This past Monday, my wife and I decided to finish winterizing the outside of the house and yard. I mowed and picked up after the dogs, while Margaret worked in the garden harvesting all of the remaining fruits and vegetables. Sophia was a good little angel and sat in her stroller and watched as mommy and daddy did their work. My job took the least amount of time and so I picked Sophia up from the stroller and we went for a little stroll around the raspberry bushes. I was picking the remaining raspberries and Sophia was eating them as fast as I could pick them. She loves her raspberries. Fortunately, for at least the last six months, Costco has had huge raspberries in stock and very reasonable. Her normal breakfast consists of either Oatmeal or Mixed Grains cereal and raspberries. Did I mention she loves her raspberries... Typically, I would think that a baby would find raspberries to be some what sour, but not this one. Sweet or sour, she will eat them and ask for more. She takes after her Panu and Dad in how she will eat these bits of ambrosia of the gods.
Anyway, back to Monday, it was such a nice day. The sun was out and the temp was in the mid seventies. We even got some sun on our cheeks and foreheads. Sophia enjoyed playing with the dogs outside as well. Blue, our 110 lbs. lap dog, loves to sniff Sophia and give her little kisses on the hands or cheek. He is very good with her. Apollo, our other dog, slightly smaller (75 lbs.) is still not to sure what to think about Sophia and usually takes a sniff of her feet and then steers clear of her. Apollo is Margarets dog and whenever he is inside, stays very close, if nto underfoot, to Margaret. Blue, on the other hand, is a dog that a close friend suggested I look for. Blue came from teh Humane Society of Utah and it was something that we (he and I) had a conection from teh start. I walked in and immediately saw his blue eyes, looked around at the other dogs and then kept coming back to him. We spent about an hour getting to know each other, went for a walk, etc. and it was immediate bonding. Blue is half yellow lab and half great dane with gorgous blue eyes. He has been my friend and confidont many times over the past seven years.
Apollo on the otherhand, was a fluke that we got him. Margaret and I had just finished up shopping at WalMart about 4 years ago and this lady came up to us and asked if we were interested in adopting a puppy. We thought, it doesnt cost anything to look, so we went over to their truck and there were two pure bred yellow labs in the back. Another family was looking at them too. I asked Margaret if she wanted to take on another dog and she said sure. So I told her to pick one out and she said "No, you pick it out fro me". I looked both puppies over closely and selected teh most active of the two and the people just gave him to us - no charge. He is an excellent fetcher and depending on what signals you give him, he will either drop the toy at your feet or he will set the toy in your hand so you dont have to bend over for it. He is not the brightest dog in the world but he has a great disposition and is always readys to play.
Whenever Ethan comes up to the house, the dogs hardly leave him alone, especially Blue. We make the exception of letting Blue sleep on a bed with Ethan, and Ethan loves it and having a big dog that loves to snuggle. At times I am jealous of Ethan and Blue's relationship, but it is a good thing that they have each other. Now to tie the two topics together, both Blue and Apollo love raspberries almost as much as Sophia does. If I dont get out to make the harvest of berries soon enough the dogs will eat them, and the ones they don't eat, they will both roll in them and make their coats stained red with the raspberries, then gradually lick the berries off their coats.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Definition
Sophia has many definitions to the learning of the word "No". She is a very independent thinker and marches to the beat of her own drum. Typically, the main meaning of the word is the same as saying in a very loving voice "Sophia, please giggle and them turn it into a full belly laugh." Other meanings vary from "Dear, please continue to do what you are doing", to "I'm not really speaking to you, so continue to ignore me". The continue to do what you are doing is usually confined to anything to do with the cats. If we were not better parents we would probably allow her to eat the cat food at her leisure, however, it is not a balanced diet (for growing babies because the label on the cat food is for one year and older). We try to have her eat her proteins, fruits and veggies, and dairy, however, she does have an affinity for the cat food. I cannot tell you how much of the cat food my wife and I have taken out of her mouth, nor can I tell you with any certainty how much she has managed to swallow. All I know is, we now keep the cat food up off the floor. Before we