Appeteezers

There’s a clip from Happy Feet that Troy loves watching. It features Mumbles, Lovelace, and the Mexican penguins on a buoy in the ocean. Lovelace had managed to get a plastic soda can holder wrapped around his neck, and the penguins are trying to figure out how to free him.

All of a sudden, something starts swimming towards them and bumping the other buoys on the way. One of the Mexican penguins informs the group of the impending “guest,” and another one tells him to tell whatever it is that “we come in peace.” The response to this declaration is a huge killer whale sliding out of the water and standing completely vertical, “hovering” by the buoy.

One of the Mexican penguins says, “Thas not gooood, thas not gooood.” At which time a second killer whale come out of the water on the other side of the buoy. Both killer whales begin to circle the buoy, occasionally bumping it, trying to get the penguins to make a swim for it. One of the Mexican penguins asks what they’re doing, and another answers, “I think they’re trying to make us appeteezers. They’re appeteezing us.”

Now, when Troy sees a whale or hears someone say, “That’s not good,” he says, “Thas not gooood. Thas not gooood. Appeteezers! Appeteezers!” It’s adorable. It doesn’t always fit the situation, but it always makes us laugh.

Spider-Mans!

We passed through a strip mall today, and one of the clothing stores had several gray, faceless mannequins in the front window. When Troy saw them, he said, “Look at the Spider-Mans!” I guess the lack of facial features reminded him of the Spider-Man mask, which only emphasizes the superhero’s eyes.

Pappous

We find ourselves in a house of sadness today. My wife’s father passed away last night. When my brother-in-law called to give my wife the news this morning, she burst into tears. It’s not so much that it was unexpected, it’s just we didn’t know exactly when it would happen. And even if you expect it, it's still your father.

Troy was worried about my wife, seeing her crying uncontrollably, but not really understanding. He kept asking her if she was okay and asking me why mama was crying. How do explain to a two-year old that his grandfather is gone and isn’t coming back? How do you tell him that he’ll never really get to know him personally, only through other people’s memories? I lost my grandfather when I was about five or six. I have a few memories of my own, but not many. It definitely wasn’t enough time to get to know him. And I’m sad that Troy will have the same experience now.

My wife was able to travel to Greece last week to spend at least a couple of days with her father. She left on Thursday, and he passed away the next day. It’s like he waited to spend time with her, and then he was ready.

I’m glad she got that time with him to say goodbye and get closer. I remember when my stepfather passed away, I was stuck at the St. Louis airport waiting to catch a flight back to Texas. My mother called to tell me not to rush, because it was too late. I got to be there with my mother and brother, but I never truly got to say goodbye. At least she got closure, and now she can focus on healing and remembering the good times.

Toenail Polish

I learned a profound difference between little girls and little boys today.  Whereas, little girls will paint their fathers toenails in fingernail polish, little boys will cover their fathers legs in Spider-Man stickers.  Troy decided to decorate my legs with every sticker he owned, sorting them by "good guys" on one leg and "bad guys" on the other.  I played along and didn't think anything of it, until it was time to remove them.  Ripping them off was like having 30 Band-Aids ripped off all at once.  My legs were so raw and sensitive that a breeze blowing across my legs made me wince.  I'm starting to think that painted toenails would have been a better way to go.

The Burger

Tonight, Troy came walking up to me while I was folding laundry, held out his little hand, and said, "Burger."  I opened my hand to accept whatever offering he was sharing, and he dropped something on my palm.  As I inspected it closer, I realized that it was most definitely NOT a burger!  It was a booger, which was now laying gross and wet on my hand.  I have got to correct this situation immediately, or he's never going to want to eat a hamburger when I offer it.

Boy's Week

My wife flew to Greece today to visit with her father.  For various reasons, Troy and I didn't go with her, so we're at home doing a "boy's week."  I was a little apprehensive, not sure how he'd react to his mother not being around.  He's become so attached and dependent on her that I imagined that it wouldn't take him long to wander around the house calling for her.  But we had an amazing time tonight.

After I picked him up, we went upstairs and played with his toys and read his books.  He seemed to enjoy the departure, because we normally only go upstairs and play on the weekends.  Then, I fixed him roast, rice, and carrots for dinner; and we watched Wish Dragon, a new movie released on Netflix.  I tried to keep dinnertime unstressful, low-key, and fun.  I rubbed his back, kissed his head, and put my arm around him.  He laid his greasy, rice-covered hand on my arm; and he ate and watched the movie.  It took him an hour and a half to finish, but at least he ate...and actually asked for seconds!

When we went to bed, Troy didn't fight me, he just walked into the room and said, "Big bed?"  I said, "Sure, you can sleep in the big bed with me."  I got him settled on his 60% of the bed, and as we lay there in the stillness, the light from a full moon shining through the window, Troy reached his hand out and put it softly on my arm.  Then, I heard him whisper, "Hey, Dada."  I whispered back, "Hey, Baby."  And that's how we fell asleep with his little hand resting on my arm.

