DAD POST: One of the Best Nights of My Life

This past Monday, our old neighbor Mr. Chai texted me and asked me if I wanted two free tickets to the Cardinals game on Wednesday. Well we have kind of a big weekend this weekend with Ellen's family and some of them are staying at our house, so I politely declined in favor of staying home and helping to clean up the house (because I'm pretty much the best husband there is). Mr. Chai then texted me a picture of the two tickets and told me I might want to reconsider. When I looked up the section I did indeed reconsider as they were in the 12th row directly behind home plate.

Now, who gets to be the lucky person that goes with me?

Ellen was all slated to go but then remembered she was on call that night, so she was out. She suggested I take Donovan, even though it would be a late night, because the seats were so good. I thought on it for a while (because we already had a full family day at the ballpark planned next weekend) and I decided that I agreed with her (shocker) and I should take Donovan to his first proper baseball game. At this point I was pretty amped up. This was going to be a boys night out and we were going to do it up right.

The next night (Tuesday) when we were all eating dinner we decided to tell Donovan about the big surprise. It went a little something like this:

Mommy: (holding tickets) Dono, do you know what these are?
Dono: Tickets? Cardinals?
Mommy: Yes, do you know what that means?
Dono: I'm going to the baseball game?
Mommy and Daddy: YEAH!! Are you excited?
Dono: Is Sugar Shane gonna be there?

Sugar Shane refers to Cardinals bench player Shane Robinson, Donovan's favorite player. I was super excited about all of this and work on Wednesday was absolute torture. I thought about it all day. I thought about what I could do to make it the most awesome game ever. I sent a tweet out to the Busch Stadium DJ and asked if he could play "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore for us at some point because that is Dono's favorite song. To my surprise he tweeted back and said sure, he'd get it on for us. Sweet! When I got home from work it was all I could do to not just leave Reese here by herself and take Dono downtown at 4pm. Alas, I was able to hold out until Ellen got home from work and Dono and I began our pilgrimage to Baseball Heaven.

All the way down there we talked about how cool it was going to be and everything we were going to do. Dono was particularly impressed by the Arch. He made several comments about how big it was and seemed genuinely surprised that he could see it from so many different parts of town as we drove around.

When we got down there we parked pretty close to the stadium so we didn't have to walk too far. We went over some ground rules about walking around in the crowds so we were sure to stick together. I told him if he didn't want to hold my hand (he did) he could grab onto my shorts or shirt because there were going to be a lot of people all around us. Dono's ground rule was that he wanted to hold his ticket, to which I happily obliged.

When we got up to the gate, Dono showed his ticket to the nice lady working and she scanned it for him. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the tunrstile, so I helped him out with that. Wanted to make sure his little head got counted in the attendance. We were in center field at this point so we walked straight in and I lifted him up on the rail so he could see the whole field. "Wow! That's really big! It's huge!", he commented.

Next up was our real Stop #1, the one we discussed much of the way down here: The Team Store! I was ready to drop a mint in here, anything that kid pointed out I would have bought. He found a shirt he liked so we grabbed that one and I held on to it while we continued to search. After a couple of minutes Donovan said, "Daddy, let's just get this one. I don't need another one." Who is this guy?! Doesn't he know that he has a free pass right now!? I said that was okay, but as we headed to the register I spied a Cardinals Hot Wheels car. I pointed it out and asked him if he wanted that. Of course he wanted that. What does a kid that owns 289 Hot Wheels need? Another Hot Wheel. We paid for our merchandise and headed out into the concourse. Donovan wanted to put his new shirt on right away so we found a little spot and swapped them out. Then it was on to the concession stand.

