Getting Older and other things

There are many signs that one is getting older. The graying of the hair. The losing of the hair. The memory fading. And the body doing strange things.

Last Saturday, I was playing flag football and I received the ball, made a cut and was tackled, both literally and figuratively, and drove my right knee into the ground. So, I got up and took a step back to the huddle and my knee had a little give to it. And when I tried to run I heard this clicking sound in my knee. I stayed in for a couple more plays until halftime, even catching a ball and futily hopping on one leg toward the end zone before the safety flagged me at the 5-yard line. But I decided to be a man and stop so I wouldn't hurt myself worse. To make a long story short, I went to ARC's Far West clinic which has after-hours care and got myself a wheelchair ride, some X-rays that were negative, a leg immobilizer and some crutches. The last two things are very good for sympathy. A quick side note: my friend Fen's team was gracious enough to go a man down for the second half when they realized I was done for the game. An absolute splendid show of sportsmanship and Christian character.

Lemme tell you, you don't realize how much your knee means to you until you can't use it properly. For instance, I still can't bend it all the way back, which makes squatting impossible. Neither could I chase after M in my normal way. I like to get on my hands and knees and hit the floor announcing "Daddy's gonna gitcha!", which is shortly followed by my little one giggling and running away. I've been able to do it a little bit as my knee has gotten better, but it's just not the same. One other interesting thing is when you have restless legs and you have an immobilizer on. It's darn near impossible to get that puppy to sleep. But one of the highlights was driving home with the immobilizer on. Now, as I'm sure most of you have done, when I get bored on long drives or when my foot starts to hurt, I'll switch 'em and drive with my left foot. So, thankfully I've had practice making my left foot an ambidextrous driver. So I open the passenger door, pull myself through, get my leg in and then the crutches. Now the tricky part was that my leg was pushing against the shifter, so that it wasn't locking in Drive. So I had my right leg in the passenger side, my right hand holding the shifter in Drive, my left foot handling the braking and accelerating, and my left hand steering. I know if I'd've seen that next to me, I would've had a few laughs. So, "You're Welcome" to those of you who cracked a grin my way that day.

This morning I got to get M ready by myself since C was playing her violin for church. Wow! So much respect to those moms who get their basketball teams ready and to church on Sunday mornings. Let's just say that, although M's hair wasn't perfect and I left the Bible at home, we got there at 9:30. And that was with some mild speeding. But it was an interesting experience that showed me exactly why C wants to get ready before M wakes up. Makes total sense now.

Anyway, we had a fun afternoon with Bible study friends. Good burgers. Good fellowship. Good times. I must go now. Tis ev'n, and I needs my beauty rest.

Have a great week.

R

Poor Little Cutie Pie

Before I proceed with today's post, I have to add something to the July 1st post. Another thing I really enjoy is how she uses me as her own personal jungle gym. Sometimes she'll sit on my tummy or my chest, and even my head, and bounce up and down like I'm an exercise ball. Good times are had by all.

So, M has been sick since Sunday with at least a viral croup, and the doctor thinks something more. She has this cough that just won't go away. Her throat 'll be so dry during the night that we've left some water in her crib for her. The other morning C went in to take care of her and she was so hoarse she could barely even say "wa-wa."

One cool thing was that our CEO gave us Monday off too, creating a nice little four-day weekend. Well, when Wednesday rolled around and it was time for me to head to work she gave me kisses and hugs and then cried as I pulled out of the driveway. Poor thing. Broke my heart.

One thing that doesn't break my heart though is how she is into this hitting thing. You mightuv heard of it. She rares back and slaps you in the face. Yeah. Not good times. Especially since she'll be a big sister around the Second of January.

WHOA!!! HOLD THE PHONE! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME Y'ALL WERE PREGNANT!

I know, I know. We just wanted to get past the tricky first trimester, and since C wasn't showing, we weren't in a hurry to tell folks. Sorry you've been kept in the dark. But she's been feeling really good with this one, which is what makes me think it's a boy. But we won't find out for another 5-6 weeks, so you'll have to wait with anticipation.

Well, my bride would like to do a puzzle, and, seeing as how blogging is counterproductive to puzzling, I must go.

Have a great weekend and feel free to give us a call.

Forget Me Not

So, M is just over 15 months old and it's getting hard to remember some of the things that she did when she was little. So here's a small list of some of those things:

I want to still be able to remember her "machine gun laugh" ten, twenty years down the road.
I want to recall all those silly faces she makes.
Her little square pouty lip whenever she bonked or didn't get her way.
The guilty way she ran away when Momma asked her "Whatareyoudoin?!" because she got caught getting into her night stand.
The hours spent rolling around on our bed.
Those precious moments when C was tickling her and they would laugh together for minutes on end.
All these mornings when we get her out of bed and she runs around her crib and flops like a rag doll.
The animal sounds she makes (dog, cat, elephant, cow).
All the signs that she doesn't do exactly right but we know what she wants anyway.
The wonderful snuggles when she's tired.
The slobbery kisses she gives.
How she always liked to bite my nose.
The look in her eyes when I'm wearing something that she's looking for, like "Heeeeyyy, wait a minute!"
Her concentration face when she's playing with one of the Metrushka dolls.
The way she likes to "Rock, Rock" on her horse or the Harley from Uncle N.
How she would giggle at her funny Tío.
The times that she chases after her best friend Chickpea whenever church is done, and especially the time she bear-hugged Tate from behind and ended up toppling over.
All those cute positions that she's sleeping in when Mommy and I check in on her each night.

Thankfully we've captured a lot of those memories on film or video. But there's a lot of times that we didn't have the camera ready.

I love you cutie pie. Thanks for all the fun memories. I look forward to all the many more we'll have together.

Daddy