Day 582 - Ellie Versus the Dentist

I always feel like winters are difficult when it comes to finding new moments to chronicle in Ellie's life. After all, there's only so many ways a person can write (or read) a post dealing with Ellie playing inside with her toys or going to Chick-Fil-A or helping do laundry. That being said, there are those occasional times when an idea for a blog post falls right into my lap or in this instance, right into my gaping mouth.

By the way, if that last comment is confusing, it's ok. That's just my playful way of stating that today marked Ellie's first trip to the dentist.

Bethany and I are lucky enough (depending on how you look at it) to have great dental insurance that entitles us to receive free teeth cleanings and check-ups once every six months. Between that and the fact that our dentist and hygienists are awesome, it really helps to turn something that many people hate into a positive experience. In fact, the only real downside is the awkwardness of trying to talk or carry on a conversation while someone has their hands shoved in your mouth.

Through the course of those awkward conversations, my hygienist has learned all about Ellie and as a result, strongly encouraged me to bring her along to an appointment. While I put off doing so for a while, today marked the big day as, at long last, Ellie was finally able to go to the dentist.

One thing about taking a toddler to a dentist appointment is that it requires a bit more planning than normal. First of all, I needed to allot extra travel time so I could make sure Ellie had time for a bathroom break when we arrived. Second of all, it was also necessary for me to pack a bag of books and toys to ensure Ellie stayed entertained and that she also abstained from getting into trouble.

Lest I neglect to mention it, there was one other reason for us to arrive early for our appointment: the fish tank. This isn't just any fish tank though. It's actually built into and takes up about half of the length of a wall. Simply put, think of the fish tank from the dentist office in 'Finding Nemo' and you have a pretty solid understanding of what this tank is like. 

As soon as I opened the door to the office and Ellie saw the tank, she took off running to it. Once there, she hopped up onto a chair and pressed her little face to the glass, all while watching the tropical fish swim about. Before Ellie knew it, the time had come to leave the fish behind and head to the chair for my cleaning. 

One thing that is great about my dentist is that they really do take care of parents who have to bring their kids along. As I sat in the big purple chair having my teeth cleaned, Ellie sat in a tiny blue folding chair beside me with Daniel Tiger playing on the TV. Another nice thing is that my hygienist basically did a running commentary for Ellie as she cleaned my teeth. The dentist also counted each and every one of my teeth for Ellie as well (28 if you're wondering).

Finally, I was all done and ready to leave. However, Ellie wasn't quite ready to go. She looked at the hygienist and said with total seriousness, "What about my appointment?". Obviously, that statement elicited laughter from both myself and the hygienist. Luckily for Ellie though, the hygienist decided to humor her by giving her a ride in the big chair.

As the chair reclined backwards, Ellie (who had watched my entire checkup) opened her mouth wide and sat waiting for her teeth to be cleaned. When the hygienist saw that, she just laughed and grabbed a fresh pair of rubber gloves. She then proceeded to give Ellie's teeth a quick look, checking to see that everything felt firm and healthy. Once that was done, it was sticker time for Ellie. Specifically a smiling star and a big toothbrush in case you're wondering.

With that, Ellie and I put on our coats and headed out of the dentist office. I'm wondering if Ellie's excitement for this little adventure is going to propel her down a path towards the dental sciences. Or you know, at least encourage her to practice good oral hygiene. I think we'd all consider that a win. #DaddyWrite                                                                                                                         

Day 577 - Red & Gold and Ellie Too

Have you ever wondered what exactly happens when a person gets lazy and forsakes blogging for a week plus? In short, they have a lot of untold stories that "need" to be told. However, for the interest of time, I should probably whittle said stories down to a more manageable number. Say one for today? 

If you live in Kansas City, or the Midwest, then you probably realize there was a big event that occurred over the weekend that got a lot of folks excited. For the record, I'm not referring to the Turbulent Twenties exhibit at the Johnson County Museum, although it probably got someone, somewhere excited. Instead, I'm referring to the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the AFC Championship game for the very first time. Even though that game ended in a manner I refuse to discuss any further here, there's nothing saying I can't talk about the events of the week leading up to the game.

Proof that I saw the sad thing happen in person...

The day of every game this season (and several seasons prior), we've had a tradition of hanging a Chiefs flag in our front window on every game day. Over that time, it's been really fun to watch how Ellie's reaction to the flag has changed. At first it was just a mere curiosity to her. Now, it's not uncommon for her to request to hang the flag on a Sunday morning before we even mention the Chiefs. In case you're wondering, I think she associates the event with getting ready for church.

