"You be flexible, I'll be the Boss"...

... is what E said to K this evening on the way home from dinner at Grandma M's and Papa B's. Some things seem to be going just right and others are so wrong. She is TWO.

We turned E's crib into a bed a couple weeks ago. Coincided nicely with her new Sleep Rules:
1. Stay in your bed
2. Be very quiet
3. Close your eyes
4. Go to sleep

I was very fearful of the caos I felt was sure to follow, but she did really well the first few nights. Then, she got out of bed a few times and struggled staying quiet. She now needs to wait in her room until K or I open her door. At this point, she is allowed to come out. She comes out very slowly, which is kind of funny and she also spends a pretty long time "peeking" as she likes to call it- where she just holds on to the edge of the door and looks about with the door slightly ajar. This was her on the the first weekend where she peeked, legally. Her bedroom is the door on the right that is slightly ajar.

Ready for one of the last bike rides of the season. Made it about a block down the rode, then she wanted to go back for her purse. Then we hopped on "our" bike, my X bike with her seat mounted on it so that Daddy could go buy some new tubeless MTN bike tires.

Journaling

I'm going to try to start using this as a journaling tool. Something to keep track of funny or cool stuff that E does/says.

Today there were two things...

1st- I went into her room this morning and she quickly sprang up. She told me she wanted to wear jeans, which is really strange for her- first of all, she doesn't typically like them and secondly, I normally have to prompt her to pick out an outfit. She ran right over to her drawer, and grabbed this grey pair of pants that I have never been able to get her to wear. I pointed to the jeans and she said no and was insistent on the grey pair. This pair of pants is like a female equivalent to cargo pants, which I then realized I was wearing. She told me she can put her hands in her pockets and showed me my pockets. Then she let me know she wanted her pockets unbuttoned. She then said, i can put my phone in here. Oh boy.

2nd- As I was beautifully singing Mary Had a Little Lamb tonight, she interrupted me during the second verse. She said, "Dad, I'm gonna get older and older and older and then I'm gonna drive a truck." Where does she come up with this stuff? The "getting older and older and older" is becoming a consistent theme, the first time she brought it up was when we pulled into our driveway on my bike about a month ago after school. That time, she said, "I'm gonna get older and older and older and then I'm gonna drink beer."!

Miss you blog.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

H and J left this morning at about 6. The rest of us got up at about 7:15. After a little breakfast, we drove up to Dry Lake for a hike in the Buffalo Pass area. Beautifully sunny day. We brought Kodi and Sadie and all of us were enjoying the walk in and out of aspen and evergreen groves. Open spaces with lots of sarvis berry bushes that were ripe. In and out of the warm sun on a cool September fall morning.


Family portrait. Notice the berry juice on E's face. She was a fool for them 2 days in a row.



After hiking for about 20 minutes, both dogs took off into the woods down the trail from us. I heard some crashing and what sounded like trees being knocked over. I didn't want to say anything, but thought that maybe the dogs had seen a moose, elk, or bear. I looked up and saw a bear cub up in an aspen tree a few yards off of the trail. We called the dogs back (don't think Sadie even knew why Kodi had charged or ever saw the bear up above), K, who had E on her back, turned the way we came and grabbed Sadie. I tried to get a photo, but, due to some confusion ended up only getting a tiny piece of poor video. The cub started down the tree and Kodi went back for seconds. I wasn't sure where momma was, but yelled for Kodi to get away before that cub got to the ground. I turned and left too because it seemed weird that the cub was coming down while Kodi was still there. Eventually, he ran back to me and we all headed back to the car- E popping sarvis berries along the way.

While E was eating her dinner and I was making ours tonight, I turned on the tv. There was a special on Discovery about the sinking of the Essex whale ship, but what caught my attention and E's was that it just looked like a nature program with sea turtles. E couldn't wait to get out of her high chair to get closer to the television. So, I brought her lazy boy over and hooked her up with some milk. Best part about it, K's response- "Great, my worst nightmare. You and E hanging out together watching nature shows." I can't wait!

She's Lucky It's Not Closer to Christmas!

So, I heard K cackling and howling upstairs while she was putting E to bed tonight. After a while, silence, and then she came out of E's room with a big grin on her face and laughter right behind.

Turns out, while reading Oh, the Places You'll Go!, E turned the page back several times to shout "Dada, Dada" and point to one character on a page filled with characters. This is the page she was turning to in order to call out my name and point to me.


And this is the character that she thought was a drawing of me...

