Bird, meet window........

Mrs. Lime and Kali 2.3 were in the house today and heard a big boom. After a hour or so, they came downstairs to find a dead bird on the back patio. Mrs. Lime didn't remove it, so it was still there when I got home. Kali wanted me to take her out to go swinging on her new swing when I got home. We had to pass the bird on the way out.

Kali: Bird lying down.

Me: Yeah, birdie is gone. He's dead.

Kali: Bird dead. He all gone.

Me: Yes, he's gone

Kali: Birdie fly high.

Me: I don't think that birdie will be flying anymore.

Kali: Another birdie fly high!

Me: Yes, I'm sure there will be more birds that will fly high.

Kali: Fly high!

Another tough situation dodged. I'm sure the explanations will only get tougher in the future.

Moving on.........

I ran down to a hospital this afternoon to support a fraternity brother. He's 23 years old and he'll likely be dead by the time you read this blog entry. Great guy who somehow had a freak stroke that left him brain dead.

I got the call that he wasn't going to make it this afternoon, so we all got into the truck and headed down to give our support to the family. When we got to the hospital, I went to the desk to find out where his room was located. I said the name and the man at the desk knew the floor and bed without even looking. I thought that was because the guy who called me had come through just before me.

When the doors opened on the third floor, there were people EVERYWHERE. Fraternity brothers, college kids, friends, family........they were all there. Most of the college-age kids were pretty upset. I've lost a couple of friends at a relatively young age, so it's somewhat less of a shock for me at this point. Things like this do happen, though that doesn't make them any less shocking. For a lot of these kids, it likely was their first experience with losing a close friend. It's extremely rough. You have a young friend on a ventilator who hasn't even reached the prime of his life. He's laying in a bed and will be dead in 24 hours and there's nothing that will change that.

It's a brutal reality, but it's obviously a reinforcement that life is short and nothing can be taken for granted. There was a good possibility that his organs will be donated, which would be wonderful. Hopefully something good comes out of this otherwise brutal situation.

Water slides...........

Kali 2.3 and I went out to meet some friends at Worlds of Fun yesterday. We started the day over at the 'Peanuts Playground, which is a big area where you can shoot foam balls with guns and slide down slides. 10 minutes after we arrived, I took Kali down a slide. Lucky me. At the bottom of the slide was a large puddle that I slid through, soaking my back. Kali giggled at the bottom of the slide and said 'Again! Again!', totally unaware of what just happened to Daddy. I informed her that we'd do it later.

We went on the carousel a couple of times and also went on the Octopus. Kali got a bit scared towards the end of the Octopus ride, but nothing terribly traumatic. Once she got off the ride, she was bouncing as she walked, which is pretty good sign that she liked it despite her fears while on the ride.

We finished the day off with a ride on the log flume. She loved it as she always does. I drove her home and she was asleep before the 5 minute ride was even complete. Ah, to be young and nap whenever you want to do so.

The fort continues to grow.........

Put in 4 1/2 more hours last night on the swing set/fort. Finished up the decking of the fort loft and sundeck. I actually put my 200 lbs. on the deck and heard no cracking noises of note, so it would appear it's relatively sturdy.

The good news is that I'm running out of wood, so I think I'm making good progress. There's still a couple of evenings worth of work, but I think I'm around the halfway point. Tonight, I'll be installing some roofs over the picnic area and upper landing.

In related news, my hamstrings have requested the evening off. I've rejected that request and have told them to expect to work part of the holiday weekend.

Swing set progress update.........

Slide assembly: Check
Ladder assembly: Check
Rock wall assembly: Check
Swing beam assembly: Check
Fort assembly: In progress
Monkey bar assembly: Not started

All in all, not too bad for one night of work. The pieces are coming together. I expect to get close to finishing the fort tonight and attaching the swing to the fort. That will just leave the monkey bar assembly for the weekend. The whole swing set literally came to the house as nothing more than boards and plastic parts. There's a lot of assembly to be done, but it is nice to actually put it all together and see that you actually do know what the hell you're doing. Only one or two minor screw-ups that were easily reconciled.

To the guy that estimate in the directions that the swing set could be assembled in 6-12 hours...........your estimating abilities suck.

What time is it?

You just can't make this stuff up. The delivery company let me know last night that our swing set would be delivered between 11:00-2:00 PM today. About 10 minutes ago, I got the following call..........

Delivery Man: Hi, this is Bill. We're at your house to deliver the swing set.

Lime: The person who called me yesterday gave me a delivery time of 11:00-2:00 PM.

Delivery Man: Well, it's 10:30, going on 11:00.

Lime: My wife isn't there right now, though she should be there between 10:45-11:00 PM. Feel free to start unloading it in the backyard. That way you can have it done by the time my wife gets there.

