Day 313 - New Blue Cars and Light Shows A-Leaping

Every so often, life happens and gets in the way of one's desire to keep a semi-coherent blog regarding a certain someone's experiences in attempting to raise a baby girl up to date. That's not necessarily a bad thing though if you think about it. It just means that I find myself with a sudden overabundance of what some would term "riches" to write about. What's that? You want to know what exactly the sudden overabundance of "riches" is? Ok, I guess I can tell you.

Since we last "chatted" with me giving you the 411 on Baby's First Car Crash, much has happened. My 2010 RAV4 was officially totaled by insurance resulting in me receiving a sizable check to go towards replacing said vehicle. As a result of that decision by the insurance company, I was saddled with the unenviable task of driving to the body shop to clean out my car before it would reach its final destination in a junk yard somewhere. 

By the way, if you've never cleaned out a wrecked vehicle, it's a process filled with a very strange set of emotions. Between thanking my RAV for keeping us safe in the accident and also thanking it for all of the adventures it took my family on, I'd be lying if I said I didn't get slightly teary-eyed. If you must know why, it's because I'm a big baby. It's also because that car was the first one I ever bought and paid for entirely with my own money giving it a special place in my heart.

After twenty minutes of pain staking work, I was successful in removing the rear license plate from the bent and twisted frame. It was then that I removed one final memento from the remnants of my cherished RAV4: the gearshift knob. Basically, I found myself remembering that old Subaru commercial where the guy took the knob from his destroyed Subaru. Since I'm a sentimentalist, I decided to do the same. Not sure if it's stealing or not, but went ahead since I hadn't signed the title over yet.

Following that experience, I've found myself living through quite the whirlwind over the past few days. I've received the payment for my RAV4, spent time on Thursday and Friday test-driving an embarrassing number of automobiles, and finally purchased a 2013 RAV4 in St. Joseph on Saturday. To that final item, most people's reaction has been something along the lines of "Didn't waste much time getting that done, did you?". To that, I say when you find a good deal, you find a good deal.

Of course, as you well know, I can't just get a new car (new to us anyway) without breaking it in on some kind of special adventure. With Christmas quickly coming upon us, I couldn't think of any better adventure for us than taking Ellie to look at Christmas lights, specifically the Liberty Light show. Therefore, after the three of us finished our dinner, Bethany and I loaded Ellie up in the back of the new car and headed east towards Liberty. 

Held in parking lot of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, the viewing of the Liberty Light Show has become a tradition for Bethany and I since moving into our house. Therefore, it goes without saying that Ellie did tag along with us on said excursion last year. Now, it's questionable whether or not she got much out of that experience as she was passed out asleep at the time. That was not the case this time however.

As soon as we arrived, I hopped out of the driver's seat and carefully extricated Ellie from her car seat before passing her into the waiting arms of her mother. After that, I hopped back into the front seat where Bethany and Ellie were waiting. 

I may have neglected to snap any photos this year. Check out the link for the Light Show if you're into that sort of thing.

While I've always enjoyed visiting the Liberty Light Show, I had different reasons for enjoying it so much this year. As soon as the lights began flashing, Ellie was immediately captivated by the rainbow of colors before her. Of course, she wasn't just sitting idly by. She was really getting into it, clapping along with the beat of each song, forcing Bethany or I's hands to clap along in unison, and pointing out whatever she saw as the best part of the display (BTW, it was a light post with LED lights wrapped around it outside our car window). Of course, I'm neglecting to mention the resounding "uh-oh" every time a song ended and the display went completely black.   

While the past week wasn't exactly host to an ideal set of circumstances, at least we got the opportunity to polish it off in a positive manner. That, and we made it both to and from the light display without anyone bashing in the rear of our new car. I'll consider that a win every day of the week. I'm sure anyone else would too. #DaddyWrite

Day 308 - Coming Full Circle (Baby's First Car Crash)

Sometimes in life, we're forced to admit to ourselves we're not as smart as we once thought we were. It can be in the world of academia. We've all experienced getting that horrible test grade that we were absolutely positive was going to be an 100% (for the record, I had a concussion because a bathroom light fixture crashed over my head if that helps explain that 63% on my Biology 101 exam). Honestly, it's much more likely that these moments present themselves throughout the course of everyday life.

For example, throughout most of my teenage and adult years, I can remember being driven nuts by one simple thing my parents (specifically my mom) would always do. Every time I'd leave home, I would hear the same thing, "Be careful." To me, those words meant that I wasn't smart enough to be careful without hearing them first. In my head I was always saying some sarcastic like, "Well, I wasn't going to be but I guess I will now." However, now that I'm a parent, I find myself with a little more understanding as to what that means. That's especially true after the events of this past weekend.