We also talked all about getting hot dogs on the way down. After all, that's what you eat at baseball games! we got a couple of hot dogs and now it was time to check out these seats! We entered through the tunnel and kept climbing down, down, down until we reached our row, #4. Then we slid on over into seats 5 and 6. WOW. These were some sweet seats. I was pretty impressed at where we were. Donovan's going to think every game I take him to now is going to be like this. Here he is with his new shirt and hot dog, concentrating on the pregame festivities:

Here's a view of what Dono was seeing (FREDBIRD!):

And our view from the seats:

There was a nice young girl behind us (she was probably 14 or 15), so I told Donovan to ask her to take our picture. He said no way, but when I prodded him some more he agreed. So right in the middle of her sentence he just blurts out, "CAN YOU TAKE MY PICTURE!?" She did not fully understand so she asked him to repeat it. This time he spoke it so only those with supersonic hearing could pick it up and she thought he was asking if she was taking his picture with the camera that was already in her hands. She looked at me, terrified, as if I thought she was a creep taking pictures of my adorable child. I cleared it all up and handed over my phone and we came away with this wonderful image that will forever be etched into my mind. Is this kid having a good time or what:

Donovan was not antsy in his seat at all, he was very focused on what was happening out on the field and asking a ton of questions. "Who are those kids?" "Who is that guy?" "Where is Fredbird going?" "When is the game gonna start?" Also, I bought myself a Stan Musial pin and he wanted to wear it for a while, as you'll notice in this picture:

In the middle of the first inning, I hear over the loud speaker "whatwhat, what, what" over and over. It's Thrift Shop! He's playing it just for us! I explained to Donovan what was happening and we rocked out to the song for a while. He played it for a pretty long time! At least a minute-and-a-half! Donovan gave his seal of approval:

After a couple of innings, it was getting a tad stale. Shelby was walking the world and there wasn't much to get excited about...yet. A quick text to Ellen and she let me know that the kids' area in center field was open to the public. I asked Donovan if he wanted to go check that out and he was on board. We also made a pit stop at the bathroom. Dono's pretty good with the urinal, but doesn't quite have it mastered. Probably want to keep your hands off of that in the future, buddy:

Oh man was there a lot to do out in the kids pavilion in center. They had a whole play area like the ones in the mall with stuff for the kids to climb on (and jump off of incessantly). Here's Dono on top of the pitcher's mound:

And again on top of the Cardinals hat/tunnel:

We played in that area for quite a while, but then he heard the thumping of a baseball into a tarp and he wanted to see what that was all about. The thud we were hearing was coming from the fast pitch area. You could throw baseballs and there was a radar gun set up to show you how fast you were tossing. Dono wanted me to do it, so I bought a ticket for four pitches and we waited our turn. When we got up there Dono took the balls and I said, "Step up there! Throw it!" And so he did.

15 miles an hour, baby! Heads up, Nolan Ryan. This guy's coming for that strikeout record. He received many high fives from a baseball team of teenage boys that was there. There was also a very "happy" (read: drunk) gentleman that was telling Donovan how awesome he was and offering more high fives. He was very appropriate so it was pretty funny. Dono was a star. He was feeling good.

Next up was hitting, Dono's favorite. They had cages with a ball hanging from a rope that you could swing at. I think he really liked the fact that he got to do this with a helmet on. He was feeling like a big leaguer.

After this, to my shock and utter delight, Donovan said the following sentence: "Daddy, I wanna go watch more baseball." Uh, okay. Twist my arm. And in hindsight that sentence is doubly awesome because this is where a good night turned amazing. We trekked back to the seats on the opposite side of the stadium and just as we sat down, guess who walked up to the plate for a pinch-hitting appearance in the bottom of the 5th? SUGAR SHANE! Yes! And not only that, he delivers with a single to right! Then Matt Carpenter walked and Matt Holliday delivered with a two-run single to right! Sugar Shane crosses the plate to tie the game at 3! Things are looking up! The 6th inning was pretty boring and in the top of the 7th the Astros scored to go ahead 4-3. "Oh well", I'm telling myself. This has already been an extremely wonderful evening so a loss can't spoil this. At this point it's almost 10 o'clock. Shelby's gigantic amount of walks early on in the game has really drug this thing out. Dono and I discussed that we would watch the Cardinals bat one more time and then head out. Best decision I ever made. EVER.

We spent almost all of the 5th, 6th and 7th innings like this:

Dono on my lap, watching the game and playing with his new car. He would ask questions about what was going on and I would do my best to try and explain. It was some very awesome bonding we were doing. I was so happy at that moment, I didn't think I could be any happier. I was wrong.

Tony Cruz led off the bottom of the 7th by getting hit by the pitch. Alright, sweet. Tying run is aboard. Then Yadi steps in to pinch hit for the pitcher. This is his first appearance of the evening and the stadium is going nuts. It was pretty cool. He promptly strikes out, which brings up Matt Carpenter.

