You know it's inevitable. Kids get hurt. I expect my children to fall and hit their head, get cut or bleed, knock out a tooth or break a bone eventually. It's all part of being a kid, but when you see a 2 year-old get hurt it's heart wrenching, especially when it's your own.
Yesterday Isa took a nasty fall from a shopping cart that seemed like it was in slow motion. I know I know. Children aren't supposed to sit in the buggy of the shopping cart - only in the allowed seat with the belt. It says so on the cart. El has reminded me countless times that it's dangerous, but Isa's tantrums refusing to sit properly made this a bad habit early on.
Picture this...she's standing on top of one of those big bags of dog food in the cart LEANING over the side clinging to a clothing rack at the store playing. Lately she's gotten into the habit of grabbing things as we roll past them. I can't remember if I moved the cart while she was leaning over or if her legs kind of pushed the cart away as she was hanging on to a rack of clothes. All I saw was her slowly falling over the side face first onto the thinly carpeted floor and her legs and feet in a reverse "C" behind her head.
I ran over to her as fast as I could, but it was too late. It looked like a hard fall. It took her a second to realize what happened and immediately started screaming. It looked like blood was coming out of her nose as I checked her face and hugged her hard. El and I tried to assess her condition as quickly, but calmly, as possible. Did she hit her teeth? Did she hurt her neck or back? We found out she skinned the top of her mouth below her nose badly. It took awhile to stop the bleeding, She stopped crying fairly quickly, but it just looked like a BAD fall. It would've hurt me and she's just a little girl.
It was also her nap time and as we got to the car (her clinging to me) she wanted to sleep which kind of freaked me out even more. I did what I could to keep her awake, but she really wanted to sleep. Her mouth looked swollen as did her eye, It seemed like her speech was a little slow and groggy, It was starting to be too much for me. Eventually we got home and decided to let her sleep.
When she awoke she was still a little out of it so it seemed and not hungry. I was hoping she didn't break a tooth or worse fracture anything. Later in the evening she seemed back to her laughing self, although maybe my paranoia made it seem like her speech was off. I felt awful.
Today she seems better although banged up. Her lip is skinned and reddish purple. Around her eye seems tender. She even tried to eat cookie, but flinched some when she tried to bite it so she hasn't eaten much today. She's scared to be held up higher than on my shoulder and is if I turn her sideways like we used to. All understandable. Other than that she still plays rough, laughs and scampers around. El wanted to take her to a "Doc-In-The-Box" today just in case, but I don't want to be too paranoid. She seems fine other than what I'm hoping is just light bruising, although the flinching when she bites scares me.
Monday El is taking her to the pediatrician and to get an exam. My poor baby girl. Spare my children any pain and I'll gladly take their hurt for myself.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
That Foto Guy
Wow! It's been over a year since I've updated this blog site. After the birth of my first child things really got busy there. While I've maintained That Design Guy, I totally neglected this. Well no more! I have certainly taken lots of pictures with all new equipment and faithhfully uploaded them to Flickr I just never got around to actually blogging on the photo side. Ah well. Here it is again so check it out...
I have noticed tho that with the addition of children my subject matter changed from daily life scenes, abstracts, and black and whites to my kids! Not surprised since That Design Guy seems to have focused on them as well. Ha! I'm obsessed!
I have noticed tho that with the addition of children my subject matter changed from daily life scenes, abstracts, and black and whites to my kids! Not surprised since That Design Guy seems to have focused on them as well. Ha! I'm obsessed!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
It's a Big Ask.
For the last two years El has asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I've always thrown in these rims in the mix. It's not anything I need. It's just a frivolous want. I love the way my infiniti looks already, but I saw these awhile back on a black BMW M3 and it was killer.
I had pretty much given up on my old hobbies of booming car stereos and car customization when I traded in my Mitsu Eclipse Spyder for the G35. What with a kid and all on the way the convertible was no longer a practical car to have eventho it was fun to drive on a good day. I was just sick of the sinking paranoia that someone was going to slash the convertible top AGAIN and try to swipe my system.
