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)!

Splish Splash!

I'm not sure who originally sang the song and I'm pretty sure Kaylani doesn't either, but tonight, she was "splishin' and a splashin', rollin' and a strollin', movin' and a groovin'" during bath time! We actually thought tonight was going to be a calm bath night since she looked pretty sleepy the hour before, but we couldn't have been more wrong.

Kaylani's bath time is broken into 3 parts: the face and body, the head, and then relax/playtime. And in between each part we dump the water out of her tub and basically start over with fresh water. The first two parts went as they always do with her sitting there calmly while we clean hered and poured water over her. And we really thought she was tired tonight because she cried when we picked her up to dump the water out (on normal non-overtired nights, she won't even flinch at the sound of the water being dumped into our jacuzzi tub).

When we finished with the soap and started relax/play time, we noticed she was being a bit more active then she normally was by that point. She was kicking her legs a bit and causing some water to splash out. It wasn't anything huge yet, but for the first time, I think she realized SHE was causing the water to splash. As the tub started to get a bit fuller, Daddy started "the waterfall", which is when he pours water into the tub from an arms length up in the air. On most nights, Kaylani will stare up at the water as it comes down, and then wait until it happens again. Tonight, was not most nights.

Once the first waterfall hit the water, Kaylani began to kick around wildly. She was splashing water all over the place with her legs and looked like she was riding an underwater bicycle. And when the waterfall stopped, so did Kaylani. We did this about 5 times and watched as Kaylani would follow the cup up in the air, and then wait for the water to start coming out before she kicked away. And when it stopped, she would stop. By the time Mommy ran downstairs to grab the video camera, the tub was pretty full, but that didn't stop Daddy! So we did a few more times for the camera just for good measure. And that lead to a bit of a wet countertop and floor in our bathroom. But after all, making a bath time mess is something we're just going to have to get used to.

So bath time tonight was more like splash time. And since Kaylani wasn't camera shy tonight, we were able to record some great footage! Without further ado, I now present to you, Kaylani's splash time:

Bathing Doody

Sleeping Beauty is a cute fairy tale. It's one that I'm sure Kaylani will enjoy as she gets older and acts like (and is treated like) a Princess. Bathing Doody, however, is something drastically different, but something that Kaylani could be now. And the only relationship between Sleeping Beauty and Bathing Doody is that they are both stories that Daddy was told. Warning: Like Sleeping Beauty, Bathing Doody is a long story.

It's been 4 days since Kaylani had a bath, and she desperately needed one. We bathed her Thursday night before heading to Boston, with the intent of bathing her after the Super Bowl when we got home on Sunday. To make sure that we knew she needed a bath, Kaylani thought she'd help stress the bath point by spitting up on herself whenever she could over the last 4 days. And it wasn't just the "cute" spit up where a little bit drips out of her mouth and we wipe it up. They were the big spit ups where it either was a projectile spit up all over herself, or even worse, the kind that went straight for her neck.

So Sunday night, turned out to be a non-bath night just because of the car ride, the Super Bowl, the lack of sleep, and everything else. Normally we would have just waited the extra night and bathed her tonight, but that's not what happened. Since Daddy's friend Steph was coming to visit (thanks for coming Steph!), Mommy thought she would make Kaylani presentable (read: not smelly) and bathe her all by herself during the day while Daddy was at work. It was very nice of Mommy to do so I thought, but it's undecided if the outcome was worth it.

Daddy called home around 5pm to see how Mommy and Kaylani were doing. Mommy didn't answer the house phone, but called right back from her cell. I innocently asked, "How are you? How's Kaylani?" And this is what I got back:

Mommy: You remember how you wondered what would happen if Kaylani pooped in the tub?
Daddy: Ummm...yes? (I said it like a question, but I remembered quite clearly since I blogged about it a few months back)
Mommy: Yeah, well I'll tell you all about it when you get home
Daddy: You bathed her by yourself?
Mommy: Yeah...she smelled funny and Steph is coming over so I thought I should bathe her. I was wrong
Daddy: So what happened?
Mommy: I'm kinda still dealing with this right now so I'll tell you when you get home.

And then she hung up. Of course, my curiosity got the best of me so I quickly wrapped up what I was doing and headed home. It was around 5:45 when I got home and I found Mommy in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner (which was delicious despite the day's events) and Kaylani under her musical light up piano. I went over to Mommy and gave her a kiss, then to Kaylani and gave her a kiss (and received a beautiful smile in return). I counted to 5, and then not being able to contain myself anymore, asked Mommy what happened.

