Day 751 - **Insert Tomahawk Chop Here**

In a way, I'm jealous of my kids. 

It's not because they have no responsibilities. After all, part of the downfall of being young is that they can't drive a car or drink/eat slushees. By the way, the slushee thing is non-negotiable. The actual reason why I'm jealous of them directly pertains to a certain sporting event taking place on Sunday evening: the Super Bowl.

It goes without saying that this is the biggest and most important Super Bowl of my entire life. After all, it's not every year that the Kansas City Chiefs play in the big game. In fact, it's well documented that the Chiefs haven't been to the Super Bowl since the 1969 season. That was exactly 50 years ago! In other words, I have spent nearly 34 years as a Chiefs fan only to see it end in futility year after year after year. 

Unfortunately for me, it's not like there was another team around to help me forget about that very futility. The Royals had their own set of epic failures that plagued the team for almost three decades. Fortunately for me, those woes finally ended with the thrilling playoff runs of 2014 and 2015. 

Hey everyone! Remember me?

At this point, people are likely wondering how this all ties back to me being jealous of my kids. Simple, they haven't had to wait their entire lives to see (what I hope will be) their favorite teams have success. Ellie, who may or may not have been a World Series baby, was born into a world where the Royals were reigning World Series champions and little Ethan has a chance to see the Chiefs win a Super Bowl before his first birthday. 

I'm obviously very excited for everything surrounding this Super Bowl like no other that preceded it. One of the biggest reasons why is because I get to share this experience with my kids. Ethan obviously will never remember this experience but there's a chance Ellie will. In fact, she already has made a habit out of being present in our family room for each and every Chiefs game this season. It's not out of the ordinary to see her jumping up and cheering her little heart out whenever she hears excitement in the announcers' voices. She does occasionally misinterpret said excitement and cheer for the Chiefs' opponent. When that happens, I just have to remember that she's only three.

As a part of my goal to try and help Ellie remember this time, the kids and I made a pilgrimage to Union Station on Thursday to celebrate along with the rest of the city. Over the past few weeks, Chiefs-themed displays have overtaken the historic building. From the red banners on the outside to the massive 'Chiefs' wordmark and lighted 'AFC Champions' sign, seemingly every metro resident is descending upon Union Station to have their photo taken alongside the sights. The kids and I were no different.

Unfortunately for us, between parking at Crown Center, walking through the Link, and not immediately hopping in line, we missed our chance at getting a picture with the 'AFC Champs' lighted sign. We did manage to snag one with a giant lighted '87' though in honor of Travis Kelce. While I was unbelievably stoked to take in all of the cool sights there, Ellie much preferred our second stop of Fritz's for a train-themed lunch. Seriously, her child-like enthusiasm for our food being delivered by model train was only met by my child-like enthusiasm for giant, metal, lighted signs.

The color's not great but I assure you, we are there!

By the time things are all said and done on Sunday evening, I hope that I'm able to say my favorite team is the reigning Super Bowl Champions. Even if the worst happens (it won't), I can at least say that it's been a great ride. I can also promise that I have many, many years ahead of encouraging my children to root for Kansas City sports teams. Hopefully they'll get to see a brand new era of success during that time though instead of the futility to which I've previously become accustomed.

Or at least that should be the case when Patrick Mahomes gets his way! #DaddyWrite 

Day 749 - Which Comes First? Love for Daddy or an Ice Cream Date?

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. What about just being in constant proximity? Does that make the heart grow fonder? One has to wonder if that might be true or at least true for Ellie. 

Over the past week or so, that little girl has been growing increasingly more fond of me. It's such a weird experience seeing as how for most of her life, Bethany has been the constant object of her affection. Oddly enough, that is now changing. 

Some of this information comes secondhand, but I feel like there's still plenty of truth to it. For example, according to Bethany, Ellie has gotten into the habit of asking where I am as soon as she wakes up in the morning (or the middle of the night). If I happen to be at the gym, that will result in a brief crying session coupled with continually questioning why I have to go to the gym. 

If I happen to be snuggling in bed with Ethan in his room, then Ellie will not rest until she sees me. Apparently this morning, she finally talked Bethany into letting her open the bedroom door so that she could just confirm that I was still there. To her credit though, she let me continue sleeping despite Ethan waking up. In case you're wondering, I was unbelievably confused when I woke up and Ethan was missing as Bethany had already come to claim him.

Oddly enough, Ellie wanting to be with me isn't an isolated experience. For example, Bethany happened to be off work early today due to an eye appointment. One would automatically assume that meant Ellie wouldn't let her mother out of her sight. That was not the case as the promise of an afternoon daddy-daughter date completely swayed Ellie's opinion on the matter. On this particular daddy-daughter date, there would be three stops: Target, the library, and Dairy Queen. 