took the cat food away from her she also liked to grab a handful of it and then let it rain down all over the floor, I think she liked the sound of each pellet hitting the lamenite wood floor. In addition to the cat food, she loves to get into the pet water. She loves to play splashy, splashy, and also pick it up, (she is a very strong little girl) and pour it onto the floor. She has done this enough that the floor boards near the pets water has begun to warp. Great - I know. As I mentioned in an earlier post she is into everything. She loves to get out the lids to the pots and pans set them up into a little drum set, and play them by dropping dads old golf balls onto them, or just holding the golf ball and striking the pan lids. If I would have known this little line of joy earlier, I could have killed two birds with one stone and got my wife to ask for new pots and pans at the baby showers, and screw the new baby toys. By the way, she prefers the carry and solid feel of a Titlest ball the best. She has many different brands to choose from, but the Titlest is usually the one she prefers to throw and chase, and throw again. In all the things she loves to get into, I thank God that the cat boxes are in the lower level of the house and she is confined to the upper level of the house. Heaven knows what a disaster that would be, and I am certain that she would find the clumping litter to be the ideal thing to squish and throw around (BLEH!). If you have the time after reading this please post a comment as to what else I should be on the look out for her to get into. I know we have moved most things that we think she could get into out of her tippy toes reach, things includ vases, porcelain dolls, cat food, dog food, etc. I also know that this year our christmas tree will be decorated from about waist level up. Don't want/need to be cleaning up more of the orniments than usual - See the cats think the Christmas tree is an indoor jungle gym and love to climb it and knock down the orniments, then bat them around until they shatter. More on that item as the holidays approach. Thank you for taking the time to read this and please leave me any clues as to what else I should be on the look out for.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Caution must be exercised
We all know how much babies love mom and dad's electronic gadgets, with the bells, whistles, colorful lights, ringy-dingy sounds, and, of course, the photos of themselves. Whenever a baby is fidgeting and we need them to be quiet and settle down, the first thing out of moms purse or dads pocket is usually the mobile phone. We put it on gallery and teach them how to slide between pictures of themselves with other family members - no harm done in showing these photos, right? Wrong. In teaching Sophia how to slide through the pictures on our Android devices, she has problem solved the task of unlocking the phone.
The other day I put Sophia down for a nap on our bed and eventually fell asleep myself right next to the little angel. We had been asleep for maybe 20 minutes and I awaken to the sound of a strange voice. I look over at Sophia and she is playing with some of her many books and a toy cell phone. I continue to hear a voice saying "Hello, Scott are you okay?" Am I losing my mind? Do I need my meds adjusted? No on both accounts.
The sweet little angel had reached under the pillow, grabbed my mobile phone, unlocked it, gotten into "My Favs" and randomly dialed my sister. Sue was just on her way back home from Tennessee and was stuck in the Denver International Airport waiting for her luggage. Again I hear "Scott, is everything okay?" I quickly pick up the phone without looking at who our little darling had dialed and began to speak. I thought it was my wife at first, and that she had called me. My wife was the one I had called last before taking a short rest. Not until a minute or so into the call do I realize it is Susan on the other end of the call.
"Yeah Sis, everything is okay here, did you call me?"
"No Brothiuglar,(loving names for each other Brothiuglar and Sistiuglar) you called me!"
"Oh shit" goes through my mind. How did this happen. I slowly come to and piece together what happened. I have been raising a techno-geek, and like her father she loves gadgets. I have been called inspector gadget on more than one occassion.
When I realize what is going on, I apologize to Sue for the errant call, and let her know what was going on. Mean while, Sophia is still innocently playing with her books and toys. Sue on the other hand is laughing up a storm - and having the good laugh at my expense - well deserved.
Once I get off the phone with Sue, I call my wife to tell her what happened. First she laughs, then reads me the riot act for taking a nap while Sophia is sleeping too. I guess I should stick to the 11:00pm to 7:00am sleeping time - which thank God, is only rarely interupted these days by our little sweetheart.
