Just Like Daddy

With a puppy (he will always be my puppy) named Jeter, it seems fairly obvious baseball is an important part of our life. Sports in general are a good outlet for us while playing and going to games together is a way we enjoy spending time together.

Little Guy already has quite an arm on him - or at least that is what others are saying. With a little help, he is also getting a pretty good baseball swing. Little Guy is becoming just like Daddy - a love of playing sports.

Don't take my word, look for yourself.

Or, it appears I am unable to load the video of Little Guy swinging the bat. I've tried three times now all with the same message. Take my word for it, with every swing, Little Guy would laugh and laugh and laugh. The neighbors were really enjoying the BP in the front yard.

Tapping Home Plate

This Bat Might Be A Little Big

I Caught the Ball

I Might Purchase a Boat - Or an Oar

Our family home is very close (so close we can see it from several different views) to a small lake. It might sound like we are living it big if you did not remember we live in the land of over 10,000 lakes. We live a good life but I will not be holding my beath for Bravo TV to ask me to become a "Real Housewife".

Living a stones throw, literally, from our lake and having so many lakes around us, some would think we either would have a boat or would want a boat. Alas, that is not the case. Maybe it is from growing up where there was a river but not much for lakes or perhaps it's because I like to move my feet over sitting on my seat, but no matter what the reason, having a boat had never been a dream or desire of mine. (However, if you have a boat, we have a cooler - call us. I know the benefit of sitting and lauging with friends.)

This past weekend has opened my eyes to the benefits of a boat. There maybe times in our lives where a boat might help you get from Point A to Point B. To say we got a little rain this past weekend is like saying intolerance of others is a little problem. Both statements are gross understatements.

It begins with Friday. Little Guy and I were on our way to a friend's house for good food, excellent company and hearty laughs. In hindsight, which came to me a few short blocks from our garage, I probably should have waited it out at home for a little while. Some of the roads were completely flooded over with water and was running over the curb. Floating down the middle of the road were used water bottles. We saw water shooting out of the holes of manhole covers. It did look a comical but all I could think was I was going to be one of those idiots you see stranded in a flooded road who need to be rescued. Thankfully our car appears to be cross bred with some type of boat and we made it just fine. (The return home was much calmer. The drainage systems had time to catch up with all the water after the heavy rains subsided.)

Based on our Friday night adventure you would have thought I learned my lesson for Saturday. As it turns out, I decided picking Big Poppy up at the airport, who had been out of town for a couple of days for work (but thanks to the storms probably won't be traveling anywhere else for a few days for a while - Thank You Thunderstorms!) was a better job for me than some taxi cab. I know how some taxi drivers can be and well, I like my hubby and wanted him safe. Little Guy, Jeter, who was not going to be stuck at home again with another night of lightening and thunder and jetted out the door to the car while I was leaving, and I buckled up to get the man of the house. The road flooding was not nearly as bad on Saturday night in our neck of the woods (a little further south was hit with the heavy rains) but it still crossed my mind that maybe what we really needed instead of seat belts was a life jacket.

You've probably guessed we are all safe and sound. My lesson learned from the weekend, I might just need to purchase a boat or at the very least put a couple oars in my trunk.

Safe and dry but refusing to eat unless sitting on Big Poppy's lap - what a daddy's boy!

One Girls Take - Instant Replay

Quite frequently since the incident I have heard all about instant replay. There must be some pretty slow news days to have the debate last so long or, maybe, the average baseball fan is just tired of the human error factor...you know, real life where we make mistakes. It's OK for the human factor when it's the perfection of an athlete but the human factor in intolerable when a mistake occurs.

All this talk has me thinking - what would it be like to have instant replay in every day life? Just thinking about the possibilities brings a grin to my face. Now this just might be an idea I can get behind.

Just think about it. All those times your significant other uses a tone you do not appreciate (nothing Big Poppy would ever do of course). No longer will it be your opinion. Stroll on over to the replay monitor, gently place the headset on your loved ones head and watch with great joy when they finally hear the not so pleasant tone.

Or

How about the guy driving like a maniac. You could patiently follow him home, knock on the front door and with his family watch as he zips in and out of traffic 90 mph. Think of the gratification showing a maniac driver the road trouble they caused and know he will be getting an earful from his in home back-seat driver at the supper table.

Hmmm, I'm starting to get behind the idea of instant replay. This could really be useful in our lives.

There are more possibilities with instant replay.

Have you ever been in the heat of the moment and your words failed you? Hours or days later you have the PERFECT response. Fire up the replay, bring everyone back to the moment and BAM, hit them with your fitting remark.

And the time you were telling co-workers about the horrify yet funny article you read on-line about a family living out of their car and how you felt so bad because you couldn't believe this was happening but at the same time felt guilty because you could not help but laugh.... Well, it would never be brought up again because you surely wouldn't have been naive enough not to know what The Onion paper. There is no way, your own "you're so pretty" moment would be replayed over and over and over again. (This absolutely did not happen to me. I also have some ocean front property in Arizona for sale for a great price.)

