Grandma's first babysitting gig

We made the trip back to Waupaca for my class reunion this past weekend. At a picnic on Saturday, Charlotte got to meet some of my class mates. She likes to work a crowd, so she had a good time. She also got a tour of my old high school which has been renovated and is now the middle school. She was so impressed, she slept through 90% of it. Saturday night was my class reunion so she stayed home with Grandma. According to my mom, all went well. Mom got to soak up some more time with her favorite granddaughter.

Class reunions are always fun and interesting. This year it was on the Chief Waupaca. Being on a boat for 3 hours is great for those of us who grew up together. In fact, my theory has always been that it kind of forces people to mingle a little more than they might it were on land. There's not a lot of places to hide on that boat. However, Kaye said that by the end of the night you could pick out the significant others because they seemed to be checking their watches a lot more than everyone else. Regardless, we had a great time and got to see some friends that I haven't seen in 10 or 15 years.

Next up: Charlotte's first camping trip.

Fourth of July Weekend...

Grandma Michael came into town this past week for a little extended stay. She and I did the fireworks while Kaye and Charlotte stayed home. After our Airfest trauma, we decided that fireworks probably wasn't a good idea yet.

Since we skipped that trauma, we thought we'd throw Charlotte into her new pool, just to keep her on her toes. She didn't seem to enjoy it and she let all the neighbors know. I'm waiting for the visit from Child Protective Services on Monday.

Surprise Surprise Surprise

Charlotte had her 6 month visit to the doctor on Wednesday. She's over the 100th percentile in weight and around 95 in height. I know, I know, those numbers don't mean anything. Yea...if your kid isn't measuring up!! At this rate, we're pretty sure she's going to be around 9 feet tall.

Also, she's sitting up on her own. She doesn't roll over very often...mainly because she can "bridge" like a wrestler in order to see behind her. The last doctor that saw her for pink eye said it's a sign of advanced cognitive skills. I'm going to stick with that theory...because before she said that, I thought Charlotte was just lazy.

Who had "Bad Cold" in the pool?

I forgot to mention; After being sent home last monday with Pink Eye, Charlotte was sent home with a fever on Friday. A little Tylenol and all was well. Does this kid look sick to you?

First Father's Day

Click on the pics to see more of the album




We had our first Father's this Weekend. We spent Saturday night with Kaye's family...grilled out at our house and went to a Loggers Game. As I've mentioned before, she's a people watcher so she loved it, other than the 1 or 2 innings she slept through. Sunday morning we went to Old Country Buffet for breakfast. Only the best for daddy. Then, Charlotte and I spent most of the afternoon in a recliner napping the afternoon away.

The above pics were taken this afternoon after said nap.

If you don't look goofy enough...

Find a chair to make you look even goofier.

Our friends Mike and Trish loaned us one of those "Bumbo Seats". Charlotte has really taken to it. Ok...it was really just a chance to put a cute picture of my kid up.


There's a few more here. Thanks for indulging me.

The first of many gifts from daycare

Last weekend, Charlotte was coming down with a cold...or so we thought. She was congested and her eyes were "gunking up". Apparently, word went out at daycare that pink eye was going around. Unfortunately, it went out after we started. So, on Monday, I had to pick her up and have her checked out for pink eye. Sure enough, she's got her first of many communicable disease from daycare.

I'm taking bets on what the next one will be:

• Even odds- Bad Cold
• 6:1-Yet another Pink Eye
• 10:1-Impetigo
• 15:1-Lice [My personal favorite]
• 20:1-Chicken Pox
• 1500:1 Bird Flu

It's no "Gröt", but it will have to do

I just hope she steers clear of the almond when she starts eating that stuff [inside Swedish joke].

We paid a visit to my mom's last weekend. It's the first time I had been back since she was released from the hospital. All in all, she seems to be recovering quite well. She had a "little" landscaping that needed to be done. It turned into a two day project involving new trees, a small retaining wall, all new edging...and probably the coolest machine ever, a stump grinder. In reality, I'm just thankful no one lost a limb. It's not quite done yet, but should look nice when everything is in place.

This week, we're trying to start Charlotte on rice. She's been getting it in her formula at night for a while now, but now we've been trying to feed her with a spoon. I'll let you judge how well the first feeding went.


This week, Charlotte also started her new day care. She's getting adjusted to the change in scenery. Her sleep is a little off so she comes home and crashes. Not such a big deal, until she wakes up at 3:30 AM and wants to hang out. This day care came along at a fairly nice time, however. Her baby sitter [and old friend and coworker of mine, Sandy] is expecting a baby in August, so she probably didn't need the extra baby to carry around.

You can start feeling sorry for Lucy now

When I was a teenager, we had a dog named Taffy. At that time, my nephew, Matthew, was a baby and terrorized that poor dog. Back in my Heavy Metal concert days, I caught a couple drumsticks [Krokus, Great White]. Matthew got his hands on those sticks and chased the dog around the house with them. On one occasion, I was "playing" piano while Matthew and the dog were sitting quietly on the floor right below me. I started hearing this high pitched whine. When I looked down, Matthew had Taffy's ear wrapped around one leg of the piano bench and was pulling with all his weight. The dog never so much as threatened Matthew. She just looked up at me saying, "Why, in God's name, aren't you helping me?".

I'm not sure Lucy has that kind of patience. The video below is proof that I'm not helping matters. As I mentioned in the previous post, you'll notice that Charlotte is standing now. Crazy!