So when I bought the G35 a couple of years ago I asked myself if I was to change anything on it what would it be? There's nothing really wrong with the car I purchased. It was the cool ass graphite grey with the sports package I wanted. All black leather interior with power everything (and I mean everything). It even had a decent in-dash Bose CD changer with optional satellite radio with 8 speakers. It was spacious (much more so than my previous 2-seater). It kicked out some serious power. It had a nice,refined look and ride that I wanted without being too showy. The only thing I wanted was to add some new rims to it to make it truly mine.
Rims aren't cheap - at least the kind I like myself. I was never a chrome guy and I really hate the matte black rims that all these Orlando pseudo-racers liked. No I 've always been kind of a "sleeper" custom car guy. Wheels slightly larger than stock (I just want to go to 18's) that looked kind of stock, but weren't. When I saw the Venti's it was love at first sight.
I didn't know what brand it was, but it had all the features I loved. Slightly oversized with a pearl black interior finish to match the car's paint (I hate shiny bling - ugh! What a lame word!). The only shine I liked was a deep, chrome lip on it. Just enough to catch the light. Throw some nice low profile tires on it. Set.
I had been looking on craigslist for some time trying to find something on the cheap that also looked nice and kind of matched the criteria. Came close a few times, too, but I could never pull the trigger on something I only "kinda" wanted. I mean...hell...why put forth money on something unless it's absolutely what you want? Or need? or LUST after?
El asked me AGAIN today the "Christmas Question". Well here it is AGAIN. The gauntlet has been thrown down. Hey all a fella can do is ask, right? I've been good this year...
I had pretty much given up on my old hobbies of booming car stereos and car customization when I traded in my Mitsu Eclipse Spyder for the G35. What with a kid and all on the way the convertible was no longer a practical car to have eventho it was fun to drive on a good day. I was just sick of the sinking paranoia that someone was going to slash the convertible top AGAIN and try to swipe my system.
So when I bought the G35 a couple of years ago I asked myself if I was to change anything on it what would it be? There's nothing really wrong with the car I purchased. It was the cool ass graphite grey with the sports package I wanted. All black leather interior with power everything (and I mean everything). It even had a decent in-dash Bose CD changer with optional satellite radio with 8 speakers. It was spacious (much more so than my previous 2-seater). It kicked out some serious power. It had a nice,refined look and ride that I wanted without being too showy. The only thing I wanted was to add some new rims to it to make it truly mine.
Rims aren't cheap - at least the kind I like myself. I was never a chrome guy and I really hate the matte black rims that all these Orlando pseudo-racers liked. No I 've always been kind of a "sleeper" custom car guy. Wheels slightly larger than stock (I just want to go to 18's) that looked kind of stock, but weren't. When I saw the Venti's it was love at first sight.
I didn't know what brand it was, but it had all the features I loved. Slightly oversized with a pearl black interior finish to match the car's paint (I hate shiny bling - ugh! What a lame word!). The only shine I liked was a deep, chrome lip on it. Just enough to catch the light. Throw some nice low profile tires on it. Set.
I had been looking on craigslist for some time trying to find something on the cheap that also looked nice and kind of matched the criteria. Came close a few times, too, but I could never pull the trigger on something I only "kinda" wanted. I mean...hell...why put forth money on something unless it's absolutely what you want? Or need? or LUST after?
El asked me AGAIN today the "Christmas Question". Well here it is AGAIN. The gauntlet has been thrown down. Hey all a fella can do is ask, right? I've been good this year...
A Little Pre-Halloween Fun
As I promised Isa last night before I put her to bed I got up earlier today to get the family ready for some pre-halloween fun at Central Florida Zoo for their Halloween Zoo Boo Bash.
At least we got one more year out of her cute ladybug costume from last year. She got more than her share of compliments from the other parents. Afterwards we tried to have lunch somewhere nice in Lake Mary, but the day's running amok finally got to the kids and they passed out. We ended up having a nice lunch/dinner in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot. Home now and I'm looking forward to a little nap myself.
What The Hell?!?
Pretty amazing the things your body gets used to and I don't mean that in a good way. When I was considerably younger I remember being able to be up and out til the wee hours and then be able to sleep for twelve hours straight. That was a LONG time ago.
