When you're with family, you have your own inside jokes, stories and words. It makes sense to you, but to an outsider, well outsiders look at you funny. When I first met Allison's family, there was a lot of this.
I'm Catholic, she's Jewish. Bring on the Yiddish. Until I met Allison the only Yiddish I knew was "schlemiel", which I learned from Independence Day. Strange, I grew up in NY, but I only knew one Yiddish word. That all changed at the first Jewish holiday. I learned a bunch of words and I tossed them around. I wore "chatchke" out like nobody's business. Allison will tell you she was "chatchke'ed out." I think when I used the word three times in one sentence utilizing each definition of the word was what did it.
More recently I'm saying "Oy Gavelt" It's like "Holy cow" or "Good grief." It's fun to say. Usually I give a little giggle, and the reason why I said "Oy Gavelt" doesn't seem that bad.
This evening at dinner Ellen, my mother-in-law, came up with a true gem. It wasn't Yiddish, I'm not sure that it was English either. I had never heard it before but somehow I knew exactly what she was saying. She said to Allison "I think you're having this baby tonight. Look at you, Your face is all over your face!"
LOL - WHAT? Your face is all over your face? That makes no sense, but we all knew exactly what she meant and now, it'll be an inside joke for life. I expect it to show up every holiday, birthday or family dinner.
Let me translate to those of you who don't quite get it. The day Allison had Ben she had been out shopping with her mother all day. When I got home from work I asked if she felt ok and said her face looked funny. It just looked different. She was already pretty swollen. She just looked different. That night, she went into labor and had Ben. Today her face looked....different, but not like that. It was a different, different.
Today Allison's cheek bones, lips and eyes looked puffy. So when Ellen said "Your face is all over your face!" I knew exactly what she meant and her description is as good as anyone elses.
It also reminded me of a funny thing we used to say as kids. "Oh yeah, So's your face"
Monday, September 19, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Cereal, Hold the Milk
I'm one of the few people that does not put milk in cereal. I'll drink a cup of milk while I'm eating it, but combine the two and you can just created a bowl of garbage. I'm not eating it. I'm not a big dipper either. The chip is the main attraction. The dip is an add-on.
Why did I mention that? Because there have been incidents.
The Chip & Dip Incident.
We went to a neighbor's pool party on Labor Day. It was a really nice time. I made my homemade Mac&Cheese and Allison made her famous double-stuffed chocolate chip cookies. I spent most of the party in the pool with Ben while Allison talked to neighbors and friends. The only time we spent out of the pool was to eat.
While Ben was waiting for me to finish eating so we could continue our splash-fest, he found the bowl of potato chips. He ate a few, then he found the dip. He dipped a chip and fed it to Allison. Then he dipped another chip and looked directly at me and said "Dada." He dipped a chip for me. The only problem, I'm not a chip dipper. I feel very strongly that the chip is the meal. If you dip, you should only dip enough to add just a taste to the chip. Chips & Salsa, 7 layer dips and the like are excluded from this rule. In that case, the dip is the meal, but if you're talking potato chips and onion dip, the chip is the meal.
Ben dipped 1/4 of a chip into the dip. The chip was gone, buried under the dip. He walked over to me. I kept telling him "give it to Mommy" but his resolve was strong. He kept coming for his dad. He fed me the chip. I ate it and said thank you, but as soon as he turned away, I made the bitter beer face. This kept up for about 5 or 6 more chips until I eventually couldn't take it anymore and said "who wants to go swimming?" It wasn't 30 minutes since I'd eaten, but I'll risk cramps over eating more dipped chips any day.
Cereal & Milk
Allison called me at work the other day. She said "Your son just had a complete meltdown because I put milk in his cereal." I said "You're somehow going to blame this on me aren't you."
I don't put milk in my cereal. I'm not a cookie dipper either. Ben has been eating cereal & milk for months. I eat my bowl of cereal with a spoon to make him think there's milk in the bowl, but no milk. I guess he's paying closer attention than I thought. He wants to eat like his daddy. NO MILK.
