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Preparing For The End

Well, looks like our beloved dog Buddy is running his last few laps around the dog park. After noticing some strange behavior Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I carried him in to the vet yesterday. Most likely scenario is that he has a brain tumor.

Doc put him on some meds to help stabilize some internal stuff that showed up in the blood and urine tests, but really it's just a matter of time at this point. Could be a day, could be months. We'll keep an eye on him, and watch for signs that his condition is worsening.

If you met Buddy, you know what a sweet, soft dog he was. Laura often said she wishes we could get his coat made into a pelt when he died so we could pet him forever, he was so soft.

I offered yesterday (there have got to be tons of taxidermists up here with all the hunters!), but she declined. I think a little Buddy Throw might have been nice, but I deferred.

Our biggest concern is, of course, the girls. We've talked with them about it and they seem to be taking it in stride for now. Grandma's two dogs just "died" (ahem) a few weeks ago, so they kinda got broken into the idea with that.

And after Ali asked if we could go in to get the tumor our, Kaylee gleefully suggested, "We could cut open his brain!"

Looks like letting them hear all those songs about vampires and zombies are paying off!

I Want (Ali) To Ride (Her) Bicycle

Ali has a bike (“Turquoise! My twelfth favorite color!”) that she is sporadically learning not to fall on. It does not have training wheels. They never were really the right height on her older, smaller bike, and I never got around to putting them on the new one. So instead, I do the “running alongside holding the handlebars” thing.

After a few outing of this, I got the sense that she wasn’t getting much better at riding a bike. In fact, I started to think that my approach wasn’t going to result in success anytime soon. I was in too much control. She wasn’t learning how to handle the bike by herself. And for someone as… challenged… with balance and coordination as she is, she needed to get the feel for it.

So I did what any self-respecting father would do. I got off my butt and put the training wheels on the new bike.

No.

I googled.

See, I figured that training wheels were too common and had been around too long to be the best solution. Somebody had to have invented a better mousetrap. And I didn’t see how a different kind of crutch (training wheels instead of me) would help her get to where she needed to be. Turns out I was on to something.

Long story short(ish), my plan is to take off the pedals and lower the bike seat until she can sit on the seat while having her feet flat on the ground. Then she can push herself around, picking up her feet as she goes, and get a feel for balance and propulsion. Once she can do this fairly easily, I’ll put the pedals back on, raise the seat, and run alongside her again.

But here’s the catch—I won’t be up front.

Instead, you’re supposed to run behind them, hands on shoulders to just steady them. Apparently, holding the handlebar like I did is a total idiot dad thing to do. I should be ashamed and turn in my testosterone. And honestly, after thinking through the physics of it, it makes sense. I’m a little ashamed.

But I’m gonna make up for it.

There’s some beautiful analogy to be had here about life and how to raise/love your kids and helping them learn on their own and supporting them, but I’ve already taxed your attention span enough for one post.

Anyone got any tips of their own for this one?

Additional Reading:
International Bicycle Fund: Tips for Teaching / Learning to Bicycle
Dot Physics: Teach Your Child To Ride A Bike
Wired: GeekDad Rates 7 Methods for Learning to Ride a Bike
Free How To: Learn to Ride a Bicycle. Teach kids to Bike with NO TRAINING WHEELS

Sweet Ride

The conversation went like this:

Ali: What do you want me to draw for you, daddy?
Me: How about a car?
Ali: Ok! How about a fancy car?
Me: That's be great! Or a fast sports car!
Ali: Yeah, a super-fast sports car!

So, she starts drawing away. I notice that she's started to put a few "B"s on the car in various places. Then she starts talking about the Boston Red Sox. I was a little confused as she showed me the field, some flags, a bat, a "Boston Red Sox butterfly"...

That's when it hit me. "Sports" car.

First Real Sick Day

Well, Ali has the strep, and I'm staying home with her today during her 24 hours of isolation. Although there has been talk of a trip to Target...

She just hadn't been her normal self the last day or so. And little did I know that the "lower stomach pain" she'd been complaining about was also a sign of strep. Learn something new every day. Then when she came into our room at 3:30am yesterday sounding like Johnny Cash circa 2009, a trip to the doctor seemed in order. A swab of the throat and sure enough.

Last night she was miserable. Flushed cheeks, no energy, the whole works. She even willingly went to her bed to lay down. I went to check on her before I went to Walgreens after dinner and by the time I got back, she'd fallen asleep. Poor thing. But I smiled and thought, "Wow, this is like her first 'real' sick day. Like the kind I remember having as a kid." They grow up and get infected so fast.

