Day 400 - .8 Mile

**Sigh** I hate this screen.

Ok, feel free to restart anytime now.

While it's not a consistent presence in my life or anything, it's still an unnecessary road block to face every once in a while. Imagine me if you will, excitedly sitting down to write a nice little story about my precious daughter when suddenly the blue screen hits. There I sit, knowing that the progress I had made on my post was gone, never to be recovered. 

I watch the percentage complete number trend upwards until finally, it hits 100% and nothing further happens. No restart or anything. Finally after an hour of waiting, I make the decision to just perform a hard shut down on my laptop. Unfortunately for me, that hour of time I spent waiting was actually the time I had available to use writing said piece. 

Never fear though as today is a brand new day. I have a precious baby fast asleep in her crib, a warm blanket around my legs, a NASCAR race on in the background (Yay for rain delays), and a story to tell...from last Thursday. Even if it's not from today, I figure it's still better than nothing! Plus, it reminds me of the nice warm days that we get to look forward whenever Spring finally comes.

Let's flashback to day 398. With the temperature soaring into the mid-70's, I would reek of pure foolishness if I chose to stay inside instead of getting outdoors to enjoy some sunshine. I'm certain Ellie would feel the same way even if she doesn't quite have the full vocabulary needed to express that belief yet. Therefore, I made the decision that it was time to hop in the car to go spend a couple of hours at Platte Purchase Park. 

There was one pressing concern that needed to be taken care of before we could head to the park though. Between the sun blazing overhead and the lack of cloud cover accompanying it, that meant Ellie needed to have sunscreen applied. That was especially true since she was dressed in a tank top and shorts. I will say that lathering my child in any kind of substance is pretty miserable, be it sunscreen, lotion, diaper rash cream, or even soap. Ellie will pretty much fight you with every weapon at her disposal. However, I finally succeeded against all odds and was able to get us both loaded up to head to the park.

If this picture fills you with deep, burning, white hot, searing rage, don't be afraid to comment.

Now, I feel the urge to say if you live in the KC Metro area and haven't yet discovered Platte Purchase Park, you are missing out. I love it for the wide, winding trails leading all over the park, snaking their way around the baseball fields, through the trees and tall grass, and next to the playgrounds. As for Ellie, she loves the park for those aforementioned playgrounds specifically.

Upon arrival, rather than first heading to the playground, I decided it might be fun to take a short walk on the paved trails with Ellie toddling alongside. To her credit, Ellie didn't rebel against the idea. Therefore, walk we did. Actually, I was the only one walking the whole time. Ellie chose instead to alternate between frantic running (while screaming), walking backwards, and happily trotting alongside me. There was the occasional detour to be had as Ellie would occasionally dart off of the trail to touch anything and everything in her line of vision with me having to call for her to join me on the trail again.

After what I thought was .4 of a mile, Ellie spotted a park bench right off the path and pointed at it, exclaiming "Snack." As I had indeed packed a snack for her, we sat down and enjoyed a feast of Goldfish and Animal crackers together. Unfortunately for Ellie, this pit stop was also accompanied by the reapplication of sunscreen. After all, no one wants their baby served up burnt.

Once we finished, I decided that we might ought to consider heading back to the trailhead. My logic being that if Ellie had already covered .4 of a mile, she would probably wear out soon. That was confirmed soon enough as on our way back, Ellie showed all of the typical signs of baby fatigue. She chose to not listen when I gave instruction, was easily distracted, and ultimately needed to be carried back to the car on my shoulders. 

Once we finally made it back to the trailhead, I looked at the final mile marker only to realize that instead of starting at the beginning of the trail, we had actually started at the 1 mile marker. In other words, Ellie had covered .6 of a mile before her break and did at least another .2 on our way back to the car. So, even though I probably should have berated her for not being able to complete a simple mile of walking, I was actually super impressed with her stamina for keeping up and doing so well. Also, I'm joking about that berating thing in case you're wondering. 

The lone downside to our little adventure is that as soon as I plopped Ellie in her car seat to head to the playground, she promptly fell asleep before I could even park the car again. Therefore, there was no alternative other than to head home so she could take a nap in her own bed. Poor baby. Her daddy had promised to take her to the park to play and instead just wore her out while walking on a trail while making her put on sunscreen twice. 