This morning I watched him have a fit. Allison made his bowl of Life cereal. Then when she took the milk out he started screaming "NO NO!!!" then he waved his arms like a mad man when she actually poured the milk. So I decided to suck it up, do what I had to do and put milk in my cereal.
It was effing disgusting! How can anyone enjoy this? It transformed my normally crunchy, tasty cereal into cold, wet, chewy, tasteless slop. I'm pushing HEAVILY for waffles for breakfast tomorrow, because i don't know if I can eat that crap again. ;) A dad's gotta do what a dad's gotta do. You know I'll do anything for my kid(s), but I never thought it'd be this. LOL
Anyway, what cereal do you guys eat? Is there anything that keeps it's flavor and crunch in milk? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Why did I mention that? Because there have been incidents.
The Chip & Dip Incident.
We went to a neighbor's pool party on Labor Day. It was a really nice time. I made my homemade Mac&Cheese and Allison made her famous double-stuffed chocolate chip cookies. I spent most of the party in the pool with Ben while Allison talked to neighbors and friends. The only time we spent out of the pool was to eat.
While Ben was waiting for me to finish eating so we could continue our splash-fest, he found the bowl of potato chips. He ate a few, then he found the dip. He dipped a chip and fed it to Allison. Then he dipped another chip and looked directly at me and said "Dada." He dipped a chip for me. The only problem, I'm not a chip dipper. I feel very strongly that the chip is the meal. If you dip, you should only dip enough to add just a taste to the chip. Chips & Salsa, 7 layer dips and the like are excluded from this rule. In that case, the dip is the meal, but if you're talking potato chips and onion dip, the chip is the meal.
Ben dipped 1/4 of a chip into the dip. The chip was gone, buried under the dip. He walked over to me. I kept telling him "give it to Mommy" but his resolve was strong. He kept coming for his dad. He fed me the chip. I ate it and said thank you, but as soon as he turned away, I made the bitter beer face. This kept up for about 5 or 6 more chips until I eventually couldn't take it anymore and said "who wants to go swimming?" It wasn't 30 minutes since I'd eaten, but I'll risk cramps over eating more dipped chips any day.
Cereal & Milk
Allison called me at work the other day. She said "Your son just had a complete meltdown because I put milk in his cereal." I said "You're somehow going to blame this on me aren't you."
I don't put milk in my cereal. I'm not a cookie dipper either. Ben has been eating cereal & milk for months. I eat my bowl of cereal with a spoon to make him think there's milk in the bowl, but no milk. I guess he's paying closer attention than I thought. He wants to eat like his daddy. NO MILK.
This morning I watched him have a fit. Allison made his bowl of Life cereal. Then when she took the milk out he started screaming "NO NO!!!" then he waved his arms like a mad man when she actually poured the milk. So I decided to suck it up, do what I had to do and put milk in my cereal.
It was effing disgusting! How can anyone enjoy this? It transformed my normally crunchy, tasty cereal into cold, wet, chewy, tasteless slop. I'm pushing HEAVILY for waffles for breakfast tomorrow, because i don't know if I can eat that crap again. ;) A dad's gotta do what a dad's gotta do. You know I'll do anything for my kid(s), but I never thought it'd be this. LOL
Anyway, what cereal do you guys eat? Is there anything that keeps it's flavor and crunch in milk? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Happy 2nd Birthday Benjamin!!!
Benjamin was born 9/15/09 at 4:33:AM. He was 7lbs 7oz & 20 1/4 inches long. Now he's about 29/30 lbs and 36 inches tall. He's walking & talking and is cuter and happier than I could ever have imagined. Here is the link to the recap of year one. And without further ado, year 2:
October 2010 - 13 Months - Ben was Woody (Toy Story) for Halloween and we went pumpkin picking.
November 2010 - 14 Months - We took a trip to NY. Ben met a shark, attended his first Christening and took lots of trips to Disney World.
December 2010 - 15 Months - Ben enjoyed Christmas and Chanukah.
January 2011 - 16 Months - HAPPY NEW YEAR & Playoff time! J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS
February 2011 - 17 Months - FORE!!!