Delivery Man: OK. We'll do.

So, in summary, if a guy shows up 1/2 hour early for an appointment, it's OK to imply that they're on time if you can tie in that the next half-hour would put them there on time. At least that's what I think he meant with his "it's 10:30, going on 11:00" comment. I should use this tactic at Target..........

Lime: (arriving 1/2 hour early before opening pounding on door) Excuse me, I'm here to buy blueberries for my ravenous daughter!

Target employee: I'm sorry sir. We don't open until 8:00 AM.

Lime: (looking at watch) Well, it's 7:30 AM, going on 8:00 AM. So you should be open at this point.

It arrives tomorrow..........

I got the call from the shipping company today. The playground arrives tomorrow afternoon. By this time tomorrow evening, I'll be laboring away in the backyard, trying to sort out a convoluted direction sheet that doesn't match the materials in front of me. Meanwhile, a 100 pound Saint Bernard will be standing next to me, bad breath and all, wanting me to play with her in 'her' backyard. In addition, Kali 2.3 will be running through the yard, stepping in dog doo-doo.

Should be fun.

Inflatable birthday.........

Kali 2.3 and I went to a birthday party at a local place that has all kinds of huge inflatable playgrounds. These things are two stories tall and just as big as regular playground equipment. A few notes from the party.......

-Kali is growing up quickly. She's quickly becoming a social butterfly. Two months ago, she would have refused to get off Daddy's lap due to all the strange new people. At the party, she sat down at a table with 10 other kids and hardly even knew I was there.

-Kali sat at the table between two girls her age. Out of nowhere, Kali and the girl to her right started talking to each other. They both were talking, reacting, smiling, frowning, etc., like they were having a real conversation. I didn't catch a word of what they were saying, but it seemed pretty involved.

-When you are in a place for kids with two party rooms right next to each other, there's a good chance that kids from the other party will walk into your party without even skipping a beat. We had one girl walk into the room more than once and attempt to start eating the birthday cake before it was even cut. When you're hungry, you're hungry I suppose.

-Kali wanted Daddy to go on all the inflatables with her. So I did. I went again, and again, and again, and again.............

-Final total: 12 times through the obstacle course, 8 times down the huge slide, 4 times through the smaller slide.

-When playing on inflatable toys, it should be noted that daddies sink quite a bit further down than 2 year-old kids. As a result, daddies have to work a lot harder to go through the inflatables. It was EXHAUSTING. I had to pull Kali aside for a rest break a time or two, which she was not happy about at all.

-The obstacle course has two big walls along the way. One is a 6 foot wall and the other is probably 10-12 feet. Kali needed my help on the first couple of runs. By the last run, she was scaling the 12 foot wall without me even touching her, though I was behind her to spot her just in case.

-Crawling under obstacles on inflatable toys can leave a mark. I have plastic surface burn marks on my knees and elbows to remind me of my multiple journeys through the obstacle course.

-Other parents, especially the birthday girl's parents, find great joy in taking pictures of parents who are exhausted after chasing their kids through inflatable toys for an hour.

-Young boys haven't completely mastered the application of appropriate etiquette. When going through a small crawl area, the fact that they say 'Excuse me' doesn't hold much water if they are elbowing a fully grown adult aside as they do it. Let the record show that I threw no retaliatory elbows, though my daughter may have done so.

-2 year-old daughters fall asleep very quickly in the car after running through inflatable toys for a hour.

I'll probably take Kali back to play on the toys again, but I will be making sure that I have elbow and knee pads on before I re-enter the inflatable arena.

Resting up for the inevitable work before me.........

Mrs. Lime had been wanting a swing set for the backyard for some time. So, she finally got one as a Mother's Day present. She was very excited. Thanks to the pregnancy, she even started crying. Ah, the emotional swings of a pregnant mother.

I've been nailed by a cold in recent weeks, which was followed up by a sinus infection that I'm currently resolving thanks to antibiotics. So I haven't felt or slept all that well in recent days. I think I'm going to be well just in time for the swing set to show up. Then I'll spend the next couple of days assembling it in my backyard. By that time, I should be nice and worn down and begging for naps again.

Of course, assuming all goes well, I'll have a second child by December and I'll start to dream about sleep again. I should probably train Kali 2.3 on how to change diapers.

Bump me Dog!

Yes, you read that right. Kali 2.3 has become a hip two year-old kid thanks to Mrs. Lime. You can now make a fist and tell Kali 'Bump me, Dog!' and she will promptly give you a fist-bump and say 'Bump me, Dog!'.

My daughter is becoming 'cool' right before my very eyes.

Hunger strike...........

