Ugh. I'm very sorry to hear that, Pilotman. Brings back some bad memories for me. :(

For me as well (mentioned upthread somewhere). Sorry to hear about what happened. He's got some prayers coming.

That is rough, PM. I'm glad to hear that your son is on the mend!

Sorry that I haven't been around much lately. It seems like there has been so much going on of late.

Last month, Lucy turned 1, and we had a little party for her. It was threatening to rain and it did sprinkle a little, so not a whole lot of people showed up. That was probably just as well. Lucy did really well; she is doing so much better around other people. It was also really good that my mom and Tony's parents came to our apartment for the party (they hadn't been here since she was a few weeks old). Lucy was soooo much more comfortable and willing to interact with everybody. Singing “Happy Birthday” kind of freaked her out, but she regained her composure and then gave and in-depth explanation about, well, something. Overall, a good day was had by all.

I don’t even remember when I updated anything last, but Lucy is walking (and trying to run), trying to climb on everything that is under a foot tall, and she still has just one, lonely chomper.

We are also going to be moving in the foreseeable future! Tony got a promotion/transfer to a town that is about an hour from where we are now so he is commuting, but we want to get somewhere closer. We’ve made several trips to the area house-hunting, and Lucy has really been a trooper.

We are hoping to have a house on few acres, maybe to have a few animals, including my horse (who’s currently living at my mom’s). While I’m looking forward to having Ben right there, don’t think that it hasn’t crossed my mind all the scenarios of having a toddler near a horse.

Between house-hunting and starting our own mini-ranch, I’m sure that there is fodder for a dynasty, but I’m not sure I’d do all that great a job of keeping it updated right now. Maybe soon… Until then, visit beaches.com! :D That is classic, Wolfpack!

That must have been really scary! I'll have tiny in my thoughts PM :(

Sorry I never got around to posting this.


Introducing Noah William Brown. Born on July 13th, will be 8 weeks this Thursday. Was 8 lbs 1 oz and 20 1/2 in.

Vex: Congrats! Way to go!

congrats!!! :)

congrats Will but tell me this, the little thing is not even two months old and there you are, staying late at night playing a network game of FM2006??? Woah, you're a tougher man than I ;)

FM

Aww... what a cutie Vex! Grats :)

Adorable baby, congrats Vex.

He was actually spending the night at his grandparents, so it worked out well:)

From a blog my wife enjoys reading:

Thanks for sharing that, I thought it was really sweet. I've printed it and given it to a couple of people dealing with kiddos along that age, as well as my wife. Matthew is just about that age and he is just like that, so similar...

Speaking of Matty, I've put a little video of him spinning his big brother's bo in our backyard. I was practicing, fooling around with my own bo more than anything when my wife thought it would be cool to have him come out and "practice" with me... It was indeed cool :)

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v3...t=100_5960.flv

FM

almost lost your family jewels there, frogman!

balls of steel man, balls of steel. One of the thing they teach us, take one in the balls like a man, just so you can defend yourself properly. :D

FM

Ean is healing well since he had his stiches taken out. Our doctor says that it could't be any better. He seems to be back to normal. In the meantime Zachary decided that his brother was getting to much attention. While we were at the gym he was not listening to Dad and running around and he lost his balance and fell into the corner of a counter. Off to the emergency room again and 3 hours and 4 stiches under his left eye later we were home. He is healing well too. That is the 4th time that he had stiches in his head. He did really well for the doctor and didn't need to be held and was chatting with the doctor while he was doing it.

Here is another saying that you should never need to tell your kids (but was heard in my house this week): "Don't stick a screwdriver in the dog's butt."

Beautiful baby Vex, congrats!

Congrats, vex!!!! :)

I love this line:

That is so true...

Gah. We just got a dog this pass week. I have a feeling that sentence will soon be uttered in our house.

James and Catherine are going to be 18 months old at the end of this month. They're finally getting around to talking, although Catherine's big word is "No."

I also recently changed times for my talk show, so I've been getting to spend a lot more time with the kids since I don't have to go into work until 4:30 p.m. It's been wonderful getting to play with them all day, although I think they're getting a little spoiled by all the attention. At least Catherine is. James is his own little guy... content to play by himself and come over to you every now and then to climb up in your lap.

The big question is whether or not our 15 year old will buckle down in school this year. I've already warned him that life will be very difficult if his progress reports don't look good.

Tonight, my ex called me to let me know how a parent-teacher conference went. Basically, they have been trying to get Matthew labeled with a learning disability without any formal testing. We sent him to see a specialist (a neurologist who specializes in learning disabilities) and he thinks Matthew is gifted and not a disability.