Now before I continue, I need to let you know that Donovan has asked me about fireworks no less than ten times this evening. He keeps seeing them on the scoreboard in an ad and asking if there are going to be fireworks. I tell him that they only shoot them off when a Cardinals player hits a home run and I didn't know if anyone was going to do that tonight. He leans back on my chest and I'm just enjoying the moment while the Astros are bringing in a lefty to face Carpenter. I look up on the jumbotron. Huh, looks like they're showing people around the pa....HOLY COW!! It's Donovan and I up there!! Just the two of us! They're zoomed in on us! The camera isn't panning away! We're going nuts! This is awesome! After they finally do move away we're high fiving the people next to us and the mom is commenting on what a trooper Dono is. Man, this evening just got amazing-er.

After we come down from our high, it's back to baseball. The Cardinals might have something going here. Carpenter always puts together a good at-bat, but he's facing a lefty, and lefty-on-lefty matchups are always tough. I'm just hoping for a base hit or maybe a double, get some guys on base. 

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!! There it goes! I knew it as soon as the ball hit the bat, that sucker was crushed. I lift Dono up so he can see it. He was easily following foul balls all night so I know he could see the ball and where it was going. I'm going crazy. I mean bonkers. I can't believe it. Yes, this put the Cardinals ahead 5-4, but more importantly, FIREWORKS! I'm holding him and pointing out to where the fireworks are going to shoot off. He's pointing. He's loving it. This night just went from amazing-er to unforgettable. In all my excitement I failed to realize that I'm crying real tears of joy. I can't believe how perfect this night has been. I mean, if you had asked me to script this thing before we went down there I would not have done as good of a job as what happened in real life. Truly one of the best nights of my life.

After all the excitement subsides, the Cardinals make two more quick outs to end the inning. Dono and I grab our stuff and head to the gate. When we go out a different gate than we came in, Dono asked where we were going. "To pay our respects to the greatest Cardinal that ever lived", I told him. I know he doesn't know what that means, but it was important to me. He's cool with it and gladly obliges with ol' dad to have a few pictures snapped.

I truly feel blessed to have shared this night with my son.

Yes I was fighting tears while I wrote a lot of this.

From the mouths of babes....

The kids have really been giving me a complex in the last day.

Last night I am lying in bed with Donovan and we are talking and I said the word "younger" in a sentence and Dono asked me what that word meant. So we proceeded to have this conversation:

Me: "It means that you haven't been alive as long as somebody else. You are younger than me because you have only been alive 4 years and I have been alive 31 years."
Donovan: "Oh, that's surprising. That's surprising that you are still alive."

He wasn't trying to be mean or funny. He was just truly surprised. 

Well thanks for that Donovan.

Then today after I got dressed for work Reese looks at me and asks, "You wearing my cot sheet?"  Yes, my 2 year old was asking if my (white, dress, very nice looking) shirt was the sheet that she puts on her cot at school before she lays on it.  

And then tonight as I tell her goodnight she says, "I need to tell you something, you picked me up from school today." Me: "Yes, I did pick you up today Reese." Reese: "In your cot sheet dress?"

Uuuuuuhhhhhhhh, NO. NOT in my cot sheet dress. In my banana republic dress SHIRT. But thanks for the opinion fashionista.

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I have probably mentioned how funny Reese is for her age. Tonight is a good example.

Dono, Reese and I are driving home from school/work when I smelled something gross. Here went the conversation:

Me: "Uuuugggghh, what is that smell?"

Dono: "It was me, I tooted."

Me: "Ew yuck! That smells like garbage! That was a garbage toot!"

(lots of giggling from Dono and me repeating "garbage toot" and "pee yoo" a lot)

Reese: "Maybe the trash man can come pick up Dono's toot"

She is already whittier/funnier then we are as adults!

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Another cute Reese quote.

Tom: "Does daddy like baseball?"

Reese: "Yeah, I like pocoyo."

(for those of you not in the know, Pocoyo is a cartoon little boy and has nothing to do with Baseball)

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On the way to school the other day Dono and Reese were talking.

Dono" "I am a poopy head."

