Daddy Daughter Days

I won't complain about work because I could obviously have it so much worse than I do right now.  I have plenty of time to spend with my family.  I have an okay schedule that allows for down time in the middle of the week to spend a day with my daughters.  I'm not nearly as stressed as I was in my previous job.  All in all it's great.

There are times however where it can lead to a little extra stress.

This Daddy Daughter Day was interrupted about halfway through, so I could go into work because a customer needed me to come in.  I'm all for being available to help.  Instead of spending the morning playing and enjoying time with the girls, I had to get the house cleaned up, so I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone had to come over.  Instead of going to the park, I had to get ready to go into work.  And instead of relaxing during their nap time, I was in doing work.

Again I can't complain because I actually have a job that I enjoy.  I just hate when my day with my daughters doesn't go according to schedule.

With all that being said there are still some pictures of our day.

The day started the night before when we went on a walk with the girls and Molly the dog.  Grace went potty right when we were about to leave, so Ana and I had some fun outside with the dog while we were waiting.  Ana kept saying "Bye" and walking away with Molly.

Every morning the girls come to me and say "Elmo."  They have conditioned me to do a call from Elmo on my phone first thing in the morning.  By the way, the Elmo Calls app is pretty cool if you have a kid that is obsessed with Elmo.

Morning Giants Game + Morning Snuggle = Morning Giant Snuggle

Normally you can't pry this necklace away from Grace.  You can kind of see her in the background.  Most likely about to grab it away from Ana.

What's the deal with women having to go to the bathroom with all their friends?

There is a frog on the water table.  We name him Frederick.  At one point Frederick jumped onto Grace's hand, and she didn't react at all.  Then he jumped onto Ana's shoulder who totally freaked for a half-second.  Then he hopped away.

Ana has learned the importance of accessorizing.  Dada's belt probably doesn't work with that outfit, kiddo.

We went to a park with a lot of great slides.  Ana was having fun.  Grace was too until she hurt her leg going down a slide with me and Ana.  She twisted her leg on the way down and hasn't wanted to stand on it since.  We iced it and gave her infant Ibuprofen.  This morning she still didnt want to stand on it and kept saying "Hurt" in her little voice.  We took her to the doctor, and he didn't see a major break or fracture.  Thank God for that.  But I feel terrible about it.  I didn't want her to get hurt.  I just want my angel to get better.

And a video.  Yeah maybe I should be teaching my girls to say things that will be more useful in real life.  But we're Giants fans damnit.

Every one have a wonderful and safe weekend.  We'll see you next week after our mini-vacation.

Daddy Daughter Days

So yesterday it was hot.  Like Hansel hot.  Like unbearable and horrible heat that makes you thankful that we've evolved to the point of inventing central air.  Thank you guy who invented air conditioning.  You are a true visionary.

Need proof?

Yeah 110 degrees.  That shit is unacceptable.  And as much as I love me some AC, I hate the bill that it creates.  So basically I have to be okay with it being 80 in our house.  That isn't all that comfortable, and the AC still works all day long to keep it there.  Once again cementing my hatred of almost all things summer.  Stupid season.  We should just get rid of it.

Combine that heat with a large fire that has given the surrounding areas a smoky haze for the last day and a half, and it makes me a happy summer camper.  Needless to say our day was filled with indoor activities to beat the heat and smoke.

Grace was awake and ready to go as soon as the light broke.  They are just so beautiful in the early morning.  Grace almost always wakes up before Ana which inevitably leads to Grace repeating "Sissy, nigh-nigh" and my heart exploding with love.

Just sitting on the potty and reading a book.  No big deal.  Oh and there is another post all about the potty coming.  Just you wait.

Grace also likes to take her animals and put her blanket (Zeebs for the uninitiated) on top and says "Nigh-nigh" to them.

 

 

Ana likes to play with the bigger kids.

Getting ready for Mother Goose on the Loose.  Or as Ana likes to call it "GOOSE!"

We get special hand stamps after every Mother Goose.  Today we had fishies.  Which led to Grace and Ana pointing at their hands to exclaim "Fishy."

The girls have this thing where they take every shoe out of this basket, run across the room with them, put them all in a big pile and carry them back to throw back into the basket.  All the while they say "Helping."  I'm not quite sure how this helps but I appreciate that they like the idea of helping.

