Checkup

Daniel had his 3 year checkup today. After carefully preparing him for the visit, he couldn't wait to go. Leo, of course, came along too. And as I already knew, Daniel's as healthy as can be. Leo helped out and got his height and weight checked too.

But, there were a couple of things about Daniel I wanted the doctor to check. First, there was his speech. When Daniel's speaking, many times he breathes through his nose so you can't always understand what he's saying. Dr. Cox checked out his nasal passages and everything seemed fine, so he wasn't concerned and thought this was something Daniel would grow out of.

Then, we talked about Daniel's walking. His toes turn in, especially when he is running - sort of what they used to call being 'pigeon-toed'. So Dr. Cox watched Daniel walk and saw the feet turning in, then gave him a thorough examination of his feet, ankles and legs. He finally diagnosed Daniel with internal tibial torsion. Its the least problematic form of 'intoeing', and Dr. Cox was not worried a bit saying to let the bones straighten out by themselves. Now this was something I remembered a friend of mine had when I was in grade school - he wore these clunky braces on his legs and couldn't play any sports. I never seriously thought Daniel would have to wear anything like this, but the thought did cross my mind. Now, after reading the articles on this subject, it sounds like enough research has been done so that kids don't have to wear these unnecessary leg braces for this diagnosis.

Daniel then got his flu shot and he barely winced. He's a tough little kid.

11-27 Video of the week

I recently watched the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness". This is a clip of my favorite scene. And yes, I cried during the movie.

11-26 Ten tips from last week

1. Although Thanksgiving isn't the same without the kids, you can still enjoy the holiday with a group of great friends.

2. It feels pretty good to have all of the Christmas shopping done and presents wrapped while it is still November.

3. However, the chances that I'm going to buy something else between now and Christmas is pretty high - I've already thought of something I need to get. By the time Christmas eventually arrives I'll probably have bought too much.

4. Always call your mother on her birthday - even if you already sent flowers and a card.

5. And when someone else says he doesn't want to make a big deal about his birthday, then proceeds to tell the world on the internet when his birthday is, he deserves all of the good-natured ribbing he gets!

6. Children don't always understand the difference between live TV and a movie on DVD (which you can start and stop whenever you want). Maybe I need TIVO!

7. When your child outgrows a favorite pair of shoes, it is best not to have them around in eyesight after you buy the new ones.

8. While on the subject of clothes, I'm finding it hard to just let them pick out whatever it is they want to wear each day. So I'm picking my battles and only insisting on something more reasonable when needed - like when the thermometer outside says its 36 degrees and your child has put on a pair of shorts.

9. You can get a lot of mileage out of Halloween candy if you ration it out a little at a time.

10. After the long Thanksgiving weekend, when people at work ask you how your holiday was with your family (not knowing that you weren't with your family), its OK to just tell them it was fine.

Back to Daddy

It was so great to have the boys back today - I missed them terribly. Leo ran up to me, gave me a big hug, then said, "I love you Daddy." I looked at him and said, "So its back to Daddy, huh?" He said, "You'll always be my Daddy."

Daniel was still getting unbuckled by his mother in the car when he saw me, and he immediately started screaming, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." So I'm Daddy again and it feels great.

Black Friday 2007

So, I went out early and shopped. Wasn't really planning on getting going too early, but I woke up around 5:00 with a nasty cough (maybe it was from all of the wine I drank at Sandy's - finally catching up to me). So I decided to go ahead and make an early start. Besides, Kohl's had already been open for an hour!

I arrived at Kohl's around 5:30 and there were already quite a few cars in the parking lot. (Game Stop wasn't open yet, but there was a long line of people - must have been some sale for a new video game or something.) I expected to be frustrated by the hordes of people in the store, but it really wasn't too bad, except for the length of the checkout line.

My next stop was the Hanover Mall - Macy's, KB Toys, AC Moore and Wal Mart. I stuck with the sale items and coupons and did very well. Then it was on to Braintree, where I had a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon and there was still an early bird sale at KMart. I got everything I was looking for except the new bike for Leo as KMart had already sold out of them. Since the weather won't be nice enough for bike riding again until April, I think it will be OK to wait until then to get him his new bike. I also think I may already have enough for him so he shouldn't mind. I'll just have to listen closely to him when he's on Santa's lap to see what else he asks for . . .