For our trip to Target, our shopping list was relatively simple. All we needed was a new box of diapers for Ethan and a couple of cans of pineapple chunks. Neither of those things are particularly interesting to Ellie. Our next two stops were more about her though.

As one could probably guess, the library is one of Ellie's favorite places in the world. Between the overwhelming stacks of books, movies, and music coupled with the coloring tables, educational computers, and random toys, there's plenty to keep Ellie satisfied. On this day, unfortunately for Ellie, the computers happened to be broken. It's ok though as we still got to have fun playing with these weird interlocking blocks followed by coloring together. Honestly, there's not much I like better than coloring with Ellie. Not only is it super relaxing but it's an easy activity for us to share in together. Plus, it fosters all kinds of conversation even if it's about something as simple as "Daddy, why are you making a purple rabbit?". For the record, we had a very limited array of colors to choose from and the purple was relatively sharp.

Once we left the library, it was time for us to head to our final destination (accompanied by the 'Moana' soundtrack I had gotten for Ellie at the library), Dairy Queen. Trips to DQ aren't really a super common thing in the Holt household. Today was cause for celebration though. You see, Ellie had attained her fifth sticker meaning she had earned an ice cream date with one of her parents. You're probably a little confused by the sticker thing. Let me explain.

Bethany and I have been attempting to potty train Ellie during her naps in recent weeks. While she's been potty-trained for quite some time, Ellie still struggles with wetting her pants during both naps and overnight. Therefore, we instituted a sticker chart where every five stickers gains her an ice cream date. She can received one sticker for keeping her diaper dry at naptime and two stickers if she can go all night. Thus far, she's definitely racked up these ice cream dates much faster than anticipated.

Since Ellie enjoyed an ice cream cone on her last ice cream date, I decided we should broaden her horizons a little on this one and lovingly guided her towards the Dilly Bar section. Imagine my delight when I saw her settle on a Cherry-flavored Dilly Bar. As she savored every morsel of her treat, I was encouraged by the fact that she continued to engage me in conversation despite there being a tasty treat in her mouth most of the time. I guess she really is getting attached to me. So much so that she asked me multiple times when our next daddy-daughter date would be.

Contrary to how this picture may look, Ellie was pretty stoked about her Dilly Bar.

In case additional confirmation of her attachment to me is necessary, look no further than the fact that the very last person she wants to see before bed is me. For at least this brief window in our daughter's life, I'm #1. Take that, Bethany! :) #DaddyWrite

See, the baby got to participate in couch-time snuggles too!

Day 744 - He Likes Me! He Really Likes Me!

If I had to pick two words to describe my son, they would have to be 'extroverted' and 'fearless'. Even though he's a scant 11 months old, Ethan has yet to really meet a stranger he wouldn't befriend and a challenge he won't take on. 

What makes it even more interesting is when I compare him to what his sister was like at the same age. For one thing, it was nearly impossible for Bethany and/or me to pry ourselves loose of her death grip when she was in an uncomfortable situation. Even if we managed to do so, the ear-piercing screams and newly-torn holes in our clothing painted quite the picture of our scenario. Ethan is a much different child though and I have a story from tonight that proves just how different he is.

Tonight marked the start of our Tuesday night Life Group for the semester. The good thing about this group is that we've mostly been together for over a year so all of our families have gotten to know one another. Ellie has actually stepped outside of her comfort zone and made some deep friendships with the kids of the other parents who attend. I'm guessing if you asked her, it would be that little girl's highlight of the week. 

While Ellie spends her evening playing with the other kids, Ethan largely sticks with us for the bible study portion of the evening. Normally, those times are relatively uneventful for Ethan but tonight was a little different to say the least.

The typical operating procedure for Ethan on these evenings is to play with any toys he can find and otherwise spend his wandering back and forth between Bethany, myself, and a select few others in order to get his fill of attention. For Ethan, everything seemed to be going perfectly according to his little plan when our leader threw a curveball Ethan's way. We would be splitting up guys and gals for some independent discussion and prayer time. Figuring that Ethan would probably prefer Bethany's presence, I made the decision to leave him with his mother as I joined the men in another room.

As we were deep in discussion, I began to hear Ethan's unmistakable babbling somewhere close. Even though I didn't see him at first, I kept glancing around until I finally saw him wandering around the corner. As soon as he spotted me, a smile erupted across his face and he hit max speed (for him) until he finally plopped down in my lap. From there, he began to help himself to the plate of cheese and crackers I had been snacking on while occasionally looking up at me and proudly giggling.