Well, on second thought, perhaps instant replay isn't such a good idea. Maybe we should let people mistakes and own up to the blunder. It might just be OK to remember we are human and we all make mistakes. Besides, there is always Darwin's survival of the fittest theory. How long would we really last in a career if our mistakes were greater than our benefit.

Nevertheless, that's just one girls take. You can take instant replay but I'll leave it.

Taken the final season at the old stadium.

Mr. Roboto

One of the hilarious things to watch is how kids do things when they are first learning. I cannot tell you how many times Big Poppy and I have laughed (and come close to tears because of how hard we were laughing) watching Little Guy motor around.

Picture it, Little Guy, all cute and smiley, walking over you to give you a great big hug. Now add to the picture that when Little Guy is moving as quickly as he can, he does not bend his knees. His arms are straight out to his side ready to wrap them around your neck. He's very proud of himself (as he should be!) for walking over you and is laughing uncontrollably.

It's hard not to laugh right along.

Then, of course, once Little Guy makes it you there are cheers. There are hugs. Then there is the spin around to send him Big Poppy's way.

Now repeat. Back to me.

More than once, as the jerky movements come my way, I cannot help but to start thinking of the old song, Mr. Roboto. Or it reminds me of the Tin Man when he needs a little oil.

I really wish I could describe the movements a little better. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. Here's a short clip trying to show you my "Mr. Roboto" but keep in mind, Little Guy is NOT camera shy. In fact, he loves the camera and always trys to rush over it to get a better glimps. Perhaps if Little Guy oiled up his knee joints a little bit, then the lower half of his body could keep up with how fast he wants to move. Instead, the camera usually means a face plant is sure to follow.

I swear, I love him but this is too funny not to share.

Seeing Everything

Sometimes, when I look into these big beautiful blue eye, I'm amazed how these eyes are seeing everything.

I wonder when is it when we start to see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear.

How soon does it start? When do we start looking around us thinking the grass is greener either here, where we are, or there, where they are?

When we go to Big Poppy's ball game, I want Little Guy to see every thing there.

If Little Guy only sees what he wants to see or hear what he wants to hear, he misses out on a lot of game. That might be a blue sky in the background of the playing field, but you still need to keep your eye on the field of action. If you only look at the playing field, you miss the beauty of the sky.

The world is full of sounds and color. To limit ourselves to only seeing what we want to see and hear what we want to hear limits our playing field.

What we see or hear might not always be great, without seeing or hearing it we cannot do much to improve ourselves. I hope, my Little Guy is able to see and hear all, filter what needs to be filter and love the world around him. It is a beautiful place and most days, people are doing the best they can.

And a great big hug or smile never hurt anyone.

He is a ham...

...and he loves the camera.

Lesson Learned

My girlfriend Les and I were catching up on the phone the other day. We quickly realized our lives are no longer the exciting life and times of college co-ed's (and thank goodness for that!). Safely settled into our lives, we have now come to rely on friends of friends of friends for a good laugh.

Before I share this little tale, there are parts that are not PC. Continue reading at your own risk - there is no adult only content.

This fun little tale begins with Les.

Les: Our lives are pretty dull but Travie (her hubby) heard a good story from a co-worker the other day...the co-worker's son is special needs and lives in an assisted living unit. The mom was talking to her son who kept insisting he had done a good job because he had caught himself a troll.

The next day on the phone, the son was still very proud of himself for catching a troll and was telling his dad about it.

The following day, while on the phone with his mom, the son again was talking about the troll he caught.

Not feeling quite right about her son going on for so long about catching a troll and more than a little nervous for his well being, the mom told her husband to go over and make sure their son was ok.

Well guess what.

The son did indeed catch a "troll".

A midget Jehovah's witnesses had come a knocking and the son caught his "troll" and locked him in a closet for THREE days.

Me: I can't stop laughing. I feel bad for the guy to locked in the closet, but really, that is too funny. He really caught himself a troll...at least in his mind.

Lesson Learned: Don't ignore signs for no solicitors. Those signs are there for a reason.

Lesson Learned: Les and I really need to get out more often.

Hungry or Trouble

Silly Boy

Are you ever silly on a Sunday?

We are.

Good thing phones have built in cameras. How else could we capture such silly moments?

12 Months + 12 Random Thoughts

Last week Little Guy went in for his 12 month check-up.

How big is Little Guy?

He is SOOOOOO big. (Raise your hands over your head while you say it.)

Vitals at Twelve Months:

Height: 32" (97 percentile)
Weight: 23 lbs 12 oz (50 - 75 percentile)
Head: 46.6 cm (50 percentile)
(Want to compare this to the nine months vitals?)