Since we've had our first child I've experienced a huge change in my sleeping habits. While I still can stay up pretty late if I have to (I don't necessarily want to) my sleep has been reduced to maybe 2-3 at a time. Back then the new father experience kept me wired and ready to go with diaper changes, feedings, and bad dreams. Now with Nico the same reasons to get up in the middle of the night X2 is caught up with me. I'm definitely slower, less patient and feeling beaten down.
Isa has gotten into the habit of not wanting to go to bed until she's totally asleep on the couch or our bed anywhere from midnight to 2am with the tv on. I've debated with El on the trying to kick this bad habit with little success. I feel like we're such pushovers when it comes to sending Isa to bed at a much earlier time. She's tried to have her eaten dinner, bathed, teeth brushed, books read and to bed before I get home from work at 10:30pm but the routine never seems to stick. I've tried to have all the lights dimmed, the tv off, and some soft music played at night to get her tired, but sometimes I'm just too damn tired and wound up to do this routine when all I want to do is eat dinner and veg out in front of the tv.
The past two nights I've forcibly put Isa to bed around 8:30ish to give El and I some downtime before we turn in. This means dinner, wash up, change into pajamas, read books, pray and then lie down for the little girl. She's fought us on this both nights. It ends up me calmly trying to explain to her that we can do things the next day, but now it's time for "night night." This equals to me closing the door on her room while she screams for 15 minutes until she passes out from exhaustion. El hates this part, but I feel adamant about this. I have to lay the law down and be the dad.
I've read somewhere that in a week or so Isa will accept this rule and not put up a fuss. Hopefully she'll also accept the fact that she has to stay in HER bed at nights and not crawl into ours at 4am. Nico still has his nightly feedings and El's face at the end of the day tells me she can't handle the brutal hours anymore. I'm trying to find a solution that will benefit the entire family.
You've heard/read the stories about lack of sleep and its effect on the human body, right? Development problems and such? I don't want this for Isabella, but come to find out one of the main results of a lack of proper sleep is WEIGHT GAIN... FOR ADULTS... WTF?!? This would explain the massive weight gain in me these last two years...in addition to the crappy work schedule (until 10pm), eating crap for dinner at work, and no time for a proper workout like I used to.
Tonight I had Isa dressed and in bed by 8:30. Early enough for El and I to have some quiet time together and watch the new Indiana Jones movie on dvd. We didn't even get halfway thru the film and we were asleep by 10:30 (VERY rare for us). The drawback? I woke up wired at 1:30am.
So here I am.
Again.
Blogging.
Even with the opportunity to get some sleep I can't. Odd what your body gets used to after so much abuse for so long. This blows.
Since we've had our first child I've experienced a huge change in my sleeping habits. While I still can stay up pretty late if I have to (I don't necessarily want to) my sleep has been reduced to maybe 2-3 at a time. Back then the new father experience kept me wired and ready to go with diaper changes, feedings, and bad dreams. Now with Nico the same reasons to get up in the middle of the night X2 is caught up with me. I'm definitely slower, less patient and feeling beaten down.
Isa has gotten into the habit of not wanting to go to bed until she's totally asleep on the couch or our bed anywhere from midnight to 2am with the tv on. I've debated with El on the trying to kick this bad habit with little success. I feel like we're such pushovers when it comes to sending Isa to bed at a much earlier time. She's tried to have her eaten dinner, bathed, teeth brushed, books read and to bed before I get home from work at 10:30pm but the routine never seems to stick. I've tried to have all the lights dimmed, the tv off, and some soft music played at night to get her tired, but sometimes I'm just too damn tired and wound up to do this routine when all I want to do is eat dinner and veg out in front of the tv.
The past two nights I've forcibly put Isa to bed around 8:30ish to give El and I some downtime before we turn in. This means dinner, wash up, change into pajamas, read books, pray and then lie down for the little girl. She's fought us on this both nights. It ends up me calmly trying to explain to her that we can do things the next day, but now it's time for "night night." This equals to me closing the door on her room while she screams for 15 minutes until she passes out from exhaustion. El hates this part, but I feel adamant about this. I have to lay the law down and be the dad.
I've read somewhere that in a week or so Isa will accept this rule and not put up a fuss. Hopefully she'll also accept the fact that she has to stay in HER bed at nights and not crawl into ours at 4am. Nico still has his nightly feedings and El's face at the end of the day tells me she can't handle the brutal hours anymore. I'm trying to find a solution that will benefit the entire family.