Emotional Hugs

Troy’s been getting very emotional lately, which usually ends in tears and a runny nose. Mostly it happens when he’s dissatisfied with our food offerings, but it can happen if he’s not getting to watch what he wants on TV. My previous reaction was to try to talk him off the ledge and understand what’s causing the issue. I’ve tried being calm, but when he gets to that explosion point, I realized that there’s no reasoning with him. You have to calm him down first. So, I’ve started just giving him hugs and rubbing his back. It seems to be working. I fully expected him to push me away, but instead he latches on to me and cries it out. But eventually he starts to calm down, and then we can address the issue. Despite the circumstances, I love these little emotional hugs. I feel incredibly close to my son.

Ridge Hand Strike

Troy and I were watching the live action version of Mulan today. Well, I was watching, and Troy was frantically twirling and jumping around the room, waving his arms and kicking his legs, acting like he was one of the martial artists on the screen. This wouldn’t have been so bad except that every once in a while he decided to direct his attacks at me. So, I found myself throwing up my arms to ward off the blows, as he pummeled me with vicious strikes.

At one point, he was standing on the couch next to me, and out of nowhere he threw a perfect ridge hand strike to my face, catching me completely off guard and busting my lip in the process. His technique was flawless, I just wish it hadn’t been to my mouth! In his defense, he did immediately get concerned and check on me as I screamed in pain.

I am definitely considering signing him up for martial arts training, to teach him self defense and self control. Maybe in a few years, though. I’m not sure I’m ready for him to learn any more dangerous moves to pull out on me.

Splash Date

Today, CC and Declan came over to have a play date.  I had set up some sprinklers in the backyard for the kids to run through.  They have been doing this at Troy's daycare on Fridays, but this was new to Declan.  Troy loved it.  He was running around and through it, splashing the water and laughing.  Declan was basically standing off to the side watching, but not wanting to get wet.  Finally, CC went and coaxed him into the water, but Declan still wasn't overly convinced, especially when he got squirted in the face the first time.  It was interesting to see the vast difference between our two sons.

Laundry Day

I was going to do laundry today, so I got the wicker clothes basket from our closet and and went around the house grabbing all of the dirty clothes. I set the full basket near the laundry room and went to start the first load. All of a sudden, I hear this consistent "wooshing" sound, as if something was being dragged slowly across the floor. When I came out of the laundry room, I found that Troy had dragged his own wicker laundry basket from the bedroom and placed it next to mine. 

I guess if dada can do it, so can he! Although, I noticed that he didn't stick around to help me with the laundry, just dropped off his "clothes" and vanished. He's acting like a teenager already.

In-Sync

I was watching a music video on YouTube and holding Troy in my arms. When the song ended, Troy said, “All done. Now, play the penguins.”

I said, “I don’t want to watch the penguins. I want to watch something else.”

Troy shook his head knowingly, like he was saying, “I got you, Dada. We’re completely in-sync. I know exactly what you’re thinking.” 

And then he confidently uttered a single word. “Dinosaurs.”

Babyweight Workouts: Baby Squats

Well, I found a new exercise to add to the "Working Out with a Baby" workout video. In the last edition, I was bench-pressing Troy, while he held himself stiff and straight in my hands. I have also done crunches with him laying on my chest and push-ups with him draped across my back. CC also had Declan sitting on his legs while he attempted to do leg lifts.

But today, I added baby squats, putting him up on my shoulders and doing squats while my wife filmed it. Troy was laughing the entire time, so I guess he approved of my form. It's always nice when you can combine exercise and entertaining your son.

Snake Kisses

Troy’s latest movie on repeat is The Jungle Book, live action. But there are two parts that he gets scared at and runs behind the couch to hide. When Kaa the python comes on and when King Louie the Gigantopithecus comes on. Personally, I think Shere Khan voiced by Idris Elba is scarier than Scarlett Johansson (Kaa) or Christopher Walken (Louie), but that’s neither here nor there.

To help Troy feel more comfortable during the snake scene, I decided to give him snake kisses. While he was sitting on my lap, I slowly slid my arms around him, pulling him in tighter and tighter. When his back was pressed up against me, I softly hissed in his ear and then covered his face, neck, and head with kisses. As he giggled and squirmed to get away, I released my arms to give him hope, then tightened them, hissed, and kissed him again. Then, I’d let him go, and he’d hop back on my lap, saying, “Snake kisses! Snake kisses!” So, we’d start all over again. Every time I’d stop, he’d ask for more. Now, we’ll see if he’s as afraid of Kaa the next time we watch the movie.