Ana has been saying "Bye-Bye" for quite some time.  Yesterday she was pulling this cart behind her and running around the house.  Everytime she passed by me she said "Bye-bye. See ya."  I don't really know where she picked up on it.  I think I say "See ya later" sometimes, but I didn't think it was often enough for her to catch on to it.  Needless to say this stage where they say grown up things with their little voices is so much fun.

That's all for this week.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Stay cool and hydrated out there.

Daddy Daughter Days

Daddy Daughter Day from last week got rescheduled at the last second.  I had to go into work because I changed my schedule around, so this left me with no pictures or time with my girls.

It really leaves a void in my week when this happens.  I look so forward to spending one on one time with them (or one on two time more accurately).  There are times when all I do is sit in the chair and watch them interact with each other.  That usually devolves in getting on the floor and playing with them and wrestling.

But I was back off and playing with them yesterday.  Enjoy.

Here the girls are enjoying their oatmeal. They like to look at each other when they eat.

We went to Mother Goose again.  Ana was saying "GOOSE!" when we got there.  Needless to say they were very excited.  They were also very tired when we got back home after all the dancing and singing.  So we ate lunch early and took early naps.  Nap time used to be Walking Dead time.  During the summer it is Futurama time.

Grace wanted to brush her own hair after her nap.  It's obviously awesome.

Seriously this kid makes my heart explode

I wanted a nice little picture with me and the girls, and Grace decided I needed her baba.  She's such a giver.

Erin got off a little early.  This was the text that she sent me.  We decided to do something impromptu like...

Going to Folsom Lake with the girls.  Grace loves the water.  She ran right into it.  Ana on the other hand wanted nothing to do with it.  She just kept saying "Hold You" whenever we got close to the water.  There was much sand in diapers and Grace had a mini-meltdown when we had to leave, but it was a great way to end the day.

Ana also was running a fever all evening.  She woke up in the middle of the night and Erin brought her to bed with us.  She wasn't acting sick.  Just a little lethargic.  There was a point where she was crying because of the discomfort and only wanted to be held by me.  I didn't know I missed the feeling of rocking them to sleep until I got to do it again.  As Erin said "This is why people have more babies."

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Daddy Daughter Days

Welcome back for another day in the life of a single dad for a day.

It started like every Thursday does with us spending some quality time as a family in the big bed.  Ana was obsessed with her mom's phone this particular morning.  The case later broke into a million pieces.  Erin tried to pin it on Ana, but I'm going with the fact that Erin is a klutz that constantly drops her phone (including leaving it on the hood of her car and driving off with it earlier this week).

One of Ana's favorite new words is "Monkey."  She says it all the time now.  We just so happen to have a book called Monkey See, Monkey Do that is filled with monkey pictures.  This is her reading it, pointing at the pictures and saying "Monkey."

For no particular reason the girls decided to chase each other around the table.  The also made sure to keep their hands on the leather part the entire way around it.  Funny kids.

Grace has always had her own individual style.  When I told them we were going to put their shoes on so we could go to visit their Grandma, Grace grabbed her mom's sandal and put it on as a bracelet.

No pictures of our trip to Elk Grove.  But we saw our Grandma and Pop Pop and Uncle and Aunt and Cousin.  It was actually quite the impromptu gathering.  We went to Mexican food (Plaza Del Sol which has the best carnitas quesadilla ever in case you were wondering).  The other patrons of the restaurant loved our girls and it was a good time.  It may have even made going to Elk Grove worth it.

Grace likes to share (as long as it isn't with her sister).  Drink up Elmo.  You look parched.

On our way to the park to get some wiggles out.  Ana rockin' the Blue Steel.  Grace being too cool for school.  This is life.

Seriously I want to know when they got so big.  This had to have been overnight because I'm pretty sure I would have remembered when this happened.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Pretty In Pink

I always thought I wasn't fond of girly stuff like pink outfits, flowers and princesses.

It's funny how your own kids change your perspective on stuff like that.

Don't get me wrong I still hate princesses.  I've made that very clear.  But I've grown to appreciate the girly things that have become commonplace in my life.  Our house is filled with flowers and butterflies and bows and other assorted stuff.

Before you get all "Those are gender stereotypes that you're perpetrating!  Watch it." I get that boys can wear pink and play with flowers and crap.  But those are still girly things.  You show me a boy in a flowery dress with a bow in his hair, I'll show you parents that are just trying to prove a point.  We get it.  You're so much better than us because you view your kid as a person and not a boy or girl.  Hooray you!  Now go back to your commune and make sure you don't trip on your Birkenstocks.

