My mother in law is headed to town next week. She mentioned Natali should have a pool. We had been meaning to buy one for a while. I researched them.....yeah I research everything and bought one. I found a nice one on Amazon for $35 that had a built in shade. I should have bought that one. Eh. I bought one from Target that was $25 and had a built in slide and dinosaur ball game. Yeah I know Natali is 10 months. Bleh.
The instructions stated 2 adults could blow it up in 20-30 minutes. Hmmm yeah.
Instead I used my new home air compressor. Not just any air compressor, a Dewalt 90 PSI 2 cubic foot per minute compressor. It's nice.
I had it inflated in 5 minutes.
Natali then played in it for about 10 minutes. I then spent 15 minutes taking it down. We did this two days in a row.
Beyond her first pool her speech is developing. She will say "Hi" every now and then. Lots of "Mama's" and "Dad Das"...but neither one directed at any certain person.
She can totally stand unassisted....if she wanted. When we let go of her while she is steady, Natali will slowly lower herself to the ground. She just needs more confidence.
When holding on to the couch or entertainment center she will walk left and right, she gets the concept. She will climb on or over anything in her way. This morning she crawled over to her feeding chair and sat down.
The times when we leave the baby gates open Natali will cruise right over them.
We mailed off a huge box of new toys and gently used clothes to our friends Jason and Jackie who are expecting their first baby in August (also a girl). I really love my Fedex discount (75% off!). Next too free flights, Fedex is the next best perk.
[nggallery id=37]
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Smart kid
Natali is amazing. Yeah I know she is my daughter....which is why I am amazed at how amazing she is....pretty sure it's Kelli's genes....ha.
Natali is moving about very well. She is often sneaky about it. She will start off with a slow crawl. Then the moment we look away she kicks it into turbo and zoom!
Her confidence in standing on her own is getting better. She will climb up on anything and let one hand go every now and then.
We are both surprised at how much Natali loves books. She will crawl over to the entertainment center where her books are stacked and pull them down.
Whenever we pick up a book, no matter where Natali is in the room, she will smile and QUICKLY crawl over to us to be read to.
Her words....err...sounds are getting more varied. She makes the ma ma, da da, ba ba and sssss sounds. She looked at Kelli last week and said, "mmmma ma, mmmmmma ma" over and over. Probably a coincidence....but Kelli enjoyed it.
Yesterday Natali learned a new trick. She realized that whenever she cries, the dogs will howl. So Natali started fake crying to get the dogs to howl, stop, then start fake crying again. Cute...but annoying.
We couldn't ask for better sleeping habits. She is able to put herself to sleep with minimal fuss.
Whenever she is tired we put her in her crib and she will either go right out or cry for 20 seconds, realize she is tired and go to sleep. Rarely much more than that.
She averages two naps a day and sleeps 8PM till sometime in the 6AM hour.
As much as I love her....I still and totally fine with having just one kid.
Natali is moving about very well. She is often sneaky about it. She will start off with a slow crawl. Then the moment we look away she kicks it into turbo and zoom!
Her confidence in standing on her own is getting better. She will climb up on anything and let one hand go every now and then.
We are both surprised at how much Natali loves books. She will crawl over to the entertainment center where her books are stacked and pull them down.
Whenever we pick up a book, no matter where Natali is in the room, she will smile and QUICKLY crawl over to us to be read to.
Her words....err...sounds are getting more varied. She makes the ma ma, da da, ba ba and sssss sounds. She looked at Kelli last week and said, "mmmma ma, mmmmmma ma" over and over. Probably a coincidence....but Kelli enjoyed it.
Yesterday Natali learned a new trick. She realized that whenever she cries, the dogs will howl. So Natali started fake crying to get the dogs to howl, stop, then start fake crying again. Cute...but annoying.
We couldn't ask for better sleeping habits. She is able to put herself to sleep with minimal fuss.
Whenever she is tired we put her in her crib and she will either go right out or cry for 20 seconds, realize she is tired and go to sleep. Rarely much more than that.
She averages two naps a day and sleeps 8PM till sometime in the 6AM hour.
As much as I love her....I still and totally fine with having just one kid.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
To A Pilot's Son
To a Pilot's Son
Though my job takes me to far-away places,
Far from home among many new faces,
Enjoying rich, glowing sunsets and brilliant sky blue,
The sad part is it takes me away from you.
But to a pilot a plane is a mixed blessing,
Like cold, sleepless nights and 4 o'clock dressing,
All the nights missed tucking you in bed,
Too many bedtime stories that won't get read.
Cobalt blue sunrises followed by fiery red sunsets,
The scale of privledge balanced with regrets.
My job pulls me here to Timbuktu, but
The heart of me is always with you.
Missed days and nights filled with great joy and laughter,
Too tight of schedules running here and thereafter,
To earn a living, son, this is what I do;
I miss every minute separated from you.
If a king's ransom I had, I'd be a stay-at-home dad,
Every night rubbing your head and tucking you into bed,
Long walks on the beach to take,
Seeing your smile when I wake.