Mrs. Lime cooked chicken, veggies, and rice for dinner last night. Everyone sat down to eat. Only two of the three people at the table were eating. Kali 2.3 decided after a bite or two of rice that she was done. Mrs. Lime headed off to work, so I had the fortune of resolving the eating issue.

I told Kali that she needed to eat her food. Several different versions of 'no' came from her mouth. I told her that was fine, but she wasn't getting any other foods or treats until she ate her dinner. She quietly got down and walked off to do something else, which I know is a firm sign that she heard exactly what I said and chose the path of not eating. I let her know that her food would be right here if she wanted to come back and eat some rice or veggies. I got another 'no' but little else. At least I knew she was listening.

20 minutes later.......

Kali: Daddy, I want some chips!

Me: You can have some chips as soon as you finish eating your dinner.

Kali: I want chips! I want chips! I want chips!

Note that none of these emphatic statements were terribly mean. Kali usually keeps her tone at a nice level, even when she's being demanding. She'll kill with kindness.

30 minutes later.......

Kali: Daddy, I want some chocolate!

Me: You can have some chocolate as soon as you finish eating your dinner.

Kali: I want some chocolate! I want some chocolate! I want some chocolate!

New food, same routine. She sticks with what works I guess.

Long story short, she drank a lot of water and apple juice, but decided that giving in to Daddy on the dinner thing was more of a compromise than she was willing to make. Mrs. Lime is going to have a hungry kid on her hands when she wakes up this morning. I'm sure she'll eat just fine.

MD's on the net...........

Neighbor here at work is talking with a family member over the phone. Evidently, their family member has a cut/infection of some sort. So rather than spending the $10-15 to drop in to see their local doctor to get it checked, they have decided to call their relative at work to have them look up stuff on the internet and attempt to diagnose the issue via the internet over the phone. As I write this, my neighbor is reading information off WebMD's website to attempt to diagnose the issue.

Ummmm, there a reason it takes doctors 8-12 years to become a doctor. Diagnosing a problem without training is not something that can be done over the internet or we'd all be doctors. If you're reading this, PLEASE don't be one of these people. It's money well spend to have a professional check it. Not only that, but you'll avoid driving people like me nuts when we're at work.

So THIS is why she was cranky.........

Kali 2.2 was sick all last week and is just now starting to feel better. She was grumpy and sneezy. She coughed quite a bit with a runny nose. She had a constant fever around 100-101 degrees.

Fast forward to this week. Now I'm in the midst of the same thing. Fever, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, etc. It's brutal. I think she handled it well comparatively. Gold star for her. I'll just fight my way through it and hope that I'm feeling back up to par by the end of the weekend. If not, you can blame my child.

First trip to 'New' Kauffman Stadium.........

Kali 2.2 and I went to the Royals game last night along with her great aunt and uncle. It was great to finally see the renovated stadium with all the new amenities. Kali took a ride on the carousel. She chose the biggest horse she could see. She also played on the playground equipment. She was a bit timid with all the other kids around, but I think she was more worried about them knocking her over more than anything else. I helped her out and she slid down the slide several times.

Kali and I picked up hot dogs on the way over to our seats. Kali ate all of her hot dog, but she only ate the dog itself. The bun was awfully big, so I think she just decided to go directly to the good stuff. She ended up with a face covered with mustard and ketchup, but it didn't phase her a bit.

She loved the fountains and the big video scoreboard. When the lineups were announced before the game, they would shoot off fireworks after each player was announced while the people were applauding. She quickly made the connection that whenever people were applauding, fireworks would go off. So when the team hit the field and the crowd starting applauding, Kali started clapping again and pointing to the scoreboard saying 'Fire! Fire!'. They shot off the fireworks again and Kali was giggling.

As the game wore on, Kali figured out that applause doesn't always mean fireworks. She'd look at the scoreboard every time people clapped for various reasons, but no fireworks. Then, BOOM! Alberto Callispo hit a homerun into the Royals' bullpen. Kali clapped, fireworks went off, loud music started playing. Kali was thrilled once again. The fireworks were back.

Kali's primary focus during the game was eating, drinking, and showing off for the teenage girls down the aisle who were egging her on. She thought it was great. But she did also have a lot of curiousity about the game. She pointed to the field several times, asking what certain things were. Players, bats, etc.

BOOM! Jacobs hit a 450 foot bomb to dead center field. Fireworks, music, clapping......Kali was fired up again.

We lasted until nearly 10:00 PM before we finally went home. The game ended up going on until 11:45 PM when the Royals won the game in the 11th inning. Kali stayed up all the way home, most likely due to the sugar infusion of pop during the game. Next time, I plan on sitting in the 'Fountain Seats'. Kali loved looking at the fountains, so sitting next to them would likely be a great way to keep her occupied. I'm sure we'll be going back for more games.

Geez, the world speeds up a bit.........