On Saturday morning, we found ourselves with a full morning of errands that we needed to run. Chief among them was to find Bethany a new pair of eye glasses that did not result in pain to her ears and nose. For future reference, we now know that when one's prescription is bad, they don't want to purchase rimless glasses. The More You Know....

As you can probably guess, the three of us found ourselves packed into my RAV4 around 10:30 heading towards our local shopping district. After about 10 minutes in the car, the usually brisk pace of traffic on Highway 152 began to slow from the speed limit of 65. Now, since I really didn't want to hit anyone in front of me, I decided I should probably slow as well. 

Almost as soon as I made this decision, I felt a large jolt coming from behind us. At this moment, I glanced in the rearview mirror just in time to see a tan pickup truck careening into the median at a high rate of speed behind us. Bethany, upon feeling the jolt, looked at me and said, "Did the spare tire just fall off the back?" before turning around to discover we no longer had a rear window in the RAV4. 

I immediately pulled onto the side of the highway and flipped on the hazard lights before exiting the car. The first thing I saw upon walking to the rear of the vehicle was that, in addition to no rear window, the size of my cargo bay had shrunk considerably. I then moved my eyes down the highway to see that the tan truck had not only careened into the median, but had also taken out several guard rails along the way. 

As I was surveying the damage and calling 911, Bethany was opening the door to the back seat on the passenger side to extricate Ellie from her car seat. The story of what she would find still amazes me. Ellie was wide-eyed, as if in shock, covered in glass from the chest down. However, when Bethany removed Ellie from the car seat, the only issue to be found was small traces of blood on Ellie's clothes. I guess I should mention said traces of blood didn't come from my daughter. It instead was from a small, but deep cut on Bethany's finger suffered when removing Ellie from the car seat.

I never did get the full story of what occurred to cause the wreck as I never had the opportunity to speak to the driver of the tan truck since our vehicles were on opposite sides of the highway. Based off what I heard from the police, as well as a witness that stopped, was that the other driver had his airbag deploy at some point during his wild ride but the only sign of trauma to be seen was slight bleeding from his mouth. Between all parties involved, the accident could have undoubtedly been much worse as only two cars were involved and no serious injuries were suffered. 

I feel especially lucky given the fact that Ellie was in the car with us. While I'm bummed my car is torn up (and possibly a loss), I am grateful for the fact we were driving the RAV instead of Bethany's sedan. I hate to even contemplate what would have happened to us in that instance. 

RIP RAV4? TBD.

So, coming full circle, you can see why I now have a new found appreciation for the seemingly thousands of times my parents have said "Be careful." It's not so much them thinking I'm incompetent as it's them being worried about the actions of the others on the road alongside me. 

Unfortunately, knowing what I know now, I'll probably find myself driving my daughter insane some day with those two simple words every time she leaves the house. Maybe as a girl she'll be a little more understanding of it than I was as a teenage boy. I can hope that's the case at least. #DaddyWrite

Day 306 - One Man's Trash is Another Baby's Trash

One of my favorite things to receive is a hearty "Atta boy". You know, the universal sign for a job well done. Especially if it is accompanied by a well-earned pat on the head. Ok, I just realized that the longer I go on, the more I sound like some weird kind of human-canine hybrid. That's without me even talking about how sometimes when I get a nice head scratch, my leg will start bouncing uncontrollably. Probably too much information here.

If my ability to read lips isn't failing me, I think that guy is saying "Atta boy".

Anyway, the point at hand is that I enjoy being told I've done a good job whenever I've tackled a certain task. Bethany can definitely attest to that being the case as I'm always certain to ask if she's noticed when I've accomplished something during the day. In case you're wondering, her answer is often something along the lines of "I just walked in the door and don't even have my shoes off yet. How would I be able to tell that you made the bed today?". She does have a point in that instance.

As time goes on, it's becoming more and more evident that I'm not the only member of the Holt household who appreciates being told they did a good job. As she's gotten older, Ellie has become much more likely to want to echo whatever it is her mother and I are doing. In many cases, she does so by assisting us with given tasks. I've previously written about her affinity for doing laundry, but her desire to help goes beyond even that.

As Ellie has watched us in everyday life, she has become pretty adept at understanding the purposes of varying objects and what they're used for. Take garbage for example. Huh, what? As I'm cooking, it's fairly normal for me to produce garbage of some kind. Sometimes it just the fat off a piece of meat or undesirable sections of vegetables or fruit. Other times, it a cardboard box or a tin can. 

