More!

You know your body is begging for more sleep when you start dreaming that you're checking the clock to see if it's time to wake up.

Yes, I had a dream like that. I know it because one of my clock checks in my dream was interrupted by my alarm clock going off.

Oh well. Only 18 years until both of my girls are out of the house.

My lot in life.........

I think I take for granted the situation that I'm in.

Last night, we went out to eat at a nearby restaurant. At the table next to us, there's a kid throwing a fit of mammoth proportions. The noise never bothers me since I'm a parent of two young girls, but what was noticable was how much effort the parents had to spend on handling the kid rather than just enjoying their meal. I then thought back after the meal and realized that the worst thing that happened at our table was that Kali 3.1 decided to put on some of Mommy's lipstick and then kissed the wall on the booth to make a 'lippy mark'. We told her to stop and she did. That was about it.

We did have a 5 minute drama before bed where Kali was trying to find every reason not to go to bed. Eventually, I had to pull out the mean daddy voice, which seemed to work. I'm sure it won't be long before the mean daddy voice gets laughed at by both of my daughters.

Tinkerbell 1.5 and Kali 3.1

Tinkerbell and Kali practice laying down and behaving themselves. Note the blue bands on Tink's front legs. Those are toy bandaids from Kali's medical kit. She determined that Tink had boo-boos on both legs.



They can put their head down together too.....



Choose the wrong camera angle and it could look like your 130 lb. Saint Bernard is laying on your child......



Choose another camera angle and it could look like your child is on top of your Saint Bernard. Oh wait.......she is..........



And when your dog itches its ear........



It's only natural that your three year old follows suit........



But they look awfully cute when they both behave themselves......











Or when they're taking a nap together......

Picture blowout - February/March 2010

Pajama party!!!!!







Only the cool kids where pajamas with footies on the bottom.......



Kali's birthday cake......



The boys dressed up as knights........







Well, not all of them dressed up as knights.......



And the girls dressed up as princesses and fairies.......











Accessory table for the girls........



Pink punch and goblets for everyone.......



Cake time!!!!!



Stickers and markers everywhere!!!!!

Cleaning the teeth......

Kali 3.1 went for her first teeth cleaning at the dentist. She first sat down on her own and was OK with it all since there were no tools and there was a TV with cartoons at the end of the chair. Once the cleaning tools came out, she was leery of it all.

So I laid down in the chair with Kali laying on top of me and that seemed to ease the fears quite a bit. The dentist looked around with a mirror and Kali did well. She then used the spinning polisher on Kali's teeth. She did pretty well with an occational noise signifying that she wasn't terribly pleased with the situation. She got most of her teeth cleaned and then decided enough was enough. Dentist said no big deal and Kali got a Dora toothbrush and some SpongeBob toothpaste for her troubles.

I got my teeth cleaned as well after that while Kali watched some cartoons. Giselle 0.4 decided after babbling at the assistant for awhile that she'd take a nap. I was glad that she took that option, because I wasn't terribly happy with the assistant baby-talking to Giselle while holding sharp instruments in my mouth. It seemed like a really bad idea, but it's hard to voice those complaints with the sharp instruments in your mouth.

Mrs. Lime was shocked that Giselle wasn't a problem while in the dentist office. I had no concerns about the situation, but Mrs. Lime was nervous that I didn't have a babysitter and that Giselle would fuss and cry the whole time. I think mothers don't have a full understanding of just how smart these babies are even at this age and how much they manipulate their moms and their emotions. Giselle knows that she can fuss at any time when Mrs. Lime comes around and she'll instantly get some milk from Mommy. She abuses it at times, but there's no way Mrs. Lime is letting that little baby go without anything.

Meanwhile, Giselle and I have a much different arrangement. There are times when she fusses a lot and I can tell that she's hungry. There's another form of crying where I know she's just turning up the volume hoping her mom get suckered into the room. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. The amusing part about this crying is that Giselle knows that Daddy knows what she's doing. So many times, I'll stand there and watch her and she'll smile while screaming. She knows that Daddy's not buying what she's selling and that's pretty funny to her, but she also knows that if she keeps fussing, she's got a shot at drawing Mommy's attention.