So, son, keep in mind as you grow older,
A strong healthy body and oh so much bolder.
All those days and nights and days away too long,
I miss you every minute I'm gone.
If God should send me for that final flight west,
Don't be sad, don't protest.
Keep your head and body strong,
To win the challenge long.
And remember as you gander at the sky above you,
That forever in time I will always love you.
-Captain Rick Kerti
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Sleep
We are very lucky. Natali is a very good sleeper. As Darren mentioned in his last post, Natali usually goes to sleep around 8pm and wakes up in the morning around 6:30 or 7am. She is still on 2 naps a day too. She will typically take a late morning nap around 10:30 or 11am, and a late afternoon nap, around 4 or 5pm. There is a big difference though between what happens when I'm home by myself and when Darren is home with Natali. If Darren is gone during the week I get Natali up at 6:15am and feed her a bottle and get her dressed then she goes right to daycare. If I am home with her on the weekend she wakes up by herself, usually around 6:30 or 7am and we get up and start our day. If Darren is home with Natali during the week she will wake up at her normal time and gets a bottle, but Darren does not get out of bed. They both go back to sleep after the bottle for another hour or so. This doesn't really bother me, but I am starting to wonder if the inconsistency is affecting Natali in some way. Darren switched his schedule around this month so he is home weekends instead of weekdays. I switched my schedule a bit too, so I work 1 weekend day and we are still able to do just 3 days of daycare. Those 3 days are all consecutive now though. Previously it had always been maybe just 2 days in a row and then another day at the end of the week. Darren is only home with her 1 day during the week, so she isn't getting that extra sleep she had been getting previously on some days. This is the first week we have done this, so we'll see how it goes. Her daycare teacher mentioned how fussy she was today, and she thought she was extra tired but wouldn't sleep. That fussiness carried over when we got home. I put her down for a nap, so hopefully she is better when she wakes up. Tomorrow is her third day in a row of daycare this week, so I have a feeling she will be fussy tomorrow too. I am home with her on Friday and Darren is home Saturday and Sunday, then I am home with her again on Monday. She will catch up on her sleep those days I hope. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully it is just a random fussiness today and it doesn't continue. We may have to revisit those sleep habits if it does continue though. I'm not sure how we could adjust things, maybe an earlier bedtime when I am home alone with her?
In other news I think it is time to get rid of a couple of baby items. Our living room is getting way too cluttered (much like the rest of our house). I am not sold on the only 1 kid thing, but Darren still maintains that Natali will be an only child. With that in mind I would really like to get rid of things and not store them anywhere. We have a baby swing and a bouncer seat we need to get rid of and also a plastic infant bathtub and a lot of old clothes. We have a bassinet too, but the base for the bassinet was converted into a toy box that I will not be getting rid of. I guess we will keep the bassinet until we are ready to do away with the toy box too. I would love to have a garage sale because I know I could find a lot more things around this house I would like to sell. Darren would have a fit though. I could put it all on Craigslist, but it would take several different listings and I think it would all go really quickly with a garage sale. I will think about it a bit more. If anyone around the Dallas area is in need of a baby swing, bouncer seat, infant bathtub, or infant girl clothes from newborn through 6 months, please let me know. :-)
In other news I think it is time to get rid of a couple of baby items. Our living room is getting way too cluttered (much like the rest of our house). I am not sold on the only 1 kid thing, but Darren still maintains that Natali will be an only child. With that in mind I would really like to get rid of things and not store them anywhere. We have a baby swing and a bouncer seat we need to get rid of and also a plastic infant bathtub and a lot of old clothes. We have a bassinet too, but the base for the bassinet was converted into a toy box that I will not be getting rid of. I guess we will keep the bassinet until we are ready to do away with the toy box too. I would love to have a garage sale because I know I could find a lot more things around this house I would like to sell. Darren would have a fit though. I could put it all on Craigslist, but it would take several different listings and I think it would all go really quickly with a garage sale. I will think about it a bit more. If anyone around the Dallas area is in need of a baby swing, bouncer seat, infant bathtub, or infant girl clothes from newborn through 6 months, please let me know. :-)
Monday, June 6, 2011
Almost 10 months
Time is flying by.
Natali finished her 22nd flight over the weekend. She does travel like a champ. Never cries much....just sits back and relaxes. I do wonder if there is a record for number of flights before a baby is one year old.
She has gone from crawling slowly to Need for Speed Full Bottle. Wow. She is very sneaky about it.
Natali will start slowly inching toward a door and then take off.
Her speech is developing. When she is in the mood she will mimic what she hears. Just the sounds of course...no real words...beyond "da da".
Natali has learned to clap and kinda wave two different ways. She will either wave both of her arms up and down and squeal with excitement or slowly open and close one hand...but only if we do it first.
One of her really cute little new things is licking her lips. Not sure where it came from but if she sees someone licking their lips she will start doing it over and over again.
