I am the father of three, Juliette YOB 2000, Nicholas YOB 2002 and Sophie YOB 2005. I want to try and record some stories on a regular basis about my day-to-day activities with my children. I'm hopping that when they get older and ask me for funny stories from when they were little I'll have something to refer to. P.S. The Ultimate in ultimatedad is a reference to the sport.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Interaction Time
Well Sophie has achieved the milestone that I enjoy the most. I love my babies, don't get me wrong, but the most fun I have with them is when we play together. After all, by far the biggest kid in the family (and usually the good cop) is myself. As a result, the first signs of interaction between baby and his/her surroundings brings my level of personal enjoyment of time spent with the baby to a whole new level. On Wednesday of this week, Nicholas was waking up from an impromptu 6pm nap. He was tired and grouchy and crying. Sophie was nearby and when she saw tears in his eyes her mouth wrinkled, her face frowned and she let out a sympathy cry with all her heart. As soon as we moved her away from Nicholas so that he was out of her line of sight she stopped crying. Just for fun, we put her in front of Nicholas again and sure enough she started to wail. We did this experiment a few times to the delight of everyone around (grandparents, parents and siblings). Even Nicholas thought is was funny enough to stop crying. Ever since then, the kids have been jumping around funnily, hitting themselves in the head and making exclamations like "Oh!". If they’re lucky, Sophie responds with peals of laughter quickly followed by hiccups (babies always hiccup after laughing). I'm loving every minute of it. It just means now when we're stuck doing those activities I hate the most like shopping and going for walks, I now have another playmate to keep me entertained. So to Sophie, I say welcome to the club.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Morning Routine 2005
The morning routine is one of the most dreaded times of the day for most families. Just like the family itself the routine changes drastically from year to year depending on the age and destination of the family members. Right now we have mom at home on maternity leave, Sophie doing what babies do, Nicholas attending a nursery school 2 time a week and Juliette in full fledge senior kindergarten. So I'll describe an average morning for us today and then again is a couple of years to see how much things have changed.
Right now I'm the first to get up to the sound of a very annoying radio morning show. By that time, Sophie has usually joined us in bed for her early morning breakfast of breast milk. Within 15 minutes I open the curtains/blinds in Juliette and Nicholas' room so that the sun helps get them out of bed. Juliette is pretty independent at this point. She gets up, makes her bed, brushes her teeth, chooses and puts on her clothes goes down stairs and watches shows like Arthur and Dora the Explorer. That leaves me with Nicholas to deal with. Usually we discuss if he wants to wear a soccer shirt or something else. This morning he wanted to wear the frog shirt. As I help him get undressed, I "jersey him", and tickle his exposed ribs. To which he responds in his little 3-year-old voice "Daddy, you always do that". We finish getting dressed, making his bed and brushing his teeth. Usually by that time Sophie and mom are awake and I change her diaper get her dressed and drop her off in her exersaucer in the kitchen. Then I make breakfast that usually consists of yogurt or cereal or peanut butter toast or, their favorite, 2 eggs with toast/rice. Sophie is just starting to eat some rice or oatmeal mush herself but I don’t always have time to give it to her before I leave. For almost everything except the eggs I usually have to remind the kids at least 5 times to finish their breakfast. Then I make Juliette's lunch and Nicholas' snack before turning off the TV and walking them to Juliette's bus stop. At the stop the kids play with the other kids until the school bus comes or until I leave for my bus stop. Before we part Juliette and Nicholas always make it a point to run to me with open arms to give me a goodbye hug and kiss. If I'm lucky, I can convince mom, Sophie and Nicholas to walk me to my bus stop as well. Last time he did this I carried Nicholas in my arms while we both listened to KanyeWest's latest album "late registration" on my Discman. I don't find the morning routines all that stressful. I'm actually having a lot of fun.
Right now I'm the first to get up to the sound of a very annoying radio morning show. By that time, Sophie has usually joined us in bed for her early morning breakfast of breast milk. Within 15 minutes I open the curtains/blinds in Juliette and Nicholas' room so that the sun helps get them out of bed. Juliette is pretty independent at this point. She gets up, makes her bed, brushes her teeth, chooses and puts on her clothes goes down stairs and watches shows like Arthur and Dora the Explorer. That leaves me with Nicholas to deal with. Usually we discuss if he wants to wear a soccer shirt or something else. This morning he wanted to wear the frog shirt. As I help him get undressed, I "jersey him", and tickle his exposed ribs. To which he responds in his little 3-year-old voice "Daddy, you always do that". We finish getting dressed, making his bed and brushing his teeth. Usually by that time Sophie and mom are awake and I change her diaper get her dressed and drop her off in her exersaucer in the kitchen. Then I make breakfast that usually consists of yogurt or cereal or peanut butter toast or, their favorite, 2 eggs with toast/rice. Sophie is just starting to eat some rice or oatmeal mush herself but I don’t always have time to give it to her before I leave. For almost everything except the eggs I usually have to remind the kids at least 5 times to finish their breakfast. Then I make Juliette's lunch and Nicholas' snack before turning off the TV and walking them to Juliette's bus stop. At the stop the kids play with the other kids until the school bus comes or until I leave for my bus stop. Before we part Juliette and Nicholas always make it a point to run to me with open arms to give me a goodbye hug and kiss. If I'm lucky, I can convince mom, Sophie and Nicholas to walk me to my bus stop as well. Last time he did this I carried Nicholas in my arms while we both listened to KanyeWest's latest album "late registration" on my Discman. I don't find the morning routines all that stressful. I'm actually having a lot of fun.
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