Monday, August 31, 2009

Shocked about a Haircut!

The haircut itself was not shocking but the way it came about was. The Boy generally hates getting haircuts, there is bribery and lots of consoling to be done at haircut time. Usually he would sit in my lap while his hair gets cut and there would be moments of crying, screaming and squirming to get away. Earlier last week he says to me before school, "Dad, I need a haircut because my hair is getting in my eyes. Can we go before school?" If it were open we would have been there right then and there, unfortunately we had to wait until Saturday. Saturday came and we went to go sign him up for beginner hockey program which we are all very excited about and then it was on to get a haircut. I feared he would change his attitude at the last minute because he sometimes does that in a predictable/unpredictable way. I asked, "Should we get a haircut now?" and he answered, "Yes." When we got there he went right up picked out his movie, Sponge Bob for those wondering (I don't like the show for him but in the event of making a haircut go smoothly I didn't argue). Then I asked him if he wanted to sit on my lap or sit by himself and he wanted to sit by himself, I think I was laying on the floor in shock at this point. Now I am getting really nervous waiting for the explosion to come... it never did! He sat still as much as a 4 yr. old can and did a really good job, even around the ears and over the eyes. Maybe next time he can just ride his bike there and do it all by himself, seems like sometimes he just grows up really fast.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Ahhh... Back to School!

I still am not sure who is happier about the Boy going back to preschool. He loves school and it gives me a chance to lose a little bit of the craziness around here. One thing he asked me this morning which was really sweet, "Will you miss me when I am at school?" Of course I'll miss him but I am sure he will not miss me once he gets there and gets with all of his new friends. Now just a couple of more years until the Girl gets to go to preschool.

On some other notes, the Girl can now climb on and off the couch all on her own. Start hiding the remote! She was quite proud today when she got off the couch all by herself without falling. In addition there seems to be nothing she won't eat, today she had some grilled zucchini with her hot dog for lunch. The Boy on the other hand is pretty picky and mostly just doesn't want to try stuff but occasionally he does and likes it, although yesterday he asked when I am done with lunch can I have more carrots so I am not complaining.

Finally, we went to a local park to walk, my son actually jogged a whole trail as the Girl and I tried to keep up in the stroller. Then we went and played on the playground, where I calmly (yes surprisingly calm) had to correct another dad for yelling at the Boy who was just trying to play with his kids. No harm done, just a helicopter parent swooping in. We had a good time all together as evidenced by the picture below:

Sunday, August 16, 2009

The Curious Boy

The Boy is very curious as most 4 year olds are. My wife and I enjoy sitting out on our patio by the fire pit listening to Jimmy Buffet concerts on Sirius/XM radio and having margaritas, the Abyss, or the Key Lime Pie Martini. Well our son sometimes has trouble going to bed, more or less tries to stay up as late as he can. He has his Thomas the Train flashlight, and recently as we sitting outside we notice this light shining upon us, look up to see and out his bedroom window he is shining his flashlight on us. Sometimes it is hard to be upset when you are laughing as I was trying to get him back to bed.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

First Baseball Game

We took the Boy to his first pro baseball game recently. He was very excited about this and I went out and got him a new glove to take with him in the morning which is not the easiest of tasks. The issue is he is left handed, so the selection was small and I was trying not to spend too much on a glove that he will grow out of in a year or two. That afternoon we went out played catch. It was a lot of fun for me and very exciting to play catch with my son for the first time with gloves and all. He did very well, and it was a great moment in my mind although after a while he lost some interest and wanted to do something else which was OK. At the game we had a great experience we saw homeruns, ate cotton candy, and enjoyed a beautiful night out at the ball park. We didn't catch a foul ball but he was ready.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

I have to buy something!

Not me, the Boy. Today at Target he went nuts because I wouldn't buy him a toy. He was trying to push the cart to where he wanted to go and wasn't being a good listener. The conversation went something like this:

Boy: "I need to buy something."
Dad: "Do you have any money?"
Boy: "No!"
Dad: "Then how are you going to buy something?"
Boy: "Well, you could buy something and then give it to me." (with wry smile)
Dad: "Not today."
Boy: (literally explodes)

I picked him up put him in the cart and proceeded to go checkout with him crying and screaming through the store. The interesting thing was being able to tell who had kids and who did not, anyone with kids (even if they were not there) didn't bat an eye towards us and the ones without gave the look of "What did that man do to that poor child?" or "Can't you control your son?" At least it was a nice big store so it didn't sound as loud as opposed to our house and being in a smaller room with him. He cried all the way to the car and halfway home and then realized that I was just not listening anymore. Which brings me to the thought of wishing I could get something fun for myself every time I went to a store like Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Williams Sonoma, etc. Maybe it is time to start learning chores and earning some cash for the little man.