Christmas in July!

I've been hearing a lot of Christmas in July sales going on lately. Our local Macy's even has inflatable Christmas trees adorning the front of their entrance. I used to think that all of this was just another marketing gimmick, but now, I'm not so sure. It kinda felt like Christmas in July today.

For starters, Kaylani woke up nice and early as if it was Christmas morning and she was too excited to sleep in anymore. The first time she got up was around 11pm, likely because she sensed that Santa was going to touch down on the roof any minute. And instead of just lying there awake, she did what any excited kid trapped in her crib would do...she flopped over on her belly and started crawling around while looking for a way out. After being flipped back over (by Daddy...not Santa) and falling back asleep, she made it all the way until 2am before she was on her belly again. Around 5:30am, she had enough and she was determined to sneak out through the corner of her crib. After being unsuccessful for 30 minutes, she called for Mommy and Daddy to come get her so she could see what Santa brought her.

Fortunately for us (and unfortunately for Kaylani), Santa missed our house last night, so Christmas in July was not going to involve any presents at home. Instead, we packed her up and hit the road at 7am so she could nap (in the car of course) before swim class. After a nice 45 minute nap, and a quick nursing, it was into the pool we went. This time, Kaylani received a present from Daddy...in the form of another underwater dunking. The first one went better than last week, and the 2nd time was definitely much better. We didn't take any video so you'll have to take my word for it...as cruel as it sounds.

Next on our day of activity was Sloan's 2 year birthday party at The Harrison's. This is where it really felt like Christmas in July. Not only did Kaylani get presents from Santa Danika (2 more of Darby/Sloan's toys), but she also got something even better...her first pony ride! After all of the other kids who actually knew what was going on got a turn, Kaylani plopped herself on the pony and went for a walk around the yard. She laughed, she rode, she kept leaning forward to see if the pony would go any faster like her buggy. And to top it all off, she got to play in a sandbox for the very first time too.

But our day didn't end there. During a trip to the mall, Kaylani got a few new outfits from Gymboree, and then at Babies R' Us, she got her next presents in the form of a new pajamas, an inflatable duck bath thing, and the biggest present of all...meat! Yeah, you heard that right. We've decided Kaylani's done enough of the veggies and fruits, and we're moving on to meat. We stocked up on sweet potato chicken, vegetable turkey dinner, and country chicken apple something (can't remember the last one exactly). We also bought a few new foods like pumpkin apple, sweet potato cinnamon, and green bean casserole for good measure because we obviously don't have enough food.

Then we sped home, took Kaylani for a ride in her "broom broom buggy", or "vroom vroom buggy" in English, and finally spent some time at home. For dinner, we cracked into the sweet potato chicken and she ate it all up with little problem (only time will tell what it "looks" like on the way out). Then, Daddy got a little light-headed blowing up the duck bath, and we threw her in that too! She also seemed to like that too, with the only problem being she keeps trying to climb out of the damn duck (no real need to say "damn" there, but it just fit).

Anyways, our long Saturday is finally over and Kaylani is passed out in her crib. Mommy and Daddy are pretty beat too, and lucky have 0 plans for Sunday. Maybe we'll sleep in...or maybe we'll wake up at 6am and hang out with Kaylani all day again. Either way, it's 8pm on a Saturday night which means it's time to get this party started ready for bed. In keeping with the whole Christmas in July thing, here are some pictures from today and the last couple of days for you. Merry Christmas (in July)!

Wake up!

You would think that after all the time I've spent complaining about Kaylani not getting enough sleep during the past week, I wouldn't be asking her to wake up early for me. But this weekend, I found myself staring at the monitor in the mornings thinking "wake up Kaylani! It's time to play!" And that led to Mommy wondering what the heck was wrong with me.

This past weekend didn't provide me with any more sleep than the rest of the week. As usual, my body and brain betrayed me and kicked into gear around 5:45am each day. While getting started early on weekdays helps me get off to a good start for work, it provides me with something I'm not used to on weekends: free time. 5 months ago, I came to the realization that free time for parents did not exist. Since then, I've accepted that realization and even learned to dislike any free time that I did have because it made me feel alone. Well, weekend mornings are apparently not any different. While everyone was home, I was still alone.

After catching up with all the Fatherhood Fridays posts over at Dad-Blogs, I quickly skimmed ESPN for any interesting news, and then I twiddled my thumbs. I tried to talk to Mommy but I got a "Pa, leave me alone for a little bit more okay?" for my troubles. It was 6:15am which meant that Kaylani should be waking up any minute now so I waited. And waited. And waited some more. It wasn't until 6:45am or so that Kaylani made her first move. But like the rules of dating, I didn't dare go at her first sound. Instead, I waited for her to cry out for me so I could run in her room and be the hero who saved my daughter from the lonely confines of the crib that she spent all night in. But that moment never really happened.

