NANANANANA Batman!

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Every night we read a few books to Teagan and Amelia before bedtime.  Recently we have found Teagan likes to curl up in our bed and read before going off to her room.  She is old enough now to pick out her own books.  She is very opinionated on what she wants to read.  A while ago I bought her a My First Batman and My First Superman books.  I also got a My First Book of Girl Power super hero’s but i have to say it is a horrible book.  Many nights when Teagan goes to pick her books to read she picks one or both of the Batman & Superman books.  Tonight was no exception.  She had her Batman book in hand and kept pointing to a top shelf with more books and I couldn’t figure out what she wanted to read.  I picked her up and asked her to point out what she wanted.  She went straight for the Superman book.

We did our regular bedtime routine and read both books along with two other ones.  The past few times I have read the Batman book I have sung the Batman song to her:  Tonight MC and I did it again with her and she started singing it back to us: NANANANANA BATMAN.  Even after we started putting her to bed she kept singing it NANANANANA BATMAN.  I will be honest and say that Batman is not one of my favorite super hero’s but teaching my 2 year old to sing the Batman song makes me feel successful so far as a parent!

The more challenging task will next be how to introduce her to Doctor Who beyond the action figures she has.

 

 

A Sluggish Day for T

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After yesterday’s late night T was super tired this morning.  She lied down next to our huge Gorilla in our play room and I tucked her into some blankets and she rested while I fed A first thing.  T was also a bit clingy right after she got up.  I love myself some hugs but I felt bad she was so zonked.  A little while later while playing she just lied down on the play mat.  It was really cute but sad that she was so tired.  Amelia is stuffed up with a cold so both my girls are not happy today.  T apparently did get a bit more animated after i went to work.  She was also pretty good when I came home.

A comando crawled all the way from our dinning room to our Foyer squawking at me.  She got to right in front of me as i was taking my shoes off and sat up expecting to be picked up.  She expected correctly.  I had to put her down with our babysitter while I changed out of my work clothes.  As soon as I did that she started yelling and proceeded to do so until I came back from changing and picked her up again.  Not the nicest sound to listen to but I have to say i like to feel wanted!

M came home just in time for bedtime stories with T.  It was a busy day at work but the last hour putting the girls to bed was a nice end.  The Sidecar’s I made for M & I after the kids were in bed were also really good!

Sorry Grandma’s, But The Grandfathers Have Been Choosen

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We should have seen the signs.  They were there.  First there was Teagan saying “Poppy” (aka my dad) when ever I take out my iPad because we sometimes FaceTime with my dad.  Then there was the walking by our bar and seeing a photo of MC’s parents and calling out “Grandad”.  I think MC’s mom is in the same picture but she calls out Grandad.  Then there was the fact that my mom sees Teagan regularly and until very recently she wouldn’t call her by the name she goes by (aka Grammy).  My mom hasn’t been pleased to say the least.  All of these events have had us suspicious that Teagan favored the grandfathers over the grandmothers but we weren’t sure.  True she laughed and played with all the grandparents but she just seemed to be more vocal about Grandad and Poppy.

This weekend we spend two days at MC’s parents house.  From the time we got there till we left if he wasn’t around all Teagan could do till she found him was ask “Grandad?”  Grandad, grandad, grandad, etc.  To be clear she did say Grandma, but it became obvious early on who was her priority.

I don’t get it.  Both my mom and MC’s mom are great with her and she enjoys their company, but she has made it clear they are no substitute for the grandfathers.  She just wants to be with them or know what they are doing.  I feel safe enough to write this on my blog because neither grandmother read’s blogs or uses the internet all that much, so Shhhh don’t tell them Teagan is playing favorites.  Of course I think they know already.  On the plus side there is always hope.  That hope is in the form of Amelia!

Weekend at the Grandparents

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This weekend we went to MC’s parents.  We hadn’t been up to their house in a few months so it was nice to get up there.  They aren’t too far but not having a car requires us to plan any weekend trips.  This weekend worked out great since my mom was away and we had her car.  Teagan was good for the rid up and continued her streak on being car sick free.