I have since moved my phone out of her reach (for the time being) and I have to be more careful in what I am teaching her to do with the gadgets we as parents use and rely upon. I just thank the good Lord above that she didn't get into the calling screen and hold down the number 1 for a few seconds, which would have gotten me a serious wake up call from 911. Who knows what they would have done, turn me over to the Division of Family Services. "Um, yes Mr. Mathis, I am sure you are a good father and you will have the opportunity to discuss this with the court." Caution is now exercised. Going forward, the phone is put away when she naps - IN HER CRIB!
I will be taking the weekend off, but will post more of our adventures on Monday - Have a GREAT weekend.
The other day I put Sophia down for a nap on our bed and eventually fell asleep myself right next to the little angel. We had been asleep for maybe 20 minutes and I awaken to the sound of a strange voice. I look over at Sophia and she is playing with some of her many books and a toy cell phone. I continue to hear a voice saying "Hello, Scott are you okay?" Am I losing my mind? Do I need my meds adjusted? No on both accounts.
The sweet little angel had reached under the pillow, grabbed my mobile phone, unlocked it, gotten into "My Favs" and randomly dialed my sister. Sue was just on her way back home from Tennessee and was stuck in the Denver International Airport waiting for her luggage. Again I hear "Scott, is everything okay?" I quickly pick up the phone without looking at who our little darling had dialed and began to speak. I thought it was my wife at first, and that she had called me. My wife was the one I had called last before taking a short rest. Not until a minute or so into the call do I realize it is Susan on the other end of the call.
"Yeah Sis, everything is okay here, did you call me?"
"No Brothiuglar,(loving names for each other Brothiuglar and Sistiuglar) you called me!"
"Oh shit" goes through my mind. How did this happen. I slowly come to and piece together what happened. I have been raising a techno-geek, and like her father she loves gadgets. I have been called inspector gadget on more than one occassion.
When I realize what is going on, I apologize to Sue for the errant call, and let her know what was going on. Mean while, Sophia is still innocently playing with her books and toys. Sue on the other hand is laughing up a storm - and having the good laugh at my expense - well deserved.
Once I get off the phone with Sue, I call my wife to tell her what happened. First she laughs, then reads me the riot act for taking a nap while Sophia is sleeping too. I guess I should stick to the 11:00pm to 7:00am sleeping time - which thank God, is only rarely interupted these days by our little sweetheart.
I have since moved my phone out of her reach (for the time being) and I have to be more careful in what I am teaching her to do with the gadgets we as parents use and rely upon. I just thank the good Lord above that she didn't get into the calling screen and hold down the number 1 for a few seconds, which would have gotten me a serious wake up call from 911. Who knows what they would have done, turn me over to the Division of Family Services. "Um, yes Mr. Mathis, I am sure you are a good father and you will have the opportunity to discuss this with the court." Caution is now exercised. Going forward, the phone is put away when she naps - IN HER CRIB!
I will be taking the weekend off, but will post more of our adventures on Monday - Have a GREAT weekend.
What not to wear...
My wife enjoys a show on one of the chick channels called "What NOT To Wear", hosted by a guy named Clint and a gal named Stacy. My wife has said, (on more than one occasion), that they need to come up with a new version of the show just for me called "What NOT To Dress Your Baby Daughter In".
Now first off, I'm a guy. Jeans with out stains and a t-shirt that doesn't smell or have spills on it is completely acceptable attire. And if I am not taking Sophie out in public, I believe the same rules apply. Well, not so. Everyday her outfit has to have colors and they have to match. No mixing of stripes and plaids, and the shirt has to haved the exact color of the the pants at least one time, if not predominantly.
I will admit it - I am not fashionista (my wife's word not mine), and it is difficult to apply a different set of rules to Sophia than to me. I could probably dress myself a little better, but if no one is going to see me other than the back door neighbors when I stick my head out the door to yell at the dogs for howling at either sirens or F-15's as they cruise overhead, what's the big deal.