I then went over to Borders for some much-needed coffee, then browsed through the books to get a few new Christmas stories for the boys. Overall, not a bad morning, and I've got all of my Christmas shopping done, except for maybe an item or two that I may pick up over the next few weeks.

My haul:

11-22 Ten things to be thankful for

Special Thanksgiving edition:

1. Leo and Daniel - for being the great little human beings they are, even when they're wrestling on the floor or hitting each other.

2. The Boston-Providence Single Parents group - you guys are awesome!

3. My 2 old cats - for being with me through . . . well, you will have to ask them.

4. My job - for the ability to work hard and get paid to help make the world a better and more beautiful place.

5. NASCAR - for providing Leo a fun way to learn bigger numbers.

6. SFPCC - for being so patient with the boys (now if SFPCC could only take a little better care of keeping track of the kids' clothes . . .)

7. My ex-mother-in-law - for finally picking up the phone so I could talk to the boys last night.

8. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Division - for now providing an "Interactive Case Manager" through the internet.

9. Mom - for being there.

10. "Ten, ten, ten, ten for everything, everything, everything, everything"

Blogger

So, I'm now writing on Blogger. Not that there's anything wrong with Myspace (although I know that Tom misses having Andy as a friend), but now that Andy's got Kate and me over here, I think I'll try this for a while.

For any new readers, I've copied over my older blogs from Myspace so you can get caught up on what's been going on - may make it a little easier to understand what I'm writing about sometimes. I think I'll go and write my last Myspace blog now, which will essentially point over to here.

Dad

So, Leo called me 'Dad' for the first time today. Not 'Dada' or 'Daddy'. Just 'Dad'. Not sure he even thought about it. I was helping him put some roads together for his cars to drive on and he said, "No, Dad, that's not how I want it - please do it like this." Dad. It sounded great!

Test

This is a test blog.

11-12 Ten tips from last week

1. Always get your child a cake on his birthday.

2. When you hear one child say to the other "Put your finger in my mouth", run in and see what's going on.

3. Setting up a teacher conference is a pain in the butt when the days they do the conferences are not the days you have your children.

4. "Stinky-butt" can be used as a description for a lot of people, even in public.

5. Rice Krispies still go "Snap, Crackle, Pop" when they're dumped on the floor.

6. Not all Friendly's Restaurants are the same - it really depends on how good your waiter/waitress is. For example, when the waiter forgets your 3-year-old's lunch and everyone else is served, this is not a good Friendly's. Especially when he was the one saying "I'm hungry" the loudest. (And they didn't even comp his meal . . .)

7. Stock cars are a great way to teach your toddler numbers.

8. NASCAR looks completely different when seen through the eyes of a 4-year-old.

9. When your kids try on their snow boots to see if they still fit, plan on letting them wear the boots for a while, because they will want to keep the boots on, even if its not snowing.

10. With one less person in the house I can now go 2 weeks without going to the dump. This especially helps when the dump is closed for Veteran's Day.

iPod

I miss my iPod. Ever since I had to give up my commuter rail pass and start driving to work, I haven't used it once. Now, when I was taking the train, the iPod was my solace - be it watching a video podcast or just zoning out to some tunes.

So, the other day I thought I would take the train to work instead of driving. I didn't have to take the kids to daycare, and the traffic had been particularly bad the day before, and it was raining. So before I left the house I thought I would just check to see if the iPod was charged - but I couldn't find it! I searched everywhere (or so I thought). But with no iPod in hand, I decided the train ride wouldn't be worth it, so I went ahead and drove into work.

I get to the parking garage behind my building, reach into my briefcase and pull out my umbrella, and lo and behold, there's the iPod. It was buried underneath the umbrella in my briefcase. Wouldn't have mattered anyway, though, because when I tried to turn it on, there was no charge so I wouldn't have been able to use it anyway.

