Marley started preschool at the church a few weeks ago, and she really loves it.  Right now she is only going once a week, but hopefully more room will open up in another class and she can go more… but she is only two.  Once she hits three, preschool will be more involved… I hope.  And maybe I will be able to take Wyatt somewhere too?

I would be nice to have a few hours a week to myself to get some much needed house work done.  Cutting the grass, repainting some stuff, and a list so big, I don’t know if it will ever all get done.

Covers on all the outlets – babies like to stick things there all the time, toys, fingers, sometimes they try to eat it

Latches on any drawers and cabinets with dangerous, or stuff in there that you don’t want the kids to get into

R ubber or plastic edges on sharp corners- a light bump on a sharp corner is an instant black eye or lump

Secure Unstable things to walls, so they don’t fall on the baby when they pull or climb on them, like- bookshelves, standing lamps, mirrors etc

Gates on the stairs- because a baby falling down the stairs in not good for anyone

For me, the hardest thing that you have to do to keep the baby safe, is keeping all of the tiny little things off the floor.  Especially when you have a toddler that plays with barbies and all their little stuff…

The boy is nine months old now, and I can tell… he’ll be walking soon.  He is learning some good tricks from his big sis, like how to climb up on things by stacking things up to get higher.  Soon he will learn that the higher you get… the harder you will fall.  We have had a few good falls, no blood… but still good falls.  I can tell that this boy is going to be tough… little tank.

We have his nine month appt  in a few days and am looking forward to seeing just how big he has really gotten.  He is in 12-18 month clothes size 4-5 shoes, eating solid foods (tiny bits) loves meat!  And wears the same size diapers and the girl! (Yes the girl is still in diapers… working on it)  The boy is huge and really mobile and determined to be big.  Totally opposite of Marley who is all girly girl, this guy is all boy… but a super mama’s boy.  Man, he loves his mama. Its super cute to see… but boy oh boy….

Marley, who is just turning two and half acts way to old for her own good.  She literally knows everything that is going on.  Her vocabulary is amazing, and there is nothing that she cant say.  It’s really fun to have a full on conversation with a 2 1/2 yr old little girl, I spend most of the day laughing and amazed at what comes out of her mouth.  I know I’m some deep shit when she gets older, because this girl has a mind of her own.  Dresses every day, high heels, hair done.  The girl even gets pedicures with her mom a few times a month.

Tonight she said to me

“Dad, my toes are bad!  I going to get my toes done with mom”

You are?

“I getting purple sparkle toes and fingers too! I am, I am!”

Just kidding, I got this under control… I hope.

Mar is doing great at swimming…. holing her breath, going under water, paddling and kicking… but still sinking.  I’m hoping she’ll be closer to swimming on her own by the end of the summer (hey, it could happen).

Teach you kids to swim.

Just a Fun Photo

For the last week or so, the kids have been doing some really crazy stuff.  I don’t know what happened, but the kids don’t seem to be themselves lately.  Marley, who loves swimming and the pool, has decided to change her mind.  She has had swim lessons every day this week, and loved them.  Now, she throws a shit fit every time I try to get her into the pool.  Today, she was not going in, so I did what I thought was best… and tossed her in and vanished out of sight so she couldn’t see me (usually this makes her forget that I am there, and she goes back to having fun swimming).  Apparently, that was a bad idea because she went crazy… screaming, crying, yelling in some kind of demon voice from beyond.  All the moms at the pool just looked at me like, is that your kid? But some of them said, they would have done the same thing.   A few minutes later, one of the swim teachers came and told me Marley was not having it today, and then we went home.  No swimming tomorrow.  I guess it probably didn’t help that I was raining outside, and the pool is outdoors.  But all the other kids were enjoing it… I dont know whats going on with her.

Wyatt, on the other hand is great.  He’s now getting all over the place.  I was really looking forward to the time when you can just set them in the middle of the room and they don’t go anywhere… he skipped right past that.  He can army crawl (scoot and pull) all over the house.  But when it comes to getting on his knees and crawling… he just goes backwards.

Sleeping for these two is crazy at best.  The girl sleeps all night, but getting her to go down takes the better part of an hour.  Constantly getting up, demanding more books, and milk.  Sometimes, she sneaks into the room and just stands there next to the bed, like some crazed milk zombie.  And the boy goes nuts in his sleep.  We sit and watch him do circles around his crib on the video baby monitor.  This boy is the bottomless pit too,  he wants to be fed every three or four hours still (luckily he is boob fed, so I get to sleep… most of the time), and my wife is only getting about three to four hours of sleep a night… then gets up and goes to work.(Yikes)  Thanks Babe.

Every Tuesday and Friday night at 9:00 at Cal Anderson Park, awaits an army of rubber ball wielding roughens of the likes you have never seen.  People of all types are there, ready to fight to the death… or at least until the ball crushes your face.  These kids are relentless.  This is not the dodgeball that I remember… this was nuts.  There were about fourty of fifty people all cramed onto one half of a tennis court, and about 20 balls flying at supersonic speeds.

I have to say, that I couldnt get the smile off my face the entire time (even after a ball hit it), and after one hour of play… I was done.  Super fun, and it made me feel like a kid again.   If you want some fun in your life, get out there and play.

Then Sunday I played in my first outdoor soccer match since 1997.  I play goalie so conditioning and stamina were not what I was really worried about.  It was the fact that I have about 40 pounds on my former self, and haven’t dove on the ground on purpose in a really long time.  I must say, that I still got it… a little slower, but I can still get in front of a ball when it counts.  The game ended 2-5.

Today I woke up feeling really, really old.  my entire body is bruised and beaten.  I could barely raise my head to get out of bed, and even my fingers hurt.  The strapping young man that used be at the peak of physical performance, has turned into a soft pile of mush.  The years have not been kind to my body, and its time get it back.

I am not the kid that I used to be… and it hurts.  Ouch

Montlake Kiddie Corral

The Montlake Ale House is a pub where you can go and watch your favorite Word Cup match, have a pint of beer… and bring your kid!  This place looks great, and I was going to wait until I personally check it out to do this, but I didn’t want anyone to miss out.  I will do a better review after I check it out.

Montlake Ale House

2307 24th Avenue East
Seattle, WA 98112-2606
(206) 726-5968

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