Tag: Little Bear

Little Bear update

I have been a horrible father in the fact that my little girl is growing up and I haven’t taken many pictures. I have no excuses.

So here is an update on how she is doing.

She is trying to walk. She can stand up really fast and then she will hold on to the couches and skirt around them…they are set up like a U shape.

She has popped 5 teeth…COUNT’EM 5!!!!!! The top three look a little like .

She sings at the drop of a hat. She dances to any music that is around…even bluegrass. woo hoo

She is trying to put words together. She now knows and correctly uses the following words (mind you, she is not yet 11 months):

Wall, Up, PopPop, MomMom, Nana, Light, Book, Bite. She has learned that Al (the big dog) pants and she imitates that. We ask, “Bear, what does Al say?” She sticks her tongue out a little and pants.

She is using her signs as well. So far she knows the signs to the following:

Drink, Eat, sleepy, Hi and Bye

She is growing up so fast. I’ll try to get some pictures on vacation next weekend.

Weekendings for August 3-5

This weekend was set out to be a mixture of absolute joy and shear, toiling madness.

So I get home on Friday and I notice that little Bear is very fussy. Not being haughty, but it is like she is sleepy or something…like she is uncomfortable. As weekends go, I am usually on Daddy Doody Duty so Lovely can take a break. I took little Bear to change her diaper and noticed that she was the diarrhea darling. I talk to Lovely about it and find that she is barely eating, has a very slight fever, is congested a little, and a little fussy. We weren’t sure if she was sick or if it was her teething. Well, it is the latter. By the time we laid her down for the night on Saturday, we found that she had “popped” a tooth on her top gums and has another tooth coming in right next to it. Poor thing. Even while she was teething she was pretty pleasant. She would be a cuddle-bunny and still want to play and get tickled. She is doing better today, but still working on that second tooth up top.

Lovely and I had a good ol’ time on Saturday. I have been looking to start playing out at coffee houses in about another 3-4 months. So she helped me pick through some tunes that would be great to play…different than I’ve played before. We finally got away from the house and grabbed a quick bite and some groceries. We didn’t get a date night this week. It was sorely missed. I really hope that the two of us can get away to spend a little time together to reconnect. We’ve been through a lot this year and haven’t really had any time to get back on the same page. I hope that happens soon.

I did get some much needed sleep. I went to sleep around 12 midnight Friday night/Saturday morning and woke around 6 a.m. I looked around and noticed that while it was light outside, that it was still early morning. I watched Lovely and little Bear sleep for about 15 minutes, prayed for them, and rolled back over to see if I could rest for another couple of minutes. A little later I was awakened by the overwhelming stabbing pain in my lower stomach area. It was a throbbing yet piercing pain. What was it? Had I rolled over on little Bear and she was trying to kick me off of her? Had I, in my sleep, bumped and kicked Lovely enough where she picked up a screwdriver and settled the score against me? Nope, I just had a 10 hour bladder. I had sucked down nearly a gallon of water from 8 a.m. on Friday to 12 midnight and was in desperate need of going to the bathroom. The extra rest was much needed and appreciated. It’s not that I always need 10 hours of sleep to function, it is just that I rarely, and I do mean rarely, sleep well at night. This was the new wind in my sails that I needed.

Well, while I do have about 5 more topics to yap about I think that I’ll just hold on to ‘em. Why? That’s just how I roll. I have to have something to talk about tomorrow or the next day. I didn’t really get to the “shear, toiling madness” part. Maybe I’ll just keep that to myself too.

I will say this. I know that I have had the emotional breath knocked out of me and the financial health of Job, but God will see us through to the end. I just can’t…we just can’t give up fighting for it. God has a plan that is bigger than anyone could imagine. I’m just glad that I have my Lovely and my little Bear to share it. They mean the world to me.

"Sweet childish days, that were as long, As twenty days are now."

Quote from William Wordsworth

“T-t-t-time keeps tickin‘–tickin‘–tickin‘”

I heard that song the other day. You know, you can work 40 hours per week and be busy. You can work 60 hours per week and be maniacally busy. You can work 75+ hours per week and be chaotically busy. Still, time keeps tickin‘ on by you.