Case in point, I never really feel anything for tutus.  They were pink and frilly and just there.  That was until yesterday when Grace walked into our bedroom holding a pink tutu that she pulled from the closet.  She wanted to wear it, so we put it on her.  The smile that stretched across her face was like the sunrise lighting up the entire room.  Ana didn't want to be left out, so she ran into the other room to grab her own tutu and shouted "TUTU."  We put hers on and they both started dancing.

After I died and was brought back to life, I took a few pictures.  If you're an anti-pink guy like myself, it is moments like this that will change your mind.

Oops I just died again.

Daddy Daughter Days

So I have a not-so-dirty secret.  In fact it's a not-so-secret secret.

I don't take a lot of pictures of my kids.

I know that this isn't common practice for people in the blog world.  In fact most bloggers consider themselves semi-professional photographers.  I'm just not that guy.  I don't consider contrast or framing when it comes to taking a picture.  I don't consider much of anything.

In fact I rarely think to whip out my phone and take pictures.  When I have a day off with my girls, my priority is spending time with them and interacting with them.  And I don't do it through a lens.  I'm not saying that people who spend all their time with their kids setting up photos are bad.

Actually yes I am.  Every interaction with your child shouldn't be through a camera.  I'm all for adorable pictures.  In fact about 99% of the pictures on my Instagram are my girls.  I get it.  My first instinct just has never been "Where's my camera so I can document this?"  I think about talking to them and playing with them without a camera in their face.  With how image-conscious we are and the emphasis that has been placed on looks in our society, it's probably for the best.
This of course is a roundabout way of explaining why I didn't post this last week.  I've got some photos for you this week though.  Enjoy.

My day really started the night before.  Erin went out with Kim to enjoy their last burger from The Counter before it closes down this week.  So I was left alone with the girls that evening.  Ana was enjoying her bath time.  Grace was anti-paparazzi.

We went to Target for a few items.  We always seem to find something there that we weren't looking for to distract us.  Are these not the cutest tissue boxes ever?

We purchased new pads for our patio furniture last week in the lead-up to Mother's Day.  When we were at Target we also saw a throw pillow that was a perfect match for the pads.  Unfortunately there was only one, so that was all we bought.  Since I was at Target, I figured I'd stop by the patio section and see if they had any more.  They did.  I bought three more.  I made my wife happy.  Sometimes it's just the little things.

Another great thing about Thursdays with my girls is the Giants usually have an afternoon game scheduled, so the girls and I usually catch the first inning together before nap time.  Here Ana and Grace are showing their team pride by taking off my hat and putting it on themselves.  Grace was also clapping when she saw fans doing it on the television.  I immediately died.

Grace doing her best Banksy impersonation.  She is such a cutting-edge street artist and so underappreciated in her own time.

When Erin got home, we went on a family walk to the park.  The girls love the playground.  Here Grace is going back and forth through the tube.  Ana was doing the same, but she was much more elusive.

Oh if the pictures weren't enough, I also have videos!

Ana just dancing away.  My favorite part is when Grace is laughing at her.  Probably because she knows she has better moves than her sister.

Grace is so fearless.  Ana has to be coaxed and then essentially pushed down the slide.  Grace just does it without hesitation.

That's all from our Daddy Daughter Day adventure this week.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Daddy Daughter Days

Not a lot of commentary for my day with the girls this week.

But I will start with a story about the girls going to Mother Goose on the Loose.  I don't take a lot of pictures when we go to story time at the library.  It really isn't the time for it.  It is more about interacting with your kids and enjoying the nursery rhymes and stories together.  So I don't even take my iPhone out of my pocket when I go.

The people that run it are fantastic and really make it a point to encourage the children to move around and have fun.

At one point Ana walked to another part of the room with the jingle bell that we were using for our nursery rhymes.  Apparently she got too close to another ladies kid with it, so the lady was grabbing my Ana's arm and reprimanding her.

Not cool.  She is only 18 months old.  Also you don't put your hands on another person's kid.  Nothing she was doing would harm your 3-year-old.

