Continued Adventures of: Mommy is out of town

Sienna and I continued our father/daughter bonding last night. She helps me out by performing gestures that are so simple that I am able to understand them.

For instance, she crawls over to her high chair when she is hungry, grabs the edge of it and starts crying. I am okay that putting her in the high chair stops her crying while trying to pretend that I don't notice that the chair gives her the same exact comfort I provide.

When she is done eating she turns her head and pushes me away with her hands. Sometimes I push the issue - not in a forceful way, thank you. When she tires of me pushing the issue she takes the food or spoon looks me directly in the eye, then casually drops the item on the floor while her eyes never leaving me.

When it is time to dance she wobbles back and forth while flapping her arms like a bird. This also doubles as, "Pick me up!" though she has added "uck!" to her vocabulary. Probably because there is a time for dancing and a time for holding.

At 5 o'clock in the morning light crying means "time to come get me," heavy crying while being put in the boppy and handed a bottle of milk means "I want boob!", and a huge smile after finished her bottle means "Thank you. I love you. Now put me back to bed."

See. Sienna is teaching Daddy already.

Wayne

Story from my Father: A hidden advantage to a child on vacation

Danielle and I are going to be doing our first plane ride with Sienna this coming June. Certainly a seminal moment in any parent/family life. Which I was mentioning to my father on the phone last night.

I also mentioned that Sienna will remember NOTHING of the adventure. My father laughed before delving into a story about how he and my mother took my older brother Brian to Hawaii when he was 18 months old.

Since it was 1971 they actually took a series of small flights across the United States, staying at each place for a few days. They bounced their way all to Hawaii.

My father suggested I take Sienna to a beach-type place before sharing his wonderfully hidden fact about children. One that I sort of new, though not to such an extent.

Every morning my father took Brian to the beach while my mother slept in. Brian happily sat on the beach using his chubby hands to propel pieces of sand at passerbiers. People would laugh at the father/son combination. Stopping to chat about this amusing sight.

"You know who stopped the longest? Girls. They'd flock around and play with him. I didn't mind." He laughed one more time, "God, that was a good trip."

Parents. Always giving us advice on everything.

Wayne

Sienna's Night Adventure

With mama bear Danielle down in Florida for a few days it leaves Daddy and Sienna adventuring together. Most specifically the opportunity for us to get Sienna drinking milk exclusively from the bottle.

This has been a relatively new project that has the following effect: Sienna takes her milk bottle and chucks it across the room. Even at day care she has changed from slurping down 15-19 ounces to a mere 5 ounces.

Sienna got down to drinking milk last night...at five o'clock in the morning.

Tears streaming down her tiny face, she screamed like a banshee for seven minute. Let me back up a bit--back up 45 minutes to be exact. That is when Sienna first woke up. She does that sometimes, she will wake up, cry for a while and then fall back asleep.

Not this morning. Not with Mommy in Florida.

Hey who doesn't love a screaming child at five in the morning? She was expressing her frustration at having a bottle. I don't blame her. You should see me if someone steals bacon from me.

I had to laugh as I sat there naked on the floor of the kitchen (too much information?) while Sienna was in her boppy using her milk bottle as a javelin. Even Scudder joined in the activity, mostly trying to lick the nipple of the bottle whenever it rolled across the floor.

It was a fun family event.

Sienna eventually allowed the bottle into her mouth, taking a good 25 minutes to drink four ounces. It reminded me of her being a newborn when it would take a long time to feed her. No big deal really.

The moral of the story: she got four ounces of milk and the hope of continued drinking.

Wayne

No mama no problem

Danielle is in Florida. I am watching Sienna for the next few days - solo style. Updates to follow. Looking forward to this adventure.

Wayne

A Good Laugh to End the Week

"She dancing on a, like, tabletop when they met. Uh, how does she expect him to, like, respect her when they had sex right away. No wonder he, like, flirts with you."

"You're right. I shouldn't, like, have given him head though."

"Are you going to go the wedding?"

"Yes. Uh, I'm sure she'll look pretty."

The last statement was delivered with the type of indignation reserved for someone replying to the world's dumbest question ever. I almost took a half step back from where I was standing for that final reply.

The two women having the conversation finished stirring their coffees (or tea - I didn't exactly look into the cups) and then wandered off to where ever.

I may just stand around the kitchen - specifically next to where the hot chocolate mix is - and listen to conversations. I bit back the urge to interrupt to ask for some clarifications. I resisted the urge after ever sentence.

I may not be able to look at co-workers the same way after this. Sometimes you learn just a little too much about them. Okay, that isn't true. I REALLY want to have a follow up conversation and ask for some sort of crazy stories from the two women talking since if the casual kitchen conversation is that risque I can't wait to hear what they would say after one or two shots.

Or maybe I don't want to hear the story as I may weep for humanity or some other type of judgemental, I'm-a-Father-Now crap.

Wayne

Today was a good day

I took today off from work.

Sienna's daycare lost two providers recently - not in the death sense as one went to grad school and another was fired - and then a third one had a family emergency. With the usual backup daycare people unavailable there was no room for Sienna at the proverbial inn*.

I took the day off from work to spend it with my daughter. I always said I would do these type of command moments in fatherhood - after all, isn't a personal day exactly for this sort of emergency?

I plan on taking opening day of the Mets off to go to the park with her too. I'd rather spend me days off with la familia. Danielle felt bad that I had to take the day off. Are you kidding me?

Here was my day: I cooked Danielle eggs (and myself eggs and sausage) while she fed Sienna. I made myself a pot of coffee and then...

...It was the first weather in a while that didn't require the heaviest of jackets so we went to the park

...We played in the house

...picked up Dominos

...played nose-hands-mouth

...rolled on the floor with her

Heck, throw in some playing with Scudder, Sienna standing up, it was a lot of fun.

Today was a good day. I look forward to more of them.

Wayne
--
* Daycare gave us plenty of notice

A good laugh to start to the weak

"We were making out down there all over the place like a couple of fourteen year olds."

Was it a Brooklyn street where I heard this tidbit. Or perhaps a subway. Or perhaps a bar.

Nope, the company kitchen on a Monday morning while I was mixing together my free espresso/dark hot chocolate/organic coffee/foam milk (approximate calories 500, cost = free, Starbucks charges 5 bucks).

I'll take my entertainment anywhere. It was two two-somethings talking while sipping coffee and if they weren't standing next to the stirrer I needed then I would have missed the entire conversations.

"It was a good trip then?"

"Yeah."

"I have a girl friend who went to Barbados with another girlfriend. They met two college boys who live down there and had a good time."

"That's gross."

"I know, right, college boys, right."

There really isn't a moral to this recounting other than it made me smile that people still have fun on vacations, still pass judgment on one another, and still talking too loudly by the new age water cooler.

Wayne