Trouble, Trouble, Trouble!

Today was the day I knew would come, the reign of terror is currently upon us. Yo have to understand something. C.J. has a big cousin, we call her Breezie. She is a child who has been here before, maybe a few times. This girl called me Rudy up until about a month ago. She knows my name too. Now when we asked her why she called me that she simply said because I wanted too. Breezie is more like a hurricane than any kind of breeze.

When C.J. was born I instructed her not to deal with Breezie. She was told that she would be the reason that she would get in trouble with daddy. Now For C.J. to get in trouble with me it would take a lot but with Breezie all things are possible. So today they are at their Great-Grandma's house and Breezie has a cookie. of course my child being the greedy girl she is eyes the cookie. So my niece decided that she wanted to share with C.J. After she was told that C.J. could not have the cookie she took it upon herself to break a small piece of to offer her. C.J.'s mouth watered and if Breezie was not stopped she would have feasted upon her first chocolate chip cookie.

It is great that C.J. will have a lot of folks to grow up with. Family is very important for me and I want my children to have the same kind of upbringing. This way they will know their family. they will form bonds and they will learn how to support one another.

C.J. and Breezie will be a force to be reckoned with for a long time. The trouble is only beginning. I know we are in trouble because when I asked C.J. about the events of the evening she looked at her daddy and smirked. So world look out! I warn you now that C.J. has hooked up with a monster and they are gonna run loose. I will do my best to keep her tame but I do not know if my best will be good enough. So in closing please pray for me and C.J. because prayer changes things. This one I have to mention before I go. Shatema made a visit during her lunch period to the sitter. She comes home and tell me that the little boy at the sitter was fascinated with C.J. , wanted to share his toys and was looking and smiling at my baby. People, mommy said C.J. smiled back. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!You all know I am going to the range soon! Again, always pray because prayer can changes things and most of all people.

Real Quick

Sometimes you just run out of time. So today I will leave a few quotes for my girl C.J.

1. Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice. Wayne Dyer

2. People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents. Andrew Carnegie

3. The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work. Mark Twain

4. Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. Robert Collier

5. If you want to get somewhere you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up. Norman Vincent Peale

C.J., these are some quotes that one day you will understand the underlying meaning. They all will help you develop a strong work ethic and help you achieve all the goals you set for yourself. Just know your daddy is always here for you and is your loudest cheerleader!

Child Growth & Development

In college I studied the likes of Piaget, Vgotsky, Dewey and Skinner. I will say this upfront, at the time I hated everything about these guys. You have to understand I was forced to remember every theory, every stage, every similarity, every difference, every year and more. My diet for an entire semester consisted of these men. Now back then you would never get me to believe I would use this material once I left SPED 101. Which to date is one of the most difficult classes I have engaged in because of the large amount of material packed into a semester. As a 29 year old Educator I will admit that I was wrong.

The first day I stepped foot into my first grade classroom I needed to call up my boys to analyze where my students were functioning. They all played a role in my classroom and when I left the elementary level of education I again though I would leave them behind. Again I was wrong. I refer to my boys now when I deal with my students at the collegiate level. They should be far along the spectrum but some of them (And I love them all) are still at the beginning.

C.J. also brings me back to the beginning stages of development. We now have her spending more time on her belly. This fores her to lift up her head on her own which she is doing quite well I might add. I spend a lot of time with her. Letting her grasp my hand, have her pull on some of her toys, watching her kicking her feet and trying to roll over. Since I have a little knowledge in the area I should use it with my own kid. One thing I try to do is not make her a lab rat. I do not want to watch her according to any scales or books. that would not only drive me crazy but more importantly it would drive C.J. nuts.

As an educator I once thought that I would have very critical of everything my poor baby did. Is she doing that right, is this on-time, when will this happen, when will that happen. Until I decided way before she was born to let her do her! She will do what she wants to do and let me share with you all that C.J. does what she wants when she wants. Right now it is not a problem but one day it might be and then we will have to have a sit down. If that does not work, thy rod and thy staff might have to comfort her, lol! All in all she is developing quite nicely and I am pleased with her progress. I will always refer to my prior knowledge i am just glad I have my own to draw from.

Have a great evening and do not forget to pray. Prayer changes things!

Note for C.J. Always put in the work for the results you desire.

Here's Laughing At You!

One of the greatest things to wake up to every morning is a smile. A smile can usher in a great day on the job, in school, on the road and quite frankly anywhere you will find yourself.

This morning I changed the morning routine a little. Instead of waiting for mommy to get ready and then once she was done get C.J. ready I pitched in. Getting C.J. up in the morning is a chore, she stretches, she yawns, she grunts and she makes it difficult for anyone involved. However today was a little different. After she interrupted my last half hour of sleep; you know that dimension of sleep that either makes you say you had a great not of sleep or that you did not sleep well at all. The last moments of sleep that usually cap off a great dream. The last few moments of sleep that can erase the bags from under your eyes, yes folks that sleep. I proceeded to wash her up. The funny thing is that she did not make a peep instead she began to giggle, laugh and smile. It was like she was happy she was being cleaned. As I continued my heart was full of excitement to see my little girl so happy. To me it means I am doing what I am suppose to do. I aim not to make her happy but so that she has joy running throughout her veins.