Even though hanging the flag is a big deal to Ellie, the games themselves have not been as Ellie would largely ignore the television in favor of entertaining herself with toys or books. At least that was the case until last weekend as the Chiefs played the Indianapolis Colts in an AFC Divisional match-up. On that day, Ellie totally went against her past behavior and instead settled in on the couch between Bethany and I to watch the game. 

Not only did she watch the game but she became an active participant in the game. Any time the good guys would make a big play, Ellie would jump off the couch and parade around in front of the TV, screaming "Yay, Chiefs! Go Chiefs!" while clapping along enthusiastically. Believe it or not, she carried on like that for almost the entire game. The only thing that stopped Ellie from being able to do so was our insistence on putting her to bed at her normal bedtime. On a positive note, she did get to keep watching the game via the iPad while taking a bath.

After the Chiefs closed out a victory over the Colts, it didn't take long for people to start thinking about how to attend the AFC Championship game. Lucky for me, I got the opportunity to do so for free by volunteering as a ticket scanner for about three hours on game day. Of course, with taking our current weather into account, it was very important for me to dress warmly. Therefore, last Thursday, Ellie and I took the opportunity to head to Target so that I could find some thermal underwear. 

Once I finally found my prize, we took the opportunity to wander around the store just as anyone would at Target. Before long, we wandered across the Chiefs fan section of the store with Ellie being certain to point out all of the Chiefs apparel she was seeing. 

At this point, I remembered there was something lacking from Ellie's wardrobe keeping her from being the biggest Chiefs fan she could be. That's right; Ellie needed her very own Chiefs shirt.

With that, I began to peruse the racks in an attempt to find anything that would fit Ellie. Unfortunately for her, the only things that came close were a couple of 4T shirts. For the record, Ellie is normally a 2T, maybe a 3T on certain days. 

However, the more I thought about it, the more perfect it was. With the season rapidly dwindling, it didn't make sense to buy Ellie a shirt that would only fit her for the rest of the season. Instead, it made sense to buy her a shirt that she could wear for all of the next season too.

I knew Ellie was excited for her new purchase. However, I didn't realize just how excited she was. Need proof? Look no further than Ellie happily pulling her new shirt out of the bad and putting it over her head as soon as we got home. I didn't even have time to get the tags off!

There is one bad thing about this whole story though. I find myself wondering if Ellie's new shirt is cursed as the first time she wore it during a game coincided with the Chiefs suffering a heartbreaking loss. Unfortunately I won't be able to test this theory until next season. Don't worry though, I'll make sure we test it in a preseason game instead of one that counts. #DaddyWrite

Day 569 - 1 Simple Rule for Dating One's Toddler Daughter

Like so many of the blog posts that have come before this one, I'm going to start with an obscure/dated pop-culture reference certain to induce confusion whenever Ellie reads it in the future. Let's get to it!

 

Does anyone out there remember the old TV show, '8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter'? It starred John Ritter until he passed away and was inexplicably replaced by the combination of James Garner and David Spade (yes, David Spade). It was also where Penny from 'The Big Bang Theory' really got her start.

Not '8 Simple Rules' but still Spade.

A little know factoid is that the show was based upon a book which I am unable to tell you anymore about. And with that, comes my inspiration. While I definitely don't have enough material to write a book with, I definitely can offer up a blog post. Therefore, allow me to introduce you to '1 Simple Rule For Dating One's Toddler Daughter'. 

I'm almost positive that I have touched on this topic multiple times over the past couple of years. However, I'll do it once again for the people in the back who haven't been paying attention. The basic premise of dating one's daughter is to give her an example for how a guy should be treating her. Not only that, but it also allows a father to build a lasting and deep connection with his daughter throughout her life. 

Even though Ellie has spent the majority of her life in one-on-one situations with me, I still see the importance in practicing the concept of dating my daughter which is where the 1 Simple Rule comes into play. Simply put, when dating one's toddler daughter, make sure your date consists of something she would enjoy. For us, that has generally been Chick-Fil-A lunch dates. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Yesterday was meant to be one of those date days for us. However, it was put on hold as we ended up meeting my parents for lunch instead. While the Chick-Fil-A portion is still on hold for a bit longer, I decided there was no reason why I couldn't make today all about Ellie.

At least Ellie got an awesome fireman's hat yesterday!

Now, I know you're asking, "How do I make a day all about Ellie?". Simple, we do what she likes. On this occasion, with nothing else on the agenda, I decided that what she would enjoy more than anything was a trip to the library. However, I don't mean just any library. I'm talking about the crown jewel of the Mid-Continental Public Library System: The Woodneath Public Library!