You've heard/read the stories about lack of sleep and its effect on the human body, right? Development problems and such? I don't want this for Isabella, but come to find out one of the main results of a lack of proper sleep is WEIGHT GAIN... FOR ADULTS... WTF?!? This would explain the massive weight gain in me these last two years...in addition to the crappy work schedule (until 10pm), eating crap for dinner at work, and no time for a proper workout like I used to.
Tonight I had Isa dressed and in bed by 8:30. Early enough for El and I to have some quiet time together and watch the new Indiana Jones movie on dvd. We didn't even get halfway thru the film and we were asleep by 10:30 (VERY rare for us). The drawback? I woke up wired at 1:30am.
So here I am.
Again.
Blogging.
Even with the opportunity to get some sleep I can't. Odd what your body gets used to after so much abuse for so long. This blows.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
More Visitors!
Did I mention that Eleanor's sisters came by a couple of weeks ago to see their new nephew? Here's a few pictures from the visit.
EJ from Tampa even managed to swing by to have a few drinks with Lal and Em at Blue Fartini. Ugh! Before long the visit was over and everyone, including Lola Lisa were gone and El and I were back to a quiet household. At least we get some solitude until the next round of visitors at the end of the month.
Isabella's second birthday is coming up (November 11th) and unfortunately we won't be able to have a nice soiree like last year. No trips to Charleston. No catered food. This time we'll celebrate a little early at Halloween. Just us and a cake which reminds me to look for something nice for her to open. Time has flown by this past year. Too fast. Too much going on. And then before we know it...Christmas season...
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Aaahh Fall...
Finally the cooler weather is creeping in. It's been a hot summer in Orlando and I can't wait to get back into the fall and winter - it's the one thing that makes our summers bearable. I like snow, but only for a very short time. Winter here is killer. Like we did last year we made the drive to Celebration for Oktoberfest. Lots of live music, food from the local restaurants, face painting, giant inflatables and people make it a nice visit, but we had to be mindful of crowds and noise cos of Nico.
The real reason we came was for the pumpkin patch. The local church there organizes a pumpkin sale to raise money. Tons of families brought their kids with lots of picture taking. Isa was so excited she immediately ran off to play. At least until she saw some other children's balloons and tried to hijack them off of their strollers.
This year Auntie Cherilyn and cousin Gabriel are coming to visit with Lolo Ric for the holiday event. I even bought tickets for the Disney Not-So-Scary-Halloween event Thursday night. Nico and mom have to sit it out so I'll be sure to bring my video camera along so they can see the evening's festivities. On Friday, Halloween, I planned on taking everyone to Celebration for some trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood sucks for this. I don't plan on buying candy this year since only the older kids, sans costumes (unless count dressing like an assclown counts), come around trying to act too cool to dress up but still begging for candy.
I love Halloween. El doesn't understand my fascination with the holiday, but my brother and sisters grew up on it. Getting dressed and trick or treating around Men-Riv Park was always an exciting time. Doing it around the naval base housing where we grew up was very safe and kid-friendly much like Celebration. Moving to Orlando I didn't realize how into it the adults were until we went downtown one fateful year. Of course, this was a very different scene. Now that I'm older I want Isabella and Nicholas to have fond memories as I did.
This year I've updated the old Addams Family theme. Of course, I'll go as Gomez, but Cher will take up El's Morticia costume. Meanwhile Isa will do her part as Wednesday complete with axe and Gabriel will play the role of Pugsley with his sticks of dynamite. Isa already did a test run of her costume, which her Lola Lisa helped sew together, and looked cute as hell in it. I'm so stoked!
My Little Girl Is Trying.
The other night El spoke to me about her being more patient with Isa. I wouldn't say we've been hard on her, but our patience has been tested quite a few times these last few weeks. I know a lot of it has to do with fatigue and I know our situation is not unique, but we're going to try harder.
She's gotten so much better about being careful round her little brother but she is, after all, a toddler. She runs, climbs, plays and does what kids her age does. She's just not used to being second fiddle.
She kisses and hugs him with an "awww...don't cry-y-y Nico." Last night in the car she even tried to console him in the backseat of the car while going home by holding his hand. She's going to be a good big sister I think.