This morning was so fun getting her ready that I will attempt Day 2 in the morning. I hope the smiles and giggles come again because they helped kick daddy's week off more than she will ever know.

I am going to turn in early tonight so in parting you all always remember to pray because like I always say, "Prayer changes things!"

So Much To Do...So Little Time

I used to look for more hours in a day because I wanted to fit time in to do what I now see as nothing. More dates to hang with the fellas, to recuperate from long nights and to add more amusement to my life. Now I look for more time for two reasons, rest and C.J.

For some reason 24 hours never seems to be enough. When I look back at the day and I factor in the time I drive, the time she sleeps, the time I have to do some type of work, and the time spent preparing for the next day, it seems that my daddy/daughter time is not where I want it to be. Now some of you remember that last week I took some time to prioritize things in my life, to allow for more time with C.J. I did that and I found particular days. Days where C.J. and Daddy can hang out and strengthen the father/daughter bond. I am not referencing those days now. My issue now is time within the day. Days now seem so routine for me. I am a free thinker and spirit. When I plan, it has to be my schedule, not the one forced on me by life...get up, get ready, go to work, work, drive home, cook, prepare for tomorrow, go to sleep. I need some extra hours to just sit and stare at C.J., to go out and toss the ball around, to run around and play tag and to sit for hours and read with her all the science book we can.

Those days will come because God will send them our way! All that needs to be done will be accomplished within the time frame that God allots. I am OK with that because as the preacher said today, "I have a direct connection with God!", and if you're not down with that, I have two words for you, "GET ONE!"

Time will always be of interest for me because I always watch. I think I may need to change the way I look at time moving forward. Currently I always see it as running out. I may need to look at time as what it is, something developed to calculate days, years and centuries. That way it means nothing to me and I just go about my life doing what I want, when I want and how God arranges it to be done.

I will ponder on that. Until I come back with an answer you all remember to pray because prayer changes things.

C.J. Daddy never wants you to be in a hurry. Do things with style and grace. Now I am not telling you to be a slow poke, either. But your Daddy knows that when people rush, they mess up. However, when they take their time, they accomplish what they set out to do. Always loving you, your Daddy!

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

When the times comes to reflect all we will have is pictures. Pictures tell a lot about a person. Hairstyles, clothing preference, when you lost a tooth, the pretty frown you would put on for sympathy and the smile you easily clad when you were happy.

Today the Johnson Family from Old Bridge took their first family portrait. We all looked nice, colors matched well to create a nice photograph. The family photo went off without a hitch. However the story changed when the Princess C.J. watch photographed alone. That is when I knew I would spend money. I mean come on do you think I could leave any pictures of here idle. Let me answer that for you, no.

C.J. was the center of attention because we had to sessions today. One for the church and the other for holiday cards. In both she smiled a little but not as much as she could have. I say could have because when the cameras were noticed affixed to her face she was all smiles. Today was full of joy. When you take pictures you are reminded of how blessed you are. I am blessed to have a loving wife and daughter who mean the world to me. The love was captured for a lifetime today as we smiled for the cameras.

For C.J. this was nothing new to her. Daddy always has a camera pointed in her direction. We have a picture date soon. Once her ears are pierced daddy and C.J. are dawning their NY Giant gear and taking pics supporting our favorite team! Mommy is contemplating joining us too.

Today was great! Lasting memories were captured in time. One day I will sit with C.J. and be able to pinpoint the day and hour that the photo was taken. We can both relive the joy we had in our hearts together. You all remember to pray tonight because prayer changes things.

Government Issued ID

We all knew as children that if your mother called you using your entire name that you were in some deep trouble. For me that would have been, Jamal Tyre Johnson.... I never wanted to hear that combination together. The response was always, "Dag, she called my whole name, I am in trouble now." The entire name brought fear into your heart. It made your mind begin to wander. It made you cringe because you never knew what was coming to you.

Well I decided to begin early with calling C.J. by her government. Actually I found it funny and the sad thing is that she did too. Today C.J. decided that she wanted to be difficult. This morning she fussed during her entire dressing. I mean yelling at the top of her lungs like someone was hurting her. I looked my little girl dead in the face and said "Camille Jamari Johnson, you need to hush up and let your Mommy finish making you look like we love and care for you". Her little butt paid me no attention, which brings us to her little episode in the car home. I will go on record to say this, she better be glad she did not act up in the mall or it would have been ugly between us two. We are driving home, everyone is cool, the music is playing, no traffic was out...it was a good smooth ride.

Suddenly out of nowhere Shatema's daughter begins to cry hysterically. Now she just had eaten. She was the recipient of Daddy and Mommy's hard earned pay checks, and she was dry, so why she wanted to act up is beyond me. I had another stop to make, so Mommy dealt with her but she would not stop. So we resume to making our way home, and then when she decided to, she began to fade off. Now I wanted to kick her little butt but I just appreciated the moment because I just wanted her quiet.

I felt like calling her out again but I figured one instance of your entire governmental in a day was enough. Needless to say this girl of mine is developing an interesting little personality. I guess we will be going at it in the years to come. I will love her but she ain't going to be the boss of me, lol. Well tonight I am going to head off to bed. Long day tomorrow. Until then you all remember to pray because prayer changes things.