Wait, so did I actually go to the park or not?

The moral of the story for Ellie? Make sure to get promises of future park visits in writing from Daddy rather than just trusting him to not get distracted by nice, wide trails. #DaddyWrite

Day 397 - Ellie Greets the Animal Kingdom

It's fair to say the last two days have been two of the most anticipated days of 2018 for Ellie and me. After all, it's not every day that one gets to celebrate Barbershop Quartet Day and Grilled Cheese Day respectively. In all seriousness though, it's really too bad those two days can't be celebrated on the same day. Can you imagine being serenaded by a barbershop quartet whilst eating a grilled cheese sandwich? Take a moment to appreciate the sheer wonder contained in that thought.

Oooh, grilled cheese. If you please. Oooh, grilled cheese.

Ok, if you're done appreciating (and you've actually decided to keep reading), I'll tell you the real reason for my anticipation. The truth is that we finally have concrete evidence that Spring is coming/here/still exists after a long, long winter. As such, my mindset for the last two days has basically been to (1) keep the baby alive and (2) to spend as much time outside as possible. As I step back and take stock of the last two days, I've got to say I feel pretty good about having achieved both of those goals.

Flashback to Wednesday. Rather than keep you held in epic suspense as I build up to whatever Ellie and I decided to do, I'm just going to tell you. We went to the Zoo! And yes, I feel that exclamation point is justified as I'm pretty sure it was the first time I'd taken Ellie to the Zoo since January or February. Not only that, but it was actually a pretty special day to visit as Dixie, the new baby giraffe, was going on exhibit for the first time. Quick thought, it feels really weird to refer to a living thing as an exhibit. Anyone else agree? Just me? Ok.

Believe it or not, Dixie is already 6 feet tall and weighs 170 pounds. So, you know, basically me.

While Ellie's always loved the zoo, this marked the first time I had taken her since her communication skills truly developed. For an example, look no further than our first stop while at the zoo: the orangutan exhibit. Ok, that's a lie; we did pass through the Polar Bear exhibit but I chose not to count that since we couldn't actually see any evidence of a polar bear. 

Back to the orangutans. When we reached the primary viewing area, we were lucky enough to be graced by the presence of four orangutans, one of which was a baby. Ellie pretty quickly asked for me to not only stop her stroller, but to let her out as well. As soon as I set her down on the ground, Ellie's first move was to run (not walk) up to the glass where an orangutan was waiting for her. She then began rapidly saying "Hi monkey" over and over again. Despite the "monkey's" stark indifference, Ellie's enthusiasm could not be squelched as she continued on. Finally, the orangutan slowly lumbered away from the glass leaving a disappointed Ellie in its wake. 

Ellie did actually get a (fake) orangutan to acknowledge her. That counts right?

Of course, there were still plenty more animals for Ellie to attempt to build a deep and lasting relationship with. Tigers (aka doggies), penguins, lions (also doggies), rhino, giraffes, and chimpanzees (also monkeys) were all on the agenda. However, my favorite experience for the day had to be the cheetahs. I should say first that I consider myself to be quite the zoo veteran at this point. After all, Ellie and I have made a significant number of trips over the past year-plus. That being said, I had never had an experience with the cheetahs as I did on this occasion.

Baby and baby penguin.

As we wandered near the cheetah enclosure, I first saw a cheetah nervously prowling the exterior of his pen as it headed toward the viewing area. Knowing this, I was pretty sure if I hustled, I might be able to make it there in time for a close-up view. As I pulled Ellie's stroller into the covered viewing area, I was shocked to see that not just one cheetah was there, but two. Obviously, I once again removed Ellie from her stroller and set her down to see the cheetahs.

Now, I should add that there were at least five other people in the enclosure at this point in time. Given Ellie's seemingly perpetual fear of strangers, I figured it was unlikely she would stray too far from me. Well, I'm not too proud to say that I was pretty wrong about that.

Ellie promptly made a beeline for the glass and pointed at the cheetah dramatically before finally exclaiming "Hi kitty!" Then, as the cheetahs began to pace, Ellie began to walk the glass alongside them, gleefully exclaiming "Hi kitty" all the while.

I promise there is glass there....