So I went over, picked Ana up and put her back in my lap.  I didn't want to make it an issue, but I wasn't very happy about it.  Chill out lady.  Part of this time is to not only enjoy stories and being active but also about interacting with other kids.  If your kid can't handle a 18-month-old toddler invading his personal space, then you really need to reconsider why you're coming to an activity full of toddlers.

Anyways on to the cute pictures that you came here for.

I don't understand the fascination with the dog dish.  Ana can't help herself and has to play with the water and grab the food.  Gotta keep your head on a swivel when the dog is visiting.

I love her so much.  There really isn't anything more to say than that.

Grace loves the self portrait.  You'll notice Ana's hand coming into to frame.  She is once again trying to photobomb her sister's picture.

Grace is such a diva.  Not really.  But she does love to where her sunglasses.  At one point she even put them on top of her head like dad does.  So stylish.

The one on the left is not so good with a spoon.  The one on the right is excellent with a spoon.  This leads to one messy kid and one not so messy kid.

I've written before about the girls love of Yo Gabba Gabba.  There is one song in particular that gets a lot of play.  It's the Hold Still song.  Anyone familiar with Yo Gabba Gabba knows that song is all about getting your wiggles out.  Grace wiggles and shakes her head so much that she oftentimes ends up on the ground.  It always brings a smile to my face.

Ana started the day with her dog dish fascination and ended the day on the dog bed with Molly.  Which makes for an adorable moment...if you're okay with your kid being covered in dog hair.

That's all for this week.  Have a great weekend.

Picture Perfect

I promised like two different times over the last couple of weeks to post pictures of the girls.

This obviously hasn't happened.

And I'm going to blame it all on my wife (which I'm sure will go over well).

She takes all sorts of pictures of the girls with her fancy-pants camera that I bought for her a few Christmases ago.  They are of a higher quality than what you get on a camera phone.  Not only that but she is always at the ready with her camera whereas I'm not always prepared for pictures.  Holding my phone to snap a pic of them would take one of my hands out of play to catch them or grab them in case they get themselves in a precarious position.

Now this wouldn't be a problem if I had access to every picture she took.

What normally ends up happening is the pictures remain on her camera for an extended period of time, and I'll get so far from an event that it would be useless to post them here.  This stems from the fact that memory cards with huge amounts of storage are inexpensive, and thousands of pictures can remain on the camera for months without needing to be transferred.

The other problem is she puts all the pictures on her work computer which I don't use.  I use the house computer to write and access pictures.  This is the same reason my facebook page rarely gets picture updates.

In response to this, she will say that everything goes on an external hard drive for back up, and I can just access the pictures there.  Okay, I'll give you that one.  But that's also a pain in the ass because the hard drive isn't in the office.  It's next to her normal spot on the couch (read: a place I never sit), so to access it I'd have to either sit on her lap or push her aside from her spot.  Or I could reach over her and the couch to unplug it and put it somewhere else.  Like I said pain in the ass.

I'd promise that you'd see more pictures of the girls, but I'd only end up dropping the ball.  So I'll say that you'll get nothing and like it, so that way when pictures get posted you'll be pleasantly surprised.  With that being said (or more accurately "written"), look out for an actual Daddy Daughter Day post tomorrow.

Twitter Machine Tuesday

I'm not going to waste any time with my standard intro that's not fit to print in 140 characters.  Normally I'd regale you with tales of my life and girls, but there is no need.  Sometimes you just have to get right into the Twitter Machine, so without further ado...

