A Daddy's dream...

Before we found out if we were having a girl or a boy, I often found myself thinking about the future.  Like a lot of expecting fathers, I had a hard time picturing a baby, I could only envision a walking talking kid who wiped their own butt.  So when it came to thinking about a boy or a girl, I found it easier to picture a boy.  I saw myself out on the soccer field coaching his team, cleaning him off with a hose after a good mud romp, and a list of other things I remember from my childhood.  When it came to a girl... blank.  Now it wasn't because I didn't want a girl, it was more that I just honestly couldn't picture how it was going to go.  I mean, I can't brush long hair or put on nail polish.  I just couldn't picture bonding with her like I could a boy.  Then we found out we were having Jaycee and all the sudden I had to start figuring it out.  We were going to be together everyday, so I had better get this straight.

As my blog details, all has gone swimmingly.  In fact, now I can picture how its going to be when I have a walking talking kid who wipes HER own butt.  I have to be honest, that picture isn't much different than the picture I had of a boy.  I can see myself out on the soccer field coaching her team, but instead of blue or yellow jerseys, I see pink.  I think we all spend a lot of time talking about men and women being equal and how a girl can do the same things as a boy and it wasn't until Jaycee's arrival that I really understood how important that lesson is.  I couldn't dream of denying my daughter a chance to bond with her daddy simply because she was a girl.  Whether its soccer or anything else, I have every intention of taking my opportunities to be wherever she wants to be.  Whether she follows my dream of being a professional soccer player or her mommy's path to teaching or any dream for that matter, she'll know that when she looks behind her daddy will be right there.

By the way, to all of the parents with boys playing soccer with Jaycee in a few years: Look out, because girls kick butt...

Waking up is hard to do...

So, Jaycee is a big girl.  As she gets bigger, I love watching her personality emerge even more.  Of course, as soon as we see some of her traits, we can almost immediately identify which ones are Jess' and which are mine (or at least we think we can).  Naturally, we fight to claim the best ones and try to give the cranky ones to the other person.  Some of them though are plain as day.  One of the clear ones is the hard time Jaycee has waking up.  She'll poke her head up look around the room and slam her head back down.  Then she'll do it again, and again, and again for a few minutes.  Then, she eventually sits up.  As she is trying to fully awaken, there is a lot of eye rubbing, yawning and a few long stretches then she starts to make her announcements.  I am not sure yet what she is saying exactly, but she is obviously being bossy and NOT in a good mood.  That's usually when I go to pick her up.  At this point, I am not allowed to put her down on the floor, because she'll immediately claim that her legs aren't working yet and she is frozen in place.  So we usually have to walk around for a few minutes and get the rest of the yawns out, then I am permitted to offer her breakfast.  Whose trait is this that makes it so hard to wake up?  Mommy's.  I guess I thought at this point I'd be teaching Jaycee the daily schedule, but that's not the case.  Oh well, it could be worse.  She could have a hard time getting to sleep...

The Frustrations of a 12 month old...

So here we are.  We made it to 12 months without any major hiccups.  Sure we had our rough patches, but we made it.  It has been fun watching Jaycee learn how to walk and become pretty good at it so quickly.  It was like literally watching her gain independence right in front of our eyes.  It is exactly that independence that leads to my post.

Jaycee is able to go everywhere (mostly) that she wants in the house; however, that doesn't mean she can have anything she wants; for example, my laptop, cell phone, iPod, and a few other things that are not for babies.  Other than that short list, its all fair game, including television remotes and cordless phones.  Well I have learned that she only wants those "forbidden" things.  She has in excess of 35 toys ranging in all sizes, noises and functions; but she still thinks that a rectangular piece of plastic (iPod) is the most interesting thing in the room.  The funny thing is that I don't even keep it where she can see it, but she watches when I pick it up and put it down so she has a pretty good idea where it is.  So starts the frustration.  I must say, her tantrums are becoming very loud and violent when she doesn't get what she wants.  Usually I tell her sorry and let her cry it out, but she found a way to get me involved.  When she is crying she'll sit on her bottom, then throw herself backwards.  She only does it when I am close enough to catch her ironically and she then proceeds to yell at me as if I pushed her back with my invisible hand!  Luckily, the episode is over in a few minutes and its back to business as usual.

The funny thing is that it used to bother me, but now it is just part of our day.  And for those of you who would like to see this in action; alas, Jaycee saves this performance for her mommy and daddy exclusively.  Put it on video you say?  I think you'd have better luck getting Bigfoot on tape, because when Jaycee see a camera she is pretty sure its the coolest thing in the room and she needs it.  Then it starts all over again...