Day 560 - A Christmas (Inflatable) Couch

Merry Christmas everyone! 

I realize those sentiments may be slightly early. However, I also realize it's the last Friday before Christmas meaning that I won't have another shot to wish all eight of my readers an awesome holiday!

Of course, everyone knows that a lot of things go into the Christmas season. After all, there's the multitude of family gatherings. The ever-popular Christmas parties with friends. Gingerbread house building competitions. By the way, consider this a reminder that Bethany and I are undefeated as a duo when it comes to gingerbread house building competitions. Of course, one thing that defines the Christmas season for many is the gift giving.

As I've been laid up for the past few weeks, I've really just started to "reclaim my life" this week. It goes without saying that many a thing I normally take care of fell by the wayside during that time period. Dishes went unwashed. Dinners weren't prepped. The bed wasn't made. Laundry wasn't washed. I'm sorry to say my poor pregnant wife was saddled with quite a few of those responsibilities. It's ok, I'm taking care of them now.

However, there was one last thing that had gone undone that I really needed to take care and that was last-minute Christmas shopping. Now, most of our shopping was done online on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. However, there were a few remaining items that I knew could be taken care of later. This week, 'later' finally arrived so with Ellie in tow, I set out on a little adventure to do the last of our shopping.

One thing I've learned over the past couple of weeks is that taking Ellie out of the house by myself is a much more difficult proposition than it used to be. For starters, I can't actually put Ellie in her car seat. Instead, I'm totally reliant upon her willingness to get in and out of it by herself. It's actually quite the process. First, she'll pull herself up into the car before hopping onto the back seat. Then, she'll climb into her car seat and turn around before finally plopping down and allowing me to buckle her in.

Once that process ended, we set out for our destination, Academy Sports in Liberty. Our quest? To procure a nice, warm stocking hat. Now, an added struggle for me right now is that I can't simply put Ellie in a shopping cart because that would necessitate lifting her. Instead, she has to walk alongside me wherever I go. If you've ever had a toddler, you realize how difficult that proposition is.

For one, Ellie's attention span is only for about 30 seconds at a time. On this occasion, she definitely insisted on touching anything and everything at her height and in her line of vision until she saw something that drew all of her attention. The object of her desire? An inflatable rocking couch. 

At first, all Ellie wanted to do was simply touch the couch and watch it rock, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Soon enough though, the desire to sit upon it overcame her prompting Ellie to clamber up unto the seat. While that was all well and good, it was only a few more minutes until she saw the second seat was also desirable for sitting. Even though I told her both seats were exactly the same, Ellie needed to be sure. To that point, she hopped down off the couch, scampered to the other side, and hopped up on it to test her hypothesis.

At this point, after realizing both seats were the same, she realized the importance in having a friend share in the experience with her. With no one else around, she turned to me and implored me to take a seat beside her.  I did exactly that and there we sat in the middle of Academy Sports, rocking back and forth on an inflatable couch to the enjoyment/consternation of other shoppers as they passed by.

After a while, Ellie's enthusiasm for the couch mercifully faded and we took leave of Academy, heading on to our next destination to complete our Christmas shopping list. 

Here's where I wrap up this little post with a reminder for you. As you celebrate this Christmas season, be sure to remember that it's not about the presents or the snacks or the 24-hour viewing of 'A Christmas Story' on TBS. It's not even about the family gatherings. Nope. 

Christmas exists for us to celebrate the day Jesus Christ came into this world. The reason that is still worth celebrating 2000 years after the fact is because He would go on to hang on a cross for the sins of the entire human race, allowing us to have eternal life with the father through the simple acceptance of that sacrifice.

If you're reading this, do me a favor and spend some time thinking about that over the next few days. Also, if you haven't trusted in Christ, there's no better time to start than now. 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good read! #DaddyWrite

Day 554 - Do You Want to Make An Ornament?

One thing about being a stay-at-home parent is that creativity is seemingly a must. After all, it's only a matter of time before one's toddler says those dreaded words, "I'm bored." While Ellie has yet to utter those words, she has said something similar on occasion. "Daddy, I want to do something fun." 

Yes, I admit that sentence is pretty much a synonym for "I'm bored." I'm relatively certain it's Ellie's way of telling me that it's time for me to entertain her or else she will begin to entertain herself. 

Truth be told, Ellie is decent at entertaining herself. However, it generally results in the willful destruction of our home. Toys strewn everywhere. Pots and pans emptied from the cabinets. I've even been known to find our spare dish brush in various locations around the house from where Ellie went on a "cleaning" binge.