MC’s parents had a thing in the afternoon Saturday so we took the opportunity to hit up the local diner for lunch.  Both girls were great.  Teagan eat almost all of her pancakes.  Of course what little kid wouldn’t eat pancakes with whipped cream!

Both girls had fun with their grandparents.  We had a nice relaxing weekend.  The only challenge was Teagan and her difficulty napping.  She is able to climb out of the pack and play so she is no longer confined when you want her to nap and she doesn’t want to.  Thankfully at bed time she climbed into the pack and play on her own.  She started out on a bed next to it and we found her later on in the pack and play.  It was very cute.  What wasn’t cute was her waking up at 3AM.

Our biggest challenge was the car sickness returned on the ride home tonight.  We are not 100% sure what triggered it this ride and not others.  We think it is a combination of the heat in the car, the car seat not reclining, and the darkness so she couldn’t see the movement.  It was a painful last 40 minutes home.  i felt so bad for my little girl.  She was a great little kid like usual but she was not happy.  Thankfully I was able to contain the mess so she wasn’t more uncomfortable.

 

Day Off

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Today I took a day off to relax.  After dropping Teagan at her tot’s class I headed into the city for a hot stone massage at this place MC sent me to as a gift a few years ago.  It was really good so I wanted to treat myself.  After a relaxing morning I hit up a coffee shop around the corner from the spa for some lunch.  From there I headed up to Penn Station and went out to my parents place to get my mom’s car.  After that it was a few errands around my neighborhood and then home a little early to put the kids to bed.  MC is working late tonight and hopefully should be home in a few minutes.  I am trying to avoid the Macaroons I bought for us until she gets here.

Teamwork Is an Individual Skill

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Over the past year and a half my team has been working on ways to improve how we work.  There are many aspects of this, and I am deliberately being vague with the high level.  One part of this improvement goal is to transform into a high performance team.  Turns out that isn’t just some buzz term.  There really is a definition for it and proven ways to get there.  Going into this process I had no idea!  Kidding aside this renewed focus at improvement has had me fascinated.

One of the trainers who I am generally friendly with recommended to me several books to read to help better my understanding beyond the training classes and coaching I have gotten.  The first one I read was “Teamwork Is an Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done When Sharing Responsibility” by Christopher Avery.  I thought it was a fascinating read.  Much of it was common sense but still I found myself not doing much of what it suggests.  It also made several points that were counter intuitive in todays business world but after reading the book and talking to others that I trust their judgment the concepts really made sense to me.  Ever since finishing the book I have been trying to adopt the concepts for myself and in hopes that my team also adopts them.  One major point of the book is i can’t expect the team to do what I want.  I can only influence them by my own actions.

I read the book on my commute home from work.  It was a good read and as much as it wasn’t as exciting as a novel I was very pleased I read it.  So much so that I want to read more books like it to help in my quest to be a better manager and a better member of a team.

This wasn’t the first book I have read for this initiative but it is the first one I am blogging about. I am hoping to write some more posts about some additional books that i have found were extremely valuable.

The Manhattan Part 2

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Tonight was my 2nd attempt at mixing up Manhattan’s. This time around was also a success too. I didn’t drink all of it just because it was a lot to drink for a Monday night. I had enough to know that I have the recipe down to move on to my next drink.

I am not sure what I am going to try next. I made one Old Fashioned last week. According to my own standards I made up last week I want to do at least two rounds (one for MC & I each) so a total of 4 drinks to be comfortable to move on to the next one. Besides the Old Fashioned I have a total of 10 other drinks I have that I want to try mixing up. 4 of them are summery ones so I have 6 to try before I will look at variations. So far this hobby has been pretty fun, although it can cost a lot in money and calories.

The Manhattan Part 1

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Tonight I mixed up my first round of Manhattan’s. For this drink I needed to go out and purchase some Sweet Vermouth. I only had dry. I learned the difference today. I also wanted to get a Rye Whiskey. The Manhattan’s I tried at bar’s were with that and I liked it. I only had Jack Daniels at home.

Once I had my ingredients (and the kids were sleeping) I got to my mixing. As drinks go this was not challenging to make compared to some of the other ones I have tried. The end result was delicious. MC and I both liked the first batch. They were very strong however. 3oz of alcohol in a single drink will do that too you.