Day 289, Part 2 - "I'm in Hot Pursuit" aka The One Where I Got Pulled Over

Wait, Part 2? You can do that? Well, I figure that since it's my blog, I can probably get away with making up the rules that go along with it. Sorry if that comes across as a bit braggadocios but it is true. 

It's especially relevant in this case because there was more to the story after Ellie and I left Malachi's place on Tuesday afternoon. The problem is that that blog post was already rapidly approaching that threshold where folks would stop reading it because they likely had better things to do with their time than read about my life. Man, it hurts when I have to tell myself the truth like that. It's ok, I should be able to get over it. With time.

Once Ellie and I left Malachi's on Tuesday, knowing that we were beginning to run low on milk, Cheerios, chicken, and various other things, I decided to make a quick detour by Sam's Club to pick those things up. Now, it's important to note that Sam's isn't exactly close to Malachi's apartment. Therefore, Ellie and I were in for a bit of a car ride. 

The thing about plans is that they are made to be broken. Before even five minutes had passed, Ellie was out cold in the back seat of my RAV4. Believe me when I say the last thing in the world I wanted to do was wake her up. Therefore, I made the decision Sam's could be put on hold. Instead, I decided my time could be better spent just going on a little drive while Ellie slept in the back seat.

Now, as you probably well know, this is something I do quite often at this point. I find driving to be a peaceful and relaxing activity more often than not. Obviously, that's not the case if I'm driving in downtown city traffic. The rest of the time though, I'm perfectly happy to just hop behind the wheel and see where it leads me. On this occasion, it led to me heading north on North Oak Trafficway, beyond the turn to my house.

I hadn't even made it a quarter mile past the  turn to my house when I heard a siren accompanied by the unmistakable flash of police lights (aka blueberries and cherries for my friend, Tyler) in my rearview mirror. You see, I had literally just entered a 1 mile stretch (maybe) on North Oak where the speed limit drops from 40 to 30 mph. Coincidentally in that same stretch, I passed a east-west road occupied by three motorcycle officers and one squad car. I can't be overly positive but I think that might be the very definition of a speed trap. 

I pulled over onto a side street as soon as possible just to make life a little easier on the officer pulling me over. As he headed to the window, I glanced in the rearview mirror to see little Ellie still asleep, thankfully. Now, I wanted to ensure that remained the case. Therefore, when the officer came to the window, I already had my license and insurance ready. I also motioned behind me and whispered I had a baby asleep in the baby seat and would appreciate him being discreet. 

Lucky for me, the officer was willing to oblige me on that front as he took great care to make sure all of his interactions with me were done in a hushed tone. Unlucky for me, he provided me with a $143 speeding ticket as a parting gift; my first speeding ticket ever. And yes, for those wondering, I am still ticked off about it! Doesn't 16 years of perfect driving record count for anything?

That being said, yes, I was breaking the law (unintentionally) and deserved it. However, I can't say my interactions with the officer were all bad. He cut me a break on giving me a lesser violation than he could have. Therefore, I was certain to shake his hand and tell him I appreciated it as he left. I even called his supervising officer later that day to let him know how much I appreciated the professionalism his officer showed in taking care to be courteous and respectful of Ellie's sleeping. 

If I'm being totally serious though, a part of me really wishes Ellie would have been screaming bloody murder when he pulled me over. I feel like no cop on earth would give a ticket to a guy with a screaming baby. Maybe that's silly of me to think but I'll always wonder. 

Of course, I have to say I'll always wonder because I'm not exactly keen to test that theory out by getting pulled over again anytime soon. Anyone else want to test that for me? #DaddyWrite

Day 289 - Open Fire(fighter Themed Subs)

Something I often forget is that an adventure for Ellie doesn't have to be huge and adventurous (possibly even 'bigly' as the president would say).  While Ellie is intelligent, sometimes all she wants is just to get out the house. I like to think I'm pretty good at getting her out now and then. Trips to the zoo, the store, the park, or just long car rides have all been used to entertain Ellie. However, I will say that until today, I never really thought the following method could realistically be used to entertain Ellie.

Like most days, I had resigned myself to hanging out at home with the baby for the afternoon. Maybe an afternoon outing to Sam's to stock up on a few necessities was in order. Otherwise, I was planning on a perfectly  boring day. So, when I received a text from my buddy, Malachi, asking Ellie and I to come over and hang out while eating lunch and playing Call of Duty, of course, I was going to jump at that opportunity.

Now, you should know that I had some trepidation about doing just that. After all, Ellie is very active, easily bored, and wants 100% of my attention at all times. Go ahead and couple that with her weird dislike of men at this point in time and there were plenty of opportunities for this adventure to be non-successful.