I had a lot added to my plate of late in regards to my workplace. I'm doing admin work on a couple of applications, which has really kept me busy of late. The worst part about doing some of the admin work is that the people you are usually working with are the less intelligent users, for lack of a better description. The people that don't need their hand held through the process often do things on their own. What's left is those people that somehow ended up in an IT job without any real IT skills outside of knowing how to turn on their computer and check e-mail.

I'm a pretty patient person overall, but even this is a stern test. It's probably an excellent exercise in how to increase my patience. That's my 'glass half full' analysis of the situation.

The Great (Two-Year Old) Viking..........

Yesterday, we had a sick child on our hands who wasn't terribly interested in doing anything but whine and crave attention at all times. So, we took advantage of a gift from my parents and we decided to head over to Worlds of Fun (local amusement park) for a couple of hours.

It was Kali 2.2's second trip over to the park. She had been there once before with a neighbor, but she was now big enough to ride some of the bigger rides with an adult (had to be 36 inches tall). We just decided to go straight for the gusto and ride the log ride called Viking Voyager. It's a very old ride that's been there at least 30 years. Relatively simple with a 40-50 foot drop at the end where you 'splash down'.

We got on the ride without any issues. I sat behind Kali and held her in place while Mrs. Lime sat in front of her. Kali grabbed on to Mrs. Lime's jacket. She was grinning as soon as we started moving down the ride. We went up the first small hill and then made a 6-8 foot drop. When we hit the bottom, Kali was giggling. She was all smiles through the ride and then we started going up the big hill at the end with still no issues.

When we crested the hill, I didn't hear a peep from Kali. But I did look down just in time to see her pull back on Mrs. Lime's jacket. I think she was caught off guard by the big hill at the end. But when she hit bottom, she was giggling again. She also said 'I got all wet!'. When she got out of the log, she was walking with a big bounce in her step. I think the adreniline was kicking in pretty hard at that point.

I went down a spiral slide a few times with her. She also rode the kids train one time around by herself. She was a bit skittish on the kids rides about being alone. She rode a couple of them with another kid on the previous visit. I think she's just not real keen on riding without anyone quite yet.

We also rode the big train, though that was honestly not as much fun as I remember it in previous rides. They had a guy rambling on over a loudspeaker about all the rides at Worlds of Fun. That in itself wasn't bad, but the volume was extremely LOUD. You couldn't talk to the person next to you and the ride quickly became about getting off the ride rather than actually enjoying it. I'll be sending an e-mail to the park about that one. You know it was bad if I'm bothering to send an e-mail.

Kali rode the carousel and the flying ships that go around in a circle. She was screaming when we first got onto the ships (yes, I saw all the parents giving me dirty looks), but once the ride got going, she actually liked it quite a bit. I got dizzy, so maybe Kali knew something I didn't know. We also rode the taxi cars, though Kali was starting to get tired at this point.

Mrs. Lime and Kali made a quick ice cream stop so I could go and ride the new coaster in the park. It's called the Prowler. Great ride with a lot of speed and really smooth turns for a wooden coaster. I'll be taking in a lot more rides on that one.

We finished the day with another ride on the log ride (which Kali loved even more the second time). She thought she was a pretty big deal when she got off the ride for a second time. The ride home was only 5 minutes, but she still was asleep before we got home. She even went to bed relatively early for her. Being sick plus log rides equal a tired two year old.

You know it's a slow and quiet day at work.......

......When you can hear your neighbor across the cube wall snoring.

Your observations are even more fully recognized when you go around to walk by the cube where the person is snoring and they don't even flinch when you noisily walk by that cube.

Little extra attention.........

While Kali 2.2 certainly never lacks attention from her parents, she did get a bit of extra attention over the past couple of days since she's been running a bit of a temperature. It's some sort of a virus, but we're able to control her temperature for the most part with the usual over-the-counter medications.

Her sleeping cycle has been a bit off as a result. Last night, she wasn't quite ready to go to be at her usual time and I really needed to keep her up to give her another round of medicine around 10:30 PM, so I gave her the option of hanging out in bed with me and watching TV for awhile. She was extremely excited and jumped on that opportunity.

She came up and we watched 'Bizarre Foods' together. It's actually a pretty good show for kids to watch as it turns out. There are lots of insects and animals on the show. She was inquiring about all of them, trying to learn as usual. She also continues to amaze me with her sudden explosion of chatter. Conversations are becoming more and more frequent, rather than her just spitting out random words or sentence fragments.

10:25 PM came around. I was looking around at the web while Kali was watching TV. Or at least I thought she was watching TV. I looked over to find her face-down in the bed asleep. So I picked her up and gave her the medicine and she went to sleep without any issues. Even the sick nights can be relatively pain-free with this kid.