Everytime I look at my so called "blog" I get this intense feeling of guilt in my stomach. I was so sure I'd be able to keep up with this thing and document Fiona's development as well as my own as a father. I realize now that with the addition of a child to the mix, finding motivation to spend time writing is tough.
Still, at the end of the day I'm able to forgive myself for not writing, because I know I've spent most of that time with my family. That's really what's important, right? My primary reasons for writing have always been to have an accurate representation of my feelings at any given time as my memory is terrible. I want to be able to look back and be reminded of the lessons I've learned. Enough of the regret, I'm here, so I might as well talk about what's goin on with my life :).
Today is my birthday, and Fiona picked out the cutest fairy princess card I've ever seen. It was so cute, she decided she didn't want to let it go ;). I think her being a happy camper is a pretty good present in-and-of-itself, so I certainly don't mind.
My last post here was around the time that she was five months old. She'll be two in exactly one month from today. Five months...man, around that time, she was still what we'd kindof consider an unhappy baby. After fighting with colic, and her not wanting to be held, I felt like she'd always be that way. There were several days when that got to me and I remember being depressed about it. I'm fairly certain Kim was too. Still, we somehow managed to make it through Fiona's unhappy phase without any major drama, and today, I can't express how happy that little punk makes me ;).
Routines have become standard in our house. That's right, I have routines now. Crazy right? Every week day is pretty much the same. We wake up to Fiona laughing or talking over the baby monitor at around 6-7AM. I used to think that was early ;). I put on a pot of coffee and go upstairs to get her, while Kim makes her a sippy cup of milk. We almost always end up playing a game of "night night" where Fiona pretends to go back to sleep. When I finally get her diaper changed, we head downstairs and she almost always has her Tigger and "ki-ki" (blanket) in tow. Then I sit her on the couch and she watches PBS cartoons while drinking her milk. After I make myself a cup of coffee (and Kim when she's not pregnant...more to come on that later ;) ), I sit and watch PBS while drinking my coffee. Did I say I watch PBS? No, I mean I have intellectual conversations with Kim and I focus on those conversations without fail....right? Yes..I'm a distracted person. Still, those are our mornings and due to us getting up so early we have plenty of time to enjoy them. Then, it's off to work before Dinosaur Train ;).
After work it's hit or miss. Sometimes we go out, other times we stay in. We always eat dinner at the table and always try to shoot for the same time. Then it's playtime before bed. I don't usually get many chores done during the week because I'd rather spend her awake time with her. Then around 7:30 (now 8:00) she goes to bed. That turned into something rather odd about a month ago.
For nearly a year her bedtimes were like clockwork. One night, a switch flipped and she decided bedtimes weren't for her. I'm not saying she cried a little, mind you. Her butt hit the bed and she started screaming like she was dying. We stayed with her for a little bit, because we thought it might be an ear infection, but eventually we just had to leave the room. She finally settled down about 20-30 minutes later, but when I went to check on her, I realized she'd thrown up all over herself and was sleeping in it. We felt terrible and immediately woke her up for a bath. The next day we took her to her pediatrician, and got a clean bill of health. The doctor's opinion was that she was playing us and simply decided she didn't want to go to bed anymore. So for the past month bedtimes have been a struggle. We've stayed strong, however, and she's finally getting better at them again. For at least a week now I've noticed she hasn't really cried at bedtime even though she says she doesn't want to go. Persistence has definitely paid off.
As far as Fiona's development goes, she is walking and talking now as she should be per most standards. Most communication is simply one or two words, but she does understand a lot. She helps her mother out in the kitchen with putting away dishes, and getting new trash bags. She even picks up her toys...right before throwing them back out again ;). She's also learned 20 out of 26 letters of the alphabet. I don't think I knew my alphabet at that age, so I'm tickled that Kim is doing so well with her during the day. Our favorite word for her to say is "Butterfly" because it's just about the cutest thing in the world. That's second only to "CheeseBurger" which sounds more like "CheeseCoCo"...or something :P.
In other news, we have another one on the way. Carter "Wave" McNeil will be with us on August 31st provided everything goes well with the planned C-Section. We're super excited, though we're still trying to figure out the logistics of where he's going to go until Kim's body heals. Stairs won't be easy/possible for her.
That's about all I have in my head for now. I'm sure there could/would be more, but I won't make promises about keeping up with this thing. It feels great just to get this much out. Till next time.
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