Sunflower

There's a lyric music video by Post Malone & Swae Lee called "Sunflower" that features scenes from the graphic comic movie Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse. For some reason, Troy loves it. I guess it's cartoonish, colorful, and filled with action. But I have a sneaking suspicion that he really likes it for the song. 

At the very beginning, it starts with Swae Lee riffing "Eh, eh, eh, eeeehhh...ooh, ooh, ooh, oooohhhh." Now, when Troy hears the first few beats of the music, he starts singing, "Eh, eh, eh...ooh, ooh, ooooohhh." Well, today, I guess he had the song stuck in his head, because I caught him playing with his dinosaurs, singing this over and over again. 

Just because it's something I can share with him, and because I also love the song, I started singing, "Eh, eh, eh, eeeehhh," and Troy would respond with "ooh, ooh, ooooohhh." We were doing it all morning from all over the house, echoing back and forth to each other. It was awesome!

The Pantless Owls

We were driving in the car today, enjoying some family time together. And Troy started singing the Alphabet Song, well at least his version of it. He did pretty well with the letters, making sounds that were similar enough that you could follow along. But when he got to the end where it goes, “Now, I know my ABCs…” he went rogue. He made some sounds that sounded exactly like, “Ni-ine owls without their pants…” I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I’m strangely intrigued.

Aladdin's Lamp

Tonight, Troy was running around the house with the watering can. He was looking down the spout with one eye and saying, “Genie, come out! Genie, come out!” Apparently, he was imagining it was the lamp from Aladdin, and therefore must have a genie inside. I told him that it wouldn’t work unless he rubbed it, so he started rubbing the side and saying, “Come on, Genie, come out!” 

When the genie still didn’t magically appear, I told him that the genie was gone, that Aladdin had used his last wish to set him free. But Troy wasn’t buying it. He knew there was a genie in that “lamp,” and he wanted his three wishes. 

So, then I told him that the genie had gone to sleep. Troy looked at me suspiciously, peered down the spout one more time, and then whispered into the hole, “Night, night, Genie.”

Spider Walking

Troy likes me to walk up his arm with my forefinger and middle finger. He says it feels like a spider. Apparently, my feather-like touch across his skin is ticklish, because he’ll start giggling, especially when I walk up his shoulder and get near his ear. But if I stop, he’ll grab my hand and say, “Spider walk! Spider walk!” So, I’ll make the spider walk up his arm again, met with the same squirming and giggles.

Special Laundry Routine

I was doing a load of laundry this morning, which in and of itself is nothing special. But as I went through the laborious routine of treating Troy’s clothes, and the equally laborious yet different routine of treating my wife’s clothes, I realized that I’m the only person in this house that doesn’t have a special laundry routine. I don’t really care. I just throw them in the machine and turn it on. My wife has so many rules for doing laundry (not all of which I agree with) that at one point in our marriage, we had a list...several pages long...taped to the wall of the laundry room.

Ironically enough, I’m also the only one that sorts laundry by color and fabric and washes them on different temperature settings. My wife washes everything on warm regardless. I guess I can claim that as my “special” routine, even though I think it’s just the correct way to do laundry.

Dada's Gone

When my mom was here, she insisted for some reason on telling Troy to call me “daddy” instead of “dada.” I tried to discourage this, wanting to keep his baby youth and innocence as long as possible. But today, when I picked him up from daycare, he called me “the daddy,” and I fear that the seed has been planted whether I like it or not. No amount of effort to revert back has been successful, which makes me extremely sad. I assumed, at some point, that he'd develop a new moniker for me, but I assumed it would be years down the road. I feel like I'm losing him already...like he's already starting to let me go.

Yellow Sun of Summer

Since my wife was tied up working on her grant, I went to pick up Troy from daycare today. When I got there Mischa, one of his close friends, was still there too. She came to the window to smile and say hello to me. As she turned to walk away, I noticed that the butt of her pants was completely yellow. I thought to myself, “Man, Mischa is a bit messy. I feel sorry for her mom.” Then, my son came bursting out of the door and jumped into my arms. As I set him back down to walk to the car, I noticed that the butt of his pants was also completely yellow! I guess my kid’s a mess too. 

Then, I noticed the chalk drawings all along the sidewalk. I guess they all were sitting on their drawings, and now Mischa and Troy were taking the yellow sun of summer home with them.

The Magic Carpet

Ever since Troy watched Aladdin, he has been obsessed with the magic carpet. While Carpet was a fun and loyal character, I have to admit that I focused on the more obvious characters, like Genie. And while Troy likes Genie too, Carpet gets equal affection in his mind.

When we sit down to eat, we always put a paper towel on the table for Troy, one of those pick-a-size ones. Instead of using it for its intended purpose, he starts waving and flapping it around to make it fly like the magic carpet. He excitedly says, “Carpet! It’s a carpet!” What an imagination.