For you to realize what a big deal to me, a little bit of back story is necessary. You see, Ellie would never have done anything quite like this. Even today, convincing her to leave Bethany's side for anything takes quite a bit of work. 

For Ethan though, he willingly left his mother's side to strike out on his own and explore the house until he finally found me. Even though I was just a couple of rooms over, there was certainly a degree of bravery in his actions. That or he somehow knew I had food and was trying to con me out of it. 

I'm choosing to believe he just missed me and wanted to hang out. Alas, I guess there's no true way of knowing until I conduct said experiment again at a future date without the presence of food. That should confirm things once and for all...I hope. #DaddyWrite

Day 741 - Nap or Eat, Eat or Nap?

Do you hear that? It's silence. Absolute silence. And it's about time!

...Within the sound of silence

Obviously, any parent struggles with the constant cacophony of sounds emanating from every last crevasse of their home as their children play. That's not the cause for my relief though. Obviously, I've become quite accustomed to the constant barrage of "Daddy, will you play with me?" 

accompanied by toys covering every square inch of our carpet. What I'll never get used to though is the cranky cries associated with one very unhappy baby in the midst of his own personal sleep strike.

This week has actually been full of new nighttime routines for our little guy. For one, we made the long-awaited decision to begin weaning him at nights. We didn't come to that decision selfishly though. Well, maybe a little. It was mostly made since Ethan really doesn't eat during the night anymore. Instead, he just uses it to soothe himself for a couple of minutes before falling back asleep. As a result, nighttimes have morphed into a mostly dad-only zone. I'll go in and hold Ethan until he finally falls back asleep. Then I'll transition him back to his crib and happily skip (not really) back to my own bed. Things had largely been going great until Ethan decided last night that it was time to rebel.

Beginning at 10:30 last night, Ethan embarked on a quest to wake up in tears approximately once every two hours. At first, I was more than willing to help him out. As the night went on though, my willingness began to wane. In fact, it really hit its peak around 4:00 am when my tried-and-true formula didn't work. No matter how often I tried, I couldn't get Ethan transferred from my arms to his crib without the tears following suit. Bethany even took a shift before things finally resulted in me finishing the night co-sleeping alongside my son.

While one would think the issues would decrease during daylight hours, that would be very wrong. Instead, Ethan's idea of sleep largely consisted of yawning and taking occasional breaks to just lie on the floor in the fetal position. Whenever I'd make the attempt to move him to his crib though, it would be met with excessive screaming. Finally, after five tries throughout the morning, I decided it was time to give up and just wait for him to succumb to exhaustion. Before that could happen, it was first time for lunch.

Since I was pretty much mentally done with everything by this moment in time, it goes without saying that I was preparing an easy lunch. On this day, the menu would consists of leftover steak fried rice, banana, and a mixture of corn and peas. Obviously, Ellie and I were partaking exclusively of the fried rice and bananas while Ethan enjoyed a mix of all three. Even though I started off lunch kind of ticked off at Ethan, he wouldn't let me stay that way even though I really wanted to. For one thing, it's really cute to watch him eat and hear him continually beg for more. The main reason though was due to the new trick he learned today.

As we began to finish up with lunch, Ethan still had a decent amount of corn and peas left on his tray. Normally, he'll just finish up anything regardless of whether he's actually full or not. Today though, Ethan decided to clean his tray in a different way. 

Grasping a kernel of corn between his thumb and pointer finger, Ethan held his tiny hand aloft in the direction of my mouth. When I didn't respond initially, Ethan's reaction was to begin saying his favorite "word", "Dada", over and over again. Actually, I can't guarantee that's what he is saying; it is what it sounds like though. 

After several increasingly more passionate echoes of "Dada" from my son, I leaned forward and opened my mouth where Ethan happily deposited the kernel of corn in my mouth. At this point, I figured we were done. Ethan thought otherwise as we repeated the process until every last piece of corn or pea had disappeared from his tray. Then, and only then, could we call lunch complete.

With that, I decided the time had finally come for Ethan to take a nap even if he had to epically cry in the process. I quickly prepared a bottle and took Ethan to his bedroom. Once there, we sat on the full-size bed together as I fed him a bottle. Finally, once the last drop of milk had drained from the bottle, he began to cry and rub his eyes repeatedly. I knew the time had finally come. I popped a pacifier in Ethan's mouth and gave him two more, one for each hand. Then, I gingerly backed out the open door and quietly closed it behind me. When I didn't hear any crying, I knew that I had finally achieved success.

The lone question remaining is if my success was because Ethan was finally full and relaxed or if he could rest easy knowing that his daddy was full and relaxed as well. Who knows which is the right answer in his little mind. #DaddyWrite