March 2011 - 18 Months - Touchdown! Football season is over...I SAID TOUCHDOWN
April 2011 - 19 Months - Finger painting and feeling sick. :(
May 2011 - 20 Months - Watching the Royal Wedding with mommy.
June 2011 - 21 Months - Daddy's birthday
July 2011 - 22 Months - Happy 4th of July. Vacation in Ft. Lauderdale.
August 2011 - 23 Months - Let's Roll. Riding my bike is serious business.
September 2011 - 2 years! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
October 2010 - 13 Months - Ben was Woody (Toy Story) for Halloween and we went pumpkin picking.
January 2011 - 16 Months - HAPPY NEW YEAR & Playoff time! J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Ben Speaks
Since I haven't posted in a while, those of you that don't see Ben too often have really fallen behind in your Ben coverage. The last you saw of him, he was laughing like a hyena and running to the door screaming when Mommy got home from work. So this post will serve as a Ben to English dictionary.
His vocabulary has grown a lot recently. Some words are clear as day, some not quite as clear, but you can figure it out. Then there is a last group I'll call The NFC (No Effing Clue) Group.There are a bunch of words in this group, such as "Do-doo-waaa, seeeet, babablabadababadada" There are full sentences in this group too.
Anyway, here is a breakdown of some of his best words. (in random order)
Dada! (Random order after this one that is! HA HA HA Dada #1 Dada rules!!!)
Mama
Baa-ba - Poppy (Allison's Dad)
Gwee-Weee - Grammy (Allison's Mom)
Choo-Choo - Choo-Choo trains
Pease - Please
Don-woo - Thank You
Hi
NO
Yeah
COOKIE
Mealk - Milk
Jews - Juice
Cheese
Hot
Pool
Shoes
Ball
MOOOOOO - What a cow says.
Woof woof - What a dog says.
HSSSSSSSSSS - What a snake says
Meow - What a cat says
ROOOAR - What a lion says
Melmo - Elmo
Doooouwg - Dog
Cat
Nigh Nite - Night night
Yellow
Geen - Green
Reed - Red
Whie - White
Bwack - Black
Dawone - That one
Theeeseone - This one
plane
heli-babter - helicopter
Tiger
Wow
Woody
Buzz Lightyear
Wow, that's a lot of words and he knows a lot more than that, I just can't list them all here.
He's also been learning sign language. Here are a few of the signs he knows.
This last one is more of a body language signal. The red face is a dead give away. The definition is below, but it also means RUN!!! RUN and let someone else do it.
His vocabulary has grown a lot recently. Some words are clear as day, some not quite as clear, but you can figure it out. Then there is a last group I'll call The NFC (No Effing Clue) Group.There are a bunch of words in this group, such as "Do-doo-waaa, seeeet, babablabadababadada" There are full sentences in this group too.
Anyway, here is a breakdown of some of his best words. (in random order)
Dada! (Random order after this one that is! HA HA HA Dada #1 Dada rules!!!)
Mama
Baa-ba - Poppy (Allison's Dad)
Gwee-Weee - Grammy (Allison's Mom)
Choo-Choo - Choo-Choo trains
Pease - Please
Don-woo - Thank You
Hi
NO
Yeah
COOKIE
Mealk - Milk
Jews - Juice
Cheese
Hot
Pool
Shoes
Ball
MOOOOOO - What a cow says.
Woof woof - What a dog says.
HSSSSSSSSSS - What a snake says
Meow - What a cat says
ROOOAR - What a lion says
Melmo - Elmo
Doooouwg - Dog
Cat
Nigh Nite - Night night
Yellow
Geen - Green
Reed - Red
Whie - White
Bwack - Black
Dawone - That one
Theeeseone - This one
plane
heli-babter - helicopter
Tiger
Wow
Woody
Buzz Lightyear
Wow, that's a lot of words and he knows a lot more than that, I just can't list them all here.
He's also been learning sign language. Here are a few of the signs he knows.
This last one is more of a body language signal. The red face is a dead give away. The definition is below, but it also means RUN!!! RUN and let someone else do it.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Happy Labor Day
WOW! Who knew? It's been a while since I posted anything. No big deal, nobody reads this anyway right? WRONG!