As I thought about how much Big Poppy, Jeter and my life has changed in the last 12 month, I am overcome with emotions. The love I feel for the guys in my life over takes me sometimes. There are times, when I'm thinking about how lucky and happy I am, I become egocentric and truly believe that no other mommy or daddy could care as deeply for their little ones as we do for Little Guy. (In my saner moments, I realize that most mommy and daddy's feel this way - though, to stroke my own ego, I do try to them rationalize how it could not possible be true. Did I mention there are times when I might have a little ego at times? :))

Think I'm going to get all sappy. Wrong.

Instead, in honor of the 12 months, here are 12 random thoughts I had today ok, on Thursday, my writing has crossed the midnight line) (in no particular order).

1. I wonder how many others have thought, in a time crunch, it would be ok to set their child on the floor to have the dog lick clean while they do the dishes.

2. I wonder how many have had the previous thought and then wiped all the food from the high chair unto the floor to have the dog lick it clean.

3. What I need is an alternative world where a dish of ice cream a day keeps the doctor away.

4. I'm a little sad Little Guy slept well last night because now I don't have an excuse for a nice cold can of Coke.

5. Man, this lady can fit into her wedding dress from 14 years ago. I really need to step up the running...and probably forgo the can of Coke even after a night time party with Little Guy.


6. When I call to schedule an eye appointment, I really need to make sure I know what kind of contacts I wear. That lady does not like it when you say the ones that go on your eye ball.


7. Hmmm, I wonder if in a down economy the staff here should really be walking down the hall responding to text messages (my firm does not provide work phones, it was not work related).

8. Is it weird that my boy likes cottage cheese more than turkey? Can I use this to get Big Poppy to eat cottage cheese?

9. We need a poliy and pro...

I started this post on Thursday night. It is now Saturday morning. Little Guy will soon have another tooth pop through, his sixth, and this one is causing him a little trouble. I was very excited to get a full nights sleep last night. Even though I woke up about 45 minutes ago, I had a relaxing time just laying in bed for another 20 minutes. But then I started to worry. How am I going to finish my 12 random thoughts? I no longer recall what fleeting thought I had on Thursday. Instead, the remaining four come from short time ago.

9. I really need to finish the blog post. Well, really, what I need to do is make time to update how it looks and get back to posting more often. Maybe I should teach Jeter how to type.

10. The scale is your friend in the morning. Not so much at night.

11. Little Guy is going to be so excited for pancakes this morning. Maybe I'll mash up a banana to throw into the batter too. Oh no, I don't I did the dishes last night. Maybe the fairies helped me out.

12. I suppose I better contact the photographer. It's now a week past when she said she would have some sneak peaks ready for me. I hope this isn't a sign of how the pictures turned out. Little Guy was definitely not on his A-game that day.

Here’s What Big Poppy Missed

Little Guy, Jeter, Big Poppy and myself went on a little road trip this weekend. To be clear, Little Guy, Jeter and I were in one car and Big Poppy was in another car. We left our home 15 hours apart, Big Poppy left Thursday night, the boys and I ventured out Friday morning. Our destinations were different but we kept in contact. On Friday we would call Big Poppy and Little Guy would smile and smile when he heard his daddy’s voice. For good (and for bad) Big Poppy has to travel for a work for a little bit. It’s good because Big Poppy and I have not figured out the secret of creating a sustainable income just with our glowing smiles. It’s bad because it means for a little while Big Poppy will be a couple states away. I guess I better look into this skyping thing I hear talked about now and again.

After my 7 ½ hour trip to Grandpa’s was turned into 8 ¾ hours (there was an extended lay over visiting with SoyBoy while we picked up Syd for the final leg to Grandpa’s AND did I mention the lovely road construction, especially the part where the road was down to one lane, where we patiently waited for the pilot car to come back to our side and lead the way) we finally arrived. I must give props to single parents. You take road trips like this all the time. I must admit, stopping for gas, food, bathroom breaks, etc., I wondered how a single parent travels with their kids and pets on a regular basis. I don’t stress out easily and believe I handled everything in stride but…let’s just say Big Poppy is stuck with me FOREVER. It’s a good thing he likes me (he even loves me – school girl giggle – and he makes me smile).

Little Guy was a superb navigator.

After a quick bite to eat, he was right back to helping me with directions.

After picking up Syd, then Little Guy thought he would start to critique my driving abilities and he did so rather loudly. The final 1 ½ hours of the drive may have been the hardest. But who can blame him. I was ready to be to the final destination too.

Despite not painting Grandpa’s house (AuntLisa!), we had a great time. Well, let me clarify, Little Guy and I had a great time. Jeter had an ok time. He was out of his element and not very perky. Jeter even broke in AuntLisa’s carpet with a little upset tummy vomit (AuntLisa, this is what you get when you don’t talk to Grandpa about painting like the plan.)

Here’s a quick review of the weekend:

Little Guy loves to snuggle up with Syd.

SoyBoy came to Grandpa's late because of his baseball game - which they won!

Grandpa how a LOT of quarters. Little Guy liked to use the rolled quarters like dumbells.

Nothing beats looking out Grandpa's window.

Little Guy was confused...are we in Texas?

Jeter catching some relaxation.

Once home, Little Guy was ready to help unpack.