Month: April 2007

favorite new quote

A man can do as he wills, but not will as he wills. — Arthur Schopenhauer

This is not a quote I could have sufficiently understood as a youth, and perhaps not even into my twenties. Even now into my thirties, like much of Arthur’s philosophy, it is not something I am willing to embrace. But I do realize that many of my objections to his philosphy were pure vanity.

Daddy care report

Kayla is picking up words so quickly that we no longer try to keep track. At 15 months, we could rattle off a list of words she knew. Now, at 20 months we’re only amused by the 2-3 new words she uses each day.

Two days ago I walked into the room with two tangeranes and an orange. I peeled a tangerine and offered Kayla a slice. “No, BIG orange!”, she demanded. She’s been really fond of superlatives lately, with big getting the majority of the attention. I called to Jen, “I think Kayla has a new favorite superlative.” Her response, “Yes, but it should be no surprise. We are in Texas after all.”

Yesterday Jen left for Huntsville on business, so I’ve been keeping the merry little tribe cared for. Kayla and I get along well by ourselves, but with Lucas here the bar was raised. He’s used to breastfeeding and so a few adjustments were required. The little man is not just strong of body (which still surprises us) but also a bit head-strong too.

Our initial feeding after mommy left went surprising well, but the second didn’t. Which led me to a modified version of an old corollary, “you can feed Lucas a bottle but you can’t make him drink.” After a fairly dismal attempt, I decided we’d give up and wait until the next feeding. At the next feeding we ate like a champ. And for our final feeding, once again dismal.

But daddy didn’t bother battling Lucas’ will. Lucas went to sleep hungry, in our room so I could hear him when he woke up hungry. Sure enough, at 4:00am we had a great feeding. Today has been more of the same. The morning feeding was dismal, but he ate really well at the next one. And now it’s that glorious time of the day when both babies are sleeping and daddy gets time to work. 🙂

Family dinner for four

Tonight all four of us ate dinner together for the first time. Lucas joined us for some real food – bananas. He’s interested in food – very interested if you can judge by these signs: excited breathing, reaching for the spoon, and grabbing whatever he gets, wide open mouth and a bit of drooling. Once food is in his mouth, he’s not so sure what to do with it. ‘Food Eating 101’ here we go.