I should note that Giselle is an excellent baby overall. She only breaks out the fussing on rare occasions. She maximizes her fussing opportunities.

Checking out dancing........

Mrs. Lime and I headed over to a dance studio that some friends use for their girls. We told Kali 3.1 that we were going over to look at a place she can dance to see if she liked it.

I knew we were in trouble as soon as we hit the parking lot. There were girls giggling in the parking lot for no good reason! Just goofing around. I even noted the situation and vocalized to Mrs. Lime what I was seeing. She just laughed at me.

Then we entered the building. It was all over. Girls and moms EVERYWHERE! Pinks and purples galore! Girls down below were warming up for an acrobatic dance class. Good God. Of course, Kali ran right to the railing and giggled while watching the girls do flips and other things.

Mrs. Lime asked Kali if she liked the place. Her response was that she had forgot her ballerina pajamas at home so she didn't have anything to wear. That's right. While Mommy and Daddy were just coming to see if Kali liked it enough to take summer classes, Miss Kali was ready to jump right in and get started. Worse yet, she then spotted the dance costume wall and got the bright idea that she could just get a costume now and get started.

We got the info for the place and got on the mailing list. She said they'd probably have new classes in June, so Kali will have to wait a couple of months to get started. On the way home, Kali noted that boys don't take dancing classes. She said that boys take 'dragon classes', an apparant reference to girls be princesses. She made sure to tell her Papa the same thing later that night on the phone when he asked if she was going to take dancing classes like Papa.

"No Papa. Boys take dragon classes."

So says the aspiring dancer.

Where's Limelicker?

Geez, has it been nearly a week since I posted? What have I been doing? Too focused on basketball and the inevitable hangover once Mizzou's season is over I suppose.

I'll be sure to rectify the situation promptly.

Tourney time!!!!!!!

It's that time of the year again. The NCAA Basketball Championship begins TODAY! Woohoo!

Really excited for it to get started. Love to watch or listen to all the games I can. Hoping that Mizzou can win their opening game and get a shot at the higher seed. My bold prediction is that MU will win their second game if they can find a way to beat Clemson. We'll see how it goes.

Go Tigers!

The logic of a three year old...........

Mrs. Lime and Kali 3.1 were engaged in a conversation about our trip to Disney in Orlando next month. I'm paraphrasing from Mrs. Lime's account since I wasn't present........

Mrs. Lime: We'll ride the Teacup ride.

Kali: With Mommy and Daddy?

Mrs. Lime: Just with Mommy. Daddy gets sick on the Teacup ride.

Kali: Does Daddy like lemonade?

Mrs. Lime: Yes, Daddy likes lemonade.

Kali: Can we pour lemonade in Daddy's teacup so he doesn't get sick?

She just doesn't understand.......

Me: I'm going to be home around noon on Friday.

Mrs. Lime: OK. Any certain reason?

Me: Mizzou is playing around 1:30 PM.

Mrs. Lime: (laughs)

Me: What? It's tournament time! I can't miss the game. You're making fun of me!

Mrs. Lime: No, I just think it's funny. It's your vacation time. You do what you want to do.

Me: (stern look)

Mrs. Lime: (laughs)

MU back in the NCAA tournament.......

There were a few years before the last two years where Mizzou didn't make the NCAA Tournament. It was a four year drought to be exact. It was so painful to watch the selection special and not have Mizzou as part of the excitement.

Now, Mizzou has its second straight NCAA bid in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Next year, we have some high-level recruits coming in that should allow us to continue to improve as a program. It's so exciting to have Mizzou playing well again and we have Coach Anderson to thank for this resurgance in the program. Hopefully we continue to keep going in the right direction and we never have to deal with another four year drought like that one.

Go Fish!

Kali 3.1 has been working on some new games. Her latest conquest was learning how to play 'Go Fish!' We've actually had some good contests early on. Of late, she's gone to cheating and I've had to call her on it.

1. She likes to ask for cards that she doesn't have in her hand.
2. She says she doesn't have any of a particular card in her hand even though she does.

So we're working through the process of learning how to play the game without cheating. I think once she gets over the thrill of saying, "No, I don't have that! Go Fish, Daddy!", then we'll have some games that are a bit more competitive. As it is, she tends to win a bit more, but I suppose it allows her to have a bit more self-confidence.