During the conference, they have been trying to convince my ex to allow them to put him on a IEP without a formal diagnosis or any testing. They were pissed because they now have to give assessment tests to determine if he has any cognitive problems. I told her to stay the course and not let those bastards try to label him without doing any of these things first.

I feel blessed that we have people like the neurologist who will stand up to schools that try to label children because they don't fit their idea of what a "good" student is. I think it's deplorable that we even have to go through this nonsense to make sure he is not improperly labeled.

So, I have an odd contribution to this discusssion.

It seems... without realizing it... that Mrs Q and I have cursed our daughter with an un-pronouncable name. *sigh*

We had several different boy or girl names in mind when she was born, we spent a few hours with her, and ultimately settled on the name Elisa -- it's a once-common derivative of Elizabeth, and appears in many baby name books with allusions to reasonably wide use in French, Spanish, and Italian. I have known a couple people with the name, always thought it was pretty, and it seemed like the best fit among our various contenders once we got a chance to meet our baby girl.

So, fast forward to now. She's nearing ten months, and it's perfectly clear -- almost nobody seems to be able to "get it." The name is, incidentally, pronounced like eh-LEE-sah. Instead, we get lots of things that sound like Alyssa, Eliza, Elsa, Eleeza, and I don't know what else.

I know there are bigger issues to worry about -- but have we cursed our daughter to live with a name that her friends and teachers will get wrong for her entire childhood? It honestly hadn't even occured to us before we started seeing so many of our friends and family stumble on the name. *sigh*

Sure looks like it. FTR, before I got to your pronunciation of it, I thought it was either the way you pronounce it, or Eliza, or Eleeza. I think the problem is that there are several different ways you could pronounce it, which causes the issue. It probably isn't your fault, per se, but rather the fact that slightly different/derivative names are pronounced in multiple ways. So, this name seems to be a combination of those different names, resulting in confusion for others. Also, I'm sure that somewhere, there is a child named Elisa whose parents pronounce it differently than you.

We have a somewhat similar problem with our last name - there are 3 different ways to pronounce it, and I prefer the "middle of the road" variation, but living in the south, I have always had to put up with the "long A" variation. I've just learned to live with it, correcting it where it was possible but not bothering with it in most situations.

Interesting post, QS. My wife is starting to tell me names for our potential daughter, which is a nice step as I've been ready for kids for a year or so and she feels like she isn't ready, but I see this as moving towards being ready..

Anyway, she told me 4 potential names today and they all run the risk of causing that exact problem, and people already butcher my last name routinely.

I actually read it correctly before you did it your phonetic way. I think it's just something she'll get used to over time. as will the people saying it. we named our daughter Mckinley, but people are always wanting to put a capital "k" in there. I also go by my middle name. always have my entire life, except for the tax man, insurance man, and dr.'s offices can't seem to figure it out so I just get used to it there too and have to remember when they call, say, mail me something with my first name that it's really for me.

Our two daughters' names are Caitlin and Mackenzie. No pronunciation problems, but the varied spellings are killing us. We struggled with which ones to go with for months before they were born and decided to stick with the basic.

you just said it, "allusions to reasonably wide use in French, Spanish, and Italian". It's a very nice name, just not an English-only one. "eh-LEE-zah" is how it should be in French as an "s" in between two vowels becomes a "z". She might probably have to repeat her name a few times as she grows up, but that's a beautiful name that sounds as if it's pulling its root from many different other languages.

As a side not, sadly, as cute as I think it sounds in the "eh-LEE-sah" way (or even "eh-LEE-zah") this one would have been banned by my wife and I as people in Quebec have a sad tendency to end the "hah" in a "haw" way that is not as cute.

FM

My daughter had me in tears today.

She and I were discussing going to L.A. sometime soon, but I told her we couldn't afford it because we don't have the $$ right now.

So I went to the store and when I came back she said, "Mommy, I have a surprise for you... it's on your computer desk". So I come to my desk and I find a bunch of change and she said, "I got this from my piggybank so you can go to L.A., is it enough?" And I said, "Aww baby, I would need about 300 times that amount. Thanks but this is your hard earned money, I can't take it." And she left to her room. I went in a few minutes later and her eyes were red with tears and she said, "I'm sorry mommy, but I wanted to help you go to L.A. and I wanted Landon and I to go too" and she started crying. I was in tears! Hell, I'm in tears just talking about it... what a thoughtful thing for a 6 year old to do. I told her that what her thoughtfulness was worth more than any money I could ever get and I hugged her all teary eyed.

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

agreed, very touching story dodgerchick.

