parenting

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Dear Holly: Your Invisibility Cloak

18 weeks.

Dear Holly: Your Invisibility Cloak

Dear Holly,

Sunday afternoon after you woke up from your nap, I sloppily picked you up in your blanket, as it flopped over on top of your head.

I could tell you were in the mood to be walked around the house; looking out windows and at wall decorations. Obviously, the most interesting thing going on in our house is typically your brother Jack.

He was busy this time making a plane out of the couch, covered with his tent as well as blankets and pillows. He explained to me that the motor is the sword he made out of blocks.

Then he looked up and saw you: “Daddy, how can she even see with that blanket over her eyes?”

Dear Holly: Your Invisibility Cloak

I hadn’t noticed that the blanket had fallen from on top of your head into the form of a hood, leaving just enough room for you to see.

As I continued walking you around our house, I was surprised that you hadn’t made a peep; even though your diaper was wet, since you had just woken up from your nap.

But I wasn’t going to stop the show. If you were happy in your strange condition, I wouldn’t be the one to interfere.

By the time 30 minutes had passed, and you were still quiet and content under your homemade hood, I developed a likely theory:

You believed that the hood from the blanket made you invisible.

And I say this because I’ve never seen you go so long while in need of a diaper change, without making a sound. It was as if you felt if you did, it would expire your superpower of invisibility.

In the end, you went about an hour before finally choosing to expire your ability to be unseen by the rest of the world.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Holly: Your Invisibility Cloak

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Dear Jack: Our Ride on “Those Animals” at the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville

5 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack: Our Ride on “Those Animals” at the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville

Dear Jack,

After we saw the premiere of the movie Pup Star last Saturday, we decided to walk around the Opry Mills Mall since we were already there. With that mall being about an hour from our house in Spring Hill, it’s not a place we get to go to often.

Nearly immediately after leaving the theatre and entering the main hall of the mall, you and were pleasantly surprised yet confused to see smiling children riding these giant stuffed animals.

They reminded me of blurry memories I have from my first summer teaching English in Thailand back in 2004. I remember seeing something like this in the bottom floor of a mall, but I think it just rocked back and forth a little bit after you put in a coin.

What you and I saw, though… it was different. Kids were actually driving these animals like a motorized scooter or something, but the vehicles were completely quiet.

Within a few minutes, we had walked far enough in the mall for the mystery to be solved. We had discovered the station for Those Animals; a service that enables children 6 and older to drive electric scooters around the mall.

Since you are 3 months shy of your 6th birthday, I had to ride with you, but it was more fun I did. With a 500 pound weight limit on the vehicle, my 162 pound body wasn’t a threat.

You managed the throttle and I handled the steering. We made the perfect team!

Out of the dozen or so animals to choose from, you quickly chose the red and black dragon. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this experience is how affordable it was.

It only cost $6 for a 10 minute ride.

After we got home and told Mommy about it, we decided that we’re taking you back to Opry Mills Mall for your 6th birthday in November.

We’re going to tour the mall, giving you an allowance for Build-a-Bear and The Lego Store, as well as at The Rainforest Café where we’ll be having lunch.

And of course, I’m sure we’ll take another ride on one of Those Animals. Maybe this time, we’ll ride longer than 10 minutes.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: Our Ride on “Those Animals” at the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville

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Dear Holly: You Turned 4 Months Old This Week

4 months.

Dear Holly: You Turned 4 Months Old This Week

This week as you turned 4 months old, you discovered your feet. It’s been very exciting for you, as your toes are like a new toy for you.

Sometimes as I’m talking you while you are laying down, you’ll be smiling at me and even talking to me (in your “goo goo” language), and then all of the sudden you’ll just grab your toes and instantly roll over.

Because that’s another thing you’re into these days: Successfully rolling over on your tummy.

Even in the midst of being really tired and ready for me to wrap you up in a blanket for a nap, it’s typical for you to grab your toes and roll over… if for no other reason, to kill time until I get you to sleep.