In the past few weeks, I've had friends, co-workers and neighbors ask me about the blog. So I guess it's time to bring it back. When I started the blog in April 2009, I was like Macaulay Culkin in Uncle Buck. I had tons of questions and thoughts. I just needed a place to get them out of my head.
I didn't know anybody would read it. I didn't realize it would inspire people who were thinking about children, but needed that extra push. I didn't know other parent bloggers would read it and share war stories. I didn't even know I was a dad blogger, but I guess I am (don't worry, I don't plan on doing any stupid product reviews.)
I figured I have a new baby girl on the way, so I should do something new on the blog. Without being annoying, I'll post about Allison & I, Ben and Abigail. It'll be mostly about the kids. So here we go. Time for some new posts.
Let's start with a Labor Day weekend post. It started out pretty rough, but got better as it went along. I hope tomorrow will be the best day, but seeing as the agenda includes food shopping and house cleaning, it doesn't look promising.
Ben woke up with a temperature on Friday. Allison took care of him and he did well until nap time. After nap time he woke up with a worse temp and a stuffy nose. He cried until he puked, but good news, Allison caught it all, well most of it in a tissue box. LOL
I stopped off to get cold medicine and ice pops, then rushed home to tag in for Allison. I got Ben to stop crying and chill for a bit, but then something strange happened with is face. It looked like his tongue swelled and he couldn't close his mouth.
We called the doctor and got the answering service. The doctor closed early for the holiday and they are closed all weekend. You know, because nobody gets sick over a holiday weekend. Why would anyone want to actually see the doctor? (that's a topic for another post) They said if you don't get a callback in 25 minutes to call again.
25 minutes? GTF out of here. If I don't get a callback in 25 minutes I'm getting a new doctor. I changed from my work clothes into shorts and 2 minutes later I was ready to go to the Urgent Care Center. I said "let's go."
Allison said "you don't want to wait for the callback, do you?"
I responded "absolutely not. I'm a little upset we're not out the door right now"
We hit the road, but I couldn't help but play fight scene from Independence Day in my head "...this isn't happening fast enough, get them outta there..." We were pulling into the parking lot of the urgent care center when the nurse called us and said Ben should be seen immediately.
He had swollen glands and a red throat. It wasn't strep. They said it was probably just a virus. Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, we already met our deductible, so $27 was all it cost. I wonder if my insurance would cover a haircut. Normally I just buzz my head myself, but for $1.20, if insurance covers it, I'll take that. I work for an insurance company, 'll see what I can do.
Saturday Ben was feeling a little better. I took my car to Honda for a $25 oil change. I left with the oil change, a new battery, new front brakes and a new AC fan motor. This is why I usually lease. No maintenance just gas. I hit 50,000 miles this week. 50K, I can't complain too much. The car has been very good to me. We went to Target, it smelled funny in the store. Like a fire or something. We shopped then left, the store was surrounded by cop cars, ambulances and 3 fire trucks and a bunch of firemen in full gear. Target, where we care about our customers. Thanks for looking out for me and my family Target. There's a fire in the store, no need to evacuate.Take your time...buy some goods.
I went to the UCF game Saturday night. They won 62-0. It was a video game score. Very ugly game, but fun and great weather.
Today was a cloudy day. We played in the backyard in a kiddie pool and blew some bubbles, then we went to a BBQ/Pool party. I made my homemade mac-n-cheese. No leftovers. It must have been good. Allison made her special double stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Ben spent all but 15-20 minutes in the pool.He fell in love with a Lego boat & Lego cars.
The cutest thing Ben did today, he dipped potato chips into onion dip and feed them to Allison and I. I don't like a big dip. Dip is not the meal. The chip is the meal. Dip is an accessory. I'm a light dipper. I had about 3 years of dip today in about 5 chips. Thanks Ben.
Abigail -
It appears that Abigail has turned and is head down, facing the exit. She's kicking and moving around a lot in there. More than Ben did, but I gotta tell you, I didn't feel a thing either time. ;)
Have a good Labor Day...back to work on Tuesday.
