Foodertainment

We've created a monster. In doing so, we've also managed to turn ourselves into a pair of clowns. "Do I look like a clown? Am I hear to entertain you?" Yes. The answer to both is yes. Luckily the monster only comes out twice a day (usually).

Feeding Kaylani is no easy chore. She used to just sit there and eat her 2 to 4 ounces of food peacefully without a fight. We wouldn't have to play any games, or sing any songs, or make any funny faces to get her to open her mouth. But now? Now it's a different story. We have to do all of those things plus react quickly when she talks in "plbbbbbts" and sends food back at us. Then there's the constant reaching down to pick up whatever toy she dropped while again avoiding food being spit at us.

We had a few tricks up our sleeve for the rough days. Mommy could sing "you are my sunshine" to Kaylani and usually she'd open up (after the entire song was done of course). Or we could give her one of the high chair attached toys and she'd usually open up. Sometimes I could just sit and smile at her and she'd eventually smile back (and open her mouth). But lately, we've had to be a bit more original.

Tonight it was just Daddy and Kaylani for dinner. Now Mommy goes through similar things, but I don't think she's quite the sucker that Daddy is. When Kaylani would stop eating, Daddy would go get something new to entertain her with. Here's what it took to get Kaylani to eat 5oz of food:

1. Let her play with the 2nd container of food while feeding her the first (4 spoon fulls)
   
2. Let her play with one of the high chair attachments (2 spoon fulls)
   
3. Make funny faces at her until she laughed and opened her mouth (1 spoon fulls)
   
4. Let her play with the 2nd high chair attachment (0 spoon fulls)
   
5. Let her play with the house phone (5 spoon fulls)
   
6. Get up and get a crab toy for her to play with (0 spoon fulls)
   
7. Get up and get a ball toy for her to play with (1 spoon fulls)
8. Get up and get her a hammer toy to play with (3 spoon fulls)
   
9. Try the house phone again (2 spoon fulls)
   
10. Make "ahhhhhhhhh" noises with my mouth wide open to get her to copy me (9 spoon fulls)
11. Get up and get the container of Veggie Puffs to play with (1 spoon fulls)
12. House phone (0 spoon fulls)
13. Hammer (0 spoon fulls)
14. "Ahhhhhh" noise (0 spoon fulls)

When she started to cry the last time I made the "ahhhhh" noise and threw the phone and the hammer to the floor, I decided she was done. We made it through 5 oz of food which was good enough. Sure we would love her to eat 6 oz at each meal, but it just wasn't happening. I'm not sure if we're teaching her bad habits by catering to her needs, but if we don't play the game, then she just sits there with her mouth wired shut. And while I'd love to teach her a lesson by not feeding her, that usually causes some concern when she wakes up in the middle of the night because she might be hungry.

Not sure what to do about this since we've already started down this path, but at least she's eating right? That's the main part. After all, I am a clown, and I am here to entertain her. Oh, and if you want some entertainment, check out my latest Sports IllustraDad column over at Dad-Blogs. This post we look at the sad, sad, sad story of Big Papi and the life of lies he led in Boston. Very sad. I'm heartbroken about it. Really.

Flip Flop

Flip. Flop. Back. Belly. Flip. Flop. Back. Belly. Repeat that sequence about 10 more times and you have Kaylani's nighttime performance. Luckily she doesn't wake up every time she flips or flops, but she has been trying to escape her crib around 4am each morning. Even luckier for us is that she'll usually go back to sleep for another 3 hours if Mommy nurses. Since she's getting 11 hours of sleep in total during the night, she can flip and flop as much as she wants in her crib. Kinda.

The great crib escape is something Mommy and I have been dreading for quite awhile. She can't exactly pull herself up yet, and she's barely getting from down to sit as it is, but the way she's developing we just never know when it'll happen. A few nights of waking up to Kaylani whining to get out of her crib, and seeing her tugging on her bumpers trying to either get up or get out was enough to cause us to take action. Tonight, we lowered her crib one more level. Now her mattress is a a good 1.5 feet from the top which means she'll have to work pretty hard to get out. There's only one more level to go. Hopefully our backs won't give out before we get to that next level. So far so good.

Taking care of the worry around flipping and flopping in bed was the easy thing to do. Figuring out what we're going to do with her on the changing table is a completely different story. There, it's not flip, flop, back, belly. Instead it's flip, crawl, bang head on wall, grab edge of table, pull, roll, and try and jump off the 3' ledge. Now repeat that 10 times and you have Kaylani's diaper change routine. No matter how many times we pick her up and put her on her back, she'll immediately flip over and try and make a break for it. In bed? Kinda cute. On a changing table? Not so cute. On a changing table without a diaper? Definitely not cute (okay, still kinda cute, but don't tell Kaylani that).

