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21 Memories From My 21st Month Since ‘Going Dad’

Yes, I know, this monthly memories post is 10 days past her 21st month since womb departure, but we’ve been a busy family! Mainly, our first family vacation to Colorado along with the obvious blog posts I had to write to share it with anyone that happens by my little space of the internet. I got that ideology/saying from a good blogger friend over at Skipah’s Realm. Thanks, Gary!

And things haven’t slowed down since we’ve returned. Avery is learning and doing more each day, which means we’re learning and doing more as well. Plus, Going Mom is away for work all week! This is the first time she’s been away from us for so long, and it’s truly a test for all of us.

Sure, I’m a stay-at-home parent, but I depend on my wife’s reinforcements and loving company. I told her I missed her before she even left, and it’s the truth. Hopefully she’s able to make the best of her time in a peaceful (I hope) hotel room without a demanding toddler demanding every second of her attention. But, the silver lining is this should definitely help us appreciate each other more.

I almost decided to just skip this month since I planned on stopping after the 2 year (24 month) mark, but my Type-A OCD personality wouldn’t allow it. So, here I am, satisfying my brain and knocking out 21 memories. Not that it’s hard to find them, but in order to get through them, I’m making each new thing she says a memory on its own. Not that you care probably, but I prefer to explain myself for….errr, myself, and Avery when she’s older and reading this ancient post on her Samsung Galaxy S20.

Avery, this past month you have experienced and transformed so much. You continue to amaze Mommy and me each day, and these 21 memories hardly begin to capture it all, but it’s a start.

  1. You’ve started saying “It’s okay.” which you learned from Mommy and Daddy as we say it after you fall or drop something on accident.
  2. Obviously, the big memory this month is that you flew on an airplane for the first time!First Flight Family Selfie
  3. And you also flew for the second time on our way back from vacation. You were far from well behaved, but now we know not to schedule a flight for your bedtime if we can avoid it.

  4. Another phrase you’ve picked up on is “It’s good”. You say it after I give you our daily green smoothie, unless I really sucked at making it that day, and when eating various food.
  5. For a while, we resorted to reading books to you during dinner or simply reciting the text from memory. It distracted you enough to get a few bites.
  6. Now we just give you a book to read, and besides having to switch books every so often, this works fairly well.
  7. Any parent to a toddler knows you always need a backup plan for eating though, and we keep roasted seaweed on hand when books just won’t cut it. I’m just glad you think of seaweed as a treat!
  8. Birds had built a nest in the entryway to our front door and had several baby birds. Every night, you and Mommy would turn on the light to tell the birds goodnight, before bath time. Sadly, one baby after another fell out of the nest which required us to move it to a safer place.

  9. Your climbing skills have gotten better, but sometimes you get a little too confident, resulting in us having to say “It’s okay”……..a lot. Most of the time the little fall is nothing, but there are times that set you off in a downward spiral to fussville. Yes, it’s a place, and it sucks!
  10. What started with you instinctively knowing to get Mommy’s workout shoes, carried over to getting my Soft Star Shoes I use to workout in too. Such a smart kid!

  11. Your affinity for my weightlifting belt started a long time ago, but now you’ve figured out how to loop it around yourself. Often times, you’ll walk around with the belt holding it around you for the entire workout session. Those days, I just make do without the belt since the one time I tried. you let me know that was a BAD choice!DSC_1773
  12. Uncle Paul, Aunt Tammy, and your Great Grandma (G-Ma’s Mom) came down to visit to celebrate G-Ma’s 60th birthday and we had a blast with them on several occasions. I mean, how many toddlers get to go to a brewery? Okay, maybe a lot, but still….DSC_1576
  13. You’ve added a few new foods to your repertoire of eats. One being raw onion. We figure you just love crunchy things.Avery eating watermelon onion salad
  14. Trips to the pool happen fairly often, and I had fun turning your flipping skills into a slo-mo video. Your giggles are still adorable a 2x slower than normal.

  15. I used to take you for a walk in the stroller right after naptime, but that would mean you had to sit still which is not an option anymore. As evidenced by your inclination to run wild around the house, and of course do butt busters.

