Showing posts with label Rich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rich. Show all posts

Sunday, August 25, 2013

"We're home! We did it!"

Rich didn’t sleep before church. The sadder part is that he was in his crib for “nap time” for almost two hours before we finally took him out and fed him lunch. We just kept thinking, “Maybe he’ll fall asleep soon and get some kind of nap, however short.” So lunch it was. And then rush to church it was.

This morning at home and then again during sacrament meeting, Rich asked for “nursery.” I kept telling him nursery was later. On our way down the hall to nursery, he said it again. “Nursery.” He was very happy to be there.

On our way home, Rich and I talked for a bit. I figured I’d say some pretty complicated things to him so he would have to concentrate too hard and would consequently fall asleep. (Weird plan, I admit, but you just never know what will work.) But for the last few minutes of the ride, I said nothing. Neither of us did. On our way up the driveway, I caught a glance back at him. He was drifting, one eye closed, the other eye half-closed. As soon as we pulled into the garage, I looked back to see if he was close enough that he might go down for a nap. Just as I looked, I saw that one half-closed eye, and then those classic words escaped his mouth. Those words he says about one in three times when we return home from something. “We’re hoooooooome. We did iiiiit,” Rich said in an increasingly soft voice, drawing out the “o” and the “i” more than he normally does. As soon as he finished the word “it,” he was gone. His one eye closed all the way, and he rested at last.

I had to keep from laughing. The boy usually says, “We’re home! We did it!”, but this time it was like it was the last thing he needed to do before he could retire. I quietly removed him from his car seat and carried him upstairs for a comfortable nap in his cool bedroom (courtesy of the rainy weather).

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Rich's expectations for church

ME: Rich, we’re going to church. You’re going to go to nursery!
RICH: Nursery.
ME: Yeah, you’ll get to be with the other kids.
RICH: Gwan. (said like Grant)
ME: No, Grant’s not going to be there. But there will be all the other kids.
RICH: Kay.
ME: No, McKay’s not going to be there either. But the other kids will be there.

A minute later, I was getting Rich out of his car seat.

RICH: Kenna.
ME: No, McKenna’s not going to be at church, but you’ll get to be with all the other kids in nursery.

Also, this was Rich's first time running up to the stand during sacrament meeting. We spent the last ten minutes of the meeting in a nearby classroom.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Just two tired boys getting their weekend fill

Karen and I wanted to take Rich someplace where he could run around this morning. We picked the mall, which is huge, and we strolled around to a few shops briefly before heading to the mall's play area. ON OUR WAY TO THE PLAY AREA, Rich fell asleep. We were seriously 100 feet away (maybe yards, because it really is a massive mall) when we noticed his head was leaning to the side and his eyes were closed. Defeated in our attempts to let him have some play time, we went shopping instead. For him. Because that’s what good parents do when they take their son to the mall too close to nap time. We ended up finding some great shirts and shorts for him at Crazy 8, so it worked out for the best.

The goal was for me to study for FM the whole afternoon while Karen watched Rich. Karen got a grocery list ready after we got back from the mall while I let Rich sit in my lap and watch some Baby Einstein videos. And I fell asleep! For maybe 10 minutes, so it wasn’t a big deal, but when I woke up he was lounging against me, head resting on my chest, as he watched his show. I only really woke up because the episode ended and he said “uh-oh, uh-oh” over and over again. It was really nice having him lie there on me in the office chair in our bedroom. He was very quiet and he let me sleep (for the most part).

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

3% of 25 minutes is about 45 seconds—and that's being generous

While I was on my way home from work, Karen and Rich were on their way out of Target. They called me on the bus, and Rich soon wanted to chat with me. And—no joke—he talked to me for 25 minutes straight! I was exhausted by the end of it. Can you imagine holding a 25 minute conversation with a 21-month-old who can’t speak in sentences? He just jabbered and jabbered and jabbered. And he knew when I wasn’t paying attention because I’d go silent for a few seconds. He’d get me back in by yelling “Daddy? Daddy?” and I’d ask him more questions and then he’d just jabber some more. Longest conversation I’ve had with any one person in a while and I understood about 3% of it. Rich loves to practice talking. He is so much fun.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

The cousins plan their escape

I was the only one downstairs with Rich and Grant for a few minutes this afternoon. At one point I watched them go to the entry way doors, stand on their toes, and try the locks on the knobs. Grant tried the front door and Rich tried the door to the garage, which are right next to each other. After a little while, Grant stopped trying the front door and looked over at Rich. He took a few small steps toward him.

