On my dadness

The little Gavster (Gabby Gabs) and I are sitting in bed now. It's the end of the day, and he's tired. So am I. Mom went out to dinner with the neighbors leaving me with the two kids and the two neighbor kids Patrick and Caroline. This was okay for acouple of reasons:

1. It sort of confirms my dadness. Look, I know I'm a dad. I've changed enough diapers, kissed enough bobo's, and read enough good night stories to know that I'm dad-like. But watching four kids felt hardcore. Sure, it was only for an hour, but honestly, part of me dug the idea that I was in charge of 4 kids. It feels like not long ago that I was writing blog posts about just being in awe of being a dad. And now, I'm in charge.

2. It was only for an hour.

3. Quid pro quo. I scratch your back, you scratch mine.

4. Autumn loves the kids. Her kids. I watched Patrick and Caroline, and outside of a few moments where the 2 year old and the almost 5 year old didn't see eye to eye, it was easy. In larger numbers, they are self-entertaining. That doesn't take anything away from my dadness from number one. Because I was in charge. But I was easier than you think.

Anyway, that's it.

dust buster taken apart

dust buster, originally uploaded by brittnybadger.

This is such an elegant Flickr group. Gorgeous photography of an interesting idea.

Celebrities Upside Down Pictures - Strange Celebrities Upside Down Pics

Celebrities Upside Down Pictures - Strange Celebrities Upside Down Pics

This is like a train wreck. You can't stop looking. i love it.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Unbeleivable

This is about politics for just a minute. Something I've rarely talked about. But I can't let this quote pass by without a comment. This is Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice talking about Russia and Georgia:

"But I just want to emphasize again, Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used, that will make it – that – when it wishes to deliver a message, and that’s its military power. That’s not the way to deal in the 21st century. And if Russia wishes to make a different strategic choice, as President Medvedev said, this is a bad way to start."

Didn't the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq happen in the 21st century?

Look, this isn't to ask if the US was right or not to invade these countries. just that it takes some serious knackers to say something like this with a straight face. Of course she knows the US invaded two countries. Maybe she doesn't think the American people are smart enough to make the connection? Or, she simply thinks that the American people don't think what America does counts.

I don't know. Seems crazy to me that people didn't just start laughing when she said it.

blueberry pickin'

we did it again.... and it was great.

Last week we spent a couple hours one morning heading out to the fertile land outside Buffalo and went picking Autumn's favorite fruit- BLUEBERRIES. Mom grabbed a basket, Dad grabbed a basket and even Autumn had a wee basket for berries. In the end, both Mom and Dad's baskets were full (roughly 15 lbs.) and Autumn's belly was full.
Baby Gav slept quite a bit during the proceedings.... but next year we envision more involvement.... and no more bjorn.


"Remember... only eat the blue ones, not the green ones!!!"

Farmer Matt and son. God I love this shot. Where is the pitchfork?

Penguin gets Knighted

Image via Wikipedia

A penguin who was previously made a Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian Army has been knighted at Edinburgh Zoo.Penguin Nils Olav has been an honorary member and mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard since 1972.Over the years, he has been promoted through the ranks after being adopted by Royal Guard who visited the zoo.During the ceremony, Nils had a sword dubbed on each side of his head, where his shoulders should be, to confirm his regimental knighthood.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Military penguin becomes a 'Sir'


This is friggin hilarious. More so because I know lots of Scottish people.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Related articles by Zemanta

• More honours for penguin serving with the Norwegian king's guard
• King Penguin Receives Norwegian Knighthood
• Penguin receives knighthood
• King penguin knighted by Norway

Will Autumn like My Fair Lady?

Yes, the Audrey Hepburn movie about a cockney woman who learns to speak. It's a musical, and that counts for something. Tonight, I'll play it for her. But before that, we encourage you to vote yes or no in comments.

Will autumn like it?

The case for:
She loves musicals. People singing on film gets her attention. Bonus points if they sing in a British accent. Her favorite movies are

Mary Poppins English woman sings many songs. Cute kids also sing. Dick Van Dyke pretends he's English, fails, but sings anyway.

Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang. English people and Dick Van Dyke sing. No one even asked Dick Van Dyke, an Englishman with English kids to pretend he's English in this one. Lots of singing and dancing.

Sound of Music: Set in Austria, people with British accents sings and dance about Austria. Kids and Julie Andrews.

She'll sit through the various scenes in these that involve adults singing and dancing without kids.

The case against:
No kids in this one.
It's all British Accent adults singing and dancing.
Whilst watching "I'm getting married in the morning", the show-stopper song and dance bit from the movie on YouTube, she yelled "No. No." until I turned it off. And while that seems like a no brainer reason to vote against, you should realize she's said no, no to many songs including the legendary Mana-Mana bit, and various songs from the Sound of Music. Her opinion can change.

So cast your vote. We'll let you know later this week how it went.

gratuitous mom shots

no pool? no problem!

Worst. Night. Ever

You don't expect a lot of sleep with a 2.2 year old and a 0.3 year old. In fact, you expect .5 less sleep than before.

But the 0.3 year old is usually to blame. Meet Autumn.

Last night, for whatever reason, she decided to not sleep from about 3:00AM on. Lately, when it's bed time, she says:

"Rub my back"

I have to rub her back for a little bit after stories, then I leave. Sometimes she cries a little, and when I go in an ask what's wrong she responds:

"Nothing"

She waits a beat, then says:

"Rub my back"

This is very new. They apparently rub her back at school for her afternoon nap. And thus, this activity has come home to roost, as they say. Last night, I rubbed her back. Which was a bad idea. Because at around 1:00AM, she woke up again with the same basic request.

Her: "Where's my binky?"
Me: "Right here."
Her: "Oh. Rub my back"

You could see that one coming a mile away. but I told her to close her eyes, go to sleep, and that I would see her in the morning. Unfortunately, I saw her again at 3:00AM. This time, she was really crying and wouldn't take no for answer.

Tired, I did what I thought was right at the time. I took her to our bed. When you're tired, it's hard to think rationally. I just wanted sleep. But as soon as she got in our bed, she realized B. Gavin was in the room, and thus announced that she wanted to "kiss 'im".

Now, you should know that when Autumn kisses B. Gavin, she kind of leans into him throwing her 23 pounds onto him, which is pretty significant for a little 13 pounder. Thus, he starts crying.

Anyway, the night ended with Autumn and Rhona sleeping in the spare bedroom whilst B. Gavin and I slept in the bed. And by slept I mean didn't.

Hence, worst night ever.

Something I would love to hear Obama say

It's from here: It's the response to the monumentally insulting celebrity charge. Anyway, this is what Anonymous Liberal says he should say:

"My opponent has taken to calling me a "celebrity" in all of his commercials. The suggestion, I can only assume, is that all of you (gesturing to the crowd) show up at events like this and donate your time and your money to this campaign because you're all adoring groupies who are obsessed with me. Now, that would certainly be flattering if it were true, but I'm not going to delude myself. The reality is I can't act, I can't sing, and my personal life is incredibly boring.

The truth is that no one would be paying any attention to me at all if I wasn't talking about things that really matter to a lot of people. You're not here tonight--and you're not watching at home--because you want to be entertained. Lord knows there are plenty of things that you could be doing with your time right now that would be far more entertaining than listening to me. No, you're here tonight because you love your country and you're concerned about the direction it's been heading over the last eight years.

You're not here tonight to see what kind of outfit I'm wearing or to hear my latest hit single--and if you are, I think you're probably going to be disappointed. No, you're here because you want change, you want a government that fights for people like you and not on behalf of powerful special interests; you want a government that keeps you safe by pursuing a rationale foreign policy abroad and keeps your family secure by creating jobs, ensuring access to affordable health care, and fighting for energy independence.

That's why you're here. That's why you're volunteering your time at record levels. That's why you're contributing your hard-earned money in record amounts.

