What used to be tedious is now immensely complex

Washing clothes. Doing the dishes. Paying bills. Taking a shower. Vacuuming. Sweeping. Mopping. Changing a light bulb. Every single one of these mundane tasks used to be something I didn't necessarily look forward to, but rather something I did on a regular basis with a minimum amount of grumbling on my part.

Now, however, something as simple as taking out the trash or cleaning the litter box needs to be planned for - like a precise military operation. At dawn I will flank the trash can and hightail it out back to the alley. I will rendezvous back in the dining room at 06.30 whereupon updated baby reconnaissance information will be reviewed and assessed. Time for another mission? Affirmative. Dishes at 12 o'clock. Scrape, rinse, stack, sort, wash, return.

Having a baby really does change the way you see the world.

I wouldn't change it for the world.

Nobody likes a poop hug...

It's hard to know when is, or is not a good time to hug Sonja. She is so cute and adorable I just want scoop her up and hug her all of the time. Usually, I can do this and Sonja doesn't seem to mind, but the other day my timing was a bit off and I gave her a squeeze and she gave me back a grunt and promptly filled up her pampers and then began to wail. Nobody likes a poop hug.

Sleeping Sonja and Sonja the Bunny

Nap Time

Bunny bath time

Hop hop hop...


: ) 

Papaphobia Haiku

Papaphobia
The ring and that pointy hat
Fear the Vatican

I have a problem

I have a problem. A video game system problem. This is not a new problem. I have had it for the past 25 years. I love video games. I love to play. I love to waste time doing nothing productive and lose myself in a digital world. I can recall playing my Atari 2600 system for hours on end, then Nintendo came along and super Nintendo and Playstation and playstation 2 and Xbox and now the newest member of the family Xbox 360.

I just can't help myself, every time the graphics are so much better, the games so much cooler. I have to have it. And now, with the blessing of my wife, I do. Although she may not have realized I would be so quick to pull the video game system trigger, she said yes and 40 minutes later I am at the store drooling over the latest in geek adventuring.

I really don't play as often as I used to, in fact I am down to one night a week (Thursdays) and just for a few hours at a time. It's my escape, my release and on an annual basis it's cheaper than golf.

Viva technology!

For Zufu

Since Sonja's grandpa (Zufu) is in China right now, I am trying to put up some pictures of Sonja every day so he will not get lonely...

I was considering putting up a little video clip of her screaming at the top of her lungs but figured that I would like grandpa to return from China...

The Richard Nixon profile

Sleepy face

The I am easily distracted by shiny things face

Come home soon and safely grandpa!

Barophobia Haiku

Pulling me towards Earth
Its mass based grip won't relent
Barophobia

Friends of Sonja IV

Lisa
Jason and Dad
Claire

 

Friends of Sonja III

Katie and Kathy
Todd and Katie
Janel and Tara

 

Sonja's First Polka

A strange Minnesota wedding tradition is the Polka. Every wedding I have ever been at has included a Polka of some variety and everytime it starts the crowd goes wild. Old and young pour onto the dance floor to twirl and spin themselves into a Bavarian trance brought about by beer and accordian music. I used to think it was the stupidest thing, but I now find that I have grown fond of the Polka and I am not really sure why. Who needs a good reason to Polka? Not me, and definitely not Sonja. Here is a short 40 second clip of her first polka (beer barrel style)

Friends of Sonja Part II

Sven

Mom and Lauree
Leah and Cory (the best reason to visit Iowa)

 

Friends of Sonja part I

Kip

Juli

 

Sonja vs. Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt

I hope that I am not the only parent sick and tired of celebrity kids. I happen to be a fan of Brad Pitt and think he is a fine actor (I have no opinion on Ms. Jolie), but the attention paid by the media to this couple's child makes me slightly ill. Not sure what it is that makes so nauseous.

I admit that I am not a big consumer of entertainment news. I don't read Variety. I don't watch E or Entertainment tonight. Personally, I like to separate my art from the artist. For example, I find Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson to be personally revolting, yet I enjoy some of their movies.

So, the fact that a child - even the child of a celeb - is considered fair fodder for the press to write about irks me to no end. Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt has done nothing worthy of publicity other than having famous parents. I am certain that Shiloh poops, pees, burps and eats just like Sonja. In fact I would go so far as to wager that my Sonja is a superior burper and would be willing to have them go neck in neck in a celeb baby vs non-celeb baby burp off.

Now that I have written this I just realized that perhaps my blog is nothing more than an attempt to put my child up as a sort of star. She is a star to me more important that a million Brads or Angelinas. Perhaps my acrid words are born out of envy, perhaps not.

Sonja's First Road Trip

Frank Zappa's not dead, he just smells funny...

She has enormous thumbs!

I know it's just the angle of the shot but it looks like my thumb is hers... She did really, really well on her trip to Iowa. In fact this picture is of her at breakfast the day we were heading back home... she looks a little road weary but all-in-all in good shape!