As Malachi generally picks up lunch for us whenever he comes over to visit, I offered to stop and grab lunch for him today. After a bit of back and forth, we finally decided on Firehouse Subs which may or may not be America's favorite firefighter-themed sandwich place. Someone should really do a study to see if they actually have any direct competitors in the market for firefighter-themed sandwich places. 

After we put in the order (Italian sub minus mayo and mustard and a New York Steamer if anyone cares) and got our number, I took Ellie and sat down at a table near the door. Needless to say, my 16-month-old toddler became restless with just sitting on my lap so I eventually sat her down on the floor and watched closely as she explored the area around us.  

Maybe if I'd thought ahead and snapped a picture, then you'd be able to see this special moment...

The primary object of her fascination? Diamond plating running along the wall. Seriously. Ellie spent probably a good five minutes just rubbing diamond plating as she walked along the wall. Luckily our food arrived just in time as Ellie was getting bored with the diamond plating and was about to explore the old oxygen tanks and vintage fire extinguishers. Who knows how that would have gone?

Once our orders were delivered, we loaded up in the car and headed to Malachi's apartment to hang out. Despite Ellie's familiarity with Malachi, I found myself slightly curious to see how she would react to him. You see, she's going through a weird phase of not really caring for men at first glance. I seem to be the exception to this rule (somewhat) which definitely makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Anyway, between Ellie, her diaper bag, and the bag of sandwiches, I found myself needing to make two trips to get everything inside. Don't worry, Ellie was trip number one. I know better than to leave the baby in the car in an apartment parking lot!

The one sad part about eating lunch with Malachi is that we really couldn't eat lunch at the same time. You see, as Malachi was enjoying his New York Steamer, I was  busy feeding Ellie some healthy portions of tuna noodle casserole and some sliced banana for dessert. I assumed that once both Ellie and Malachi were done with meals, he'd be able to hold her while I ate. Instead, that wouldn't be the case as Ellie wouldn't really have much to do with that. Instead I found myself attempting to carefully maneuver my Italian sub around my toddler's head to my mouth without getting it yanked apart by her tiny hands. I also definitely wanted to avoid drips of Italian dressing on either of our clothes. That stuff stains since it's oil based, LOL.

I could eat another right now. Seriously, right this moment.

Finally, once we were done with dinner, we retreated to the living room for a little Call of Duty action. I had actually planned ahead and brought several of Ellie's favorite toys in addition to some books. I carefully laid all of Ellie's stuff out on a loveseat opposite the couch where Malachi and I were sitting and playing. I figured as long as Ellie could see me, she would be content doing about anything.

It didn't take long for that bubble to burst as Ellie quickly hopped off the loveseat and clambered up onto the couch beside me. Of course, she wasn't alone. She had her favorite stacking cups in tow. To my surprise though, she didn't demand my immediate attention. Instead, she happily played while occasionally nuzzling against me lovingly. In fact, she really never did beg for my attention. She'd occasionally hop down, grab another toy or book, and then reclaim her place on the couch beside me.

For me, I felt like this was a therapeutic session in more ways than one. Number  one, it helped remind me that Ellie is able to leave the house and be a somewhat well-rounded human being. In fact, there's absolutely no reason for this to not become at least an occasional thing. You need proof? Look no further than the fact that before we left, Malachi was chasing Ellie around the apartment with her happily screeching in delight all the while.

 Number two, opening fire on nameless video game characters is surprisingly calming. Does that make me sound like a psychopath? I think it might have made me sound like a psychopath. I promise I'm not a psychopath...#DaddyWrite

Day 288 - To Bounce Away or Stow Away?

I'm sure everyone remembers the TV show 'Seinfeld'. The show that faithfully declared itself to be "a show about nothing". Well, today's blog post is kind of the same way. Yes, I pride myself on finding unique things to post on #DaddyWrite. However, that being said, there are definitely times when absolutely nothing interesting happens. 

Today's probably one of those times. I mean, I could probably dig deep to the bottom of the barrel and figure out something halfway interesting to write a full blog post about. Instead, I'm making a conscientious effort to instead bore you with a couple of short events that more or less describes an average day with Ellie. 

First things first. I should mention that Ellie has been battling a cold so a lot of my time is spent simply trying to ensure her comfort and happiness. What that essentially means is that the baby essentially had free reign to do whatever she wanted today. Within reason, that is; I don't find it prudent to let Ellie play with matches anytime soon. 

That being said, there are always plenty of new things for Ellie to find and enjoy within the confines of our home. Today's new discovery for Ellie was something she's wandered across on multiple occasions but never really paid much attention to. That discovery was our full-sized body pillow residing in front of our fireplace. 