For what seemed like forever, Kaylani laid in her crib playing with her stuffed monkey. She shook it, she chewed on it, she moved it from side to side. For a bit, I thought she was even waving at the camera to tease me by saying hi, but it turns out she was fascinated with the opening and closing of her own hand (or had one of Mommy's hairs stuck between her fingers...tough call). Throughout all of this, I sat at the edge of our bed (to Mommy's dismay) just waiting for Kaylani to cry out to me.

I felt like I was 10 years old and at the town pool waiting for adult swim to end so us kids could dive back in and splash around. "5 minutes kids. 5 minutes" would be the sign for all of us to sit on the edge of the pool. We'd stare at the adults slowly making their way out of the pool. We watched the lifeguards seemingly swim through quicksand to remove the lap ropes. And then we'd hear "alright kids" and the whistle would blow and all would be right in the world again. Just like back then, I was never very good at the whole waiting thing.

At 7:15am I gave up. Kaylani was talking to herself which I figured was close enough to crying out for me. I mumbled "get up, I'm going in" to Mommy as I ran out of our bedroom. Before Mommy could even try and stop me, the ribbon/binder clip contraption that holds her door slightly open ever since the WD-40 incident was off and I was in the room. I shut off the humidifier, opened her blinds, turned off the night light, then picked up my smiling little girl. Finally she was awake! Finally I had something to do! Finally we could get the day started! Finally I got to play the role of hero as I rescued her from her lonely confines of her crib...kinda.

Anyways, that about sums up for my day. I mean, sure we did other stuff like have waffles on Sunday, go to Church, buy $40 of baby food and a turtle shaped floaty for the pool, and then actually use it (the floaty, not the food) in Aidan's pool, but all that seemed to go by much quicker than the first 90 minutes of my day. Funny how that works. I'm sure I'd feel different about Kaylani sleeping in if my body and brain ever let me sleep in, but since I don't see that happening anytime soon, I guess we'll just do it this way. Or maybe I'll bang some pots together next time to get her to wake up. Tough call.

Way ahead of my time

We're only 28 years apart, but Kaylani is growing up in a different time. A time that seems much further away than just 28 years. There's so much more available to her now than there was to me, but that's not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it's a really good thing because it means there are a lot more things for me to introduce her to.

For starters, Kaylani has been to Puerto Rico already. Daddy first went to Puerto Rico when he was 18, and that was part of a cruise. He didn't really go to Puerto Rico until he was 26. Even earlier than that, Kaylani went to Disneyworld when she was only 7 weeks old. Daddy thought he went earlier because he was around 6 months old, but again, Kaylani's ahead of him. And now that we're in Baltimore, Kaylani's got to experience a few more firsts, likely before Daddy did too.

Today, we took Kaylani to her first indoor pool. Overall it was okay. Wasn't great for her. Just okay, but that's okay. She gave us some signs and splashes to let us know that she wasn't afraid of the water, so we'll keep plugging away. Maybe some of our friends will invite us over to their pools this summer (hint hint). Either way, we're just happy she didn't cry the majority of the time because we sure do love pools.

For lunch, Kaylani got to experience her first Hooters. That's right, Mommy, Daddy, and Kaylani went to Hooters. Personally I thought it would be really funny to get a picture of Mommy nursing Kaylani while at Hooters, but that was vetoed. Instead we had a beer, ate some wings and some tater chips, and were on our way. Of course there was no changing table (I'd be more surprised if there was) so Daddy also experienced changing a diaper at Hooters for the first time (there's a joke in there somewhere, but I'm going to leave it alone). For the record, Daddy was 21 before he stepped into his first Hooters (still talking about the restaurant).

And then for dinner, Kaylani made her first trip into a steakhouse. Daddy and Mommy hadn't been to a steakhouse since well before Kaylani was born (besides Outback), so having Fleming's be right next to the hotel turned out to be too tempting to pass on. It also marked Kaylani's very first time in a public highchair. We were a little afraid of how it might turn out, but she did great! Her being able to sit in a highchair opens up a whole new world for us. Well, a whole new world as long as we are there well before 6pm. Not sure we're quite ready to take on a world of crowded restaurants yet. She was well behaved, but not WELL behaved if you know what I'm saying.

So that pretty much wraps up today. We're hoping that Kaylani gives us another 11 hour sleeping performance like she did last night. It looks like she's adjusted to hotel life just fine. We just need to keep her adjusted for one more night before we head back home. Hopefully adjusting to hotel life didn't screw up what we had going at home. But that's something we'll worry about tomorrow night. For now, we're still on vacation.

Oh, and don't forget to check out my latest Sports IllustraDad post on "Lessons I Learned From Little League" over at Dad-Blogs!