I do even worse in dressing Sophia than normal when I try to apply my wife's rules. The most recent time I dressed her in what I thought was a short sleeved shirt with green and white checkers as trim and some green and white checkered bloomers. Well, the greens, to my wifes opinion, did not match because the checkers on the shirt were faded green and the bloomers were bright green. They were the same color when I washed them (and no, I did not use bleach). So we now have a 15 minute session each evening before putting Sophia to bed, where I first pick out what I am planning on dressing her in the next day, and receive a lecture on why that is not the "best choice". Then, my wife picks out an appropriate outfit for the following day. I think I am getting better at selecting clothing for my daughter, but my wife thinks that I have been hard-wired and that the process is mostly hopeless for me.
The only times I do well is when I remember clothes that came together, like a shirt and pants that were on the same hanger in the store, when we purchased them, or match up the Garanimals on the clothing tags. Thank goodness for Garanimals. When I was a kid growing up, I thought that was a cool idea that Sears had, and they have now migrated to the store where we buy most clothing for Sophia, Wal*Mart. What would we be with out WallyWorld? I guess just a bunch of dads that dress their children in mis-matched clothing.
I will keep practicing and who knows maybe someday soon I will get it, but for now I am resigned to taking instruction and replying "Yes Dear". That way I can most always get the last word in.
More in the adventures of Sophie soon.
Now first off, I'm a guy. Jeans with out stains and a t-shirt that doesn't smell or have spills on it is completely acceptable attire. And if I am not taking Sophie out in public, I believe the same rules apply. Well, not so. Everyday her outfit has to have colors and they have to match. No mixing of stripes and plaids, and the shirt has to haved the exact color of the the pants at least one time, if not predominantly.
I will admit it - I am not fashionista (my wife's word not mine), and it is difficult to apply a different set of rules to Sophia than to me. I could probably dress myself a little better, but if no one is going to see me other than the back door neighbors when I stick my head out the door to yell at the dogs for howling at either sirens or F-15's as they cruise overhead, what's the big deal.
I do even worse in dressing Sophia than normal when I try to apply my wife's rules. The most recent time I dressed her in what I thought was a short sleeved shirt with green and white checkers as trim and some green and white checkered bloomers. Well, the greens, to my wifes opinion, did not match because the checkers on the shirt were faded green and the bloomers were bright green. They were the same color when I washed them (and no, I did not use bleach). So we now have a 15 minute session each evening before putting Sophia to bed, where I first pick out what I am planning on dressing her in the next day, and receive a lecture on why that is not the "best choice". Then, my wife picks out an appropriate outfit for the following day. I think I am getting better at selecting clothing for my daughter, but my wife thinks that I have been hard-wired and that the process is mostly hopeless for me.
The only times I do well is when I remember clothes that came together, like a shirt and pants that were on the same hanger in the store, when we purchased them, or match up the Garanimals on the clothing tags. Thank goodness for Garanimals. When I was a kid growing up, I thought that was a cool idea that Sears had, and they have now migrated to the store where we buy most clothing for Sophia, Wal*Mart. What would we be with out WallyWorld? I guess just a bunch of dads that dress their children in mis-matched clothing.
I will keep practicing and who knows maybe someday soon I will get it, but for now I am resigned to taking instruction and replying "Yes Dear". That way I can most always get the last word in.
More in the adventures of Sophie soon.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
OK, it's been less than one earth day, but...
...But on Mercury, it has been several days. Last night my wife was in class for her PHR (Professional of Human Resources) until 9:35, then she had the one hour drive home. Little Sophie decided that she had napped enough for the day and wanted to see Mom rather than go to bed. We tried everything under the sun to get her to go to sleep. We tried reading books, warm milk, laying down in mommy and daddy's room with all the lights off and the pets all OUT of the room. The final option finally worked (Thank Goodness). She fell asleep and I carried her into her room to sleep the night away. That worked really well - right up until the garage door went up when mommy came home - then it started all over again. At about midnight she did go to sleep for the night - but she just needed her mommy time - female bonding. Daddy is just an innocent by-stander whenever Mom is around. I tell myself that it is because she sees Dad everyday and all day. Mom is just a few minutes in the morning and then between when Mom gets home and Sophie has to go to bed.