As I still find myself in recovery mode from my surgery a couple of weeks ago, I've had to draw upon creativity to keep Ellie and myself out of trouble. Obviously, I still can't wrestle with Ellie. It's also been hard to do some of our normal activities like hide-and-seek as it's really hard for me to get down onto the floor. One thing that we can do though is get crafty.

With the Christmas season rapidly approaching, Ellie and I decided that a little craft project was in order. Well, actually I decided that. Ellie was just happy to go along with whatever. What exactly was our craft project? Making Christmas ornaments!

There are plenty of avenues one  can pursue when making homemade Christmas ornaments. If you need proof, just check out Google and you can look forever. For us, we settled on the fairly simple method of combining glass balls, crayons, and a blow dryer. 

The first step was arguably the most painstaking and time consuming. What was that first step? The removal of the paper from the outside of the crayons. Seriously, it took forever. That could have been due in part to me stupidly breaking them into smaller pieces before removing the paper but who knows. 

Once the paper was off and the crayons were broken into tiny pieces, I placed them inside a zip-lock bag and used our rolling pin to further break up the pieces. Once that step was done, Ellie and I could start our activity. 

As I carefully removed the top from the ornament, Ellie would pick out some crayon pieces of her choosing and place them inside the ball. I'd then reassemble the ornament and move onto the next step. Using Bethany's hair dryer, with the assistance of Ellie, we heated up the ornament, turning it continually so that the crayon wax could run all over the inside of the ball. 

Like any other new activity, there was definitely a learning curve to making the ornaments. It didn't take long to realize that three colors of crayon were too many and we needed to stick to two. It also didn't take me long to realize that heated glass is really hot. Therefore, I had to find a garden glove and a pair of pliers to help me turn the ornament. 

Lastly, I had to teach Ellie that there are certain color combinations that don't look good together. Despite her preference, brown really failed to mesh well with any other color used in this project.

Yes, that is Ellie's precious brown ornament in the bottom right-hand corner.

If anyone else out there is looking for a fun winter-time project to keep their kids busy with, I'd definitely recommend this one. After all, the entry price point of about $4.00 really isn't too bad for the amount of fun Ellie and I had doing this together. #DaddyWrite

Day 549 - What Would Aretha Say?

R - E - S - P - E - C - T

This is a word that has been discussed multiple times over the past few days in House Holt. While it's an awesome Mo-Town era song, that is not the reason for the discussion. By the way, have you ever noticed how hard that song title is to spell? The word, 'respect' isn't difficult but when one is typing out the song title with dashes added, it gets kind of hard.

If you, dear reader, have been privy to recent happenings in my life, you probably anticipated #DaddyWrite would make reference to my recent surgery. That anticipation would be correct. If you're one of the few in the dark, I went under the knife on Thursday in order to have a pair of hernias (affectionately named Steve and Ash) repaired. So if this blog is slightly disconjointed and meandering, you know why.

Video footage of my surgery...

Anyway, with me undergoing surgery, it makes sense that Bethany would be serving as the primary caregiver for Ellie for several days. That is especially true when one considers that the three incisions in my abdomen will keep me from being able to lift more than ten pounds for the next four to six weeks. In fact, the first several days were largely spent with me laying horizontal and lacking all ability to move without the aid of my wife, who happens to be seven months pregnant. Just another day in paradise, eh?

As the new status quo progressed, we became privy to an unsettling set of circumstances. Specifically the fact that Ellie seemingly does not respect Bethany's authority as a parent. 

It's been obvious for a long time that Ellie tends to gravitate towards Bethany over me. Of course, we would always just chalk it up to Ellie loving her mommy. Now we're beginning to wonder if it's because she views Bethany as the easier parent.

Whenever Ellie acts up or throws a fit, it normally just takes me raising my voice slightly, threatening a spanking, or slowly counting to three for Ellie to calm down. However, when Bethany does any of those things, it just results in Ellie becoming angrier and more combative. It's honestly reached the point where I know my poor wife is pretty frustrated by the whole set of circumstances.

While I'd love to get involved and help her out, I'm really physically unable to do so. For one, I physically can't yell right now. I also can't lift or restrain Ellie when she's upset. 

What's really weird about the whole deal is that I watched Ellie by myself all day on Monday and she was a complete dream. From the time Bethany left until the time she got home, Ellie listened and was calm, cool, and collected. The visiting Malachi and Cassie can attest to that. As soon as Bethany darkened the door though, Ellie stopped being sweet and orderly and became stubborn and unruly. That stubborn streak and unruliness was marked by plenty of screaming, fighting, and kicking.

It really is a weird set of circumstances. 