So remember, when John McCain and his surrogates call me a "celebrity," they're not insulting me; they're insulting you. They're insinuating that you are a mindless groupie rather than a concerned citizen, a fan rather than a voter.

But it's not going to work. You know why you're here, you know why you're watching, and you're much smarter than they give you credit for."

Gives me the chills.

I miss everyone

The last couple of days in Charlotte were pretty awesome. A couple of good presentations, a couple of great conversations, and yet, for whatever reason, I can't sleep.

Maybe I've forgotten how?

One would think that in a hotel room that has no baby monitor and no baby in it, one would be able to get a decent night's sleep.

One would be wrong.

I think the first problem is that I miss the family. I keep waiting to hear Autumn, or at least the hum of the baby monitor from her room and her occasional sounds. I wake up wondering why I can't hear it.

Let me repeat that: I wake up wondering why I can't hear the little girl that wakes me up. I know, it's weird.

It must also be missing the little guy and Rhona. Normally, he cries, I wake up, hear that my wonderful wife and awesome mom has got it convered, and boom, back to sleep. In the hotel, not so much.

So, it's back to the original point: I miss them. But I'll see them in a couple of hours.

A weekend of firsts

We went to Brampton on the weekend and had some firsts:

1. B. Gavin's first trip to Canada. Felt some Canadian soil, breathed some Canadian air.
2. Autumn went under water. We didn't see it, but we heard about it from Aunt Tracey. Autumn is a courageous little girl, so it's no suprise. But still, she's going under.
3. We rode in a giant Strawberry. Me with a bit if a hangover, her with a big smile. We spun around in a strawberry ride at the carnival. At one point, she looks at me and says, "Daddy, we're in a strawberry". Spinning.
4. She rode a horse.
5. She touched a sheep, lamb, and goat at a petting zoo.

Not a bad weekend of firsts. And we managed to get Lucy, B. Gavster, Autumn and mom and dad in the car with no real problems.

Only, we forgot a camera. Someone took pictures. I'll try to share them.

The poop post

Look. Gavin is 8 weeks old today. Meaning I've gone a long time without talking about poop. But he's 13 lbs. He eats like it's a 100 metre dash (timely summer Olympic metaphor), and thus, he poops.

I can remember when Autumn had a night of pooping. And since this blog records history, you can remember too:

The first sign of trouble was the little grin on her face. She's smiling a lot these days, but this was different. I had her on the changing table, really poopy diaper off her and in my hands when all of a sudden, a stream of poop followed a quick fart. Recall please that I am alone. Rhona is out at a party. Anyway, while the stream went a good foot and a half, things were contained. I threw a cloth over it, re-armed myself with a diaper, and went back in. That's when I caught another little grin. Another quick fart, and, another stream of poop. This one with a much better arc than the first. Which was good, because I caught most of it with the diaper in my hand.

So, my daughter is lying on the changing table beside the first dirty diaper. Her feet are on a burp cloth that's covering the first pile of poop from the second explosion. In my left hand, is a poopy diaper that I just caught her third projectile poop. Things seemed under control. I tossed the diaper, grabbed her legs and watched in amazement as another stream of poop came shooting out of her butt. At this point, you could tell she was tired. This one shot meekly, which sounds okay until you realize that it most of it ended up on her back.

At this point, even the dog left the room.

That was on August 27, 2006. A little over the two month stage.

You should now know that almost every poop with Gavin ends up needing a uni-change. They aren't poops as much as small nuclear-like explosions that occur daily. Because he poops daily, and massively.

I remember back a few weeks when the wee-man was smaller. When we first brought him home, his poops were dainty little things. We changed the diaper every 3 hours, and on we went. And then changing Autumn's diaper seemed so drastic in comparison.

Things have changed. Autumn still has the kind of poop that has us wondering to 'our gosh', but Gavin can go like Autumn rarely did. And we're on edge. If he doesn't manage a poop one day, we know the next day that the clock is ticking down towards event-horizon.

Anyway. That's the poop story for a Friday. This is our life.