Shady and I started dating on November 29, 2002. Our first date was on a Friday night. We went to Silvertron’s cafe and then I played a coffee house gig at La Reunion downtown. After that we just drove around the city talking. I dropped her off back at her car at about 4 a.m. She had to drive back home (about 20 minutes away) and I was house sitting for a couple that lived about 10 minutes away. Next thing you know, we blinked and we were married only 6 months later on May 23 2003.

Next thing you know, blink blink blink and we’re preggers with little bear in January of 2005. Now it’s May of 2007. Four years married, almost 7 months into fatherhood.

LIFE DOESN’T SLOW DOWN, PEOPLE!!!!! IT ONLY GETS FASTER!!! IT’S LIKE RIDING A SKATEBOARD DOWN A STEEP HILL. EVENTUALLY YOU GET GOING SO FAST THAT YOU START TO SPEED-WOBBLE AND THINK EVERYTHING IS GOING TO FALL APART AND YOU WILL END UP WITH A ROCKIN‘ CASE OF ROAD-RASH.

But it doesn’t. I mean, sure, maybe sometimes you’ll roll over a finger or you hit a bump and you bruise your tailbone, but it holds together, right?

I’ve done a lot of looking back at my past. Both achievements and pitfalls. With hindsight being 20/20 I can see that at the time I knew the pitfalls were there, but I ignored the signs. The achievements? Man, I could have done better.

But with that said, if changing those situations would have moved me away from Shady and little bear…I accept those pitfalls…and I’m glad that I only achieved what I achieved.

Shady…You are the most beautiful to me. When I go to work my heart is sad because it has to be away from you. So, I’ll leave my heart with you. I trust you. You are safe. I leave it behind so that I don’t have to be sad. I can’t even begin to tell you just how in love I am with you. You have made this life so much more than tolerable. You make this life smiley. thanks for hanging in there with me when I am a pure ass. Thanks for loving me from a distance while I work to make ends meet. Just know that God is bigger than this and a time is coming soon when we won’t have to worry about 75+ hours each week that I’m gone. I will be home with you…my heart…my love…my world.

Little Bear…You are growing by leaps and bounds. I hear your words. I understand your smiles when I am home. I know that when I’m at work that you crawl around the house looking for me all day. Thank you for seeking me out and wanting a relationship with your Popi. I’ll be home soon. Oh, and your welcome. I’m just sorry that it took me so long to get your Exersaucer together. You are a beautiful treasure. All I want to do is scoop you up and just hug you and kiss your face until the world stops spinning. You and mommy both help to bring meaning to this craziness and the silly schedule.

I love you two. I’m gonna go work some more so I can come home and change Bear’s daippy and kiss on that Shady.

"Aww, Sweet Baby"

Alright. I know that I have been really sad and/or negative the past few posts. So let me cheer it up a shade.

Little Bear has been growing and learning so incredibly much. In the past weeks, she is rolling over both ways. She sits up pretty well in a chair, but not on the floor (unsupported) yet. She is working feverishly towards crawling. But here is a few sweet things. Yes, like any good parents we love our little girl. We give her tons of hugger-muffins and kisser-biscuits. So as a result, she has started touching our faces very gently and then she smiles…much like when we touch her face and smile. We reply to the touch with “Aww. Sweet Baby.” and then touch her face right back. This has been going on for about 2 weeks. Well, night before last, I got home from work and she was still up for a minute. She saw me and leaned toward me to hold her. She burries her head in my chest and she wraps both arms around me and squeezes. (a hugger-muffin) A little later I was talking to her about her day and she leans in, gets this sweet little smile on her face, opens her mouth and gently places her mouth on the side of my face. (a kisser-biscuit) I just melted. I thought to myself, “This is what being a dad is about. All these hours of work and if all I ever got paid was a hugger-muffin and a kisser-biscuit and a Aww, Sweet Baby, that would be more than enough.”

So for those coming up on being a papa, just wait. You’ll hold that little one (all boys are being born right now…seemingly) and they smile (and it isn’t gas) or they giggle at you or they touch your face, it makes your day. It’s beautiful. In that moment, you might just realize that you aren’t that important, but that the little boy or girl that you are holding IS.

I just can’t wait for BN2. He/She is right around 12 weeks tomorrow. WOO HOO!!!!!

That means we are about 28 weeks from doing this again!!!! I can’t wait. Kids truly are a blessing.