Reese: "I not want you to call you a poopy head!"

Dono: "I can call myself whatever I want to call myself Reese!"

Reese: "Whatever."

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One last funny story. Reese has been SUPER fussy (aka 2 yo) lately and tells you "I not want you to (fill in the blank)" about anything you just said.  (see above story).  Well Dono and I were on Tom and my bed with her the other day and anything we said she would say "I not want..." to and then whine until someone else said something else that she could say "I not want..." to. Nothing was making her happy and Donovan said something to me and she heard him and said, "I not want you to poop on the stairs" to which Donovan and I immediately stopped talking, looked at eachother and started cracking up as he had said NOTHING related to pooping on the stairs. Reese looked at us laughing and finally broke down and laughed herself so we all had a good laugh on that one. We told her she was right and we didn't want to poop on the stairs either so it was nice that we all had something to agree on. 

Forth of July (and weekend) fun

We had a lovely fourth of July celebration this year. It all started on Wed night when we went to the new house of one of our recently moved old neighbors' house who we miss dearly. They hosted about 40 people and we all ate, the kids played and then we watched our local professional firework display up at Twin Oaks park from their back yard. It was a great view and we didn't have to fight the crowds or anything!  Then on Thursday, I had these big plans of taking Donovan to see his first movie in the theater which he squashed like tiny bug. Instead he wanted to go to grandma and grandpa's house which was a pretty good plan, if we weren't going to the movies. So we all loaded in the car and spent the morning playing there before we rested up and took naps to prepare for our next gathering. In the afternoon we headed over to our friends house, who have 2 kids Aubrey and Landon. There ended up being 11 kids and 12 adults there and a good time was had by all! They have a nice shady back yard, with a play set and another family brought a huge blowup bounce house so Tom and I barely had to do any parenting. It was awesome!  The adults were most of the adults that we went on an adult only lake weekend with and had a BLAST last weekend so there was lots of reminiscing and story telling.  I am already counting down the days until next years lake weekend.

This is our two little patriotic childrens after we had come home from all the fun that night.

Lord knows it is like pulling teeth to get anyone to take a normal picture at the same time around here.

This was the gang at Aubrey and Landon's house after some of the kids had gone home for the evening. These were the last ones standing, minus 11 month old Will. How patriotic were they? Even had bomb pops to enforce the red, white and blue theme!

Dono, Abbey, Landon, Reese and Aubrey.

This weekend we continued in the fun. I was on call for work (not fun) but Tom managed to take the kids to a playground/splash park on Saturday morning and my dad came to help with the rug rats on Saturday afternoon/evening while I slept from being up all night.  Then today we spent the morning with our friend's who have Ian and baby Colin. The kids got to play on the bounce house and on their play set outside before lunch and ice cream. Then it was home to nap before going to a local pool with Auntie Jenna and Tom. Both kids reportedly had a great time and went down the water slide "99 times" reported Tom.

All in all, more great times and memories made with good friends and family.

Reese at 2(ish)

Ok so now that she is over a month older than 2 I guess I should get to writing this post. Here are her recent stats from when we went to the pediatrician on 5/17/13.

Height: 34.5 inches (69th%)
Weight: 26lbs (48th%)
Head circumference: 19.5 inches (93rd%- that's a big brain!)

The doctor had no concerns for her and neither did we so that was very nice.

Here is what our little lady was/is up to at 2:

She wears size 6 or 7 in shoes.
Anywhere from 18month-2T clothes
Size 4 diapers

Sleeping: She goes to bed between 8pm and 8:15 and is up with the sun (or maybe it just feels like it) anywhere is the 6 o'clock hour. Sometimes we get really lucky and she is up in the 5 o'clock hour.  She takes 1 nap, usually a wimpy 1.5hr one but sometimes we get lucky and she takes a 2 hr one but that is REALLY rare. She usually wakes up super happy so getting her up for school is a breeze. She still sleeps in her crib, with lots of blankets and stuffed animals for friends.

Eating: She still gets 2-3 sippies of WARM milk (don't you dare not warm it) and likes it right when she wakes up in the morning and right before bed at night. She eats about everything we eat, but her favorites are yougurt, cheese roll ups, english muffins, BUTTER, waffles, crackers. The basics.