A few months ago we laughed at our friends Steve and Lisa when they showed us that it took 2 of them to change Aidan's diaper. One of them would hold him by the arms and belly while the other changed his diaper. At the time, it seemed ridiculous that they would need 2 people to overpower their baby. Now, I'm thinking that we need 3 of us, or perhaps a restraining strap attachment for the changing table to keep Kaylani still. Karma sucks.

Kaylani's new diaper change routine is still new enough to us that we're okay avoiding any type of restraining device for the moment, but if she keeps it up, that all might change. After all, safety comes first, and giving her the chance to pull herself off the 3' ledge and onto the ground (or into the garbage can/diaper genie that happens to be on that side of the table) doesn't sound like a good thing. We'll see what happens, but in the meantime, check out these pictures from the last couple of days. Unfortunately none of them are of Kaylani hanging off of the changing table because we can't spare a set of arms for a picture during diaper changing time!

And when you're done checking out those pictures, don't forget to check out Dad-Blogs for the latest installment of Fatherhood Fridays! There's always a great bunch of reads over there to keep you busy for the weekend. You'll love it. Trust me, or your money back!

Here comes trouble

"You never know how good something is until it's gone." Truer words were never spoken (except maybe "God is great, beer's good, and people are crazy"). In our case though, the something that was gone was good that it was gone, but not good that it's gone. Get it?

The something in this case is Kaylani being stationary (as in, not mobile, and not like you know, paper). The good thing about Kaylani no longer being stationary is that she has reached another developmental milestone. The part that we never knew how good Kaylani being stationary was is now gone. We know exactly how good it was to have Kaylani be stationary. That being said, we wouldn't change it for the world, but crawling has brought on some challenges that we weren't exactly ready for.

Kaylani crawling has opened up a whole new world for her. She's able to move around and get her own toys, go explore around the house, and even flip over and check out the different corners in her crib instead of sleep. The flip side is that she gets herself into a lot more trouble now then she could before. Now she can do things like trap Daddy in the closet, grab wires, open drawers, or just bang her head into different things. And for the last 2 weeks, every day she's been getting herself into more and more trouble, with today being the worst (for Mommy).

Mommy found out the hard way that easy tasks aren't easy anymore. For example, trying to make the bed with a crawling baby means that you have to try and finish before Kaylani gets involved. And since Kaylani's a little speed demon now (even though she's still in the army crawl phase), she was able to get from the hallway to the bed in time to grab the sheets, pull on Mommy's leg, or just try and crawl under the bed (and smack her head several times in the process). And all of this was while Mommy was right there watching her.

When she's alone is when she has the chance to get into even more trouble (kinda obvious right?). At one point today, Mommy put Kaylani sitting outside the bathroom for a minute (no need for detail here). Kaylani, having decided that 8 months of sitting outside the bathroom was enough, took off down the hall. So with little options on what to do, Mommy went after Kaylani as quickly as she could and caught her down the hall trying to pull herself up on a bench. Great. Luckily nothing happened to Kaylani, but it did help us out with 3 things.

The first is that Kaylani is independent and quick. That much we knew. The second is that our house isn't remotely close to being childproof. Knew that one too. The third is that Kaylani can't be trusted with even a little bit of freedom yet. Maybe someday in the future she'll be able to act on her own, but now is not the time. I guess 8.5 months is a little too young for her to make her own decisions well. Maybe we'll try again in 30 years. If she's lucky...

Puff The Magic Food

It was almost 8 weeks ago that we gave Kaylani her very first Sweet Potato puff. Put another way, it was 8 weeks ago that we forced an edible puff into Kaylani's mouth and watched her gag on it because we thought she should have been ready to eat it. Funny how much babies can change in just 2 months.

Today marked the first day that we fed Kaylani a considerable amount of puffs successfully. She's been eating 1 or 2 for the last couple of days, but I'm pretty sure she ate half a containers worth today. The best part is that she did it all without choking. Instead, we felt like she wanted to choke us at times for not feeding her fast enough.

When I got home from work, she ate about 5 of them one after another. Then we went shopping at BJ's, and she ate about 20 of them one after another (and screaming if they didn't come fast enough). Then we went to Outback for dinner, and she ate about 50 of them the same way. Now here we are at home with a 1/4 container of puffs left and contemplating heading out to the store now to pick some more up for the morning.

