A Day in the Life (part 2)

Okay, Father's Day was 2 weeks ago, but I still have more to share (I won't go into too many details about what I was doing instead of writing a blog post, but it involved a little of this, a bit of this, and a whole lotta this). The entire day was chronicled via our camera, so no words are necessary (well, except for the incredibly witty captions I wrote). The full set of photos is available on our Flickr account, and features gems like this one.

Speaking of gems, it's time for some stories that I've been saving up for a little while but never had the proper forum to express them (well, except for this one).

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You may recall that a couple of months back, the three of us visited Susan's grandparents near Chicago. At one point during the visit, Rooney was being especially rambunctious, so I moved him into a different room to read him a story. Unfortunately, all of his books were in the car, so we were limited to Grandma and Grandpa's selections. None of them were very kid friendly. Well, I pulled down a copy of A Christmas Carol. I explained to Rooney that this was a very special version of his Chick-Boom book that Susan wrote about. I started reading this book, just like it was Chick-Boom: the same words, and flipping the pages in the right places. Rooney was still completely able to follow along, and made the exact same comments he makes when we read it at home: "Coconuts fall down", "hugging the babies", "they're crying", etc. So I thought that was pretty neat.

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Sometimes its too late to let Rooney take a full bath before we put him to bed, we give him a shower instead of a bath. But the regular overhead shower is too scary for him, so we use a very special kind of shower. Yes, technically its for dogs, but he doesn't know that. He stands in the tub, I sit outside the tub and spray him down. Rooney likes to practice being a fireman: we spray down one of the walls. He'd hold onto my wrist while I pressed the button to squirt the water and waved it at the wall. One time, he put his hand on the shower head, and was spraying down the wall with maybe only a little help from me. "I'm doing it, Daddy! I'm doing it!" He was so excited and proud, I couldn't help but feel the pride as well. I gotta admit, it got a little dusty in the bathroom that night.

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Well, those are all my stories for this time around. See ya next year!

25 Minutes To Go

(The woman in front with the short red hair is my running coach and I am in the back row in black with blue hat)

I know everyone is anxiously awaiting the next installment of Mike's post. If he ever gets around to it I think it will be good. The concept is sound. As usual we have tons of stuff distracting us from being able to sit down and spent a chunk of time working on Roonster blog, but it's all for the benefit of the family, so we're justified. One of the distractions has been sports...my sports. I know some of you have probably fallen out of your seat upon reading that but it is true I have been trying to find my inner athlete since Rooney's been born. Last year I played indoor soccer. Although I wasn't a star at it I was able to land a goal and I felt good. This year I have been playing softball with my brother Dana and niece Natalie. We had a rocky start on this team, but it has been fun and we might be in the playoffs! No one thought it would happen.
(At the starting line. I'm in black with blue hat)

As many of you know I also started running after Rooney was born. At first I could only do about 5 minutes at a time. Eventually I built up my speed, stamina and confidence and I have been running about 3 miles consistently for awhile now. I ran primarily on the treadmill and only about 6 months ago ventured outside, in public view. Everyone always told me it was easier to run outside and they were right. In May I signed up to take a running class. Mostly to build more confidence and to make sure I was running correctly. Through this class, another student and a fellow Active Moms and Tots member, got me to sign up with her for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K. I have never run an official 5K and I don't think I would have chosen this one to be my first (there is so much hoopla and way too early!) but it was for a great cause.

I really didn't know what to expect so I thought it was best just to have my MP3 player and zone out of the race and into the music. I have my Running Playlist on shuffle (so I'm always anticipating the next song) and I thought it was kind of funny that as I started the race Queen's "We Are The Champions" was the first song to play. It kind of felt like that as you saw the mass of people race up the very first hill. I know somewhere in there Johnny Cash's "25 Minutes to Go" came on. It's like my Zune was reading my mind. Finally coming down the last hill I decided to sprint. I knew the finish was coming up and I really wanted to reach my time goal.

As I started to descend the hill another Queen song came on, "Another One Bites The Dust". That is exactly what was happening as I was flying past people down the hill. That was a wonderful feeling. Mike and Rooney came down to support me and it really felt great coming around the last corner, down the straight away to the finish line and seeing those two. I just couldn't wait to cross the finish line to see them (and for other various lesser reasons like being able to breathe again). I was absolutely elated after the race and thus my love/hate relationship with running goes on. I am already planning my next race.

(Reaching the finish line!)

Before I give my official time, I want to thank everyone that supported me and donated for such a wonderful cause. It really meant alot to me and it was really moving to see so many survivors and women running for other women stricken with breast cancer . I really didn't solicit many people but if you would like to donate I think you still can. Just click on the donate link.

Over the PA this morning they said there were over 15,000 people participating in all the run, walk/run, walk activities. I knew being in first place was out of the question, so after that I did not know how track myself. I decided to come up with a time goal that I wanted to complete the race in. My personal goal was 35 minutes but my official time was 30min 51sec.

That's respectable.

A Day in the Life (part 1)

It's just about time for my semi-annual post to Rooney's blog. And how apropriate that it's coming on Father's day!

Let's start off with a little quiz action. Rooney sent off a father's day card to my dad, or "Pop-pop" as Rooney knows him. I asked him to draw some pictures of him, Pop-pop, and Grandma on the card before we sent it out. Let's see if you can figure out who is who.

Clearly, that's Pop-pop, Grandma, and Rooney. And I know that he recognized each mini-masterpiece: The next morning, I asked him again, and I got the exact same answers.

I'm pretty amazed at times about how smart little kids can be (I guess its possible that Rooney is some sort of super-genius, but I doubt it). His memory is really sharp. For example, when we pull out of the driveway a certain direction, he'll know that we're going to his Aunt Annie's house. (Technically, other people live at Aunt Annie's house, but she's generally the one he mentions.) Or the other day, we were watching Spongebob, when this picture pops up on the screen. Rooney pipes up "Secret box!". Yessiree, the boy is a chip off the old block: a Spongebob fanatic to the point of unhealthiness.

We have other examples of his eerie memory, including some video evidence. But sorry, that's just another thing you're going to have to wait for. Look at it this way: just another reason for you to keep watching this space.

Roller Skating Outtakes

Greatness can be lonely









Playing foosball with Parker's Grandma



The great ones never really lose it

No Owie Skates!

Rooney and I do alot of fun things during the week. When you have an active toddler, you've got to be active (or go out of your mind). One of the really fun activities I started going to was Toddler Roller Skating at a local skating rink. For $4 your toddler can skate or you can skate and push your kid in a stroller. We've been going for a little while now and Rooney would never let the roller skates anywhere near him. He kept thinking he was going to get hurt so I would wear the skates. I don't think I've worn roller skates in at least 20 years (I can't believe I can say that!) and being at the skating rink really reminded me of jr. high. I was starting to get delusions of being the Dorothy Hamill of the roller skating world again.

This time was different. I don't know if it was because Aunt Annie was with us or what but Rooney wanted to wear the skates! He said to us several times, in a reassuring tone, "No Owie Skates". He had himself convinced. Once I got him on the floor he was off. He really didn't want me to hold him and once he finally fell he seemed to enjoy it. So much so he started doing it on purpose.

He might not be the next Scott Hamilton of the roller skating world (but that's probably OK) but he does appear to be a chip off the ol' block. Hopefully he never experiences the big goose egg on his forehead that I did when I was a few years older than him. If he were to enjoy that well...we'd have more to worry about than a possible concussion.