Mac Girl

Okay, so her daddy is a PC guy, but I am a Mac user wannabe. Just a cute onesie from my good friend Will.

Kitty for breakfast

I am pretending that I had kitty for breakfast... but there is no fooling Eleanor...

Ballet not Hula

Our good friend Heather's daughter shows us an example of her tremendous dancing prowess. Go Eleanor go!

More hair

So we still aren't sure who Sonja looks more like, Jenn or me... But we both agree that she has my hair style and Jenn's hair color 

Not everything in life is easy

Not everything in life is easy. Raising a baby, it turns out, is one of those things. Sonja must have a little runner gene in her because last night she was sleeping in fartlek fashion. That is to say, instead of a nice continuous sleeping pattern we had the more variable variant - 2.5 hours, 1.5 hours, 1 hour, .5 hours... I am certain that this means she is gearing up for some marathon sleeping sessions in the coming months. Training is never easy.

Sonja is actually at the doc's office right making sure everything is okay. We are scheduled to head down to Iowa for a wedding this weekend. Hope that goes okay.

My wife is a saint. She is with Sonja all day long and she is still alive when I come home. I am with Sonja for 5 hours at night and the sheer volume and intensity of our poor daughters crying is enough to bring me to my knees. Everyone one keeps telling us that it gets better. Right now the jury is out on this.

Don't get me wrong. I am head over heels in love with the little peanut. But trying to console an inconsolable child is heartbreaking. It's so hard to know she just ate, has a fresh diaper and yet still seems upset. The whole guess work of communication between parent and baby is not turning out to be my strong suit so far, but according to several resources I will get better at understanding what these wails and shrieks mean as time goes by. I was kind of hoping the wails and shrieks would subside as time went by, but that must just be the Pollyanna in me...

The Everlasting Hug

Sonja gave me a hug for an hour... it was awesome. It makes the hours of crying and screaming seem insignificant. More photos at the kodak site for those who care click here

Sonja

Short video clip of Sonja's first walk whereupon she met (dun dun dun daaa) The BuNnY

Rupophobia (fear of dirt) Haiku

It's said - God made dirt
And dirt doesn't hurt...yeah right!
Rupophobia

King of the Can Opener

All humility aside, I am the king of the can opener. I learned this technique from my dad who's running the camera.

Somniphobia haiku

Somniphobia
Goes with the territory
If you have a child

Daddy does my hair

I had to buy this onesie for Sonja. We really didn't need more outfits but I couldn't resist since she has the sticky uppy hair just like daddy does... hard to tell from the photo but she is also wearing a little barrett that daddy put in for her : ) 

Non-baby post

Apparently this is all the rage in France... called parkour???

Kind of a long video but it has stuck with me for a few days.

One more before bed

Okay, I was going to just download the images off of the camera and then head to bed but I found this one there and just had to add it... Thanks sweetie for taking the picture! 

Asleep in my arms

Sonja fell asleep on my chest this evening... It's the most wonderful feeling in the world. So peaceful, so calm. Of course she awoke screaming in a fit of anger. Seriously, we live close to the airport but the shrill screech that was emminating from Sonja was amazing. The airport actually called us to file a noise complaint...

I love the middle picture here. Jenn and I call it the thinker (or the stinker - depending)

The last picture is Sonja getting her first bottle! Mommy is pumping successfully and I am going to be able to start to help out with something other than diaper duty (tee hee I said doodie)

Okay, it's late and I must sleep while I can.

Two pictures for me to stare at while at work. I have more pictures just click here

My first outfit

Yes, it's pink and a little over the top but mom and dad think it's cute...

Help Put Sonja Through College

Okay, for all 3 of the fans of my blog, you hopefully have noticed the shiny new template that I have enabled. I hope you like it. Feel free to comment if not. The ads are located at the top of the page and under the link section. Apparently Google will pay me a percentage of their ad revenue for clicks on ads on my page. I tested it out yesterday and it looks like I get about $0.23 per ad click. The great part is that you don't have to buy anything; all you have to do is click on an ad and wham-o - $0.23 towards Sonja's future education. Currently with $0.65 in the bank she will be able to afford a stamp to apply to Arthur Murray's School of Dance, but I have to start somewhere.

I have also put in some links to my friends' blogs on the right hand side as well as a Google search function which can search this blog or perform a standard web search.

Just below the search field is another ad for Google's photo editing software Picasa. I added this small ad link only because I am a Picasa user myself and it is a very, very cool photo handling application - and it's FREE. Can't beat that. So please feel free to give it a try.

All-in-all I hope the ads aren't too distracting and I plan to continue posting video clips as well as haikus and various thoughts on fatherhood and life so please keep on reading (and click on an ad every now and then).

- Humble money grubber Merland

Talking 'Bout My Love