Tonight Allison went to her first sleepover at grandpa and grandma’s house. A night filled with cartoons and junk food await this little two and half year old.

On the drive home Amber and I reminisced about sleeping over at our grandparent’s house.

Ahh, those were the days:

• Sleeping on the fold out couch with stiff, scratchy sheets that grandma bought because they were on sale.
• Old Disney movies on VHS.
• Crappy dollar store toys bought for ‘when the kids visit’
• Watching the Toronto Blue Jays game on TV.
• Dinner always included green peas on the side. (Which I despise with every molecule in my body)
• There was ALWAYS dessert after supper.
• Being woken up at the ass crack of dawn by grandma’s ‘arch supported indoor shoes’
• Grandma always had a pack of gum for me and my sister. (Spearmint for me, peppermint for my sister!)
• The only things to drink in the house was water, milk, diet coke, and diet 7up.
• Grandpa watching the news in his easy chair with the volume turned up to a gazillion.

The first time sleep over is an important kid rite of passage. You are now big enough to function without your parents breathing over your shoulder.

It’s bittersweet isn’t it? You dream about a time when the kids are old enough for sleep overs. But when that time comes, the house feels empty and quiet.

Its crazy, but you actually miss the annoying little bugger.

Do you remember your first sleepover?

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Photo Courtesy of: PSD

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Yesterday I was playing with Little Miss’ blocks because they are obviously awesome, duh. I had a kickass tower built until Little Miss came over ‘as a matter of factly’ and knocked over my tower with one swift kick of her little foot.

No blocks today Daddy, you go to the grocery store.

Just to confirm I heard correctly:

You want Daddy to go to the grocery store?

Which was followed by:

Yes, you go buy food. Now. No blocks.

And that concluded my tower building shenanigans.

=(
 

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He looks down at her, she looks up at him.
From that first moment, a bond is formed.
Her entire hand, wrapped around his finger.

She is his reason for living.
One little monster, and one human jungle gym.
He is the defender of evil and boogey monsters.
She is reason for too many sleepless nights.
Super hero in her eyes, and angel in his.
Dolls, dresses, and ponytails become his world.
Teaching her right from wrong, they won’t always see eye to eye.
Twisted around her little finger, and his entire world.

It’s just a dad and his daughter.

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Related posts:

1. Wordless Wednesday: Beauty & the Beast
2. Wordless Wednesday: Death by Chocolate
3. Wordless Wednesday: A Bug’s Life

Related posts:

1. Wordless Wednesday: Beauty & the Beast
2. Wordless Wednesday: Death by Chocolate
3. Wordless Wednesday: Hangin’ Out

I never been one to take part in blogging memes. But with a picture folder bursting with great photos, it’d be a crime not to share them! So I give you this first edition of Wordless Wednesday.

And I’ve already said too much!

Related posts:

1. Wordless Wednesday: Hangin’ Out
2. Wordless Wednesday: A Bug’s Life
3. Wordless Wednesday: Death by Chocolate

Whew, it’s been crazy around here for the past couple weeks. It’s obviously had an effect on my post schedule. (As I’m sure you’ve noticed.) Fear not, I haven’t disappeared or abandoned the blog. When life happens, hobbies tend to get shelved quickly.

Where do I begin?

It’s been an exciting and stressful start to March so far. We had a health scare with a family member that caused us to make an emergency trip up north. CleverMom’s grandfather suffered from a massive heart attack. He’s doing great now, but he was within minutes of a trip to the big white pillows in the sky. It was a scare that we all took seriously in our own lives and have committed to a healthier lifestyle. I am looking forward to writing healthy living themed posts for dads.

Little Miss had her first non-routine visit to the Doctors and trip to the hospital in the same day! She caught a nasty bug and was running a fever for almost a week. I wouldn’t wish a sick kid on my worst enemy. And when you’re stuck waiting to see the doctor, minutes feel like hours. You try to cover all your bases to keep the child amused for just fifteen minutes longer without pitching a fit.

CleverMom started a photography business  before Christmas that is starting to take off. Add the fact that she doesn’t have her driver’s license; (ugh) guess who gets to play chauffeur? It works out great as I get to have some daddy-daughter time with Little Miss. I even changed my first poopy diaper by myself! (Some question how I’ve lasted six months without changing a diaper; they obviously haven’t had the privilege to watch me change one.) It usually ends up with me frustrated and Little Miss rolling around butt naked with a diaper stuck to her sleeper.

