Newfangled Dad

You look like an angel Walk like an angel Talk like an angel But I got wise You're the devil in disguise Oh, yes, you are The devil in disguise --Elvis Presley As I put Leda in her crib yesterday for probably her 4th...maybe 5th?...I don't really count...timeout I had a conversation with her that went like this. "You better get used to it. You and me are going to be doing this the rest of our lives. I tell you to not do something. You do it anyway. I have to punish you."  Cole never had this problem. Or, rather, he did and wised up quickly. He never gets timeouts anymore. In fact, he was on the verge of one yesterday and I realized that I hadn't even had to think about what to do with him since the big boy bed arrived.  Leda is in everything. She eats the dog food. She plays in the dog's water. She eats toilet paper. She chews on cords. She goes into the kitchen and wants the bottle of Murphy's Oil Soap under the sink. She wants to...

Cole is finally talking more. Sometimes I wish I could say that is all he is doing more. Actually, contrary to the image you have in your head of a Terrible Two, he's turned into quite a well-behaved little boy. Unless he's not behaving. Which is mostly limited to when he's tired. But we're finding Leda to much more ill-behaved at 13 months than he is at 2 and a half. More about her tomorrow. One of the reasons we didn't get him a big boy bed sooner is that we were worried we'd wake up in the middle of the night with him doing God-knows-what in some unspecified corner of the house. So we've been baby-gating him in addition to the closed bedroom door each night. But the funny thing is when he wakes up, we remove the gate, and tell him the door is open whenever he is ready to come out. Most of the time, he just sits in his bed making noises to let you know he's awake. This morning, I woke up to the sound of a mechanical roaring lion from his plastic flas...

Parent: n.  the material or source from which something is derived Long time, no see. It's been a rare week away. If you were expecting a post-Thanksgiving debriefing, you will not find it here. It was (mostly) a good one. Lots of eating and fun times. Also some incidents that I won't go into presently. Let's just say it was a bit of a rollercoaster. Another time, perhaps. Instead, I've been wanting to write something up about an article I read...in all places, a particular parenting magazine I will not name. (One that pretends to be useful and gender neutral but is actually filled with insipid crafts and advertisements for moms.) It was a lovely, humorous piece by a father writing a will for his children despite having nothing much to give materially. I can relate. Not to mention that gold pocket watches or antique vases aren't especially invaluable even if they are valuable. Don't get me wrong, wills can be useful. Kelly and I have talked multiple times ...

The child development update that comes to my e-mail inbox a couple times a month is eerily accurate lately. Yesterday, it was "your 2 year old will want to read the same book over and over." Yep. Pretty much. When Cole was very little I used to keep a running tally of the books from the library that he enjoyed. I may try to get back to that now that books have moved from the category of Things to Chew and Rip to their proper use. (For Cole. Leda is still on the book eating phase though ripping seems to happen a little less lately. She actually does a better job of sitting still for a story than he ever has until now.) With the arrival of his new bed, it's become a go-to location for reading. He pats the mattress asking you to sit down and then collects a pile of books for you to read to him. Some are favorites. Some he forgets that he doesn't like them so that you get 3 pages in and he shuts it to go get another. The ones Kelly and I love are the ones where he wa...

For a kid who loves his crib and has lately been picking up his blankie and politely asking us to follow him into his room for bedtime, yesterday was a bit traumatic. Leda, she was fine. Last night she was up at her usual midnight and 4:30am though I think she appreciates the upgrade from play yard to real crib. Cole, on the other hand, was a mess. Not so much with the actual sleeping. He does that just fine for the most part once he gets down to business. Oh, sure, the occasional wakeup in the middle of the night...but he plays for awhile and never bothers us to come in during the night. Getting him to settle down is another matter. Nap time I was on my own yesterday. Though Kelly had stayed to oversee handling of the kids while I moved the crib and re-assembled it, she did have to actually go to work once the mattress delivery guys came. Luckily, I was able to get a very sleepy Leda into her new crib for a decent sleep. Not that Cole wasn't absolutely sleepy. His usual ...

I've been back working at the museum for a few weeks over the busy holiday season...and wondered when I came back what it would be like to adjust to the "regular world" after dealing with toddlers 5 days a week. You decide! Museum guest...or toddler?  Likes to ask where the snacks are located Doesn't listen or follow simple instructions Tantrums when told they cannot do their favorite activity today Fascinated with trains, submarines, & airplanes I know some of my coworkers read this so I'll be gentle...I LOVE being a Stay At Home Dad. It's not that I don't enjoy seeing all of you...I do. But the irony is that I'm always being asked about my kids. Which makes me think of my kids. Which makes it harder to be away and makes me remember how great weekends as a family are.  And, Kelly, you're amazing for putting up with it. Your work, I mean. (Though you're getting pretty good at having dinner ready when I come home on weekend e...

My mother asked me what I want for Christmas the other day. And aside from the fact that Kelly and I will not be getting anything for each other even...we have a strict focus on the kids policy...everything I want pretty much is triathlon related. Well, we do want that bike trailer for family rides in the spring. But, anyway, I thought I'd share my wishlist...mostly for the sake of some of you non-tri types to see what is involved. Forget the $2,000 rear aero wheel I posted yesterday on social media, this is the more mundane stuff. It can be a useful guide for anybody out there wondering what to buy the triathlete in their life though. Or just a rough outline for those curious about the sport to see what kind of equipment we use. Speedo Vanquisher Optical Goggle  -- $21.99 If you wear glasses like I do, these are a cheap non-Rx way to get pretty close to correcting your blindness. It won't be perfect because they come in matching half-size diopters, but at least you can see...