She's gotten so much better about being careful round her little brother but she is, after all, a toddler. She runs, climbs, plays and does what kids her age does. She's just not used to being second fiddle.
She kisses and hugs him with an "awww...don't cry-y-y Nico." Last night in the car she even tried to console him in the backseat of the car while going home by holding his hand. She's going to be a good big sister I think.
Even Nicholas is growing so fast. He's already started to hold his head steadily for extended periods of times when we hold him and smiles when his mother lightly kisses his cheek. I'm still amazed at how big he's gotten in so short a time. It's odd cos when we look at him we see his great grandfather Gregorio, his namesake. El insists he looks like me, but I really think he has his great grandfather's face. We even went back to an old blog entry to compare...
Lola Lisa Lends A Hand.
Soon after my mother left for Charleston, Nicholas and Isabella's Lola Lisa arrived to take her place. She was able to stay for about three weeks before she had to go back, but her assistance helped out. For about three weeks she was able to care for Isabella late at nights and early in the mornings. Isa has proven to be quite the handful - competitive at times with her brother - so it was nice to have another set of hands around to handle the toddler's antics when needed.
It's been debated about her retirement and possibly moving in on a semi-permanent basis so this was a good gauge to see how well everyone meshed together for an extended period of time. For a long time it was touch-and-go with when she would actually retire and move in for the past two years.
It's been debated about her retirement and possibly moving in on a semi-permanent basis so this was a good gauge to see how well everyone meshed together for an extended period of time. For a long time it was touch-and-go with when she would actually retire and move in for the past two years.
I know Ellen worries about her mother living alone in Charleston, especially with her recent surgery and treatment. And it would solve the money issues with us working with daycare (which El and I both don't want) vs. a family member living with us (we'd be giving up privacy) to help watch the kids while we both worked. Sounds good on paper so it was a good experience to see how things went.
I usually felt guilty about El's mom just being home with no personal freedom (no car for her to use while she was here, having to watch kids all day all night, no friends to hang out with) so I did what I could to take everyone out periodically for a change of venue, eat out, shop, stretch out their legs. It is hard to get everyone's schedule together, go somewhere that's agreeable to everyone, etc. Her mom did her best to not infringe on anything, help with chores, and never complained about anything really, but I couldn't help wondering if she was happy herself. It's a huge imposition on her and the lifestyle she's gotten used to in Charleston.
I usually felt guilty about El's mom just being home with no personal freedom (no car for her to use while she was here, having to watch kids all day all night, no friends to hang out with) so I did what I could to take everyone out periodically for a change of venue, eat out, shop, stretch out their legs. It is hard to get everyone's schedule together, go somewhere that's agreeable to everyone, etc. Her mom did her best to not infringe on anything, help with chores, and never complained about anything really, but I couldn't help wondering if she was happy herself. It's a huge imposition on her and the lifestyle she's gotten used to in Charleston.
I was certainly glad tho that for awhile she was able to spend time with her grandkids and see Nicholas grow up some as she did with Isabella. Plus, I know it was a relief for Ellen to be with her mom. Eventually her sisters came to visit at the end of her mother's stay which I know made El even happier. I was glad that more of her family came to see her and hang out - she'd been missing them tremendously.
Now that we're alone again we've talked more about her mother retiring and moving in. I do feel better about her watching Isa and Nico vs. a daycare. We even talked about helping her with some of bills (vs. paying daycare) to solve her not working and still being able to take care of her financial responsibilities. I don't know. So much to think about. My sensibilities vs. what little freedom I have left. I guess it would be better in a bigger house. In a cooler climate. Away from Florida. So I could start thinking about hanging up my design hat. And getting rid of my boat. And...
Now that we're alone again we've talked more about her mother retiring and moving in. I do feel better about her watching Isa and Nico vs. a daycare. We even talked about helping her with some of bills (vs. paying daycare) to solve her not working and still being able to take care of her financial responsibilities. I don't know. So much to think about. My sensibilities vs. what little freedom I have left. I guess it would be better in a bigger house. In a cooler climate. Away from Florida. So I could start thinking about hanging up my design hat. And getting rid of my boat. And...
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