  16. As I mentioned, your climbing skills are getting better every day which means you can climb up most things at the bounce house by yourself now. You might’ve been motivated to climb on your own since I seemed to do a poor job at helping you….2015-07-21 20.42.41
  17. We all know you’re a big fan of NuttZo and banana, and now you’re even able to use a fork to feed it to yourself. Only a few times ended with the food on the floor before making it to your mouth.2015-07-21 09.59.56
  18. While in Colorado on vacation, you got to hang out a lot with Nana, Papa, and Cousin Ashlee as they agreed to play with you so Mommy and I could get away enjoy time together. Lots of reading and playground time for all!
  19. When reading or playground time wasn’t happening, you’d make full use of the stairs at Nana and Papa’s. So much up and down was enough work for anyone trying to keep watch over you, I’m sure this helped you sleep at night, as well as Ashlee.DSC_1955
  20. This was the month of diaper blowouts for us! You graced us with back to back to back poosplosions that had us begging for mercy. Or maybe just hoping they’d stop. *Crossing fingers* So far, we’ve been safe again.
  21. But, as you’ve shown us before, you are always full of evil surprises. Kinda like when you flipped the bird in this daddy-daughter selfie on Mommy’s phone.Avery Flipping Off Camera with Daddy

There you have it, 21 memories in the book blog and more being created daily. I’m off to spend another day of fun with my daughter, but don’t worry, 22 months is already fast approaching. Ugh….

Colorado Family Vacation Day 4: Trail Run & Distillery Tour

After tackling the 4 mile trail hike with Going Mom the day before, I felt compelled to go back out to make it a solo trail run. The thought was in my head, but I never set it in stone because that be planning, and I hate planning on vacation.

But, as usually happens when I get something in my head, I did it. I woke up early just as the sun was coming out, not from an alarm, but because I had to pee. After relieving myself, I thought long and hard about getting back in the warm bed with my wife, but the allure of a cold, wet (it just rained the previous day) trail run forced me out the door instead.

I wore my trusty Soft Star Shoes Dash RunAmoc’s with Trail Soles since they had done extremely well for everything else so far.

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Once more, they were the perfect choice. I was jumping on and over wet rocks, going through mud and streams, and making steep ascents and descents with a solid footing the whole time. Okay, not really, right before finishing the 4 miles, I wasn’t paying attention and tripped over a large rock. Go me!

The fall was hard, and I had a nice limp-run (think Hunchback of Notre Dame) for the quarter mile that was left. My right knee was throbbing with pain, and I’m just now recovering from whatever it was. Glad it was nothing too serious!

I knew I wouldn’t rest until I got at least one trail run in, and I was happy to fit it in. The run started out pretty chilly, and the wet leaves of overlapping plants on the trail only compounded things, but I was soon warmed up and didn’t mind running in my soaked shirt and shorts. The day before, I went for a run down and back up the mountain Steve (Papa) and Kathy (Nana) live on, but neighborhood streets just aren’t the same. That said, I was sucking in air on as I ran the straight one mile up!

When I returned, everyone but Steve was still asleep. Phew, I didn’t miss anything exciting yet! Not long after, everyone was awake and having breakfast. Meanwhile, Avery was having a blast going up and down the stairs.

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She loved those things, and we loved that it helped her get that constant flow of energy out of her system. Unfortunately, I think the rest of us lacked the energy to chase her up and down, especially poor Cousin Ashlee who watched/played with her the most.

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We all breathed a sigh of relief when she would take a break from climbing and start reading one of the books Nana got her instead.

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Love that little samurai pony tail! If you have an extra toy sword, like Leonardo’s from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, please, send it our way to complete the look! 🙂

Our big agenda item for the day was heading to the Breckenridge Distillery for a tasting and a tour. And Kathy mentioned getting me a late birthday present while we were there. Obviously, I chose the Breckenridge Bourbon, and obviously, I kept cool about my new gift.

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Kelley isn’t a big liquor drinker, as in, hates it, so it was just Kathy and me doing the tastings. Kelley did try one sip of bourbon and a spicy vodka, but that was about it for her. More for Kathy and me!

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We had gone on the tour a couple years ago when Kelley was pregnant with Avery, but they added a lot to their distillery since then. It was interesting to see the changes and go through the enhanced plant. If only we could’ve brought one of these back….

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Oh well, my birthday bourbon will probably last me over a year anyway since I rarely drink. Just nice to have a little sip every now and then.

We had more rain that day and kept indoors after getting back. Luckily, we had Avery to entertain us by walking around in Mommy’s shoes.

