Quiet Please, Jaycee has something to say...

Jaycee's latest act is the speech. No, I don't mean speech in general, I mean the speech. As she goes through her day, she occasionally encounters a situation where an announcement is necessary. For example, Bella (our Chihuahua) has figured out that all she needs to do is follow Jaycee around when she is hungry. For the most part, Jaycee doesn't mind sharing with the dogs, but she has her limits. When Bella was getting a little too pushy and started trying to take food out of Jaycee's hand, Jaycee felt like she needed to take a moment to address the situation. Jaycee stopped walking, put her hand in the air, as if to announce that she needed everyone's attention, then she pointed her finger in Bella's face. Jaycee then proceeded to unload a series of verbal tongue lashings, which included some "wa wa wa" and "dawoo dawoo". We haven't fully learned Jaycee speak, but you get her point when you watch her.

Jaycee's lectures are usually reserved for the dogs, but her speeches are for everyone. Sometimes she'll stand there for two minutes with all eyes on her, speaking to everyone that is listening. What happens if you don't listen? Simple, she gets louder. Something tells me this kid won't be the one hiding in the back of the classroom...

Baby-Destructo...

I am always amazed how such a small creature is always so sure about what she wants (and doesn't want). Jaycee is very particular about her wants. When she wants a blanket, she wants a specific one. When she gathers her toys, she puts them in order. If you should happen to move one, she gets angry and is forced to reorganize them. It is very funny to watch.

Now for the dark side. When Jaycee wants something that see can't have or if she just isn't getting it fast enough, the tantrum emerges. The problem with the tantrum isn't that she throws herself around and slams herself on the floor, but its when she gets destructive with her surroundings. When Jaycee gets angry, she throws anything she can get her hand on and even smacks things against the floor, all while screaming. This reaction has earned her the nickname, baby-destructo.

Her personality, when she isn't angry, also contributes to her nickname. Jess and I recently purchased our first house and have had some work to do on it. We had to paint and scrub, but we also had to remove wallpaper and we had a few paint spills to scrape off the floor. We noticed that Jaycee wasn't very interested in the painting or cleaning, but she was very involved in the demolition. She helped to rip wallpaper on the wall and even grabbed a chisel and smacked in on the floor like her daddy to get the paint off.

I'm curious to see where her affinity for destruction leads her. I thought doctor or veterinarian would be her calling, but now I'm starting to think demolitions expert could be a career path. I can see it now: Baby-Destructo Inc...

Another Animal Lover...

I guess I'm not totally surprised. When Jess and I first started dating, I knew well that she was an animal lover. Not just the "I like the zoo and puppies" kind of animal lover, but a hardcore "I like animals more than people" kind of animal lover. I am a moderate "animals are cool" kind of guy myself, so Jaycee was sort of predisposed to a zoological upbringing.

Any of you who know our current animal count, feel free to skip ahead, but for those of you who aren't fully aware, here's the breakdown. Part of being a hardcore animal lover means that you HAVE to stop on the side of the road and keep whatever animal is there (Charlie), you HAVE to take the animals that nobody else wants(Bella/Buster/Rooster), and you HAVE to do it every time. Don't get me wrong, I think Jess' compassion for defenseless animals (i.e. her 6th graders) is admirable. She thinks nothing of changing her life to help a little creature (she even refuses to kill spiders) and has a long list of animals that she has helped in some way or another, but I digress. On to the current list: 1 cat, 3 dogs, and a rooster (yes a rooster). It may seem like a small list, but a small house plus a toddler equals tight quarters. By the way the rooster lives outside. Anyway, in a given day Jaycee can interact with 4 different species of animals and she loves it.

It has been a lot of fun watching Jaycee figure out what each creature is and she really loves her animals. She shows this love by giving them hugs and kisses and being generally excited to be around them. Since I am obviously the odd man out, I started thinking about what is going to happen when Jaycee gets old enough to be an "I like animals more than people" person? I have visions of waking up to jungle noises instead of alarm clocks.

I guess I sound a little selfish right about now, but it is MY blog! After all the dust settled in my whirlwind imagination though, I came to a realization. It isn't the fact that Jaycee is going to bring animals home to add to the collection, but rather that I can't imagine telling her no. To make this kid smile I dance around, I sing, I let her rip out my chest hair by the fistful, and a whole slew of things I wouldn't let anyone else do for a million bucks. I don't really see that changing and I imagine at some point she is going to trade chest hair for hairy creatures, but I'll still be trying to make her smile. You do the math. I guess I should start figuring out where to put the llama...

Get out of jail free...

I knew it was coming. I knew that eventually Jaycee would figure out how to turn her daddy into a pile of warm play-doh that let her do whatever she wanted; I just didn't think it would be so soon. One of Jaycee's newest little gimmicks is the biggest teeth smile you have ever seen. If she were to smile any bigger, her face would surely crack. The funniest thing about this giant grin is when she chooses to use it. When she sees something funny or is smiling back at you, she has a standard sealed lip smile. But when she sees you have something she wants, that magical grin appears as she walks toward you with her hand(s) out. You see the picture. How could you not hand over what ever it is that you have that she wants? I'm sure it won't be long before she starts to flash that smile instead of throwing a tantrum.

Also new in Jaycee's bag of tricks is the pointer finger. Not only can she show you exactly what she wants with her finger, but she has also found it to be a useful tool when trying to figure out if something is worth playing with or if the dogs are asleep or not. As I write this, Jaycee is poking Bella (our Chihuahua) in the nose to she if she wants to play or not.

Between the pointing and the grinning, I am rarely confused about what Jaycee wants from me. The question is: how the heck am I supposed to say no...

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...