From Two Pink Lines to Two Years Old!

I know that most people look back at blocks of their lives and try to make sense out of the things that happened to them.  It would be SO easy to start this off with "I didn't know what love was until two years ago", or "two years ago my life became complete".  That's what you are supposed to think about your first child right? You are supposed to be in awe of the miracle of life and never doubt that having a child was the best decision of your life. You are supposed to have sunshine and roses shooting out of your ass every day.  Or so Oprah and Dr. Phil would have you believe.

When I think about the past two years and all it involved.... I am surprised all three of us survived it!

Seriously, who does this to themselves?  Sleepless nights, frustration, tears, crying for Mommy or Daddy, stubbornness, throwing her food; I mean when is Emilee gonna stop this nonsense?

Okay, back to the gentle meanderings of Rob's mind........

The past two years have taught me a few of things:

1. Never place your hand IN the diaper to check its cleanliness.
2. Just because she loved this meal yesterday does not mean that she will enjoy it today, or ever again for that matter.
3. A good dog is better than a vacuum.
4. Em & I  are as addicted to the pacifier as Gracie is.
5. Making the kid laugh can totally change your whole attitude on life.

I have also figured out that my life did not end on 3/1/10.  This is an important fact to state because as excited as I was on that day, I was pretty sure life as I knew it had ended.  I was very relieved to figure out that after the first 12 weeks we were pretty much in a groove.  We figured out how to do some of the things we loved to do and even have time to ourselves.  If only she stayed 3 months old forever!  Getting a two year old to agree to your plans is not always as easy! But watching what happens is fun! 

 She has learned how to talk to some degree and trying to figure out what see wants is often a challenge.  For example, she says something that sounds like the word cracker. So as a dutiful father I get up go over to the pantry and hand her a cracker, and she shakes her head and says "No Daddy...Cracker". So I look at what she is pointing at and give her a cookie. She shakes her head and says "No Daddy...Cracker". We play this game with potato chips, pop tarts, bread, nutri-grain bars, and a popped bag of popcorn; she is having none of it. So I finally pick her up and lift her to the shelf she is pointing at.  Gracie reaches over and grabs the bag of dog treats, takes one out of the bag, and throws it at the dog and yells "Goggie....Cracker!"  But do you think this is what she wants the next time she asks for a cracker?

We also manged to end up with a Grandmother named House. Emilee's Mom, Edna, came up with the name Edie (E-DEE) for her Grandmotherly nickname. So every time we go to Edie's we ask Gracie if she wants to go to Edie's House.  This apparently caused some confusion for Gracie and we now have House instead of Edie.  Much like I had an Uncle Butch whose name was actually Fritz.  Good to know early childhood confusion is genetic.





Keep Smiling and Enjoy the pics!

Rob