21 november 2007

callia,

two years have come and gone faster than i could have ever imagined. happy birthday to you.

there's so much i want to say but i don't really know where to begin.

well... how about --- you're freakin' crazy. out of everything, this has got to be my favorite. i love to watch you grab life by the balls and just go-go-go. it must be some trust thing you have for your mama and me but you don't give a damn and somehow know we'll be there to catch you. you do what you want-when you want-how you want and it's hilarious to watch. i promise i do all i can to make sure you never lose this.

not only are you a complete nut, you are absolutely the sweetest thing. people love being around you and i know you occupy a special place in many hearts.

i'm not gonna lie and say that things have always been a bowl of chubby hubby, in fact it's been a bowl of soggy dog crap a couple of times, but never have i not loved my life in the last two years. not to get all sappy-pappy but you get me out of bed each morning. i know that no matter how shitty the day's been i can go home to you and-the clouds part-and-the rain stops-and-your halo shines bright-and-birds sing-and you get the point. i can crawl around on the floor with you and nothing else matters. i couldn't thank you enough for that.

you're a special little girl calli. i can't wait to see what you do next.

i love you and will always be here for you.

happy birthday callia.

love,
daddy

birthday party 2.0: done

well, the second birthday party has come and gone and from the responses i received, i have to say it seemed to be a success.

we went with a dance party theme. no particular era just dance in general.

we through up a slew of gaudy metallic decorations, plugged in couple of colored lights and a strobe, put out a dance floor and compiled the best dance mix from the last 4 decades you've ever heard. we hit the brick house, dropped it like it was hot and definitely brought sexy back. the kids seemed to have a pretty good time. there wasn't much dancing, sadly, but what could we have expected with a bunch of 2 year old kids? plus , i left out all of calli's toys and that was obviously a mistake.

i'm afraid this theme will be hard to top but we do have a year to try and out do ourselves. between now and then, i have to figure out how to get a trapeze, shark tank and that really cool ball-cage-thingy the guy on the motorcycle rides around in in my living room.

any suggestions?

typical motherly response

after calling my wife a sap from getting so emotional over an old post she read by dooce, she sent me this response and i love it.

i know... it's like this strange weepy over-emotional person has taken over my body when i wasn't looking. i wasn't ever like this before calli came into the world. i can hardly listen to country music at all anymore... i've gone haywire.

freakin' kids man... they make you crazy.

poop and sleepless nights: the two guarantees of parenthood

1am conversation between my wife, my daughter and me in our bed.

c: "water-water-water-water."
scream
c: "water-water-water-water."
scream
w: "calli... baby... shhhh
m: "why is she screaming?"
w: "she wants water."
m: "i'll get it."
c: "water-water-water-water."
w: "it's ok baby, daddy's getting you water."

all the way downstairs in the kitchen i hear her. again, it's 1am.

scream

w: "shhhhhhh..."
m: "here calli. here's your water."
c: "milk-milk-milk-milk."
scream

a quick plug

we live in austin, texas for those who may not know. also for those who may not know, live music is a big thing here. so big in fact, some call the town "the live music capitol of the world". don't really know if that's true but a night doesn't go by where you couldn't catch at least a dozen worth while bands playing somewhere in town. anyway, it's an aspect of the city we really love. especially in regards to raising our daughter. it seems that every weekend you have the opportunity to put your kids in front of some great live music. i know in the town where i grew up this wouldn't be an option so i feel lucky that calli has a chance to experience this.

we're quickly approaching calli's 2nd birthday and this year we are going with a dance party theme. it's turning out to be quite an undertaking but i think it'll be really cute and fun in the end. which brings me to my point about the live music.

i was working on the play list for the party last night --the usual suspects, you know snoop, gwen, jt...-- and i was adding some children's music when i realized how lucky we, as austinites, are to have someone like joe mcdermott living and playing in our town on a regular basis. he's this great musician with punk roots who the kids absolutely adore. you need to go and down load all his music and try your damnedest to get to austin to check him out. your kids will love forever for it. plus, we all know how much we could use a break from the backyardigans and the likes.