-We don't have tickets for opening day of The Hunger Games. #fail #parents
-I'll gladly pay a babysitter for us to go see it. Maybe a date night or something for the wife and me.
-Apparently it's great. Or at least really well-reviewed
-Lenny Kravitz is in the movie but not on the soundtrack #freakyfriday
-The guy from Invisible Children getting naked and masturbating in public is pretty disturbing
-You'd think that seeing all the atrocities would have helped him handle people hating on him online.
-Buster Posey and I have some things in common #toyota #twins. We should playdate.
-The kids can come along too.
-Came home to Erin watching Dancing with the Stars last night. Rooting for Urkel #obviously
-The iPad just seems so useless to me. How necessary could it be with an iPhone and laptop?
-People actually said they were buying iPads simply because it was the last thing Steve Jobs had a hand in #sycophantic
-Mad Men is back on Sunday. Don Draper is my favorite tv character not named Homer Simpson.
-Peyton Manning went from one horse team to another. Wish the Niners got him.
-What to do with Tebow? I say trade him for an atheist and see what happens.
-This may actually have been a roundabout way to get Tebow back in the media.
-Prometheus looks to be awesome sauce with extra bananas
-I always heard stories of people getting back great tax returns, but I've never been the beneficiary. #untilnow
-I kind of want that Hunger Games soundtrack. I'm a sucker for Arcade Fire and Taylor Swift
-I'm not ashamed of that last fake tweet
-Why must we put everything in a bracket during March? It's so damn played out.
-I'd like to be cool and hip enough for SXSW, but I'm just too much of a nerd
-I'm a whole two weeks behind The Walking Dead. I feel empty inside.
-I'm caught up on Justified though. I love these friggin shows.
-Can someone please tell me how Jessica Simpson and Nicole Ritchie are fashion icons?
-Ana will now give a kiss when you ask her to. She even makes a kiss noise. #heartmelty
-Erin didn't believe it until she asked for a good night kiss. She offered to keep her up all night and reward her with chocolate.
-I also asked Grace how many is one and she held up her pointer finger.
-You say that you won't be that parent that gets proud over little stuff that any kid can do until your kid does it.

That's all for this week.  I'll be fake tweeting away this time next week.  Actually I'll try to do it a little earlier next time.

Twitter Machine Tuesday

Don't have much to say in the lead up to this week's Twitter Machine.  Erin had a great birthday and a fantastic party over the weekend.  My girls keep doing weird, hilariously cute things.  The Oscars and NBA All Stars happened.  I drank lots but not so much that I was sick the following day.  It was a great week.

Enjoy the machine!

-Didn’t watch the Oscars. Heard Billy Crystal did blackface #classy #topical

-Erin wants to watch the recording just to see Meryl Streeps acceptance speech. It can’t be that great.

-I just want to see the disappointment on Clooney’s face when he didn’t win #schadenfreude

-Didn’t really watch the NBA All-Star Game either

-Apparently something called a Pitbull performed at half time

-Chris Brown added some punch to the performance

-The Dunk Contest had more staging and costume changes than a Broadway musical

-If I wanted to see a bunch of props, I’d watch a Carrot Top set and then kill myself for wanting to watch a Carrot Top set

-Ana likes to turn on toys that make music and then just dances. Sweeter than a bowl of Lucky Charms and maple syrup.

-I cannot get enough of We Are Young by Fun. It’s going to be tough to top it for my song of the year.

-I love the Razzies. As a person who loves to hate sucky things, it’s the perfect awards for me.

-Leap Dave Williams is a movie that actually needs to be made #30rock

-When you think about it, Leap Day is utterly ridiculous. We play catch up every 4 years. #stupidcalendars

-If you don’t use credit in over 15 years, don’t expect to be handed a loan. #useitorloseit

-When you tell Ana to give the doggy a kiss, she tries to lick the dog’s head. I’d stop her, but too busy laughing.

-Grace’s dog-like tendency: Sticking out her tongue and panting like the dog does #seriouslythesekids

-Tis the season for Easter candy! Cadbury and Reese’s eggs own all candies!

-Erin’s wig birthday party was awesome. Everyone really embraced wigging out.

-Got to hang out with Kim at the party. Pretty much the most famous person I know.

-That’s sadly accurate, and I’m totally okay with it.

-Also got to meet Kim’s husband Todd for the first time. He is a blast and a half.

-We played beer pong and flip cup. It was the first time Kim had ever played either, and you could hardly tell. #sarcasm

-Still haven’t purchased presale tickets to The Hunger Games. I've not-so-subtly reminded Erin about 27 times.

-Grace also goes “Ah” after drinking something if you do it in front of her

-It makes me feel bad about cursing in front of them because they’re definitely going to copy that too

-Not bad enough that I've stopped doing it #shit

-Wanting so badly to see Snow Patrol and Ed Sheeran in May. Stupid responsibilities.

I'm off to plan my Leap Day party and my viewing schedule for Leap Dave Williams on USA (Characters Welcome).  Hope you all have a wonderful start to March.

The Grace on the Couch Series

As a bonus I'd like to present my collection of photos of Grace on the couch.  She loves being on the couch.  She is still figuring out how to get herself up there, but she sure loves it when you help her out.  These are some extras from Daddy Daughter Day.

Enjoy!

I love her!