This past weekend, Sophie's ten year old brother was up here for the weekend. They play so cute together. His name is Ethan. He loves his little sister very much. He likes getting in the empty laundry basket and going down various roller coasters made of stacked pillows. He got an idea that Sophie would like it too, but I had to put a stop to it before it began, so he hooked up one of the dog leashes to the laundry basket, lined it with pillows from the couch, placed Sophie in it and gave her a tour of the upstairs of the house. She was non-stop giggles and squealed her excitement. She never acts this way in the stroller, but this was different. It was because of Ethan. This went on for the better part of an hour. Talk about cheap entertainment, and allowed me time to catch up on doing laundry.
Sophie is very intriged by phone chargers right now, especially the USB2 connectors. This morning while I wasn't paying as close attention to her as I should have, she decided to give my phone charger a bath, in my coffee. Needless to say I pulled it out of the coffee, thanked her for her thoughtfulness, and placed the charger in a more safe place and gave her some books to occupy her attention. You know how they say the 40's are the new 20's? Well I think the 1's are the new terrible 2's. She is in to EVERYTHING! More on what she is into on a later post. She is awake now and I need to go rescue the cat from slobery kisses.
Thanks for reading and be sure to leave your comments/suggestions. I read them all and will try to respond when asked to.
This past weekend, Sophie's ten year old brother was up here for the weekend. They play so cute together. His name is Ethan. He loves his little sister very much. He likes getting in the empty laundry basket and going down various roller coasters made of stacked pillows. He got an idea that Sophie would like it too, but I had to put a stop to it before it began, so he hooked up one of the dog leashes to the laundry basket, lined it with pillows from the couch, placed Sophie in it and gave her a tour of the upstairs of the house. She was non-stop giggles and squealed her excitement. She never acts this way in the stroller, but this was different. It was because of Ethan. This went on for the better part of an hour. Talk about cheap entertainment, and allowed me time to catch up on doing laundry.
Sophie is very intriged by phone chargers right now, especially the USB2 connectors. This morning while I wasn't paying as close attention to her as I should have, she decided to give my phone charger a bath, in my coffee. Needless to say I pulled it out of the coffee, thanked her for her thoughtfulness, and placed the charger in a more safe place and gave her some books to occupy her attention. You know how they say the 40's are the new 20's? Well I think the 1's are the new terrible 2's. She is in to EVERYTHING! More on what she is into on a later post. She is awake now and I need to go rescue the cat from slobery kisses.
Thanks for reading and be sure to leave your comments/suggestions. I read them all and will try to respond when asked to.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
First Entry
Greetings fellow "stay @ home" dads. I first brought up this idea of blogging to my wife, and she thought it was a great idea to form a stay @ home dads support group. I originally wanted to call it "displaced daddy's", as I was laid off a little over a year ago, and just sort of fell into the role. The ideas I have will take a lot of work and input from others like you for what this will cover. I would initially like to have ideas of what we can do with our kids to entertain them, watching 7 hours of Fox News is apparently not the best going for a 13 month old, or so I'm told. As most of us are on a fixed income, we will be looking for free or greatly reduced prices for what will be offered. Additionally, I would like us to meet maybe every other week for play dates so our kids can be better socialized with other kids. I promise to be honest, sometimes brutally honest, and provide an occasions laugh or two. My sense of humor is a little dry at times, but it does occasionally work. With this said, I would appreciate the periodic feedback. My email address is Scott.mathis0@gmail.com. I will post more in a couple of days, and hopefully have some ideas to share. I may have to borrow some ideas from Good Things Utah, or Fresh Living. All dads are welcome to join up. This has no religious affiliation, and political views will be extremely limited.
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