148. Fatherhood Friday - Eating is so easy...

Can someone please explain this to me...We go about our nightly dinner routine by giving our little girl a bottle which she happily chugs. After that it's time for solids. We get her all strapped into the high chair, get the food ready (last night it was broccoli, turkey, & cheese), and put a little whole milk into her sippy cup (we're easing the whole milk in slowly and as peacefully as possible).

For the dinner, the turkey she likes, that goes pretty well and cheese she loves. She even feeds herself some, so that's good. She drinks her milk, which she liked a little more than she did yesterday. But we hit a wall at the broccoli. She takes a couple of bites, but then throws a fit and refuses anymore. We tried to do the right thing and not pressure her to eat more than she wants because the last thing we need is some sort of food anxiety on our hands.

Once she throws a fit, she's done she won't eat anything else. So my wife and I finish our dinner while she plays happily with the crumbs. When we're done I take her out of the high chair to clean her up, and just for giggles I give her a little taste of the broccoli...Now, she loves it and I can't give it to her fast enough...She ate all of it.

It was a bizarre little event that I cannot explain. We thought she was exercising her right to choose foods she likes by refusing the broccoli, but it appears she actually like it.

I'm baffled, every day with this beautiful little girl presents a new mystery of life. I try to take notes, but no matter how prepared I think I am to see that fast ball on the outside corner, I wind up seeing a curve down and in for a strike.

Don't forget to check out more Fatherhood Friday posts over at Dad-Blogs!

149. The Geese are back, it must be Spring...

Spring is in the air. As I type this it's 70 degrees outside, the sun is shining, and the daffodils are popping up out of the ground.

What does Spring have in store for us? Well, we'll finally be able to get back outside. Our little girl was born in May so we had a fantastic first 5 months of her life wandering outside and taking little adventures that kept us wrapped in fresh air and sunshine. And then, Winter came and we locked up the windows, packed away all the short sleeves, and huddled up waiting for our chance to get that stroller rolling again.

As part of my rather ineffective New Year's resolution to lose weight, I signed up to run the annual Philadelphia Broad St. Run...In cold weather, this 10 mile exercise in disaster has forced be back on the treadmill. Now that it's finally warmer I can run outside. Sure I could have been like a few of my neighbors jogging down the road with 10 inches of snow on the ground, but I'm just not that dedicated.

The race is in May and I am on pace to be sufficiently prepared for the 10 mile trip...At least I hope so. I ran almost 6 miles this past Tuesday and felt pretty good. I could have done more but I crossed paths with my wife and daughter who were walking around town enjoying the sun and I just had to stop to be with them. I ran almost 4 miles yesterday and was just a bit sore, but still felt good. So with a little more than a month to go things are looking pretty good.

Between now and then, staying motivated to run will be my toughest challenge...Warmer weather means fun outside with the family, time on the water with a fishing rod, and some work to be done out in the yard. We'll see how it goes...

What the!?!? It's 2010...Where have I been?

I tried, I mean I really tried. Last December, I sat in front of this very computer screen and I promised myself that I would get back to business on this blog. And what did I do? I let the blog wither like the forgotten houseplant in the corner of the living room no one every remembers to water.

Fortunately, I think we can save it. I think there is a little bit of green left in this blog to make a returned effort to bring it back to life. My daughter is now 10 months old and in those 10 months I have learned a lot.

Things Like:

1. Don't go un-diapered unless you are fully prepared to face the consequences.
2. What the baby eats today can easily become ammo tomorrow.
3. Sleep is a good thing, perhaps the best of things, and no good thing ever dies...It just gets a little shorter.

One of the most interesting things I've learned as a parent is that any bad thing that involves children in the news suddenly hits me much harder. I put myself in the shoes of those parents and I can't bear the weight of their stories. I think of my little girl and I just want to protect her from everything.

Trouble is, I'm no superman and I know she'll have to experience life and learn some hard lessons on her own, but with every tear or problem she comes at me with I want to be able to put on a cape and save the day.

In 10 months I've learned a lot, but in 10 years I'll learn much, much, more about who I am, who she is, and where I fit in all of the adventures we're bound to have.

So I am making a new promise. There are 294 days left in 2010 and I promise that for at least 150 of those days I will be posting. I've been away from the keyboard too long. Maybe, someone will start reading this again, but if not it's cool. I'm doing it for me...Come a long for the ride if you wish, there's still some room on the bus.