GRANT: Hey.

Rich, on his toes, turned to look at Grant. He got down from his toes. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Rich backed away from the door and Grant stepped in to give it a try. Grant tried that lock too. Then they both walked away and on to other things.

Is there some unspoken understanding they have between each other?

Friday, May 3, 2013

The insanity of moving during finals week

It rarely becomes so difficult to write in my journal that I miss a day. But I’ve missed the last two days! Let me see if I can explain why.

Tuesday morning, I got to the Animal Science building on campus around 8:30 am so that I could study before grading finals. Grading finals went from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm. At that time I left the grading crew so that I could go home and help load the moving van. When I was about to leave, I turned around and smiled at everyone. They wished me luck on my internship and said goodbye. The last thing Dave said to me: “Don’t get hired!” One of the best compliments ever.

I gathered some things around the house while Karen and her mom and Rich went to Little Caesar’s to get some pizzas for the movers. Around 6:45, members of the ward started showing up to help. I thought it would go really fast, but the 14-foot truck was a tighter fit for everything than I initially thought. After putting things in and taking them out and adjusting how things fit together, we had it all ready to go around 9:00 or 9:30. The plan was to keep the mattresses in the apartment so we could sleep for the night, but that seemed like less and less of a good idea, so we grabbed a hotel in town.

By the time we were situated and Rich was in bed, it was about 11:00 pm. I studied for my finals until about 11:50 pm, at which point I went to bed. But Rich cried all night! So I got about three hours of sleep. And wouldn’t you know it—we looked out the window Wednesday morning to find thick snow coming down! Karen took me to campus and I, somehow with enough energy to be there, took my two finals. Karen’s mom picked me up from campus so we could check out of our hotel and then check out of our apartment and then hit the road.

We stopped in Ontario for the night, which was great. Unfortunately, Rich refused to sleep unless he was on top of me, so I held him until about 7:00 am, at which point he noticed he was near his mom as well, so he was okay with sleeping between us (not what he normally does). We hit the road again this morning and finally arrived in Portland around 6:00 pm. We are relieved.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Late night snacking never hurt anybody

Last night, Rich went to bed around his normal time, maybe a little earlier, but he didn’t go to sleep. We heard him talking for maybe an hour, maybe a little less. Finally, Karen suggested I take a drink in to him. It was water because we already brushed his teeth. He was happy to see me and we chatted in whispers while he sat in his crib in the dark. But then Karen suggested he might be hungry since we had a really early dinner, so I brought him in a blueberry Eggo waffle and we chatted some more. Uncharacteristically, he ate the entire thing. So I heated up another waffle and Karen and I joined him together. He ate the entire second waffle as well. He chatted in whispers with us and was very happy to see us. After some water and two waffles, the kid was out. Just another job well done in the world of parenting.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Not old news to Rich, apparently

Karen and I ate dinner before Rich came home from his cousins' house tonight, but we sat with him while he ate before shower time. As Karen fed him some quinoa mixed with beans and corn, Rich and I exchanged his toy phone (one of my old cell phones) in conversations here and there. Here was one such “phone call” that I answered and passed on to him.

ME: (on the "phone") Hello?...Yeah....I see....Well I don’t—...Yeah, I think that’s old news though....I don’t know....I guess, but he might not want to hear it....Okay, well you’re welcome to try.

I handed the phone to Rich and quietly said to him, “It’s for you.” He took the phone and put it to his ear.

RICH: Hello?...Yeah....Yeah....Oh?...That’s awesome!...Oh....Bye.