The funny thing is that we looked at the container again today and like most Gerber products there was a stage based icon right on the front. The icon was a picture of a baby crawling. 8 weeks ago, Kaylani wasn't crawling. 4 weeks ago when we tried again, she still wasn't crawling. 11 days ago she actually started crawling, and 3 days ago she started eating puffs. Maybe we should have listened to the Gerber icons. I'm sure Kaylani wishes we had.

Trapped!

I'm not a fan of enclosed spaces. I'm not claustrophobic or anything, just not a fan. I don't hyperventilate in elevators (unless it gets stuck...which has never happened to me thankfully). I even think I'd be okay if I was trapped in an entertainment set for a few hours (Friends anyone? No? Just me?). But this morning, I was feeling trapped. I was boxed in with nowhere to go. And somehow this was all orchestrated by my precious little girl.

It happened around 7:04am this morning. I had just finished taking a shower under the ever watchful eye of Kaylani from her bouncy (there's no such thing as privacy anymore when you have a baby...just ask Mommy) and we were all done in the bathroom. Kaylani came out of the bouncy and I put her on the floor of the bedroom so I could get changed. Then, I opened my closet door (it swings outwards) and stepped in to pick out my outfit. I could hear Kaylani crawling towards me so I stuck my head out. "Peekaboo!" I screamed. She giggled. Back into the closet I went. We did this about 3 more times, but each time I peeked out at her, she was just a little bit closer. And everytime I said "peekaboo!" she'd freeze and giggle. Little did I know she was such a great actress.

When I went back behind the door and into the closet (which is about 5 feet from where Kaylani was) to finish getting ready, she made her move. She started to push the door closed with her little hands. My closet door, having my robe, 3 sweatshirts, and a pair of shorts hanging on hooks inside, closes pretty easily. I mean, I was standing right there so I was able to stop it, but it didn't need to close all the way to trap me in. In fact, it wouldn't even have locked had it shut, but I was still trapped.

Kaylani had crawled directly in front of the door by this point. Not only could I not push open the door without bowling her over, but she was also trying to stick her fingers in between the door and the frame, as well as underneath the door. If I tried to push her with the door then chances were that I would have pinched her fingers at the same time. So here I was, all dressed up and nowhere to go. I decided that waiting for Kaylani to get bored with the possibility of pinching her fingers was going to take too long. Instead, I decided on a plan of action. It was the only thing left that I could do. "Moooommmmmmyyyyyy!!"

That's right, I called for Mommy. She was laying in bed trying to steal an extra 5 minutes of sleep before I left for work, but I had no choice. I mean, I could have waited Kaylani out which would have given Mommy an extra 30 minutes to an hour of sleep, but I didn't like being trapped. After Mommy picked Kaylani up, I stepped out only to see Kaylani smiling and giggling to herself. I swear she winked at me and said "MUAHAHAHAHA" but I can't be sure.

I'd like to think that it was a fluke accident, but it happened again tonight when I got home from work. I stepped into my closet to change out of my clothes and Kaylani sped over to try and trap me again. Luckily this time I kept one foot out of the closet and behind the door so she couldn't get the jump on me. She still tried to pinch her finger between the door, but at least I didn't get trapped.

I'm hoping she grows out of this phase pretty soon. Rushing to get dressed so I can get to work is one thing. Rushing to get dressed while worrying about being locked in the closet is something completely different. Luckily Mommy is always only a scream away.

It Takes Two

Weekends are a great opportunity for Daddy to share in Kaylani's daily activities. They provide a time to finally see what Mommy goes through 5 days a week while he's at work. It also gives Mommy a little bit of a break so she can relax and not worry about Kaylani clinging to her or crying because she's not clung to her every second of the day. Sounds great, right? So why is it that weekends are frustrating for Mommy?

Okay, they're not really frustrating. They're just kinda frustrating. Sure she loves having me around. She also loves that I'm happy because I get to spend time with Kaylani. And she especially loves the part about her getting a little bit of a break from the baby clingy thingy. But what's frustrating to her is how different Kaylani is on the weekend. According to her, it's not a fair depiction of what Mommy goes through 5 days a week. Instead, it's like she's a completely different baby. Not in a bad way, but still different. For example:

Weekdays: Kaylani will cry/whine in her bouncy while Mommy takes a shower
This Weekend: Kaylani played with her toys in her bouncy while Daddy took a shower

Weekdays: Kaylani will take 1 nap on most days for 45 minutes to an hour, and usually only when she goes in the car to go somewhere.
This Weekend: Kaylani slept for 2 hours in her swing this morning, plus another hour in the car on our way to the farm/park.