Activity: She has been jumping since she was about 20 months old and she loves doing it and does it all the time. She runs, tackles her brother, asks her brother to tackle her, does somersaults and is your typical little girl. It is so funny though because she has none of the athletic ability that her brother had at this age. When she hits a ball off a tee, it is with one hand on the bat, swinging away all willy nilly.  Usually she stays away from the sports and prefers to play with her girl things. She LOVES all things soft and furry and baby. She kisses pictures of kitties in her books and on the ipad or computer. She is a better self entertainer than Donovan has been, so that is a little nice, but she still wants a lot of your attention and her and her brother are often fighting over laps and your attention in general.  She loves coloring and has done so all over her two favorite (naked) babies, Carter and Sophia.  Bath time is also a favorite and she will never turn one down. She also loves showers, especially at my parents house who have a handheld sprayer that she can use herself.

School: After 4 weeks, she loves it! Loves her friends, teachers, you name it.

Verbal: This kid doesn't have a word count. She have novels that she tells you. She says cute things like, "What you say Nano (what she calls Donovan)? I can't hear you." to crabby things like, "I not want you to tell me to be quiet!"  She can tell you a long complicated story and for the most part, we understand everything she is saying. It is so nice having her able to converse like a big person. She is much less frustrated now and the stuff that comes out of her mouth is legendary. She even uses connecting words like "also" and asked me the other day "I saw a fishie mommy, remember that?" Just so. dang. cute.

Randoms: She has started humming when she eats which is so strange because Jenna (my sister) and I both used to do this as kids too. She doesn't do it every time and she told me the other day, "Ms Pat said no humming." so I know she does it at school. It is just so strange how she got my DNA sequence that said, "When you are a kid, you will crawl up into the kitchen stool your mom had as a kid up the back like your mom did and you will also hum while eating like her." The force is strong with this one.

She also has a crush on a 5 year old named Trevor. It is so cute. She also has a couple big (5 yo) girls at her school that stopped me one day and told me how cute they thought she was. So she is a fan of the older kids and vice versa.

She is finally starting to get some hair which is nice. In the last month she has gotten interested in wearing underwear and peeing on the potty.  She actually does a pretty dang good job.  If she starts peeing she stops herself after a couple drops and goes on the big potty to finish the job. She refuses to use the little potty so she uses the big potty like everyone else. We have not pushed it too much and are just encouraging her to pee on the potty daily even when she has her diaper on and when we are home we offer her to wear her underwear if she wants, which she usually does. We don't try to offer her to wear underwear when we know or think she is due for a poop because we have not crossed that bridge yet.

She is super fiesty and funny.  She has got a mind of her own and is our little boss lady.  She is so naturally funny that Tom and I are laughing out loud at her pretty much daily. We have to watch it though because Donovan gets really jealous and then tries to do what Reese just did to get the laugh so we have to laugh just as hard . Last friday she looked at me and raised her eyebrows a bunch of times, like you would if you were saying "hubba, hubba". It was just so random and hilarious.  She makes life so much fun. She also is going to be our little singer as she loves to sing songs and will even yell at you when you have chimed in on her solo.

Here are some recent pictures of our little cutie pie.

These are the shoes that she wanted to wear with this pretty dress a couple weeks ago.

And this is the winter hat she decided she needed to wear when it was 80 degrees out.

Reesie loving on her kitties. The black one is by far her favorite lovie along with her blankies.

This is her adorable little ponytail. She is pretty annoyed with me as I put it in ("Owwww!!! That HUTS me!!!") but leaves it alone once it is in.

I have lots of favorite things about her being 2 but by far my favorite is the relationship that she is forming with her brother. They are getting along so well and are starting to be more like playmates then enemies.  They make eachother laugh (and cry) and have really become friends. I love to watch them play together and hopes this is only a small sign of good things to come.

We love you so much Reese and are so happy that you have joined this family!

Dad Trifecta

My kids won the lottery. Not only did they get the best dad ever, but they got the best 2 grandpa's ever too.

Happy fathers day to you three wonderful men! We are all lucky to have you in our lives and we are so thankful for everything you do for us.  We love you!!!!

I love my little man

So random story about Donovan tonight.