Karen and I laughed. It was one of those perfect moments we wish we had on video.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

It's like they're singing

Here’s a voicemail I saved on my phone a few weeks ago. It is one of three messages Karen and Rich left for me, but I didn’t know my phone deleted things so quickly and so I wasn’t able to capture the other two in written form. At least I have the one.

KAREN: Hi, Daddy!
RICH: Hi, Da.
KAREN: Hi, Daddy! We know you’re in class, but we love you. Can you say that you love Daddy? Richie, say love you.
RICH: Bye.
KAREN: No no, we’re not leaving yet! Say, we love you Daddy and we can’t wait until you’re home. Can you say home?
RICH: Ho-eh.
KAREN: Okay. We’ll talk to you soon. Bye, Daddy!
RICH: (background) Da!
KAREN: Bye! Say bye?
RICH: (background) Bye!

It’s music. Truly. I cannot think of many things that make me feel more important or happier.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Give him his seeeel already

Rich is hilarious. Yesterday he started dancing all on his own using a dance move that to our knowledge was not taught him. He holds his hips and moves his arms back and forth, alternating between the two. Also, something funny happened tonight just before bed.

KAREN: Richie, do you want some juice?
RICH: No. Seeeel.
(pause)
RICH: Seeeel. Seeeel.
KAREN: (trying to figure it out) Oh, you want some cereal?

So we headed downstairs. Sure enough, he wanted cereal. “Seeeel” has been his word for cereal lately, but we didn’t understand him the first few times he said it tonight. Once he took his first piece of cereal and ate it:

RICH: Mmmmm!

We laughed. He obviously really wanted it.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The toddler speaks

Rich is picking up new words and phrases at a very rapid rate. Several times a day I ask him to say something and he gives it a try. Here’s an exchange that happened this afternoon.

ME: Richie, say Grant.
RICH: ...
ME: Richie, can you say Grant?
RICH: Ken.

I think that one went well. I asked him a few more times later and he said Ken again. Here’s another one, my personal favorite for the day. It happened in the car.

ME: Richie, we’re going to Cafe Rio to get some dinner.
RICH: ...
ME: Richie, say Cafe Rio.
RICH: ...
ME: Richie, can you say Cafe Rio?
(brief pause)
RICH: Yes.

After dinner I decided to head upstairs to use the bathroom before Rich’s shower. He still sat in his highchair, so I kissed Karen and then kissed Rich and headed up. But as I gave him a kiss on the head he said, “Hi!”, which cracked me up. He usually says “Bye” if anything, so it surprised me.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Ugly people and an explosion of glass

There is one day out of each year I can almost guarantee will end in an exchange of apologies between Karen and me. I never know the exact day, but I know it will happen by April 15. That day was today.

It began with a text from Chick-fil-A that I found on my phone this morning when I woke up. I thought it was McKay asking me to play a board game online, but it was really just a coupon for a free kid’s meal with the purchase of any regular meal, today only.

I take that back. It began some day this week, before today, when Karen and her mom packed up a bunch of our kitchen stuff for the move and left only the essentials in a few places in our cupboards. Wonderful idea and wonderful execution.

Fast forward. Rich went down for his nap this afternoon right around lunchtime and I immediately suggested to Karen we finally do our taxes. Taxes are ugly, and people who do taxes can be ugly to each other. For Karen and me, this is pretty much a given. It was a frustrating and altogether labyrinth of a mind game played by the U.S. government today to basically try and steal away all happiness and sanity from our lives. It’s survival of the fittest and a constant reminder that Karen and I are barely “fit” every year. (But we survive!)

Rest assured—apologies were exchanged (see above; you knew this would happen) and Richie woke up and brightened our spirits a bit. But the tension in our home wasn’t completely vanquished. Karen suggested I make some pasta for Richie for lunch, to which I reluctantly agreed (because I wanted something else to eat, but whatever). Time came for the colander to play its role, so I quickly removed it from the cupboard where it was stored. A bit too quickly, it turned out, because sitting in the colander was a glass mixing bowl that normally wasn’t there (remember the packing?) and that happened to be difficult to see (go figure—it’s glass). Out came the colander, and out of the colander came the glass bowl, and the bowl said hello to the floor, and we said goodbye to the bowl. Shards of glass everywhere. Pretty much an explosion.