Weekdays: Kaylani will wake up as soon as Mommy stops the car or tries to transfer her to her stroller.
This Weekend: Kaylani stayed asleep as Daddy transferred her to her stroller...for an hour and a half after!

Weekdays: Kaylani will crawl to Mommy (crying/whining along the way) and climb up her if she's left alone.
This Weekend: Kaylani sat and played by herself in the family room and the playroom while Daddy walked around picking stuff up.

Weekdays: Kaylani will be fussy during her lunch and eat 4oz only.
This Weekend: Kaylani ate her 4oz of lunch (sweet potato chicken again!) plus another 2oz of apples and apricot.

There are probably a few more examples, but you get the point. I guess it just takes two of us to make Kaylani an easy baby. I am still completely amazed and impressed by Mommy due to everything she has to handle during the week by herself with Kaylani. I'm not even sure I could do it if I was put in the same situation. But if weekends are any indication, then maybe it just takes that special Daddy magic. Just kidding Mommy! :)

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)!

Unspoken Fatherly Love

This past weekend, my Dad told me how proud he was of me as a dad. He never imagined that I'd be this good of a father, or this dedicated. Between the blog, the pictures, the videos, and of course the time I spend with her, its more than he would have thought I would become. I've always been good with kids, but never this good according to him.

When he said those things, it kinda blew me away. Hearing things like that from your own Dad is the greatest compliment anyone could ever give. After all, most peoples Dads are what the aspire to become. My Dad worked (and still works) real hard to support his family. He has overcome a lot to get where he is, and while he worked a lot, he was always there for us. He rarely missed one of my Little League baseball games, or concerts, or anything else that I had going on. We went to Yankees game together and played baseball or basketball together. We rode roller coasters and climbed the nets at Sesame Place together. We did all types of things that made us close.

As many things as we did together, we still weren't the closest of friends. We were Father and Son, which is definitely different from being close friends, but not in a bad way. We didn't show emotion to each other often, and in fact, probably went out of our way to hide emotion (either good or bad) on occasion. But despite all of that, I still feel a close connection with my Dad and I know he feels the same for me. It was just made even clearer to me last weekend.

I hope Kaylani and I have a close connection now and especially when she's older. It's way too early to tell if she'll still be Daddy's Girl, or if she'll be more of a Momma's Girl. I want her to feel comfortable with me. To come to me in good times or bad times. To know that I'll always be here for her and how I'd do anything for her if she asks or doesn't ask. I want all of this from her because that's what I have with my Dad. I know he's there for me 100% of the time, no matter if he says it or not. I just hope Kaylani feels comfortable saying it. That's the difference between Daddy-Daughter and Daddy-Son closeness. So while I wish for all these things for Kaylani to say outwardly, I'm going to take the cheap way out and say it here. Thanks for everything Dad. You're the best and I love you.

I thought this post was especially fitting since it's Fatherhood Friday so I waited all week to post it. Now do your part and click on over to Dad-Blogs to read other posts from the great group of Dads (and Moms) we have over there. Oh, and give your Dad a call and tell him you love him. Or at least write it down. I'm sure he deserves it.

The Toy Store

Tonight, Mommy, Kaylani, and I went to the toy store to pick up something for Sloan whose birthday party is this weekend. The last time I went to the toy store with Kaylani she was strapped in her stroller and wasn't really reaching out for anything. This time, things were a little bit different. There was no stroller, and she was definitely reaching out for things.

We looked around for different things, and any time we stopped to check something out, Kaylani would do the same. She'd bounce up and down in our arms, turn herself around to get a better look, and grab anything she could. And if she could get it in her mouth before we caught her, she would do that too. Luckily she's not quite old enough to sneak one by on us, and even luckier, she doesn't cry when we take things away from her and move on. I'm guessing she won't always be like this, but for now, it's not too bad.

There were a few things she was in love with, like the Tagsies Rocking Horse, or some giant nursery rhyme block thing, but unfortunately for her, she didn't leave the store with anything this time. While we were checking out, a little boy ran into the store and grabbed a plastic shovel. His mom finally arrived behind him and asked him to put the toy down because they had 10 of them at home already and get moving. After a few minutes of screaming, she bought him shovel #11 and they left the store. It was like a glimpse into the future for us. Part of me is dreading that exact situation. But the other part of me hopes that Kaylani gets attached to the $2 shovel when she's older. Sure beats buying the $130 rocking horse right?

