The Changes We Go Through

The one thing that no one could ever prepare a new parent for is change. You know it will come. You hear about all the changes, you read about them and lore is past down from generation to generation about them. I have learned that no matter what they tell you, your experience will be unique and specific to you. I strongly attest to the fact that none of my changes have been negative though. They have forced me to keep my innovative hat on and like a chameleon I have to adapt to all of the changes C.J. goes through.

I am reminded of a visit to the doctor when C.J. started to cry. She dropped her lip and her doctor was even hip to the fact that she was full of drama. We laughed with the good doctor but we were already aware that this girl could be dramatic when she wanted to be. I always mention C.J.'s personality development and these days it seems like the locomotive is in full throttle. This girl is always doing something. The thing is that the older she gets, the more attention she demands. If Mommy or Daddy leave the room C.J. is not pleased and will let out a loud shrill to remind us of where she believes our attention should be. She also tends to be more physical. Her contact with my face is a sure sign. She likes to grab my head and then my mouth. The only bad thing is that her nails grow faster than light travels so I have to watch out for cuts.

The changes are interesting. One day she wants to hold her own bottle. The next she wants to be lazy. One day she will enjoy tummy time and the next she will cry the entire time. One day she is all giggles and smiles and the next she is stone cold to a degree. (C.J. is generally a very happy baby) The changes take Mommy and Daddy for turns but we try to keep up. The changes will tire us out but we make a good team and tag the other in when we need to. The changes will have us ready to knock her out but we remember she is a symbol of our love, and then we tend to her needs with haste. So the changes, in reality, help us all grow together. I know they help Daddy learn more and work harder to be the best Daddy he can be.

So as was the theme of high worship today, God is Good! Also he is a God that we can depend on. This is why we always pray because we know for a fact that prayer changes things, people and situations.

NOTE TO C.J.: We all go through changes in life, even you will have your highs and lows. Always remember that in your seasons of high or low that God is a God that you can rely on. Always make sure that you have a relationship with him and you will be alright.

Yucky Spit-Up

All of a sudden I felt something warm and slimy oozing down my hand. C.J. had spit-up on her Daddy again. She does this because she is exploring with her hand and she always seems to bring something up. So needless to say, Daddy was not pleased because this was the second pair of sweats C.J. had ruined today. This evening I had to punish her by putting her back in her chair instead of providing her the luxury of Daddy's arms.

Today was great! Over dinner I told Mommy that I really enjoyed my Saturday home with the girls. I woke up late and had my favorite breakfast. A boiled egg, toast and cereal. I also had the opportunity to watch "Not Easily Broken" in its entirety. I think the message at the end was specifically for me and another sign from God! The message is becoming clearer now too!

To round out the day we went food shopping, then came home, ate dinner and watched television. Now instead of lullabyes we are listening to the music of El Debarge. I keep C.J.'s music knowledge up to par. This new stuff can not be considered music at all. I figure if she is brought up on the classics and true music, when she gets older and the Soldier Boy of her time is out, she will know that it is whack.

The next time I am home I have to make sure C.J. gets her basketball IQ stirred up a little more. The past two weekends she was able to see two games live and this weekend we really did not focus on basketball too much. C.J. did not even get to see Serena Williams win another grand slam event. When she is older hopefully the Williams sisters are still playing and we can go see them live. Daddy has to look into that.

So as I go head to bed and out of my pants full of spit-up you all have a great night. Do remember to pray because prayer changes things, people and situations. When God speaks, listen. Your life will be all the much better and it will not take watching bits and pieces of a movie for three days to hear what the end was saying just for you to hear.

The Color Red

OK, everyone has the color that they like to wear and that they look good in. For Daddy it is anything bright but I tend to love teal or sky blue. For mommy she likes brown. For CJ Mommy and Daddy differ. Anything Daddy buys tends to be Red. Their are many reasons why but the one reason that will always stick out is that Daddy hates girly pink. I mean everywhere you turn pink this, pink that. I hate it and I vow that Daddy will never make CJ wear it. Talk about gender identification will you. Now pink oddly enough is a color daddy wears well. It is just not for his Princess so Red will do. Or at least until she begins to pick out her own clothes.

Tonight it picture night and Daddy chose an outfit for CJ. You got it, the color Red is dominant. I have some friends that will be proud and happy about that and some others that will hate it. Nonetheless Red it is. Now these are not Valentines Day pictures. We just happen to be hanging out with the photographer and it is that time of year again. (Daddy hates Valentines Day and will write about that in a few weeks) She will have some themed props that will only compliment her beautiful smile.

Tonight CJ#1 and CJ#2 will hang out again. CJ#1 is almost a year old, my how time flies. CJ#2 will have to catch up. They will have fun and probably see who will out sleep the other like they always do. I am just glad she has some friends to grow up with. Welp, as we get ready to depart tonight as always remember to pray, and I know you know why but I will remind you. We pray because prayer changes things, people and situations!

Bath Time

Another Thursday is upon us and you all know what that means. You got it, Daddy bath night. So of course things have to go a little differently. It is just the way Daddy operates. This week we have moved bath time to the bath tub. The kitchen sink left Daddy and Mommy more wet than they desired to be. Now that we use the tub, C.J. has a limited splash zone. I think she will realize that soon and figure out a way to soak us again. She is pretty smart.