Mommy: Okay, so I was giving her a bath, and she was liking it. But do you remember last bath time how she was pushing her stomach real hard while we were bathing her?
Daddy: Yep, and we thought she was going to push poop out?
Mommy: Yeah, well today she did. She was pushing her stomach so hard and I was saying, Kaylani, relax! Just enjoy your bath! Then all of a sudden she went "uhhhhhh" and everything went brown
Daddy: She pooped? Just like that?
Mommy: Yeah, the clear water turned brown all of a sudden. Oh, and the tub was pretty full by the way, so she was literally bathing in her own poop
Daddy: So what'd you do??
Mommy: I panicked, so I picked her up real quick. Of course she wasn't done, so she pooped down her leg and into the bath some more.
Daddy: Ewwww! How'd you clean her up?
Mommy: I held her in my arm by the sink and splashed water on her and rinsed her off. Then I had to put her wrapped up in her towel on the floor so I could dump the bath tub out in our tub
Daddy: You dumped the poop in our jacuzzi tub??
Mommy: Don't even start with me. Yes, I dumped it in the tub. Then I ran a LOT of hot water over it and a LOT of soap...
Daddy: What soap? Don't tell me you used the Burt's Bees...
Mommy: Yep, that one
Daddy: What are we rich??
Mommy: Don't start. So after that, I picked her up off the floor, poor baby, and finished bathing her in the tub

And that concludes the story of Bathing Doody. I can't say I wish I was there, but in a way, I really do wish I was there. Not sure I would have done anything different, so Mommy did a great job handling on her own. And Steph, if you're reading this, hope you liked smelling Kaylani, because this all happened because of you!

The Switch

I'm a traitor. I've switched sides. I spent so much time on one side of the line, that the fact that I'm just barely over on the other side seems so bad. But it's not my fault. All my friends were doing it. It was only once. I just tried it. I was holding it for a friend. I did it for a good cause! No matter what the excuse is that I tell myself, it's too true to be avoided. I'm a traitor.

Last night, I made the switch. For the first time, I used Burt's Bees Wash and Shampoo instead of a Johnson and Johnson product. I felt terrible for even thinking of using it, and I felt even worse when I actually bought it, but I have no good excuse because I did think about it and I did buy it. And last night, I even tried it. For those of you who think I'm making a big deal out of nothing, my client at work for the last 1.5 years has been Johnson's Baby, and for the last few months, Aveeno Baby. Overall, for the last 2 years, I've been working with Johnson & Johnson in some capacity. So while using a Burt's Bees product doesn't seem like the craziest thing (except for the fact that it cost $10 for a 12oz bottle of wash/shampoo), it is to me.

I've spent a lot of time reading over the benefits of Johnson's Baby products, and did my part to introduce new (and existing) moms to their wide range of products. I even used their products on Kaylani for the past 12 weeks and we all loved it, specifically the Soothing Naturals Wash and Shampoo. But in the back of our minds, Burt's Bees was always there. Ever since that fateful day back in the summer of 2007.

We were at our friend Heather's house, visiting her and her son Ben. Mommy was still pregnant of course, so we were just taking it all in. All it took was one sniff of Ben's hair and we were hooked. Whatever it was, we had to have it. More specifically, we had to have it for Kaylani. "It" turned out to be Burt's Bees. And while I was true and loyal to my client, "it" was always in the back of my mind.

So we tried it, and we loved it. The smell was a blend of coconut and something, and it didn't even matter what that something was. Kaylani took a nice long bath and came out smelling as good as ever. And, to top it off, she also slept for 9 hours after bath time. 9 hours of sleep, and smelled like coconut and something. I'd say that's worth $10 for a 12oz bottle. Now the bath and the fact that she was tired was probably the real reason she slept for 9 hours last night, but so far, I'm a believer. And being a believer makes me feel like a big traitor. I just hope that using Burt's Bees doesn't come back to sting me in the end! Get it? Yeah...

Excuse me Daddy, but there's a doody in my tub

Back in the summer of 2001, I worked at Roseland Waterpark in Canandaigua, NY. I managed the Admissions department (and also doubled as resident computer geek/DBA). One of my most vivid memories was the day we got our first "Code Brown" in the wave pool. Apparently there was a floating piece of poop in the wave pool, which caused us to shut it down and chlorinate the heck out of it. That, of course, led to several angry customers coming back to the Admissions department demanding their money back. My favorite was "Sir, your pool is infected with e-coli. I would never go in there again. Now, I would like a free season pass please." Sometimes I miss being in customer service. Most times, I do not.