Of course, that led to awkward conversations with the others in the viewing area about what exactly the consequences of having a pet cheetah would be. In case you're wondering, the consensus was that most would love to have a pet cheetah as long as they could guarantee it wouldn't kill them. Also, in this hypothetical scenario, if the cheetah removed one's non-dominant arm, people seemed like they would be willing to make that sacrifice provided it was willing to snuggle and cuddle at least some before doing so.

I now realize that this simple blog post chronicling a simple trip to the zoo has become a bit unwieldy. That's ok though because I'll just save the chronicles of day 398 for my next blog post. Anyone object? No one? Good. See y'all next time! #DaddyWrite

Day 395 - Bibliophobia Begins

The following question is not going to be for most people. In fact, odds are strong that readers will be unable to answer such a question unless their name is something like Zachary, William, Joshua, or maybe even Bethany. Just not my Bethany.

The question is whether or not parents planned for their child to use a nickname as their preferred form of identification. Weird question, I know. In the case of our daughter, we always intended to call her both Ellie and Eleanor. Our reasoning being that Ellie is just fine for most situations. However, we choose to use Eleanor when needed to be more formal. You know, like if our daughter becomes President or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

I will say that throughout her life, I've found myself using Ellie most of the time. In fact, I'm partially ashamed to say it but I've mostly reserved Eleanor for when she's in trouble. Well, the one problem with that is that now anytime my daughter hears "Eleanor" yelled loudly, she automatically assumes that she is in trouble. It makes sense if you think about it but I can truthfully say this is something I had never thought about until today.

Today seemed like a fairly normal Monday. After Bethany left for work, Ellie enjoyed her morning as only she can. Meaning there were lots of books being read, every toy in the house being strewn across the living room floor, and listening to a Lenka CD all the way through...TWICE. Basically, we found ourselves just burning time until we needed to leave for the library to go to Story Time. 

Fast forward and we find ourselves at the library, crammed inside the curtained-off "walls" of the Story Time room with approximately 10 other kids, not to mention their parents/guardians. Things got started simply enough with a couple of songs, stretching, and bubble time. Then, it was time to dive into the first story.

Lucky for Ellie, the story entitled I Want to Go First, was actually written by what we're assuming to be one of her favorite authors, Richard Byrne. I say that because each of Byrne's books that we have read is very reader-inclusive. What I mean by that is that they all encourage readers to do things like flipping the book at various points, blowing on the page to signify a strong wind, or even randomly yelling something at the book's characters. In fact, it's that last one caused issues for us today.

It just so happens that I Want to Go First features an elephant named Eleanor as one of the primary characters. It also encouraged readers to yell "Eleanor" at the top of their lungs at one point. Imagine Ellie if you will, standing in the middle of the room, enamored by a book by her favorite author, when all of a sudden, the entire room is yelling her name very loudly.

The incriminating page...

When this happened, Ellie immediately turned and stared at me with this hurt and confused look on her face. Then, she came running to where I was sitting on the floor cross-legged as fast as she could. Finally, she wrapped her little arms around my neck while burying her face in my shoulder. With nothing else I could do, I sat there rubbing my little girl's back, explaining that no one was actually angry at her. It was simply part of the book.

After a few minutes, Miss Haley finished up reading the book and proceeded to pass out ribbons on sticks to all of the kids to play with. Lucky for me, all it took for Ellie to leave the safety and comfort of my arms was the promise of playing with a ribbon on a stick. Clearly an even trade, right? All things considered, I feel that Ellie handled a set of very odd circumstances fairly well.

If nothing else, it taught Daddy an important lesson. That lesson being that I probably should use both Ellie and Eleanor in the future when using my "you're in trouble" voice. At least it will potentially save her some emotional trauma in the future should she attempt to read I Want to Go First again. #DaddyWrite

I think I may be scarred for life...

Day 394 - A Week That Was

To my dearest future Ellie, 

It pains me to say the following. It seems that over a week of your childhood has been lost to the sands of time, never to be recorded for future generations (or you know, you) to peruse for enjoyment. 

It's ok though as I think I have a decent reason for that being the case. It's not like I was sitting around playing Star Wars: Battlefront on PS2. Ok, you're right because I did do that some. However, the real reason is much less incriminating of me. Shall we take a quick sojourn back through the week that was? Why yes, we shall. **Initiate the flashback sequence now**

First, we must head all the way back to last Friday. Long story short, my parents are needing to have their basement refinished and sewer lines replaced after the lines collapsed due to wear and tear resulting in the sewer backing up. Eww. Therefore, I headed up for the morning to help get a few things done that needed to be done. 