The tension, I think, climaxed and our day progressed and we behaved better. More [sincere] apologies exchanged and everything returned to normal. It’s sad that the loss of a glass mixing bowl has to bring us back together as a family, but I think we can all agree that bowl fulfilled the extent of its existence. In all its mixing I suppose we never thought it would heal our tax woes. But so it is.

Oh, and that Chick-fil-A coupon must have been inspired. Karen didn’t want any food, but Rich and I grabbed a regular meal and a kid’s meal and had a great lunch. Thanks, Chick-fil-A.

Monday, February 25, 2013

My fans wait for me outside the bathroom

I had to be present for proctoring and grading for the Math 1050 exam today, which always means spending a lot of time on campus. Since I knew it was unlikely I would make it home in time for Rich’s bedtime, I left campus after my last class (around 11:30) and came home to be with him when he woke up. We had lunch together, I cleaned some dishes, we played—it was a lot of fun to see him, and he was very excited to see me. In fact, he woke up from his nap and Karen brought him downstairs while I was in the bathroom, so I called out to him and said hello. Then he talked to me through the bathroom door and waited for me to come out.

KAREN: Come on, Richie, let’s go upstairs and change your diaper.
RICH: ...
KAREN: We’ll come right back down and be with Daddy.
RICH: ...
KAREN: (to me) Honey, he’s just waiting at the door for you to come out. He’s not going to come with me.

Rich is easily my #1 fan, and I love it.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

My son's first time in nursery

Rich’s first time in nursery was a complete success! When I opened the door to the classroom where nursery is held, I saw Sister Hansen sitting on the floor, playing with a toddler or two. In the corners were two other individuals tending to a few other kids.

ME: So Rich just turned 18 months old, and we’ve never done this before. How does this work?

SIS. HANSEN: You just leave him here with us...and we go from there!

ME: How often should I check on him?

SIS. HANSEN: Oh, you can check on him whenever. If we need anything, we’ll come find you. Where will you be?

ME: In priesthood right now. In elders quorum.

Now you need to know something. As soon as the door opened and he saw the other kids, Rich just lit up. About halfway through my conversation with Sister Hansen, Rich wanted down from my arms. When I did let him down—again, in the middle of our brief conversation—he walked right up to Sister Hansen and started talking to her. The rest was history.

Until I stopped in between priesthood and Sunday school to check on him. Sister Hansen was in the hallway, so I asked her how Rich was doing.

SIS. HANSEN: Great! He loves it. He just talks and talks and talks!

ME: Haha, yeah he loves kids and he’s a chatterbox.

When the Sunday school hour was up, I went to the nursery to “pick him up” so to speak. When the door opened, I saw him sitting in a little chair at a table against the wall, eating some snacks and having a good time. A few seconds later, he looked over his shoulder and saw me in the doorway, two other parents in front of me. When he made eye contact with me, he smiled that wonderful Richie smile and then went back to eating his snack. I made my way in and grabbed him. He was so happy and had so very much fun. Sister Hansen said he was great and there were no problems.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Richie's personal nightlight

Rich refused to give up a certain flashlight tonight, so we let him keep it when we said goodnight and left his room. Over and over, he turned it on and off. On the monitor, we could hear him pressing the button for a very long time. Eventually, when it had stopped for a while, I went into his room to check on him. He was asleep on his blanket with the flashlight pointing toward his stomach, held loose by a hand that lay under his side. It was so hilarious. It was easy to tell that right before he fell asleep, he turned on the flashlight one last time. I carefully pulled it away from him, turned it off, and covered him with two blankets.

POST: I have an actuarial internship!! More on that later.

