Adventures with Dad

Well, if Randy can entertain his kids while Mary is gone, I can certainly keep Sophia entertained. Maybe next time I'll include pics.

Sophia has had an interesting 36 hours. She's been all alone with dad. Thats right, Mom decided the best way to ween the squid is to not even be around. Hello "Cold Turkey"! Ok, so it wasn't exactly cold turkey, but it is the first time we've tried to get Sophia to go a whole 24+ hours without nursing.

Mom left around 10:00 am yesterday. She escaped with a friend and went canoing and camping. I think they were supposed to cover 15 kilometers in the canoe. So while Mom was working on her sun tan, the squid and I came home to a muggy- humid house. The place we are staying doesn't have AC. I moved Sophia's bed into a cooler room because she's wake up lathered in sweat from her naps. Her sheets were soaking and it looked like she had pee'd all over herself. It was just sweat though.

I had an eye exam in the afternoon. Sophia did really well with that. She probably thought it was weird for dad to be sitting in the dark listing off random letters to her. Nothing says "Your such a cutie" like "F- T-D-Z-...Q?" It was really cute when she'd say "ut-oh" as I was sputtering off letters. Its like she could tell that I messed up.

It started to rain on our way home and that made the humidity sky rocket even more. Can you have more than 100% humidity? Canada does. I was able to stay in the house long enough to decide that I didn't want to be there , packed Sophia back up and walked to the place where every dad takes their one year old daughter- McDonalds. I had a gourmet double cheese burger, made just for me and she had an apple spice muffin that Sho made earlier. ($1.39 to sit in an air conditioned building that would easily keep the squid entertained- a steal if you ask me) Sophia lost all interest in the muffin when everyone in McDonalds started ordering ice cream to beat the heat. She gets that from her mom.

We walked to blockbuster and walked up and down every aisle trying to pick a movie to watch. Sophia was willing to watch just about any movie that was literally within reach. When we checked out, our movie was free b/c of previous rentals. Dinner, a movie and time spent in 2 air conditioned buildings and not incurring the wrath of a weening child for only $1.39! Somebody pinch me!

It was a little bit past 8 when we got back, and I pretty much put the squid down for the night.

Put the movie in and enjoyed the show. Right at the climax of the movie- during the final stand off- comes a sudden "WAAHHH!" Sophia won't ever have to worry about coming in on cue. She does that just fine. By now its pitch black, I run upstairs, then back down b/c I forgot the milk. After going upstairs again, I open the door and Sophia stands up staring straight at me. WAAHHH! Being the wonderful, thoughtful father that I am, I turned on the lights, which, from Sophia standpoint happens to be right above my head. Great! Sophia is gonna wanna nurse and now I've blinded her. It turns out that it worked to my advantage. I must have blinded her really good, b/c she took right to the milk bottle like the slugs on my zucchini in the garden.

After re-hydrating herself is when she noticed mom was gone. She looked up and me and had a puzzled look that said "Hey, this milk is cold!" By now I had her on my lap on the edge of our bed. She turned to look for mom. She cried. I held up the milk bottle like parents wave candy when they want their kids to shut up and be quiet in the grocery store. Sophia looked back at moms pillow then turned back to me, then to the bottle again then back again to moms pillow. By the time she turned back to me, she had completed her first grown up decision. She said "ba da da da ma shk shk shk" pointed to the milk, lifted it up and polished it off.

Sophia woke up just fine this morning and didn't mind that she got the milk bottle again. She ate 2.5 bowls of apple sauce. I changed her diaper. A few minutes later, I heard her talking to her self and then she started to grunt. This is where it gets frustrating to be a dad. We pay something like 20 cents per diaper. I would at least feel like I got my moneys worth if it would last more than the 5 minutes it was on her. To Sophia's relief but my chagrin, the newly applied diaper was full of the 3 peach halves that she ate yesterday afternoon. I'll spare you the details, but lets just say "Peaches & Cream" is no longer a favorite ice cream flavor. After cleaning that up she got a new diaper. Whew! A few more minutes and she'd be down for a morning nap. The next five minutes go by fast. I pick her up, start going up the stairs and Holy Hannah Sophia! Full diaper part deux! The morning could be summed up in one word "Peachy".

And that my friends is how the Nelsons ween their children.