Forced Marches

I'm often taken on forced marches. Sometimes I've even had to pull Alice along. Not today though. Even though I have to struggle through all the fresh air, the chirping birds, the frolicking plotting squirrels and the oppressive gently falling snow. Pure torture. But I survived. Barely.

The things that we do for the ones we love.

Chkum!

Back when Alice was younger, like a couple of months ago, she started to parrot what we would say. That in itself is dangerous as I started to hear my bad words repeated. Oops. But one word had us confused: "Chkum!" She'd repeat it a lot. She loved saying that word and we had no idea where she picked it up. She didn't seem to associate it with any toys, books, rooms, or people. We had just figured that she liked the way that it sounded and we'd never figure it out.

One day as I carried Alice to a different room Laura called out and told me that she had figured out where she learned the sound from. "It's from you!" she cried. "From me? When"? "Just now. You're making the sound when you carry her."

To give you background, it's not fun to just walk when you're holding a baby. You have to make it fun and interesting, at least for yourself. So, like most times in life when I want to entertain myself, I pretend that I'm a robot. Robots are heavy and when they walk they clearly make a chkum! sound each step. This is a perfectly normal thing to do, everyone at the RSG agrees.

So if you find your child making awesome robot sounds, look to an awesome influence, or awesomence as I like to call it, as the source of the sound. Now you'll have to excuse me, I must go for a walk. Chkum chkum chkum ...

Update: Laura pointed out that while I was saying "chkum", Alice was saying "thukum". Totally different.

The voices in my head

Some things you hear so often when growing up they become ingrained so deeply that you can't turn them off. For instance, when someone says "I did good!" I cringe. Now, my spelling and grammar is horrible, but I was corrected by my mom so many times I hear her in her correcting voice saying "I did well!". I sort of want to shake whoever said it wrong until they say it right. But I don't. Most of the time...

The other thing is when it's winter, which is like 6 months of the year here, I always wear gloves or mitts. Even when it's too warm to wear them and your hands just end up sweaty and uncomfortable. Why do I do this? Because of my mom - it's always my mom. She would say something like "Put on your gloves in case you fall. Then at least your hands won't get cut up (on the ice)". I remember as a kid thinking this was silly and not wearing my gloves. Of course I'd fall at some point and cut up my hands. Every time I'd wash my hands the sting would not just be from the soap, but from the "I told you so" that I'd get after being asked if I was wearing gloves. If there's a chance of ice outside, I wear gloves. At this point it feels like wearing a seat belt - you are increasingly uncomfortable when it's not there.

Is it weird that I hear my mom's voice in my head when these things happen? Probably but I'm not going to worry about that. I'm just going to continue to wander around in my mitts knowing that I've done well.

Pretend that you're doing fine

Some times I don't feel well. It might be a headache. It might be a cold. I might feel like I want to lie down, pull a blanket over my head and wait for it all to end. These happen. And not necessarily at the most convenient time. What happens when you're on vacation and you feel like crap? Fake it. Block it out of your memories and hope that the photos will tell a more pleasant lie. For instance, I was feeling horrible at times on our Peru / Ecuador trip. Laura even offered to take me to the hospital at one point. Let's just say that it wasn't good, and the altitude didn't help out either. But me looking like I'm about to bring up a lung doesn't add anything to a vacation, nor the pictures. That's not what **I** want to remember about my own vacation. So instead of saying "Say cheese" when Laura wanted to take a picture, she'd say "Look healthy!". It worked, somewhat.

Between photos I was doubled over and coughing my lungs out

This might be old news. I could have posted this a dozen times by now but I'm having a bit of a difficult time right now. But you wouldn't really know it from the pictures. ;-)

Camouflage for my not-so-inner child

After years of having adults asking "Are you here with your child?" and holding their kids closer when you say no, I finally can get into the cool things. Most people without kids don't know this, but the coolest parts of parks or museums usually have age restrictions. Sometimes I'm old enough and it's not for kids, sometimes I'll too old because it's geared for "shorter" people. Bah. But now I have a secret pass - I have my own short person! No more people slowly pulling out their phones and dialing 9-1 while their finger hovers over the last 1. No more disappointment because it would be "inappropriate" to go down the slide by myself. I can finally do it.

Me and my little person

To be honest it's not really held me back too much in the past. Carp eh museum or something like that. I think that's Latin for "seize the museum". Sometimes if you see a famous tug boat you just gotta get in the picture.

WE BOTH HAD HATS ON!

Other times when you have the chance to get a picture of yourself while inside a penguin enclosure you just gotta get it. That's just not something that happens to everyone. Aside: this is actually where a woman asked where my son... daughter... who are you with? comments come from. She really did pull her daughter closer to her. Looking at my crazy eyes in that picture, I can sort of understand.

I swear there were penguins... I was just under dressed for the occasion

The rumblings of trouble

Let's be up-front about this: Alice is the trouble. Or at least practicing at being some. Today she had her first tantrum, while at daycare. I'm not sure what it was like since she hasn't had a "tantrum" while at home, but she's certainly practicing at pushing our buttons. I didn't think that this stuff was supposed to start until she was two. Maybe she's gifted... at being trouble.

Her biggest thing that she likes to do it stare at us, and then throw food from her highchair. Or put it on the edge of the tray and oh-so-casually push it off, pausing long enough to give a proper "oh oh". She is good at emulating us too. The other day after she threw her stuff onto the floor, stared at me with a disapproving frowning face and slowly shook her head back and forth. Then she threw her head back and bellowed out a hearty laugh. She was mocking me. That's something I expect from Laura, but not the toddler.

This is clearly not a good sign for the future.

I tell myself that I'll be prepared for what will come. That I will be brave. But please understand if she throws beef tenderloin on the floor you'll be able to find me weeping and rocking in the running shower with clothes on. Again.