For my wife's sake, I really hope things improve soon because I don't want her to go through four to six weeks of Ellie acting in this manner. Although, it certainly does help me feel like I do a good job commanding Ellie's respect. That's a positive thing right? #DaddyWrite

Day 547 - Snow Angel, Snow Angel, Will You Be Mine?

Winter is coming. I'm not just quoting 'Game of Thrones' here. I'm being serious. Winter officially doesn't begin until December 21st. For the record, I can't actually tell you a single thing about 'Game of Thrones'. I just know that's a line that's used on the show...or at least I think that's the case.

Proof.

 Even though winter isn't supposed to rear its ugly head for another three and a half weeks, it seems no one told winter that is the case. If you haven't looked outside lately, then step away from your phone/tablet/computer, walk to the window, and look outside. 

Odds are that if you're in the Midwest, you'll see white stuff covering the ground. That's called snow and it's a very cold, icy, powdery substance that occupies a state of matter somewhere between liquid and solid (Thank you to Mrs. Tushaus and ninth grade science class for pounding that into my memory banks). 

Obviously, as adults, we know all of the basic facts about snow. After all, one only has to scoop it off their driveway a few times before getting the gist of it. However, for Ellie as a two-year-old, there is much, much to learn about snow.

Lesson 1: Any trip outside needs to include the proper attire.

For the record, despite what Ellie believes, proper attire in snowy conditions does not include sandals. You laugh, but you try telling an excited two-year-old that she can't wear her sandals in subzero conditions. Just remember to follow this rule of thumb and you'll be ok. If your child has full mobility, then it's time to add more layers. 

For Ellie, the proper layers consist of a long-sleeve shirt and jeans, a pair of snow pants, a warm winter coat, a stocking hat, two pairs of gloves, and last, but not least, the snow boots. Once Ellie is adequately covered, then the fun can begin.

Lesson 2: Riding a sled is easier than walking in the snow.

The first thing any snow-crazed toddler wants to do upon seeing five inches of frozen wonder in front of their faces is run headlong into the drifts. That's exactly what Ellie did. What she didn't plan on was just how hard it can be for a full-sized adult to make it through that amount of snow, let alone a three-foot-tall toddler.

After several face plants and slip-ups, Ellie was feeling defeated and was already wanting to call it quits on the snow day. Fortunately for her sake, I had an ace in the hole: her sled. I hustled into the garage and grabbed her disc sled and a dog leash before heading back outside. Why a dog leash? Last year, I discovered that if we hooked a dog leash onto the hole on the edge of her sled, we could easily pull Ellie around the yard until her little heart was content. So that's exactly what we did.

Starting in the front yard, we made several circles around the golden rain tree in our front yard before venturing to the back lawn. After a couple of passes around the back yard, Ellie declared she was done and rolled out of her sled, pushing herself to her feet. She then grabbed the leash out of my hand and proudly marched around the back yard, dragging her sled behind her.

Lesson 3: The unattainable dream.

As anyone who has ever played in the snow will know, there is one snow time activity that will always end in soul-crushing disappointment. What is this activity? Making snow angels.

Ah, yes, snow angels. A favorite winter pastime of children and adults alike will always fall prey to one massive shortcoming. You see, there is a complete and utter inability for one to make the perfect snow angel without help from a friend. Otherwise there will always be that stray handprint or footprint in the midst of otherwise pristine snow.

As Ellie had never made a snow angel before, I decided the time was right for her to learn. First, I laid down on the ground myself and pumped my arms and legs back and forth before climbing out of the snow (Side note, snow angels are a poor decision if one is wearing jeans). It goes without saying that the dreaded handprint was left in the midst of my creation. 

Once Ellie watched me, I helped her lay down in the snow before coaching her through the motions of making a snow angel. By coaching, I mean that I had to physically pump her arms and legs for her. Then, as she was stuck in the snow, I helped her out of the drifts. As we both stood and gazed at her creation, I realized something. On her very first attempt, Ellie had lived the dream: the perfect snow angel! No stray handprint. No stray footprint. Just perfection.

I promise there's one there...

Not long after that, we headed inside and bundled up together under a blanket to partake in that last great wintertime activity: watching Christmas movies on TV. Yes, it was 'A Very Monkey Christmas' indeed. 

Side note: That last joke would have been better if we had been watching 'It's a Wonderful Life.' Unfortunately, in the eyes of Ellie, George Bailey and Curious George really don't compare. #DaddyWrite

I like to imagine that George Bailey is challenging Curious George to a fight in this collage and C.G. is fearful of what's about to happen.