We are at the gas station, just Dono and I (Ellen) when Dono asks if we can go in and get him a special treat. So we do and as he is looking at the candy, he tells me that he wants M&Ms but he doesn't know which kind he can have. Before I know it, he tells me he is going to go ask the lady behind the counter. So I follow him and she isn't there so he is a little confused but then she comes to help us and some lady butts infront of him (apparently she did not see the little man waiting) so he steps in line behind her and waits. Then he tells me that he is just going to ask her a quick question, so I didn't need to wait with him, and that he would be right back (basically telling me to go back to the candy isle). Well I didn't want to do that because I wanted to hear what he had to say but I wanted to respect his big-guy-ness so I just stepped around the end cap so I was out of sight.  Then it was his turn. I see this poor counter lady lean her whole body over the  counter to hear him because although he is talking loudly, he is still a shrimp of a 4 yr old and the counter is like 4 feet tall. And I hear him ask her some questions and she asks him to repeat it and then he does and then next thing I know he runs over to me all excited saying that "She told me I could have whatever kind I want!!!!" So he comes back to the candy isle and picks the yellow pack until I tell him it has peanuts in it, then its back to the boring but trusty brown pack. As he is getting one for him and one for Reese I asked him what he asked the lady and he said, "I asked her what kind of M&Ms I could get." So. Damn. Sweet.

So we went up to pay and she said, "He did ask me what kind of M&Ms he could have right?" Because it was either that, or he was asking for a particular kind of cigarette and she went with the M&Ms which was correct.

I just loved the entire thing. I have no idea what prompted him to want to go ask her but ask her he did. And he did not need or want my help, but in a very sweet way.  I cannot believe he is old enough for this! I remember being so embarrassed and scared to order something at taco bell and I was in middle school!  Here he is a 4 yr old and already braver than I was. I am especially proud because he is not one of those annoying kids that talks to anyone and everyone all the time, but at the same time he is growing up and realizes that it is ok and polite to talk to other people most of the time. I just could eat him up right now.

In other 4 yr old news, tonight I was laying in bed with him and I asked, "So, you had a great day at school today?" and he replied, "You betcha!" I am fairly certain he picked that mannerism up from my dad as that is who I hear that from most and it makes me happy to hear Dono using it as well.

I was also trying to talk him into doing swimming lessons again and I told him that last year he was jumping off of the edge of the pool into the water all on his own (with a floatie on of course) and he looked at me quizically, paused for a little and said, "I don't think that's true." All I could do was laugh. Such a grown up.

The other night Reese was starting to throw a fit at the dinner table about something and Donovan was sitting right next to her and said, "REESE!!!!!! I am NOT gonna deal with any of this!"

And all of the sudden, he is this grown up asking to talk to Tom on the phone when I need to tell him something on the way home. Now Dono asks to talk to him so I just dial Tom and hand the phone over and Donovan takes care of the rest. Tonight he even asked Tom to put Reese on the phone and he said, "Reese, how was your day at grammie Q's today?" It was adorable.

I told Tom the other day that I was not liking 4 so far as a little attitude filled boy had taken over my sweet 3 yr olds place but after the last few days with him and the above instances I take it all back. 4 is great too!

The reason for our absence

This is what our kitchen looked like 2 weeks ago.

So we have been a little busy. It is completed, except for the back splash which we are waiting on being delivered, but we are still slowly putting everything away. Before, during and after pictures to come once the back splash is in!

Summer is good for...

Sunglasses and swinging your friends.

Wearing your night-night (blankie) instead of clothing.

Playing prince and princess with your sibling.

Taking a sick day off school/work to mentally regroup and having a great day.

Throwing a fit and refusing to get out of the stroller to come inside.

Trying out the merchandise at Lowes.

Wearing as many rings as you have fingers.

Practicing your photography skills.

The photographer.

Dressing up like a pirate.

Drying your manicure.

Testing out how the big girls sleep.

Playing hard at school (Reese).

Meeting new friends. (baby Colin, Ian's new brother)

Taking early morning dips in the pool.

Playing in the sleeping bag.

Playing dress up.

Getting new monster trucks. (and motorcycles, and t-shirts)

Making new friends and spending a beautiful morning with them at the Zoo.