In the past few weeks, I've had friends, co-workers and neighbors ask me about the blog. So I guess it's time to bring it back. When I started the blog in April 2009, I was like Macaulay Culkin in Uncle Buck. I had tons of questions and thoughts. I just needed a place to get them out of my head.
I didn't know anybody would read it. I didn't realize it would inspire people who were thinking about children, but needed that extra push. I didn't know other parent bloggers would read it and share war stories. I didn't even know I was a dad blogger, but I guess I am (don't worry, I don't plan on doing any stupid product reviews.)
I figured I have a new baby girl on the way, so I should do something new on the blog. Without being annoying, I'll post about Allison & I, Ben and Abigail. It'll be mostly about the kids. So here we go. Time for some new posts.
Let's start with a Labor Day weekend post. It started out pretty rough, but got better as it went along. I hope tomorrow will be the best day, but seeing as the agenda includes food shopping and house cleaning, it doesn't look promising.
Ben woke up with a temperature on Friday. Allison took care of him and he did well until nap time. After nap time he woke up with a worse temp and a stuffy nose. He cried until he puked, but good news, Allison caught it all, well most of it in a tissue box. LOL
I stopped off to get cold medicine and ice pops, then rushed home to tag in for Allison. I got Ben to stop crying and chill for a bit, but then something strange happened with is face. It looked like his tongue swelled and he couldn't close his mouth.
We called the doctor and got the answering service. The doctor closed early for the holiday and they are closed all weekend. You know, because nobody gets sick over a holiday weekend. Why would anyone want to actually see the doctor? (that's a topic for another post) They said if you don't get a callback in 25 minutes to call again.
25 minutes? GTF out of here. If I don't get a callback in 25 minutes I'm getting a new doctor. I changed from my work clothes into shorts and 2 minutes later I was ready to go to the Urgent Care Center. I said "let's go."
Allison said "you don't want to wait for the callback, do you?"
I responded "absolutely not. I'm a little upset we're not out the door right now"
We hit the road, but I couldn't help but play fight scene from Independence Day in my head "...this isn't happening fast enough, get them outta there..." We were pulling into the parking lot of the urgent care center when the nurse called us and said Ben should be seen immediately.
He had swollen glands and a red throat. It wasn't strep. They said it was probably just a virus. Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, we already met our deductible, so $27 was all it cost. I wonder if my insurance would cover a haircut. Normally I just buzz my head myself, but for $1.20, if insurance covers it, I'll take that. I work for an insurance company, 'll see what I can do.
Saturday Ben was feeling a little better. I took my car to Honda for a $25 oil change. I left with the oil change, a new battery, new front brakes and a new AC fan motor. This is why I usually lease. No maintenance just gas. I hit 50,000 miles this week. 50K, I can't complain too much. The car has been very good to me. We went to Target, it smelled funny in the store. Like a fire or something. We shopped then left, the store was surrounded by cop cars, ambulances and 3 fire trucks and a bunch of firemen in full gear. Target, where we care about our customers. Thanks for looking out for me and my family Target. There's a fire in the store, no need to evacuate.Take your time...buy some goods.
I went to the UCF game Saturday night. They won 62-0. It was a video game score. Very ugly game, but fun and great weather.
Today was a cloudy day. We played in the backyard in a kiddie pool and blew some bubbles, then we went to a BBQ/Pool party. I made my homemade mac-n-cheese. No leftovers. It must have been good. Allison made her special double stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Ben spent all but 15-20 minutes in the pool.He fell in love with a Lego boat & Lego cars.
The cutest thing Ben did today, he dipped potato chips into onion dip and feed them to Allison and I. I don't like a big dip. Dip is not the meal. The chip is the meal. Dip is an accessory. I'm a light dipper. I had about 3 years of dip today in about 5 chips. Thanks Ben.
Abigail -
It appears that Abigail has turned and is head down, facing the exit. She's kicking and moving around a lot in there. More than Ben did, but I gotta tell you, I didn't feel a thing either time. ;)
Have a good Labor Day...back to work on Tuesday.
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