Christmas does bring a lot of funny stories too. Matthew, who will turn 3 in mid-January, was playing in the hallway last Wednesday when I went downstairs to start a fire in the woodstove. I heard him call out "Daddy, where are you?" and I replied that I was downstairs. He asked what I was doing and I replied that I was starting a fire. He often likes coming down and tear newspaper to help me, or bring some little pieces of wood to start it off but this time, instead of his usual "oh wait I wanna help!", he screamed as heavy a "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" as he could. I walked up the stairs to see what this was about and he kept on going, his eyes all teary, breathing hard "you're gonna burn Santa *snif* when *snif* he's *snif* gonna come down the chimney!!!!". I couldn't help but smile, poor kiddo worried about burning Santa. :)

I ended up telling him that Santa was not ready to come yet, that it was okay and that he would only come when we leave him some cookies and milk. So tomorrow night, I'll make a big show of having him prepare some cookies and a class of milk and there won't be any fire in the chimney tomorrow night. ;)

FM

Tomorrow night?

yeah, well, we don't do the physical impersonation of Santa, simply keep the myth around him and we like having the kids see the gifts maybe a day before we actually unwrap them. Since we will unwrap the gifts on Christmas Eve after dinner, tonight is as good a night as any other to load the bottom of the Christmas tree with gifts so they can wonder what's in all these boxes for a day and a half. :)

FM

Awww... cute story :)

Me too...

I have three kids, two boys 7 (yes, twins) and a daughter age 3.

I have TONS of stories, like most of you and, like most of you, love them dearly.

My daughter is going through the "dance with me" phase, which I love. Anytime Dora or anything is on that she is watching, I will need to come over and dance with her until the music is done. Trying to enjoy this stage before she starts to hate me (I know, a while down the road).

Oh, and according to her, we now have to duck when we drive under bridges. Lord knows who taught her that, but it is cute.

I try *very, very* hard to not play favorites, but I must admit that, as a father, Amber (my daugher) is my favorite.

They have had me near tears many times in events similar to the one Dodgerchick shared above. I don't know of anything in else in life that affects a persons heart like kids do.

Dola

And it about broke my heart last night. The kids are all staying over at Grandma and Grandpa's last night and today. I got a call late last night. Amber was crying saying "I want daddy". I talked to her for a bit and she just kept saying "alright" while she was crying. It was all I could do to not run over and pick her up.

Aww... how cute! Sounds like you and your daughter have a very special relationship. Our daughter likes following me around and I get annoyed at times, but then I stop to think that she actually WANTS to hang out with me and it will change once she gets older.

We're toying with the idea of sending out some shots of our youngest for modeling opportunities. Anyone had any experience with this sort of thing?

Honestly, I have no interest in the Jon Benet Ramsey-ish lifestyle for my kids, but our youngest gets so many comments that my wife and I have wondered whether we ought to see if she could get into modeling clothes or doing commercials or something. Of course, we think she's a little cutie, but her curly blonde hair and blue eyes almost always elicit some kind of response from strangers.

How do people get their kids into that kind of thing?

I wish I'd seen this thread earlier... I spent most of this morning reading through this entire thread and it's a great read. Makes you feel like you are not alone in the world of parenting.

I am a father of three boys, ages 18, 13 and 10 weeks. :) The 18 and 13 year old are my step-children and I have been with them for 11 years now so it's like they are my kids anyway.

Last year at the age of 37 I finally became a daddy to a newborn son on October 23rd. I've never experienced the newborn stage so this is an eye opening experience for me.

I've come to the conclusion that taking care of a newborn has got to be like taking care of astronauts. Just getting them into the vehicle alone takes FOREVER with all of the straps and buckles. Everything is so time consuming it's funny. I love every bit of it and am having a blast.

My wife is not good about documenting things so I decided to blog about the pregnancy for friends and family with weekly updates on what happens, how we feel and stuff like that. I have carried that over to blog the first year of my sons life and what we go through on a weekly basis with him and I'm glad I've done it. It's great to go back and read some of the things I was feeling before he was born.

My 18 year old son is in college and doing great. He is the "quiet one" and is really close to him mother. The 13 year old is an ADHD kid that takes after me. We are best friends and have a blast together no matter what we are doing. Living with ADHD is a pain when it comes to school and how we handle his grades which are terrible. He's a smart kid, just can't get his work done.

Anywya, just wanted to get my introduction to the parent group outta the way.

Had to chuckle at this one. My son went through that stage...it was cute for awhile, but on longer trips it got old rather quick. "Uh, Drew? On this highway, the policeman says we don't have to duck under the overpasses."

Welcome aboard! So how is the 13-year-old liking the baby life?

He loves it. He is happy that he isn't the "baby" anymore and very excited about being an older brother. *sigh of relief*

I was worried that he would feel left out now that another boy had come along but things are good so far.