Something I’ve officially learned about you this week is this: Pink is definitely your color.

Dear Holly: You Turned 4 Months Old This Week

We had you dressed in a blue outfit on Monday and you just didn’t seem like yourself. It was as if you felt out of place.

But every day since then, Mommy has chosen pink outfits for you, and you were back to thriving!

Obviously, I’ve been Instagramming you a lot. One of my recent favorites is from Tuesday, when you decided while I was feeding you breakfast, that it was more fun to play than to eat.

The way you looked at me, it was as if you were so much older than a 4 month old girl. I think you knew exactly how you adorable you were.

Another one of my favorite pictures of you is one that I took of you right before I took you and Jack to school. You held your hands together in a way that seemed to say, “I’ll just be here if you need me.”

I’m pretty sure that everyone knows I’m crazy about you.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: I Think of You as a Pink Kitty

16 weeks.

Dear Holly: I Think of You as a Pink Kitty

Dear Holly,

You were born to parents who have an olive complexion, yet you undeniably are the color pink, in comparison to us. I like that. It makes sense to me that a baby girl as feminine as you are would be colored accordingly.

And also from the beginning, you’ve had mannerisms that remind me of a kitten.

For example, you’re not much of a crier. When you do cry though, it just sounds more like a little kitten meowing for someone to hold it.

Whenever you play, you are just like a little kitten toying with a ball of yarn, when you see anything you can reach in front of you.

In a complete coincidence, the backpack Mommy pick out for you for daycare features right there on the front of it… you guessed it- a pink kitty!

I should also point out that during these past couple of weeks, you have been transitioning into using your “stand up play center”. Really, you’re still a little too young to be in it.

However, Mommy and I have noticed that despite you not quite having the cognitive skills mastered just yet, your muscles are strong enough to support you.

You are so eager to prove yourself to us. And the talking you do…

There is so much on your mind! Whatever you are trying to tell Mommy and me through all your “goo-goo” language, it sure sounds exciting as well as urgent.

You are simply happy to be alive, that’s for sure.

So despite the chaotic schedule our family has in the midst of Mommy and me both having full-time jobs (and me having a 2nd job of blogging and vlogging) and you and your brother being away all day at school, it is such a blessing to come home and see our precious pink little baby girl and her alien-loving big brother.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Holly: I Think of You as a Pink KittyDear Holly: I Think of You as a Pink Kitty

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Dear Jack: Your Proposed Aliens-Themed Birthday Party/The Butt Club

5 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack: Your Proposed “Aliens and Butts” Birthday Party Idea

Dear Jack,

This is your first week of being in Kindergarten all day long. I can tell you love it and that you’re having a good time making new friends.

Based on conversations I’ve been hearing you have with Mommy, apparently you and your new friends have been having meetings on the playground as part of what you call “The Butt Club” where you all “talk about butts.”

I appreciate this concept. It’s like an underground movement where Kindergartner boys can meet secretly to freely discuss the greatness of “butts”; a topic that is taboo in the classroom.

It would be my speculation that “having gas” would be a popular topic of discussion, as you and your friends of The Butt Club talk about butts.

On Tuesday when I came home from work, I handed you a surprise I picked up from the treasure box at the dentist office: a bendable alien toy.

You were so excited when you turned him around and saw that he had a visible butt!

This toy alien gave you much joy, and entertainment, for the rest of the evening; eventually, a clever and original idea was born:

You asked Mommy about having an alien-themed birthday party for when you turn 6 in November. Unsurprisingly, you were quick to also mention the inclusion of “butts” as part of the theme, as well.

We’ve still got 3 months to figure out how to accomplish this theme for your birthday party. Last year, we didn’t have an official party for you, since we took a trip to Florida to celebrate instead.

But with a newborn sister, and a week-long trip to San Diego for Uncle Jake’s wedding at the end of September, another trip in November is unlikely.

So maybe an alien-themed is possible… I’m just not so sure about the butts.

Love,

Daddy