Whereas I used to just leave things like these sitting on the counter until my given task was completed, I now find myself handling them in a different manner. That is, throwing (or setting) it on the floor. Either that or gently handing it to my daughter. What's that? You think that seems counter-productive? I should be worried about bugs or making a mess? How lazy am I? While I am unable to answer the last question of those three, the first issue can be resolved very quickly.

As soon as Ellie notices said garbage, she is quick to pick it up and clutch it in her hands. As recently as the past couple of weeks, that would be a huge issue resulting in one of two things. Number one, she would run around the house with her new treasure waving it happily above her head before randomly leaving it. Number two is that she would simply shred it into 1,000 little pieces, all while laughing happily.

Somewhat akin to the look on Ellie's face during those instances. Actually I just stumbled across this pic and told myself I would find a way to use it despite all adversity in doing so. #Busey

Now, instead of embracing her destructive instincts, Ellie will simply pick up the object. Then, she will calmly walk to the garbage can in the corner of the kitchen, manually lift the lid, and deposit the refuse inside the bin. After that, she'll close the bin and turn back to Bethany or I as if she's waiting for something. Finally, we will acknowledge her by thanking her and telling her what a good helper she is.

Now, don't get me wrong, Ellie's not only helpful for picking up trash. No, she also will clean up wet spots on the floor AND will fill water glasses with ice cubes.

In all seriousness, I find it really cool to just watch as Ellie is learning all of these simple parts of everyday life I tend to take for granted. I don't know exactly how long she'll be into this phase of being helpful, but I'm going to do everything I can to encourage her to try and make it go a long time.

After all, that means a little less work for yours truly. Shouldn't we all strive to work smarter, not harder. #DaddyWrite

Day 304 - Infant Lingusitics 201

You would think in a blog based upon the exploits of my daughter, I would never hurt for material. However, you would be mistaken. The truth instead is that there are certainly times I find myself struggling to come up with something new. Maybe it's because Ellie's not really doing anything new or interesting. Maybe it's because I'm not interested in whatever topic I could potentially glean out of the day's activities. Maybe I'm just not wanting to come across to my readership base as being grumpy and bitter (Hey, sometimes that is true).

There is an alternative I can pursue though. In this instance, I find myself looking at where Ellie currently stands in her development. Then, I look back at my list of past blog posts until I find exactly what I'm looking for: potential for a sequel. In this instance, the long awaited Second Edition to The Ellie Holt Complete Dictionary and Thesaurus.

Not my baby....

As you may recall, by the time of her last wellness exam, Ellie needed to have five words down for her to pass said exam. While she was saying things at the time, Bethany and I may have been taking certain liberties by calling them 'words'. For the record, I'm still not 100% certain whether to include animal sounds as legitimate words or not. 

Lucky for us, these aren't really concerns Bethany and I have to be worried about any longer. In the span of a couple of weeks, Ellie's vocabulary has advanced by leaps and bounds. We've always known she had a relatively large vocabulary just by her comprehension and reaction towards what we say to her. Until recently though, we had been slightly concerned on the actual speaking front. What's that? You need examples? Why, of course I'll provide some.

• ·         Dada - Primarily utilized as a short form on occasion for the more popular "Dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadada"; Also doubles as Ellie's favorite word at this time (much to her mother's chagrin).

• ·         Mama - Utilized to refer to Bethany in a non-formal fashion; despite the fact Ellie can indeed say this, for any wondering as to how often word is used, please reference the phrases "when pigs fly" and "once in a blue moon".

• ·         Shoe - Simply put, used to refer to Ellie's shoe; may be used to describe either the right or left; sounds remarkably similar to a certain curse word used to describe excrement (potential to cause issues in a public forum in the future).

• ·         Read - Self-explanatory, used to identify Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four; may also be used to request that a book be read to her.

• ·         Cup - Used when Ellie is requesting liquid refreshment to be placed into enclosed container suitable for consuming in a spill-proof manner; sadly not used to refer to the NASCAR Cup Series

• ·         Cereal - Despite best efforts to teach Ellie to say Cheerios or the simpler "Os", she has instead picked up on the broader term of cereal; likely will be less confusing for people to understand at she grows older.

• ·         Assorted animal noises - "Huhh" (dog), "Moww" (cat), "Baa" (sheep, cow, frog, parakeet, raccoon, tiger, elephant, camel, and butterfly). 

I'm certain there are plenty of other words I am forgetting at this point in time. However, the point remains that Ellie's vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds in a relatively small period of time. Given the subject matter at play here, I feel it's appropriate to end this post the same way I ended 'Infant Linguistics 101'. 

As is the case with any dictionary or thesaurus, this will be continually updated as time passes.  I must ensure that all people know what Ellie is saying at all times.  The last thing that I want is for my baby to unintentionally offend people with such salty language.  #DaddyWrite