Her diet has grown exponentially over the last two weeks. Natali has had wedding cake, frozen yogurt (with peanut butter bits from Kelli!), fruit snacks and graham cracker cereal.
Natali's sleeping habits are finally becoming routine.
In the past we used to wake her up around 9PM...feed her and put her back to bed hoping she would sleep till 6AM. Now we just feed her around 7:30PM and put her to bed just after 8PM. She normally sleeps till about 6:20AM. Not too shabby.
Finally....a simple Natali video....
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmAieB91hTQ
Natali finished her 22nd flight over the weekend. She does travel like a champ. Never cries much....just sits back and relaxes. I do wonder if there is a record for number of flights before a baby is one year old.
She has gone from crawling slowly to Need for Speed Full Bottle. Wow. She is very sneaky about it.
Natali will start slowly inching toward a door and then take off.
Her speech is developing. When she is in the mood she will mimic what she hears. Just the sounds of course...no real words...beyond "da da".
Natali has learned to clap and kinda wave two different ways. She will either wave both of her arms up and down and squeal with excitement or slowly open and close one hand...but only if we do it first.
One of her really cute little new things is licking her lips. Not sure where it came from but if she sees someone licking their lips she will start doing it over and over again.
Her diet has grown exponentially over the last two weeks. Natali has had wedding cake, frozen yogurt (with peanut butter bits from Kelli!), fruit snacks and graham cracker cereal.
Natali's sleeping habits are finally becoming routine.
In the past we used to wake her up around 9PM...feed her and put her back to bed hoping she would sleep till 6AM. Now we just feed her around 7:30PM and put her to bed just after 8PM. She normally sleeps till about 6:20AM. Not too shabby.
Finally....a simple Natali video....
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmAieB91hTQ
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Hazelnut baby poopachino
If you've ever used the lavatory on an airplane and smelled coffee, there's a reason for it. It kills odors. Many flight attendants place bags of coffee in or near the lavatory to kill the odors.
I had a bright idea last week. Use my coffee grounds to kill the odor in the trash can next to the changing table. I drink coffee daily. I use an aeropress which creates a small coffee brick when done. Each day I dump the brick into the trash can. The smell is much more tolerable and a little hazelnutty.
There are a few things that make me smile:
1) Landing a plane full of passengers in bad weather
2) Watching kids and soliders get off the plane
3) Mail
4) Seeing my wife walk through the door after work
5) Mid-morning naps with my daughter
Whenever I am home Natali and I have a routine. Kelli leaves around 6:20AM. Natali wakes up around 6:30AM. I give her a nice big 6 ounce bottle and then we take a nap. I love just watching her sleep next to me. I'm still in awe of her.
Natali is being a little more expressive lately. Her new thing is to scream. Not in pain....just screaming...especially when she sees a photo of herself or herself in a mirror.
She is also being a little more expressive in her moods.
Natali is working on her tantrum technique. Not good, but it's too be expected.
Just a few months from now Natali will be one year old. Not sure where we will throw down....Euless, London, Portland.
[nggallery id=36]
I had a bright idea last week. Use my coffee grounds to kill the odor in the trash can next to the changing table. I drink coffee daily. I use an aeropress which creates a small coffee brick when done. Each day I dump the brick into the trash can. The smell is much more tolerable and a little hazelnutty.
There are a few things that make me smile:
1) Landing a plane full of passengers in bad weather
2) Watching kids and soliders get off the plane
3) Mail
4) Seeing my wife walk through the door after work
5) Mid-morning naps with my daughter
Whenever I am home Natali and I have a routine. Kelli leaves around 6:20AM. Natali wakes up around 6:30AM. I give her a nice big 6 ounce bottle and then we take a nap. I love just watching her sleep next to me. I'm still in awe of her.
Natali is being a little more expressive lately. Her new thing is to scream. Not in pain....just screaming...especially when she sees a photo of herself or herself in a mirror.
She is also being a little more expressive in her moods.
Natali is working on her tantrum technique. Not good, but it's too be expected.
Just a few months from now Natali will be one year old. Not sure where we will throw down....Euless, London, Portland.
[nggallery id=36]
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The Mother's Prayer for its Daughter
Though I am a father, this prayer still applies. I just finished Bossypants by Tina Fey. Very good book. One chapter really caught my eye. Here it is:
Fey, Tina (2011). Bossypants [Kindle Digital Version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.
May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.
When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.
Guide her, protect her When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.
Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels.
What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.
May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.
Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For Childhood is short—a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day— And Adulthood is long and Dry-Humping in Cars will wait. O Lord, break the Internet forever, That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.
And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.
And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, That I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.
Amen
Fey, Tina (2011). Bossypants [Kindle Digital Version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.
May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.
When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.
Guide her, protect her When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.
Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels.
What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.
May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.
Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For Childhood is short—a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day— And Adulthood is long and Dry-Humping in Cars will wait. O Lord, break the Internet forever, That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.
And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.
And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, That I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.
Amen
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