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's official. I'm old...er than I was yesterday. I am now the ripe old age of 29. To most people, 29 isn't old. But to most of the people I work with, I have a house, a baby, and I'm almost 30, so that means I'm ancient. Ahh, I love agency life. But seriously, if this is what "old" looks like, sign me up for 30 and beyond right now!

At precisely midnight, Kaylani wished me a Happy Birthday. I'm not sure how she knew, but we were just getting into bed and all of a sudden heard her cry out through the monitor. Thankfully she went back to sleep immediately, but it definitely scared me for a second. I mean, anytime she cries out in the middle of the night I start thinking thoughts like "what's bothering her" or "seriously Kaylani?" But last night she actually had me thinking "how did she know???" instead. Then when she woke up 30 minutes later and cried for 30 minutes, she had me back to my normal thoughts.

After a long day at work that ended up being really productive and ended with a great client meeting, I came home to a whole lot of love. First, Kaylani was waiting for me outside as I pulled into the driveway. I mean, sure she was actually sleeping in the stroller, but I like to think of it as her waiting for me. Then, I got a ton of presents from Mommy and Kaylani, including certificates for things like a guilt free day of golf, a hug from Kaylani, a homemade dinner of my choice, and other things that I won't mention (wink wink). And I also got a new guayabera, some nice boxers, a pair of jeans, and the highlight of the presents which were engraved bar glasses with select quotes from this blog! And to top it all off, I got an awesome lasagna dinner, another cake, and a great big hug and smile from my 2 favorite girls.

But my day of love didn't stop there. When I finally got the chance to check my Facebook account and my messages, I saw an overwhelming number of posts to my wall. While I started to respond individually this morning (silly me), I realized I'll never get to all of them. So for all of you who posted and didn't get a response from me, thanks! And to show that I'm really grateful, here are a few of the birthday wishes I received, and my official blog response:

Mayte: Hola Jonathan, We hope you continue celebrating your special day, having Kaylani around this year. Feliz Cumpleaños! Have fun celebrating with your loved ones :)
Me: It certainly is more special this year with Kaylani around! And no offense to my co-workers, but I wouldn't consider them my loved ones :)

Jay: Happy Birthday man! Go Red Sox!
Jeph: Happy Birthday Bro!!! Also, C and Z say Happy Birthday Suk Suk!!!! We're also glad we were able to celebrate with you and hope you have a great day today! For your birthday, I put the Yanks in 1st place. Enjoy!
Me: Thanks! I appreicate the Red Sox going to 2nd place for my birthday from both of you!

Mommy: Happy Birthday Paaaaaa! Love u, K and B
Me: How could I not include the post from my 2 favorite girls?

Vaughan: Happy Birthday - Hope Kaylani let her dad sleep in!
Me: Thanks, but at what age do they start to actually listen to that request?

Tristin: Age is just a number. Old is a state of mind. Try to have a Happy Birthday!!
Me: True statement, but my number and my state of mind all point to old.

Rina: Happy Birthday!! I'm hoping Kaylani will give you a good poop story for your birthday. I've been missing those.... :)
Me: I've got one, kinda. I'll post it soon :)

Steph S: Happy Birthday- you are old and I'm glad you finally admit it!
Steph R: Happy Birthday Jon!!! Better watch out, pretty soon you'll be as old as me :)
Heather: Happy Birthday Old Man! I hope it's a good one!
Me: Thanks, even though you're all still older than me...and always will be!

Cindy: Happy Birthday JT!! :o) If only I could trash your office to celebrate! ;o)
Me: My former boss and friend remembered my birthday...and yes, she used to trash my office. Ahhh good times!

Danika: ...
Me: Oh right, my current boss and friend didn't remember my birthday this year. Ahhh good times!

Titi Glenda, Alisha, and Rohan: Sang happy birthday to my voicemail and told me they made me 2 cakes and love me. Oh, and Alisha asking me "what you doin Tio?" thinking I was actually on the phone was the best!

And to the countless others that wished me a Happy Birthday, thank you for remembering (or at the very least, for paying attention to the Facebook reminder that's out there). It meant a lot to me and it was the best birthday ever! To thank you even more, here are some pictures from the last couple of days of Kaylani. Enjoy!