It’s a good kind of busy. But I encourage you to keep checking back, or subscribe to the feed if you haven’t. My posting frequency should be back to normal shortly with even better guides, more interesting stories, and cuter pictures of Little Miss. (Who doesn’t like baby pictures?)

One last thing, what do you think about the new layout?

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My good friend and his wife came to town and stayed overnight for a visit. It was just like every other time – drink beer and play video games as the ladies chat and maul the baby. Little did we know, Little Miss has some new skills that she was waiting to show off.

It was in the afternoon, Little Miss was chilling on the floor watching daddy make a fool of himself playing Xbox. She then decided that is was show time and with ninja like flexibility and a flick of her legs she rolled over onto her belly. While this was nothing new for me as she had rolled over a few times already, this was the first time our friends saw our little monkey in action. After a few pictures and cheers for Little Miss we went back to our video game while she laid content on her belly playing.

Maybe she enjoyed the attention, or wanted to see Dad’s high score but to all of our surprise she rolled over from her belly to her back…. right into the foot stool. Her bout with the foot stool ended as a TKO with the wooden stool being the victor. I think it scared her more than actually hurt her as the bump was nothing to worry about. She disagreed.

As a parent you learn that a silent cry, is a warning to plug your ears and prepare for the loudest, most piercing shriek ever heard. You know you’re in for a bumpy ride when they take in that deep breath before the big bang. I have a theory that the amount of silence before a cry is directly proportional the eardrum splitting cry about to be unleashed. Time it. The longer the silence, the louder the cry will be – guaranteed.

With older children you can sometimes defuse the situation quickly by cracking a joke, tickling, or just distracting them. With a 5 month old… not so much. I scooped her up making sure to point her speaker away from my face and eventually calmed her down. After the tears stopped flowing and we recovered from our traumatic experience I put her back on the floor with her toys. The foot stool and Little Miss agreed to disagree and left each other alone for the remainder of the day and we all lived happily ever after.

Crap, Little Miss is mobile. Wait I mean…. Hooray, Little Miss is mobile!

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So what’s the deal with baby shoes?

We were cleaning out Little Miss’s room over the weekend and was almost buried alive by the mountain of shoes that fell out of her closet. Everything from sandals to snow boots came pouring out like I spun triple cherries and won the jackpot. This little 4 month old has more shoes that she has out grown then I’ve owned my entire life. She has a pair or Pumas that won’t make it to spring before they are outgrown – that cost more than the shoes I wore at my wedding.

Want to know what the real kicker is? She doesn’t even walk!

At this age, shoes seem more like fashion accessories then practical footwear. Another item for friends and family to spoil your baby with and another expense for us frugal dads to grumble at.

Babies should be more like men. I have 5 pairs of shoes. Sandals, work shoes, winter boots, dress shoes, and runners. While I don’t think Little Miss would mind, its mommy that has the shoe complex. I’ve only been married for a year and a half have learned that shoes are a lost cause with women.

I like to think I won the battle, we were able to sell an arm full of shoes to the second hand children store. I’ll take this victory as I have a feeling that when Little Miss gets a little older it won’t be so easy.

At least her room is now clean:

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Christmas is fast approaching, and with a little one to spoil everything is that much more busy. Each year we rotate whose family we will be having Christmas with, and this year it is my family’s turn. Great…

It wouldn’t be such a big deal if we lived closer together, but the 6 hour drive with a 3 month old could get interesting and be worthy of a blog post. We have it all planned out like a covert military operation (Operation ‘Dad is Crazy’). Every square inch of the car will be packed tight with diapers, clothes, wipes, and formula. Pit stops have been established for about every 2 hours. And if I’m lucky, we’ll all make it in one piece and with most of my hair.

Our hometown is 400 kilometers away from the closest city connected by a long narrow winding road through the bush. You are lucky to even get cell phone service along this highway. Can’t you tell that I’m excited?!

It will be worth it. Allison will only have one first Christmas and it is great to be able to spend it with family. Mental note for next year: use the baby to our advantage. Grandma and Grandpa can come south!

This post is short and sweet as like always, I’ve left the Christmas shopping to the last possible second and I think it may be important that we actually pack for our trip.

Merry Christmas fellow Dads, hopefully Santa is generous this year!

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