves looking out onto the world while scarfing his mozza. He’s our very own little old man, guard person. He yelps when he sees a dog or cat, and talks out loud when people walk by. He’s even knocked on the glass to get people’s attention, and when he does, they usually wave to him which is all he needs to flash back his cute little smile. It’s pretty neat as a parent to see your child grow up and be so aware of his surroundings. While Sam can only speak about five words, he understands a whole lot more! And yet, when he does something an adult would do, we are surprised. Not through doubt that he’d never do the things he does, just astonishment at the fact that this little guy, only a year before, couldn’t even roll over. Now he’s yelling at people to get off my grass! Clearly, he’s letting us get to know him a little more every day, quirks and all, which is great! He makes us laugh cause not only does he do funny things like this, but he knows they are funny and laughs with us. My kind of guy!

Don’t forget to laugh folks! Have a great weekend… cause Sam may be watching YOU!

Checkin' out the neighborhood.

Sammy Goes Bargain Hunting!

John — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:06:17 +0000

On a beautiful Saturday morning, around 6:30 A.M., Sam begins to stir in his play pen. You see, we’re at my folks house and when we sleep over, Sammy-boy gets the couch. Well, he gets the toddler equivalent anyways: the folding playpen. He’s not crazy about it, but after an exciting night with his Nanny and Grandpa, Sam is pooped out and sleeps pretty well regardless of his sleeping quarters. So the sun has barely crested the watery horizon when he decides that we should all wake up and start the day. He doesn’t just start crying and yelling like any other kid. No, our Sam stands up gripping the side of the pen, which lines up to about his nose, and with a hopeful voice blurts out: “Papa?!?” Yep, he asks for me. A house full of people, but he asks for me. Groggy Dad, who went to bed late watching movies, has to now get up and entertain, feed and change the alarmingly full diaper of his excited, wide-awake son. Now hearing him call my name in his clear, little voice as it cuts through the early morning quiet of the house is quite a heart warming thing to hear, it really is. The pamper-packer just woke up and he’s asking for me. I love it.

But I’d love it more around 7:30 or 8 o’clock!

Beggars can’t be choosers, so I roll my tired butt out of bed after about 10 minutes of deliberation, and trying to convince Melissa to go in my stead. His smile is immediate as I pop into view in the doorway and he hurriedly bends down to select a blanky, or ‘doudou’ as we call it, from the pen to bring with him. He knows what is coming as we head down the stairs into the kitchen to prepare his morning milk. Usually, by this time, Nanny has also gotten up, eager to get a little fun time with Sam… You know before the cuddling competition starts up with Grandpa. Soon, everyone is up anyways, as today, we are once again doing a little spring tradition: Finnegans.

Our family loves a good bargain, and we love wood furniture too, making Finnegans a natural fit for us. What is it? Long story short: it’s a flea market. What makes it unique is the fact that it’s on the Finnegan family farm and has been for years. Many local artisans, and people from quite afar, rent out tables to show off their wares and the Finnegan’s themselves make and sell wood furniture. It opens on Mother Day weekend in May and lasts until the Fall. There is also a good number of antiques and such for those so inclined, but I am a sucker for the homemade food stands that are sprinkled about the place! Breads, strudels, cookies, brownies, candy, jujubes, hamburgers, hot-dogs and many more tasty treats are readily available. And I must say we do like to indulge… I love the food, Melissa loves the wood furniture and Sam loves the attention!

With all the people of every shape and size, Sam singles out the babes and hot moms to flash his crushingly cute smile at. Ah Sammy! Learning the game already! You player you! But say what you will about his techniques, he does get women who’d never talk to me to do just that. So, all you single guys out there, get yourself a kid and get to work. Offer to babysit a friends kid for a couple hours on a nice sunny day, then get your ass to a park and let the magic happen! If the kid’s cute enough, they might even start throwing their panties at ya! Come to think of it, that actually might be one of the few negative aspects depending on who’s doing the throwing…

We didn’t find much that day, but we will most likely return one more time before the seasons up. You just never know what you’ll find at a place like that. Here are a few more pics of our fun day bargain huntin’ with Nanny and Grandpa!