Monday, December 31, 2012

The saddest sound I ever heard

We were in the car on the way to see the doctor this morning when we heard Rich in the back seat, in the raspiest voice there ever was, begin to cry. I honestly can’t imagine anything sounding sadder to me. It was like a light moan, and you could tell it was all he could get to escape his mouth. Immediately, Karen and I looked at each other and felt so sorry for him. I asked Karen to get out and sit in the back with him. She did, and she saw that he had tears streaming down his face. That poor boy has been through a lot this past week. Good news is that he got a shot for his croup at the doctor's office and he's doing better.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Of pioneers and pudding

We tried going on a walk this afternoon, Rich and I, but it didn’t last long. I about froze to death and lost some feeling in my legs and feet. We discovered most of the sidewalks are not very traversable and had to walk the street a few times. I headed down a particular block not far from the apartment and decided halfway down the block that we should just go home because it was so bitter cold. Every time I looked at him in his crazy-poofy coat, he had a serious face and he looked forward—you know, that determined pioneer look. But when he would see me, I’d smile and he’d smile. (Every time we bundle him up, he looks like Randy from A Christmas Story, by the way. It usually frustrates him, but then he accepts it when he gets outside and feels the cold.)

He tried pudding today. Not sure if it’s his first time, but probably. Anyway, he LOVED it. As with most new things, he began with a look of disgust when it hit his mouth, but this quickly turned into grunting (meaning, "I want more!"). Gobbled it all up in a heartbeat. He loved it so much that when Karen ate some later, he wanted down from my arms so that he could walk to his mom and get more.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Rich, I promise this isn't a typical Christmas

Some prayers are answered, some are not.

Correction. Some prayers are answered with a yes, some prayers are answered with a no (and some with a not yet; this is something my neighbor Heidi taught me years ago). Christmas Eve, I pleaded that Rich would fall asleep and stay asleep, but that didn’t happen. He woke up constantly. When I came out of the bedroom Christmas morning, I think I relearned the above lesson about prayer. I have had so many prayers answered with a yes lately (see my journal entries from this entire year of school) that it was strange to me that Heavenly Father wouldn’t give us a miracle Christmas Eve. Christmas afternoon, when I rocked Rich in the rocking chair to encourage him to sleep, I fell asleep as well. I woke up with my head bowed in the rocking chair, this little body asleep on me as well. I gently laid him in his crib and, half-asleep, went to bed myself. On the way there, I said a quick, jumbled, weary prayer asking that Rich sleep long and hard if that’s what he needed. I woke up at 2:45, I think, which gave me about two and a half hours of sleep. According to Karen, Rich slept for four hours! So yes, some prayers are answered differently than others.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Conversations with a 16-month-old

Brock and Erin and the kids came over after church to see us and Richie. Violet is pretty independent, so she didn’t exactly take to Rich and play with him right away, but all the kids ended up playing together and having a good time. Rich LOVES to talk, so he gave Brock and Erin an earful of information that no one understood, but we all loved it.

The same thing happened at Logan and Amy’s for dinner. He especially loved Austin for some reason, so he walked around Austin for a little while and talked his ear off. He paced back and forth and explained whatever was on his mind. Austin loved it and nodded and smiled big and everything. Other than that, Richie just explored all he could while Jonas followed him around and told him what he couldn’t touch. In fact, Jonas was so sweet to Richie. I think Rich is to Jonas the little brother he doesn’t have.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

It's the toddler in him

I think we thought waking up Rich an hour earlier than he normally gets up would encourage him to sleep on the flight to Fresno, but that’s not exactly what happened. Rich handled the drive to the airport really well (er, as well as can be expected) and even everything up to boarding the plane. But while on the plane, there was just too much to look at. About halfway through the flight, he was done. He wanted to move around and couldn’t, and he wanted to touch everything to the fullest extent and couldn't. We thought he was stinky at one point, so I took him to the bathroom and tried to change him, but there certainly was not enough room in there to change a baby’s diaper. I went back to Karen and exchanged the diaper stuff for his blanket, and then Rich and I headed back into the bathroom. I held him in that crazy tight space and bounced and soothed him as best I could. It wasn’t even a minute, I think, before he fell asleep, pacifier in mouth. We headed back to our seat and I held him. And we slept.

Almost the entire remainder of the flight. He woke up about 18 minutes before landing and wanted to resume opening and shutting his mom’s window shade, which was about the only thing that could keep him occupied for an extended period of time. It was a successful trip.