Why?

I saw that Corey Haim, a child actor who had no real health issues, died of a drug overdose this morning. While I don't have any real connection to him in particular, I find it totally baffling that someone who is given a wonderful gift of life decides to lead themselves down such a self-destructive path.

I'm sure that not everyone agrees with every facet of my life or my decision making. That'll never happen. With that said, I've always tried to do what's right and make good decisions, even when I fail to do so. So to see someone toss caution to the wind like Corey did just seems like such a waste.

I've already told Mrs. Lime before that I feel like my life is a success at this point and any good things that come to me from this point forward are just gravy on top. I have a wife that far exceeds my wildest expectations and two girls that allow me to remain grounded on what's most important. I wish that everyone could say that about themselves, but stories like Corey's illustrate that's not always the case.

Oh, and when I do kick the can in 50 years, someone needs to remind my family to play 'Time Of Your Life' by Greenday at my memorial service. It's now formally in writing so no one can forget. It's definitely not a normal song request for a memorial service, so best to mention it now.

Giselle 0.3 picture blowout........

Probably only a mini-blowout, but thought I'd toss a few up.....







And some pictures hanging out with Tinkerbell 1.5. Tink's not the brightest dog, but she loves being with the girls.........

Hello?

I get a call at work every day from Kali 3.0. She likes to call me and tell me all about what she's doing that day. It's generally entertaining and it's probably a good social/verbal exercise for her. When I can't understand what she's saying, Mrs. Lime usually chimes in to help me stay on the right path.

Today I got a call from Kali. She was telling me all about her breakfast and that she and Mrs. Lime were going to play some games together. I wasn't able to understand one of the statements, so I asked Mrs. Lime what she had said. Only one problem.......Mrs. Lime wasn't there. Kali had found my name in the phone book and tapped it to call me all on her own. Mrs. Lime came down after a while to find Kali and I having a conversation and inform me that Kali had called me by herself. Kali was pretty proud of herself.

She's still not getting a cell phone any time soon.

Holy moly......what a week.

Well, it's been an interesting week to say the least. Went in for my vasectomy and came out with some 'issues' that have created a month-long recovery time. No lasting effects, but a bit more painful experience than I was hoping for when I went in to have it done. The doctor said my situation rarely happens and he was pretty upset that it happened in a patient he knew. Thankfully, I have a prescription to assist with pain management and I should be good to go soon enough.

I can't complain too much. This was my first surgery and my complication isn't terrible. Most people can only wish for that kind of health through 35+ years. I'm very lucky.

Who's left?

We were sitting in the living room watching TV. There was:

Kali 3.0
Giselle 0.3
Mrs. Lime
Me
Grandma
Grandpa

At some point, Grandpa decided to head to bed. Kali enquired where he was going and we told her. She then said that "it was up to Grandma, Mommy, Daddy, Giselle and me".

Grandma then decided a bit later to go to bed as well. Kali said that "it was up to Mommy, Daddy, Giselle, and me". Mrs. Lime asked what it was 'up to us' to do, but Kali just repeated her previous statement.

I was a bit under the weather and decided I would head to bed. Kali said "it was up to Mommy, Giselle, and me now". I finally figured out that she had either seen on TV or heard us say that it was "down to" some number of people and she had mistakenly kept saying up. Mrs. Lime told her that we were actually down to Mommy, Giselle, and Kali. Kali agreed.

Translations are key with a three year old.

That'll teach me to watch a game at my sister's house......

We went over to my sister's house last night to watch the Mizzou-Iowa State game. Kali 3.0 and Gwen 2.9 were playing, screaming, and bathing together while we watched the game.

The game eventually went into overtime. I was standing up watching the ending. Zaire "Big Shot" Taylor went from one end of the court to the other in six seconds and tossed in the winning basket. I jumped up in excitement. Only one issue........their ceiling is only eight feet high. I slammed my knuckles into their ceiling, taking the skin off a couple of them.

My brother-in-law remarked that he was just glad I didn't put a hole in the ceiling since they were moving out in a couple of weeks. Thankfully, their new home is supposed to have vaulted ceilings, so I should be able to watch games at their new house without fear of injury.