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Man, that girl gets extremely frustrated when she can’t walk very well with the over-sized slippers! But it didn’t keep her from trying.

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After a little reading session with Avery, I took off for a solo walk around the neighborhood.

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Everyone else hung around the house, but I have this OCD thing about getting an evening walk in. The change of scenery and fresh air was pure bliss and I loved being able to get out in it as much as possible. And the view was spectacular!

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The rest of the family went out to the backyard for their fresh air fix and to get more loving from Avery. I think she was smiling on the inside with Papa here.

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Same for when Nana joined in; I’m sure of it.

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Although she hated having her picture taken, Ashlee has an adorable smile that can’t not be shared too.

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If you’re seeing this Ash, sorry, but you having nothing to hide dear!

Another day of vacation had come to an end. Lots of fun was had, and we still had a full day ahead of us. Just that alone made me want to stand on my head…..literally.

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Do you ever crave just getting out on a walk/run by yourself?

Any “healthy” OCD tendencies like walking that you have?

A Watered-Down Splash Pad Outing

Hot weather and a toddler too energetic to keep indoors gave me the bright idea of bringing Avery to a nearby splash pad yesterday. It was the same one my wife and I brought her to a few months ago, and I was hoping she’d be more into it this time.

That time, I ran and met my favorite ladies there to play together in the assortment of shooting water structures. We took turns swinging her in the air to go in and out of water streams, but ultimately, she seemed unimpressed with the whole ordeal.

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So, what exactly am I supposed to do?

This time, I thought I’d get my workout “fix” in and run the 2+ miles in my Soft Star Shoes again, but also pushing Avery in the stroller. Not surprisingly, the Texas sun and weight of a toddler in a stroller made the run a little more difficult.

By the time we arrived, I was more excited about getting in the water than any of the other kids around. Which, by the way, there were a lot of kids. I saw two daycare vans in the parking lot and would’ve turned right around to go home if I were driving. But, the need to cool down and my determination to see Avery run around having a blast kept me from leaving. I took her out and set her down prepared to watch her run amok.

This place again?
This place again?

This picture look familiar? Pretty much the same spot and stance from her first visit to the pad. My heart started slowly sinking…..or maybe it was just slowing down to normal after running. Either way, her non-action was not the reaction I was hoping for. At least she turned around and smiled for the camera when I asked…

Smiling a splash pad

I tried running through the water obstacles in hopes she would follow suit, but no luck. She did, however, take a few steps and watch the fountains spit shots of water out.

Staring at water

Meanwhile, kids are running all around her screaming and having fun. Except for one boy who ran around and threw water from a bottle on me and then hit another boy in the face with the empty bottle. Yeah, he went to time-out after that.

The first trip with Going Mom was more fun than this. At least I had a beautiful wife to keep me company and help toss Avery around to get her to do something. I lifted her over my head and ran circles and went through a few sprayers which got her to laugh. Then I set her down thinking that might’ve warmed her up and she would be ready to go, but….

And that pretty much sums up our lackluster outing to the splash pad. Guess we’ll stick to bounce houses for a bit longer.

I finally gave up with the splash pad and prepared to run back home. Not surprisingly, Avery never made a fuss about getting back in the stroller and she had a fun time shouting out “car” or “tree” at every car or tree we passed. There were a lot of both.

Feeling unsatisfied with our watered down water fun, I thought it best to stop by our neighborhood pool since we know how much she loves that! I guess no one wanted to come outside at that time, so we had the pool all to ourselves.

We “swam” in the big pool for a bit, and then migrated over to the kiddie pool so she could stand all by herself.

Avery standing in kiddie pool

Kelley and I will ask if she can do high knees in the water and she does it every time. Pretty cute to watch, obviously. I made the mistake of asking if she can do squats in the water, in which she promptly showed she could, but came close to going under. #ParentingFail

After playing around in the kid pool and snapping a selfie with Avery, we were ready to head home. Hey, she smiled!

Avery and Daddy Pool Selfie

Despite the uneventful splash pad experience, I still think we had a good time. Maybe I’m just trying to be optimistic, okay, I am being optimistic, but these make for good memories nonetheless. Plus, the pool was our savior for a fun day!

At what age would you expect kids to be into the splash pad?

What’s better, swimming at the pool or a splash pad? Or both?