Our 2 year old (Landon) is an interesting kid. He's developed a bit slower than our daughter in almost all aspects, but he's like a genius in other ways. Our daughter (Larissa) used to speak very very well at the age Landon is now. He understands what we tell him, but he pretends he doesn't. He doesn't speak like we want him to, but he knows all the letters of the alphabet.

Anyway, the kid is anal retentive... I mean bigtime. We bought him those letters that have magnets on the back and he plays with them hours at a time making circles out of them or putting them in a STRAIGHT line. When I mean straight, I mean they have to be perfectly aligned or he goes mad. Well since the only thing he knows how to say are letters, when he gets mad he screams the alphabet!! "ABCDEFGGGGGGGG!!!!!" or sometimes it's just one leter, "DDDDDDDDDD!!!!!"

We need to record him because when he gets older he'll never believe us.

We started our 2 year old in a once-a-week mothers' day out program at a church yesterday. She's a little blond-haired, blue-eyed cutie that everyone always comments about how she's going to be some knock-out as she gets older. Mostly, I just block it out and pretend not to hear it.

Anyway, I get home from work last night and start asking her what she did at school, and she says, "I played with the boys and colored and had snack." So I responded, "You played with the boys? Did you play with any girls, too?" And she says, "No, just the boys."

I'm in BIG trouble...!

We just got tickets to see The Wiggles in Louisville at the end of February. Should be interesting to see how they deal with Greg's departure, although when we saw them early last year in Florida, Greg didn't tour due to surgery and they pulled it off fine. But now, it's no longer temporary.

this one will make our resident doctor smile...

Matthew just turned 3 last Monday. Yesterday, he had a checkup appointment with his pedatrician, you know the usual once a year thing. I was the one appointed by my wife to go with him, and to be honest, I was not really looking forward to it. Every time we'd been to the pedatrician, Matty has been a crying machine. Despite the pediatrician being the a very gentle man and him trying everything to take the edge off Matty, nothing could be done. The minute we walked through the door, Matty would start whining first, then go into full crying mode as soon as we'd approach the examination table.

I had a special ammunition this time, thanks to Santa. Yep, Matty received a toy doctor case full with everything one needs to play doctor. He's examined us plenty of times, from checking pulse, temperature, giving vaccines and even checking reflexes with that little hammer.

I decided to bring the little case along in his bag, just in case. We got to the doctor's office, walk in the door as I kept talking to Matty about how the doctor will simply check him out. We went through the whole thing with Matty not once whining, just like a big boy would do.

Come to the end, the doctor has weighed and measure him and he pats Matty on the head and tell him that it's over, he can go get dressed now. I'm close to him now and I take his hand to get him to the examination table to dress him and he goes "but my reflexes?". I ask what he said, just as the doctor asks too and he repeats "but my reflexes, you didn't check them". Both me and the doctor burst into laughter and he got his little hammer and checked Matty's reflexes. Cute kiddo... :)

FM

My middle son (Travis) was like that when he was 2 years old. He would not talk much and if he wanted something he would point and kind of grunt (much like his father -- remember, I'm his step-dad). He was very intense about how his toys and things were setup in his room. Things needed to be perfect or there was trouble.

I made a point of taking pictures of him freaking out or acting silly like that knowing that when he was older it would be funny. We just pulled a ton of pictures out boxes this week and have been going through them and laughing non-stop.

:D

I just read this to Antmeister and we were laughing, you have described our son to a T. He'll point and grunt if he needs anything. I try to get him to say banana but he just points. If I tell him, no you can't have a banana, he understands but he won't say it.

Awww... kids say the cutest things!

When Drew was two he used to do what we dubbed "bears on chairs." He'd take his stuffed beanie bears and spend 15-20 minutes arranging them on his little kid seat.

Noah at 5 1/2 months at Christmas time. :)

Here's a picture of his letters in the shape of a snake:



And here are some batteries that he put in some kind of order (looks like small battery, big battery, small battery, big battery...)



I need to take more pictures of this and create a section in my Picasa Album (shameless plug I know).

Vex: Great picture!

Dodgerchick: lol! Those photos remind me of Travis so much. Everything was always in a pattern like that! He would eat cereal without milk, and always pick shapes of cereal he liked and then organize them into a pattern on the table.

Here is a pic of my little guy @ 3 months old, getting ready for a trip in the snow.

Zachary, my 4 almost 5 yr old was bored one day since he was grounded from the leapster and the TV, and he decided to write a book with mom. It was a great idea. He had the whole plotline set out and pictures to boot. However, he became frustrated and gave the project up when his book wasn't "square enough". That my friends, is my anal/perfectionist little boy.