Raising Daddy

• 29Nov

  No More TOYS!

  1 Year to 18 Months No Comments

  After Lainey had her first birthday party a few weeks ago, I began feeling smothered. The kid is lucky enough to be blessed with numerous friends and tons of loving family who want to shower her with gifts and in a short time, I find we are living in a scale model of a Chuck E Cheese playhouse. My living room reminds me of the scattered toy aisles at a Walmart.

  Before the first birthday bash we had a pretty handsome assortment of toys, but after this party we now officially give Toys R Us a run for their money. In our possession as of now are 32 baby books, 17 stuffed animals, five baby dolls, three elmos and a single cookie monster to keep them company, three whirling and buzzing baby walker thingamajigs, two inflatable baby walker thingamabobs, two whistles, a drum and a set of drum sticks, a set of sound emitting kitchen magnets and easily three dozen other random assorted goodies that Lainey can slam, throw, chew on and scatter all around the house.

  Today was the last straw. Last week we came down with Strep Throat and I have basically been quarantined in the house for a week strait. I can’t take the clutter and mess of a gazillion baby clinkity clanks littering the house any longer.

  So I crawled up to the attic and dug out an empty plastic container, labeled it BABY CRAP appropriately and began stuffing it full of toys. I also lugged the three whirling and buzzing baby walker thingamajigs upstairs too. Lainey is walking on her own now, I think we can spare my sanity and put these things away.

  And now comes Christmas. More toys. Yay…

  But what is the point of all this excess? Lainey already has so much and I am really growing tired of all the junk. I am running out of room in the attic for all the baby stuff I continually accumulate too.Its time to make a change.

  So I have decided to be a little proactive this holiday season. In lieu of excessive gift giving this year, I am setting up a 529 College Savings plan for Lainey. These plans are great. They basically work as a targeted index fund, automatically scaling back the fund’s exposure to the market as Lainey’s target date for entering college approaches with the added bonus of being tax sheltered.

  At the rate college tuition continues to rise year after year, it might be an opportunity only the mega rich or heavily indebted get to enjoy by the time Lainey is grown. Lets give her a head start and maybe teach her some good saving habits as she gets older too.

  If any of you care to contribute, get with Sara or I and I’ll get you the info. And please take the hint, no more baby toys! They are only inevitably going to end up in a daft attic in some sealed off container labeled BABY JUNK!

• 17Nov

  Lainey turns one.

  1 Year to 18 Months No Comments

  Wow, Lainey is now a year old. She is standing up and walking, babbling and destroying everything in her path. It is hard to fathom that only twelve months ago, I could hold her in the palm of my hand, her little butt fitting perfectly there almost like it was engineered to do so.

  Lainey is sprouting into a feisty little fireball. “No” is currently the most repeated word in the house. Nearly every waking moment of the day her little fingers are darting towards light sockets and Xbox On/Off switches and her miniature palms are constantly smacking on keyboard, remote controls and anything else with a button. All Sara and I do anymore is follow the kid around picking up her messes and pulling her away from things she shouldn’t be in.

  Lainey almost reminds me of a little pup who doesn’t realize she’s isn’t a big dog. She never hesitates to turn around and look me dead in the face as I scold her and bark back, “Oh, Oh” in her own little attempt at saying “no” back to me.

  Last week we held her first birthday party. She was fearless, trotting around with all the bigger kids, grabbing at the little circles of pepperoni on their slices of pizza and attempting to steal sips of their sodas and cool-aid. The little pup definitely thought she was a big dog that night.

  Earlier tonight we laid in the bed together and I watched her grab the remote control yet again. I was just about to steal it away before she had a chance to toss it off the bed or smash it against the wall, only this time she held it up, pointed it at the TV and shook it. And over the weekend I watched her grab one of my Wii-motes, hold it up to her ear and pretend to have a conversation!

  She really is just a little pup who thinks she’s a big dog. Copying everything we do, taking in everything she hears and sees and trying to play it back to us.

  This weekend I’m going to make her watch me fold laundry for an entire day strait. Think she’ll learn to copy that behavior?

• 08Nov

  Vacuum Cleaner

  6 to 12 Months No Comments

  Life has been crazy lately.  At work they fired my boss and the person directly under me and I got to inherit both their work loads, I started grad school and suddenly Lainey has become insanely mobile.  The kid is literally in everything all the time.  All these new changes make for all work and little play.  It seems like I have a hard time finding a moment to do anything not work, school or baby related these days (as you might gather from the utter lack of blog posts on the site.)

  But, no matter how tough or busy life gets, you can never forget to enjoy the little things… like Lainey sticking her tongue in the end of a vacuum hose.