Tonight, 7.5 years later, I experienced deja vu, except this time, no one complained except me. Well, no one verbally complained. To Kaylani's credit, she did attempt to warn Mommy and Daddy by crying during bath time (which is unusual since she does tend to enjoy it), but we thought it might have been due to the fact that she was awaken from her 3 hour nap with a bath instead of nursing.

Oddly enough, during bath time, I actually thought that it was pretty amazing that this was her fourth bath with us and we had yet to experience a "Code Brown" or even a "Code Yellow." Mommy was quick to point out that we would never even know if we had a "Code Yellow", but either way, this was definitely our first "Code Brown" in the tub. Luckily for us, we had yet to clean the responsible area, and we had just dumped the water to do so, so she was not subjected to sitting in her own filth for long. All in all, I'd say there was minimum exposure and that the containment team handled the situation quite well.

But the question that now lingers in my head is, what would we have done if that happened at the beginning of bath time? Do we have to sterilize the tub real well, or can we dump the water, wipe up the residue, and keep plugging along? Is the Head-t0-Toe wash strong enough to overpower the lasting effects of poop? As with all Johnson's Baby products, it does claim to be "gentle and mild", two characteristics that don't sound like they have a chance against floating doody.

And unlike the Wave Pool incident, Kaylani's poop isn't exactly solid. Actually, the only way I would use "solid" in the description of her poop is if I added "opposite of" in front of it. Well all I know is that tonight's bath finished in Mommy and Daddy's arms under the faucet, and that seemed just fine. But if this happens again a bit earlier, I guess I'll have to decide if I should light the bath on fire to disinfect it before I continue, or perhaps just throw it out and bathe her in a bucket.

Anyways, today did not go off according to our initial plan (shocking!), so I don't have any Christmas pictures for you yet. However, I do have some pictures from the last 3 days to share, and Mommy and Daddy are planning on starting the tree tonight so we can take pictures tomorrow with Kaylani. And now, I'm going to see if Kaylani will go to sleep a bit early so that Mommy and Daddy can work on the tree before our normal 10pm bedtime. Wish me luck, and if you've got any advice on how to handle "Code Brown", let me know!

A Day of Firsts!

Today was our first holiday with Kaylani, and it started off with another "first", and this time, it was for all of us! My brother Jeph and my sister-in-law Shannon gave birth to their second child, and their first girl! That means I now have a niece on my side, and more importanly, Kaylani has a beautiful new baby cousin. Her name is Zoe Cecilia, and we all can't wait to meet her tomorrow! Keep an eye out for pictures, or check out Connor and Zoe's own picture site (to be updated REAL soon). The funny coincidence is that Zoe and Kaylani were the EXACT same size and weight at birth (7lb 10oz, 20.5")!

Anyways, I'll let you know a little bit more about her tomorrow after I've had the chance to meet the newest Tam, but in the meantime, we had our own little first ourselves. Mommy and Daddy gave Kaylani her first tub bath! Since her umbilical cord fell off about 2 days ago, we thought we would give her a nice cleaning before her first Thanksgiving dinner. We were pleasantly surprised that Kaylani didn't mind the water at all. Actually, we think she kinda liked it, all the way until we picked her up to dry her off. And I don't blame her since it's cold once you get out of the water!

Kaylani's other first was sleeping through her first Thanksgiving. Well, she slept through the first hour of dinner, and when she woke up, she didn't want to sit at the head of the table where she had a reserved seat. I'm sure things will be a LOT different at next year's Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe that this one is already in the books!

One thing that I learned this year is that I'm not quite the eater that I used to be. I don't know if it's fatherhood that has changed me, or just the fact that I didn't have Jeph or Tim here to help me out, but that 17lb turkey kicked my ass. Another lesson I learned was that if you want to eat a ton until you're really full, really tired, and just want to lay down, you should think through that very carefully when you have a baby. My time to lay down did not coincide with Kaylani's time to lay down. Lesson learned. Won't happen again!

But now, Kaylani is minutes away from being swaddled up and putting her first Thanksgiving behind her. And Mommy and Daddy are anxiously waiting to get their first 2 hour sleep shift out of the way, so good night and Happy Thanksgiving!

And for all of you who aren't quite sleepy yet, have just awaken from a nap, or just come here to see pictures, here you go! New pictures from the last 3 days (warning: some photos contain full frontal nudity), and a section dedicated just to Kaylani's 1st Thanksgiving. Enjoy!