While most of the libraries we frequent are great, the Woodneath branch is something special. For starters, they have the best children's section of any, bar none. Not only do they have the largest selection of books, they also have a variety of activity tables available for kids to interact with at all times. 

After I spent a few minutes perusing the shelves on a quest to find new books for Ellie, we then headed to an activity table to sit down. There, we began to work our way from one table to the next. First, we played with the fish blocks. Then, we wandered to the coloring station. Sadly, even though I really wanted to color a mallard, Ellie insisted I color the clown instead (I may not sleep tonight). With that, we headed to the barnyard animals and dinosaur station.

Actually, this is what will keep me from sleeping tonight...

As I sat down to play with my daughter, I found the table simultaneously overrun by other preschool-aged girls. As I really didn't want to look creepy, I took the opportunity to back off and see just how well Ellie would interact with other kids. End result, I couldn't have been more proud of her as she played nicely and shared with her new friends.

Soon thereafter, the librarians announced that Story Time would be starting soon. While I wasn't planning on attending said event, Ellie couldn't turn down a personalized invitation as it would be rude. Therefore, the two of us wandered into Story Time together to take part in the festivities. By the time everything was all said and done, we had spent nearly two hours at the library!

It's just like I said. The 1 Simple Rule for Dating One's Toddler Daughter is to keep it simple and just do whatever she likes. Keep that in mind and everything will be great. #DaddyWrite

Day 564 - "The Times They Are A-Changin"

As Bob Dylan once famously wrote, "The Times They AreA-Changin." True story about that song; Dylan didn't even feel strongly about the lyrics he was writing. Instead, he just saw that people seemingly wanted an anthem of change to rally behind so he thought, "Hey, why not?".

For the record, there's not exactly strong winds of societal change going on in the Holt household. However, there are a multitude of new things set to erupt within the next six weeks as "Chewy" will make his entrance at some point. Before that can happen, there are plenty of things that need to take place first.

For starters, it'd be nice if "Chewy" had a real name by the time he is born. Even though Ellie's affectionate nickname for her little brother is precious in its own way, he probably shouldn't go through life with "Chewy" as his legal name. To quote my wife, ""Chewy" is a dog's name. He needs a people name." For the record, he does have a great first name that Bethany and I are definitely excited about. We just still need to figure out the middle name.

That's not all that needs to happen though. With me spending most of the past month laid up, we really haven't been able to get much preparation done for little "Chewy". That changes this weekend though as Bethany will finally be able to satisfy her nesting urges with a little help from our friends (Hey, also a song title!). A small contingent of guys will be descending upon House Holt on Saturday morning to partake in something I like to call 'Operation Move Our Stuff'. 

While Bethany and I are excited to see 'Operation Move Our Stuff' completed, in all honesty, it will not affect us nearly as much as it will Ellie. You see, one of the most important steps in 'Operation Move Our Stuff' involves Ellie bidding adieu to her toddler bed and graduating at long last to a twin bed. The toddler bed is to be converted back into a crib and moved into our guest room where "Chewy" will reside for the first year of his life. In turn, our twin bed will be moved off of its frame and placed in the spot vacated by the crib.

Even though Ellie is seemingly excited for this change, I can't help but think there will be an adjustment period. I mean, I have recollections of my college roommate rolling off of his lofted twin bed in his sleep to the hard floor below when he was used to sleeping in a full. One would think that if an eighteen-year-old struggled with switching beds, a toddler might as well.

I have to admit that I'm slightly intimidated and scared by the prospect of life changing so dramatically in just a few short weeks. It feels like just a short time ago when we were going through a similar set of changes in preparing for Ellie, or as she was known at the time, Slugger. 

However, I can take comfort in knowing that no matter how much things change, the more some things will remain the same. For proof, look no further than bath time with Ellie last night. 

Since she had a great day listening, she got the reward of being able to listen to music during her bath. Now, one would think that Ellie would immediately ask for some kind of children's music. No, instead she had three simple requests: "Ooga-chaka, Lenka, and Our Song". 

For the record, those songs are more commonly known as 'Hooked on a Feeling', 'The Show', and '3 Rounds and a Sound'. 

It feels lame to be saying/typing but it honestly makes tears begin to well up in my eyes knowing that the very songs I've been singing to Ellie for the last two-and-a-half years are still so important to her. When she's scared and can't sleep, those are what she wants me to sing. To tell the truth, I've even wondered if we'll someday be dancing to one of those songs together at her wedding. 

Change and same, change and same. The two things really are forever linked. #DaddyWrite