So today after I got her ready for bed I read a book to her. Usually, I read scripture with C.J. but tonight I selected a book I created for a class back in college. The title is Chester's Chance. The book is about a boy that wanted to do everything but was good at nothing. He tried and tried until he found that football was his niche and he excelled at that. The moral of the story is to keep trying and never give up. This is a lesson I want to embed in C.J. now so she can draw from it when she needs to.

That is pretty much it for tonight. C.J. is now asleep in her crib soundly. I will give myself an A+ tonight because everything came together like clockwork. So I remind you all to always pray. We know that prayer changes things.

Discipline

So Mommy is sharing some information about her day with me. She says something that is kind of sad and what does my princess do? C.J. laughs. So I thought to myself, what better time to start a little discipline? So I asked her to look at me in a very stern voice and explained to her that laughing was not nice. She stares me right in my face and laughs again. At this time I wanted to get a belt. Mommy laughed and said you know you're not going to do anything, lol!

C.J. is beginning to look more and more like her cousin Breezie these days. The question has to be whether or not the personality will accompany the look? Breezie is an interesting character...full of pizazz, life and spunk. She has a style of her own and an attitude that is always up for interpretation. So now we have C.J. who has a smirk that she shines when need be, and a smile that says, "You can not discipline me...I am too cute for that." What Daddy has to do is gain the strength to look beyond the smile and the grin and remain stern in his position so C.J. learns right from wrong. Mommy is ahead in the discipline category so Daddy has to catch up a bit.

Tonight she went to sleep without fuss so that is an accomplishment for us all. We love her dearly but we love sleep as well. That is about it tonight. Some days are more eventful than others, but nonetheless, we are blessed that she is healthy and is really strong. So as I go, continue to pray because we know prayer changes things!

I'm UP!

Well we are still adjusting the sleeping patterns for C.J. The good thing is that she still sleeps through the night. We are just a little worried that her amount of sleep is lacking. Today the report from the sitter was that she took a long midday nap. Do not get me wrong, C.J. is pretty active but I do not think it is to the point that she knocks herself out.

On the ride home we had to make a stop and my Princess was asleep. All Mommy said was when I get home I need you to keep her up. She allowed her to sleep for the moment but I was already getting my plan together. Little did I know I would not need my plan. When I got settled and proceeded to undress C.J., I noticed that homegirl was awake and sucking her thumb like, I am waiting for you to get me out of this hot box you all have me in.

I have to share with you the happenings of bedtime last night. Now you all know that C.J. is my girl. You also know that Daddy treats her like a Princess! The problem is that in our kingdom resides a Queen that acts like a Queen Bee sometimes. (This statement is not figurative before you all go saying I have the nerve to say that about Mommy. In a beehive the Queen Bee runs all activity.) She made the statement that C.J. is to stay in her crib no matter what. So needless to say I needed to listen. So about 10 minutes in last night C.J. begins to whine. The whine turns into a fuss and then the fuss became a faint cry. At this point I am shaking in bed and Mommy says, "You are shaking" I'm like, "Yes". She says, "She has to stay in there. If you take her out she will never learn." I really did not want to hear that nor did I want to keep my Princess in that crib, but because the Queen Bee said so, I obliged. So I kept shaking and gripped the sheets tight as my baby girl cried and cried and cried sooner than later that cry became a shrill and then guess what, the Queen Bee says, "Ok, get her out." I am out of the bed before she probably finishes the last words in the sentence. I scooped my girl up and then had to wipe the tears from her eyes and hold her closely like a Papa bear would do his little cub.

Daddy is all with getting C.J. in a groove now so we do not pay for it later. It is all good, but trust and believe I will be the enabler when she has reached her frustration point, and last night it came quickly. Tonight seems to be going a lot better. She is in the crib and not making a sound! Daddy does not have to shake!

That is all for today folks. Keep praying because you know what I believe...Prayer changes things, people and situations!

Sleeping Beauty

Today was a different day for C.J. Usually I talk about her being bright eyed and bushy tailed. However from the outset of the morning C.J. had other plans. I should have known something was up because when I went over to pick her up to get her dressed, C.J. was sucking her thumb watching television through the bars on her crib. I picked her up and then she laid silently this morning as I made her look all cute.

What was odd about the morning was that C.J. tried very hard to go back to sleep. Normally around 6:10am she begins to get fussy. That helps Daddy to know that it is time to prepare her bottle. On this day C.J. was quiet. So I continued the routine...I put on her coat, her gloves, her hat and strapped her into the car seat. Before I could look away her eyes were shut and she was zoning off. As always I prayed before we left the house. On some days C.J. will give some kind of sign that she was listening, but today she just slept. C.J. was in so much of a zone that she slept while she devoured her morning bottle. Now I think she was just, as my great-grandmother used to say, "resting her eyes". Mommy, on the other hand, reminded me of my science background. She told me to remember that sucking is a natural reflex. Either way that bottle was handled easily by the Princess.

So when C.J. was picked up from the babysitter, I never thought I would hear that C.J. did not sleep at all during the day. I was sure she was tired. Mommy seems to think that C.J. is not getting enough sleep, and was fighting her sleep today instead, so we changed things up a bit and she is already in bed.

As an educator of first grade students, as well as those I work with at the collegiate level, I always stress the importance of sleep. One needs eight hours minimum to function at 100%. So I have to make sure I get that point across to my soon-to-be six month old child.

So we shall see what tomorrow shall bring. Hopefully C.J. will be back to her usual self in the morning. So as the evening fades to the night, and I go run to my Princess as she cries out for her Daddy, always remember to pray because prayer changes things, people and situations.