Under normal circumstances, Ellie just pushes the pillow aside and begins slobbering all over the glass doors covering the fireplace. Today though, she happily took a seat on top of the pillow and smiled at me from across the room. Then, as she was smiling, Ellie began bouncing up and down on the pillow, laughing all the while. That wouldn't be Ellie's only new discovery of the day of the day.

I should preface the next story with the statement that Ellie really likes food. Everyone does. That's not really an earth shattering announcement. Also, while I've long referred to Ellie as a monkey within the confines of my own home, I'm no longer sure that's accurate. She may lean more towards being a squirrel at this point in time.

Like most afternoons, I gave Ellie an afternoon snack consisting of some goldfish crackers and Cheerios. With that, I largely left her to her own devices while I prepared dinner. Every so often, I like to glance over my shoulder when this is the case. The first time, there was nothing out of the ordinary as Ellie was standing by a kitchen chair happily munching her snack right where I had left it. Before long, I heard the unmistakable sound of cracker hitting plastic. I turned around to see that Ellie had found another of her bowls and decided to transfer her snack from one bowl to another. 

I figured that was the last of the weirdness to occur. I was wrong. As I was dicing onions (with tears in my eyes, of course), Ellie began pushing hard against my leg to move me away from the counter. As I moved aside, she opened the cabinet door to my left and I watched as she deposited a handful of Goldfish crackers on the shelf, closed the door, and walked back to the remainder of her snack. I don't know if that was her trying to save some for later or if I had given her too much. Perhaps a combination of the two. 

I mean, it is getting colder so maybe that means Ellie's preparing to hibernate for the winter. After all, one would need to stockpile a nice supply of food to do so. #DaddyWrite 

Day 285 - Baby's "First" Halloween

Ok, I admit that title could fall under the category of falsehood. You know, also known as a lie, untruth, fib, fabrication, story, whopper, etc. 

The truth is that this is technically Ellie's second Halloween. Remember, Ellie was born in June of 2016. Therefore, she was around for Halloween 2016. Despite the fact that there may be legitimate evidence to the contrary, I believe you'll ultimately agree with me referring to this as Ellie's first Halloween.

So, the biggest question is why I'm not acknowledging the place of Halloween 2016 in Ellie's life. It's a fairly simple answer. Namely, we didn't do anything to mark the occasion. A normal Halloween in the Holt household has consisted of us handing out candy to somewhere between 50 and 80 trick-or-treaters. However, last year, Bethany and I chose to take a year off from that activity. As Ellie was only four months old, we didn't want incessant doorbell ringing to interrupt her still-developing sleeping patterns. Also, we didn't figure any neighborhood children would really lament us for not tossing a couple of fun size candy bars into their buckets/bags/pillowcases.

Since Ellie is now a year older, we decided that it would be fine to resume our normal Halloween activities this year. While we didn't exactly procure a costume for Ellie, she was definitely dressed for the occasion as she was decked out in a Halloween themed onesie, black pants, and an orange and black skirt. She was actually looking pretty cute if I do say so myself.

Not the greatest photos. Hey, why don't you try to get a picture of a constantly moving target?

Once the 5:00 hour rolled around, we began getting ready for trick-or-treaters to arrive. Ellie knew something was up but was not really certain what it was. Between the big bowl of candy, Mickey Mouse jack-o-lantern, and porch light being on, there was certainly enough different to grab her attention. 

It wasn't very long before our doorbell rang for the first time. I bounded up from her seat on the couch and answered the door to find Robin (as in Batman's sidekick) standing at the door with outstrectched arms. As I happily offered up candy, I noticed Ellie had crept up behind me and was eyeing the miniature Robin until he left our stoop. With that, she happily closed our front door, looked at us with a big smile, and clapped over her accomplishment.

Must be prepared...

After a few more trick-or-treaters came to visit, Ellie figured out the drill. She gathered up her own stash of candy from the bowl and laid it on the windowsill as she vigilantly watched out the window. Whenever a new visitor would inevitably come bounding up the drive, Ellie would head towards the front door to greet them with a piece of candy in tow.

Ellie's stash...

I wasn't exactly certain how Ellie would ultimately respond to strangers in costume. While I love Halloween, I realize there's potential for it to be scary for some. Fortunately for us, she really didn't seem to mind it. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. Especially the person in an inflatable Godzilla costume who struggled to get both up and down our steps.

Now, if only the same could be said for the Mickey Mouse jack-o-lantern. For some odd reason that thing evoked feelings of terror from deep inside her tiny body. Go figure. #DaddyWrite

The ultimate face of terror...