My apologies for the darkness of the video. I have to learn to brighten all my indoor video before uploading it to Google.

Who brings their 5 month old to an air show?

Me. That's who.

Before I continue this story, I should clearly state that I did bring ear plugs for Charlotte. Unfortunately, they didn't fit. Also, there were many other children her age there. So, I'm not the only crappy parent.

Overall, Charlotte really enjoyed Airfest. She's a people watcher and loves to show off for those around her. She's standing now [video later] so she can get up and enjoy the crowd. Until, the F-16 started it's show. Understandably, Charlotte was hysterical. The aforementioned ear plugs I brought didn't fit. A gentleman behind me offered me a pair that were smaller on one end, but by this time, Charlotte was so upset, she was having none of me trying to put them in. A well meaning woman in front of me motioned that I should try giving her a pacifier...because apparently she thought I hadn't already tried that. Eventually, we ducked behind a larger plane...not that it helped, but getting up and moving made her feel better. "Luckily", the F16 had mechanical problems and had to end it's show early. Needless to say, we didn't stick around for the Blue Angels. I'm not sure who was more traumatized, Charlotte or me...but I know who the people around me felt more sorry for.

What did I learn from this experience? First, if you insist upon bringing your 5 month old to an air show, get her a pair of those ear muff type ear protectors. It may not make it less scary when the ground shakes, but at least she'll be better protected. Second. No matter how loud a jet may be, people can still hear a screaming child above it all.

Mother's Day

Kaye had her first mother's day this weekend [more pics here]. We had a little brunch at Forest Hills on Sunday. Ok, I had a lot of brunch. For the most part, Charlotte and I tried to make it a fairly restful and relaxing weekend for Kaye. It didn't turn out that way, but we tried.

I learned that Mother's Day creates yet another one of those Fatherhood Inferiority Moments [FIM]. FIMs are those moments, as a man, where you are trying to do the right thing...trying to do right by your wife and family...and things just don't live up to what you had hoped for. Let's face it, by marrying me, we hope that Kaye has some pretty low expectations. We don't buy each other a lot of expensive gifts [if any at all]. But, there are moments where I try to do little things to make things special for Kaye. Typically, they don't work out.

Long story short, making breakfast in bed for mommy is hard to do with a kid that is making enough noise to wake mommy up. When mommy gets a cold-a really bad cold-even a restful weekend turns into an unpleasant experience. Maybe next year we'll try a trip to the races.

An odd couple weeks...

All's well that ends well, I guess. A couple Sundays ago [4-22] I called my mom to ask her if she'd be interested in visiting...and baby sitting for Charlotte while we celebrated a friend's 30th B'day. Mom politely explained that she wasn't feeling well and blew me off. By that Tuesday [4-24], she had checked into the hospital with a bowel obstruction. Thursday they operated and she wasn't released until a week later [5-4]. My sister and I spent most of that first week in Waupaca with her and then returned late last week when she was released. Charlotte and Kaye also payed a visit along with my Nephew Mathew and his girlfriend [Kudos to them for driving Kaye and Charlotte over].

Mom is recovering nicely at home and will probably be out of work for at least the next 3 weeks. People keep asking what a bowel obstruction really is. I don't have an answer so I just keep telling them she swallowed a quarter.

Charlotte's got something to say

I shot a little footage of Charlotte the other day when she was in the mood for talking. She hasn't been cooperative, though. I've been trying to get something similar since she started "talking" but, without fail, every time I grabbed the video camera, she clammed up.

Somebody's been studying daddy...

I almost feel bad, but eh...it was bound to happen sooner or later. Also note the Packer bib. I'd wear one if they made it in my size.

Also, due to some complaints from my sister about not seeing Charlotte in any of the clothes she's purchased, I give you...

Presents from Auntie Chris [click to view]

Abject Fear

I've learned that there are points in your life where people have a lot of advice. For us as a couple, it started with the purchase of our dog, Lucy. The wedding was another example, along with Kaye's pregnancy. So, of course, raising Charlotte is the latest. I wasn't prepared for the onslaught of "advice". I say "advice" because all too often, it's not really advice, it's people telling you how they do/did things and why everything else is wrong. In the end, if feels like people aren't allowing you to have your own experience. In other words, nothing you're experiencing is new or original. Typically, nothing is new or original...but it is to us.

Good or bad, I think Kaye and I went into this experience fairly well prepared, mentally. Most of this is fairly obvious...from the immediate love you feel for the child to the lifestyle changes [ala FAQ #4] to the complete exhaustion. To be honest, I fell in love with Charlotte the day Kaye and I decided we'd try to have children. I just hadn't met her yet. What I wasn't prepared for was the paralyzing fear that something could happen to her. It started the day we found out Kaye was pregnant. Both Kaye and I tried to be as careful as possible with her pregnancy, but I became almost superstitious, something I typically am not. Now, I find myself checking on her at night to make sure she's ok.

Saturday night, we picked up Charlotte from Kaye's parent's after being out to dinner with some friends. I was putting her down to change her [yes, me] and she went into what I can only describe as a "choking fit". She couldn't breath and was heaving as if she was vomiting. There was panic and crying...and Charlotte was pretty upset too. When Kaye got to the room, Charlotte was crying and still having some problems breathing. After crying for another 15 minutes, she finally settled down. I'd appreciate it if she didn't do that again and I'm guessing she feels the same way.