So today, I'm Daddy Doctor, just trying to help this little munchkin rest and get better. But she's a champ. Good thing, too, since after I go to my doctor this afternoon to see if my scratchy throat is also strep, I'm picking up her homework. Maybe after we go to Target.

And Off She Grows

Well, Ali started school for reals today. Laura homeschooled her for kindergarten, but she wanted to head off to public school for 1st grade and away she went. We only really felt the need to homeschool her for kinder, but would have continued if it worked out best. But we're going to give the old "government school" a shot. Worked out okay for us.

So, at 8:25am, the processional (me, mom, Ali, Kaylee, and cousin Jackson) left our house and walked her down the block (literally), through the park, and up to the school.

I kinda was wondering the night before how it would go. Even though she'd been totally down with going to school for months, I wondered if when the time came, she'd not want to go. And if she didn't motor down the "I don't want to go!" route, I thought she might swing the other way and be over-the-top excited.

But I was wrong on both accounts. She got dressed, got her backpack and lunch bag ready, and hit the sidewalk like she'd been going to school her whole life. I was pretty proud of my little girl. She grew up on me all sneaky like.

The Wrong Taste

Kaylee loves to taste things that I'm drinking. Doesn't matter if it's soda or Slim-Fast shakes, she pips up in her cute little voice, "Daddy, I try a sip?"

A few weeks ago, I was drinking a beer and she asked, as always, "Daddy, I try a sip?" I figured there's no way this child, who calls her toothpaste "spicy", will like beer. So I give her a little sip.

Let me jump ahead in the story to last night, at the dinner table, and I was having a beer. Kaylee walks by and says, "Daddy, you have a beer. I LIKE beer!"

Yeah. Good job, dad.

The Rrrright Stuf

So Ali has learned how to roll her "R"s. I guess all that Dora and Diego finally paid off. But the funny thing is that now she tries to roll any double letter. Like "Daddy" becomes "Dadrdrdry". I can't even type what that sounds like. Listen to the audio at the end. It's the first thing she says.

She'll also roll single r's, like when "car" becomes "carrrr". And she'll sing as just a bunch of trilling rolling r's. Pretty funny.

I recorded her saying a sentence on my phone, but it sounds like CRAP. How can something that is designed for you to talk into have such horrible recordings? Anyway, if you ever wanted to know what it sounds like listening to a wiretap of a five year old speaking in rolling r's, enjoy.

Rollin' With My Ali

Let's See If This Works

In an effort to make our house more Logan friendly, last weekend we removed almost all of the toys from the family room. And since we didn't have a spare room just lying around to house The Collection, we did some rearranging.

Kaylee's room is now the playroom (see pics below), and Ali's room is now The Girls' room. So far it seems to be working out ok. Bedtime is a bit tricky as they adapt to going to bed together in the same room all the time. And since they're in the same room, we're trying to do one parent lying down with both, instead of one with each. Like most changes, it always starts a little rocky. But so far, both girls seem to like the setup. And we like having most of the mess-making toys in a back room!

Click for bigosity.

Dryly Wet

Kaylee's at her "irresistibly cute" stage. Which means that, aside from the 2/3-year-old tantrum issues, almost every word that comes out of her mouth is just adorable. The inflection, the phrases, the mangling of the English language—all adorable. So I recognize that this story may not sound as cute on screen as it did in person. But whatever. You think I write for you people!?*

Me: [Walking outside and finding Kaylee stripped down to her diaper] Why are your clothes all off?
Kaylee: [Sitting on her Little Tykes play thing] Because I'm going swimming!
Me: Where? We don't have a pool?
Kaylee: Make believe swimming! On the sliiiiide! [As she goes head first down the slide]

Can't argue with that.

*Please don't leave. I live for you people.

Ready To Shine

I've been putting off this post in the hopes of recording the song that goes along with it, but events have conspired against me for the last few weeks, so...

Ali can officially read. Last month, she finished the 100th lesson in "Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons". Laura had been using the book as part of her English homeschool curriculum. It's really an amazing book. Ali can now read most children's books (like Dr. Seuss stuff, not juvenile fiction!) and is great at sounding out words she doesn't know. We're quite proud of our little girl. She worked super hard and it shows.

According to the book, she now reads at a 2nd grade level. I only say "according to" because I have no idea how a 2nd grader reads. But if they read as well as Ali, I'm thrilled.

Wait. Laura used to teach 2nd grade. Maybe she knows...

Here's a pic from the momentous final lesson that we did together as a family.

UPDATE: Some of you have asked how old Ali has been while doing this. She started when she was about 5.5 years old. She finished in March, and will be 6 in May. Laura has been homeschooling her for kindergarten.