No, not the handsome passenger on the bus with a mustache, the dopey Bald guy sitting next to his dopey dog. So, I immediately ran up to her room, woke her up, and washed her mouth out with soap. Tomorrow, bed without supper!

Here's a fairly recent one of her when she wasn't feeling well right before her first molar began to show up. I can't look at it without smiling. So cute, so miserable. E has a definite look of not feeling well.


Every morning, when we get downstairs, one of the first things she does is slap her head and say helmet. Her way of saying that she wants to go for a bike ride. Pretty darn cool that she enjoys being on the bike with the wind in her face. A little scary when she grabs hold of the handlebars and tries to shimmy them back and forth. But the occasional instance where she has the dexterity to ring the bell, makes up for the sheer terror of an occasional sudden jerk of the wheel. On every ride I am sure to mention that "biking is just like skiing, but on a bike". I really hope that she enjoys this year on the slopes even more than last year.



One more to help me get back into the swing of things. So content, so sure.


Ted, if you haven't given up on me yet, I plan to make more regular updates.

Dad's Weekend

K was at a Bachelorette party this weekend, so I was babysitting (ie. parenting all by myself) from Friday to Sunday afternoon. Took a couple of videos and fotos that I thought warranted a post after hearing K laugh while she was looking at them.

Her top front teeth are trying to make an appearance, so lately, E's been making this face. I think she's trying to suck on her own upper gum, but it's pretty damned funny.


Here's what happens when I am doing something in the kitchen. I was able to grab the camera in order to catch the end of an unplanned handstand. She loves climbing, but doesn't always come down (land) gracefully.





On Saturday, I made some pretzel rolls. Was joining some peeps for a cookout and made these rolls for burgers and a couple of brats too. Got the idea from the Countryhouse, back in Chicagoan Suburbia. Boy were they good. Never tried a burger on them, but the brat roll was perfect. Slightly crunchy, soft and chewy. The rolls worked perfectly with the sausage and the mustard- which is a must. Easy recipe, and I liked that it only took about 1 hour for the finished product. "If you like burgers, give it a try sometime."- Pulp Fiction



On Friday night, I took a Yampa Valley Beef ribeye out of its package and set it on a cooling rack in the fridge over a sheet pan. After 2 days of drying out, it looked a little pathetic, but I was excited to cook it. I've read that drying a steak out helps it form a crust because moisture comes out of the meat which allows it to sear well instead of the moisture "boiling/ or steaming". It paid off. The crust was great, the s and p stuck well to the meat, and the inside was a consistent pink. Delicious.

In case you were wondering. My meal plan looks a little different when K is out of town. I go to the store specifically to find things I typically don't eat when she's around. I just haven't yet been able to get her to see the pleasure in the snap of the bratwurst or the feel of a good rare-ish steak.

Ant Hill's Request

Got a text from Ant Hill. She asked if E was crawling yet. When I responded that "yes she crawls, but a little armyish", and thought that she'd be walking within the next few weeks, she asked me to send some video. I guess it's been a while, but here she is. Quality is no good, light is no good, but it gives an idea about where E is at, physically.

Standing On Her Own (with a little help from the sofa)



First time using her wooden, block holding, lawnmower type, walker.




Poor dancing performance, but pretty fun. She's a bit of a camera ho. Before I started taping, she was hanging out by herself in the same position, bobbing up and down like she was dipping. I was in the kitchen drinking some coffee. She instantly stopped dancing when she heard the camera turn on.




Restless. A trained eye might detect that E has a slight issue with distractability. Might be another wonderful trait inherited from Dad.


[Could't get this vid to load. Will try again later]


A few weeks ago, I put her in the grass for the first time and she freaked out- not in a good way. Since then, I've noticed that when she moves from one surface to another, she has to take the new one in before crossing it. I think I'll bring E to the park today and do a little grass training with her. I guess if her fear of grass stays with her, I won't have to deal with the lawn this year and we can just keep the yard a nice, somewhat rocky, dirt area!

Someone's Growing Up, a Bit.

Thought I'd throw a couple of recent videos up to show how she's grown.

A new trick- Shaking her Head. I have a vague recollection of reading about infants shaking their heads to mess with their equilibrium in order to experience altered states of consciousness. Have no idea if I'm just making it up or read about it during my days studying behaviorism. But E really seems to enjoy it lately. Or, she is just getting early practice saying no.




Just hanging out, holding on to her cube toy and working her leg muscles. This girl is all about standing up! I've noticed that we keep talking about how much fun she is being lately. Definitely becoming more human every day.