After leaving for the day around 1, I received a phone call from my mom around 4 that I needed to come home immediately. It just so happened that my dad had broken his leg while doing some repairs on the farm's Bobcat (the piece of equipment, not the wild animal). Not only that, but he would be having surgery that night at 8 pm in St. Joseph to place a rod in the leg. Therefore, as soon as past Ellie was bathed and in bed for the night, I hopped in the car to head to the hospital to hang out with my mom during surgery. 

Hey, look! I'm in dress clothes. Why, yes, that is weird.

Somewhat surprisingly, my dad was released from the hospital on Saturday afternoon meaning he'd get to be home for Easter. Bethany and I, however, would not be doing so as I would be serving in the audio/visual booth in church on Sunday. Just as well because we didn't really want to travel too far in the blinding snowstorm that ended up happening. Fortunately for us, we were invited to attend an Easter party in Kansas City so we wouldn't need to spend the day alone.

On to Monday morning, I received the startling news that my uncle (my dad's brother) had passed away suddenly. Therefore, past Ellie and I headed to Savannah for the day to spend time with my mom and dad before heading back to Kansas City that night. On a positive note, I at least got to spend some time chasing after a cow in labor on a four-wheeler. It'd been a while since I last chased cows so that was oddly enjoyable.

My dad will probably be mortified by the existence of this picture. However, I really like it!

Tuesday was actually a relatively normal day which was sorely needed by this point. The only thing for future Ellie to remember is probably that she really, really wanted to go outside. However, the weather wasn't really conducive for really, really wanting to go outside. Instead, we just stayed inside and I set up past Ellie's tent in the basement for her to play in/place every toy inside. As for Wednesday, more of the same except you need to substitute an hour of playtime at the local library in lieu of tent time and yours truly heading to church in the evening to fulfill my responsibilities.

Once we finally reached Thursday, it was time for a "Hallelujah" kind of day. By that, I mean the sun was shining, the temperatures were soaring, and the birds were singing (not to mention, eating my grass seed off the lawn). After "Uncle" Malachi made an appearance for lunch and past Ellie took her afternoon nap, we decided to mark the great weather with a nice, relaxing swing in the hammock followed by a trot around the neighborhood. During said trot, perhaps the most interesting thing to occur was past Ellie's discovery of basketball. 

Enjoy this collage complete with totally authentic picture of the sun in sunglasses. Promise it's real...

Now, keep in mind, the baby has watched plenty of March Madness and even filled out a bracket last year. This time though, she discovered some neighborhood kids playing basketball and was super content to stand there watching them play despite the wary looks said kids were casting towards me. After all, there's nothing creepier than a grown man with a baby watching kids play basketball in the street.

Around 5, quite the convergence of people occurred as Bethany got home, her parents stopped by (Bethany's new nephew was born late Wednesday night for the record), and I needed to head out the door to head to Savannah for my uncle's visitation. Over 500 people headed through the line during the course of the night! For the record, I offer my apologies if you came through that line knowing me and I seemingly had no clue who you were. It wasn't meant to be offensive; I'm just super forgetful.

Today marked the funeral day in Savannah with the three of us hitting the road at 9:00 to make it to the chapel by 10:00 am. Once things commenced, I found myself seated with the other pall bearers which meant I was away from Bethany and past Ellie. Now, I should probably say that past Ellie was really good during the funeral. 

However, there were a few instances of past Ellie making her presence known. You know, like the resounding "Uh oh" that echoed through the chapel each time the keyboardist ceased playing. Or how she kept reminding everyone sitting around her via the strains of "No nose" that they shouldn't pick their nose. Not to mention her silently protest of the playing of 'Amazing Grace' because she thought that meant we were attempting to lull her to sleep.

So future Ellie, as you plainly can see/read, even as I run back through a really weird, hectic, and seemingly long week, I can still find the simple ways in which past Ellie managed to put a smile on my face. Also, luckily for Bethany and I, that little girl managed to put a smile of the faces of quite a few people who found themselves struggling during a sad time as well. 

So, with that, I simply have to say, "Good baby." #DaddyWrite