Now the iPod is all charged up, but who knows when I'll get around to having some time to use it again.

11-6 Ten tips from last week

Part 1: Post Halloween tips:

1. When you put a bowl of candy out on the front porch with a big sign that says "PLEASE TAKE 2", the trick-or-treaters end up taking more than 2 each.

2. A two-year-old doesn't recognize when he's already been to a house trick-or-treating.

3. Let the kids eat some of their candy Halloween night, then hide the rest.

4. If you don't want any more trick-or-treaters, turn off all the lights - then they'll skip your house.

5. If you don't get silly string cleaned up right away, it leaves a mark on the porch, house, driveway, or wherever else they sprayed it.

Part 2: Other tips:

6. Always lock the car doors while you're driving with the kids in the back.

7. There is no room to pull off to the side while driving in the HOV lane when someone in the back opens one of the car doors.

8. When a hurricane comes, take down the flag pole.

9. When its time to turn the clocks back, make sure you get the one closest to your bed.

10. Furniture companies may tell you they can give you a 4-hour window for the day they will deliver your furniture so you don't have to be home all day waiting - they just won't tell you WHICH 4 hours until the day before. Bastards.

Daddy Don't Go

So, it was drop-off day yesterday at their mother's house. I was late because we were having so much fun at the morning playgroup at Susana's that I kinda lost track of time. Then I had to drive from Susana's over to their mother's house, of which there is no direct route and I'd never travelled through that part of Boston before. Needless to say, I took a wrong turn and ended up on the back roads through Malden. And wouldn't you know, while I was still trying to figure out how to get back to a main road to figure out where I was, she calls me on my cell phone asking me where I was - and telling me I was late (obviously!).

We finally made it to her house. It was pouring outside (the remnants of Hurricane Noel), and Leo decides he doesn't want to leave the car - he would rather stay with me. Daniel is excited to get out of the car because he sees his Nana's car in the driveway (my ex-mother-in-law). But even with that, Leo wouldn't budge.

So I get Daniel through the rain into the door, then go back to get Leo. He won't leave the car saying he wants to come back home with me. I'm being as positive and supportive as I can be, telling him that his Nana has come to see him and they are going to do all sorts of fun things. Leo still won't go. I finally reached in and picked him up - and carried him through the rain into the house. He wouldn't go up the stairs as he curled up on the floor of the breezeway. His mother called down to him from the second floor landing. Leo said he didn't want to see her, he just wanted to be with his daddy. She asked me to carry him up the stairs, so I did. He fought all the way and was crying. I finally got him to the door and gave him a hug. He held on to me tight and said "Daddy don't go." I told him I had to leave, it was now his time with mommy. He said he didn't want to be with mommy, he wanted to be with me. His mother tried to tell him it would be OK and he would be seeing his daddy in four days. She finally asked me to just hand him over to her which I did. Leo screamed. I told him I loved him and I would see him soon. The last words I heard him say were, again, "Daddy don't go."

Back Door

So, after work I picked the boys up from daycare and we started on our way to go to a restaurant for dinner (it being Friday night and all). The drive from Allston to Hingham is anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, depending on traffic, but with the boys in the car I get to drive in the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane on the Southeast Expressway.

We're just past Boston, had just gotten into the HOV lane, when the light goes on in the car and the inside bell starts dinging. What could that be I thought? I looked down at the display just above the steering wheel and it said that the left rear car door was open! Now I'm travelling at about 55 miles per hour in a long line of cars - and once you're in the HOV lane, there's nowhere to pull over. My next thought? "Oh Shit!"

Leo then asks me what is wrong (he being the one sitting in the rear seat on the left side). I asked him to please not touch the door. I looked in the side rear view mirror and saw that at least his door was still partially latched, so I hit the electronic lock button on my left driver's panel, locking all the doors. The dinging finally stopped but all the inside car lights stayed on. But there was nothing to do but keep driving.

So, we got to the end of the HOV lane about ten minutes later and I was finally able to pull over, get out of the car and close Leo's door. Once back in the driver's seat, I immediately locked all the doors. Won't make that mistake again!