No C.J.!

"No, David!" is a children's book by David Shannon. The book was inspired by a small book, entitled "No David", that David Shannon wrote when he was five years old. Every page consisted of the words, "No, David!" and a picture of David (Shannon) doing things he was not supposed to do. Things like writing and drawing on the wall, reaching the cookie jar, stepping into mud, dressed like a pirate with a scuba mask and snorkel, holding a shark and running naked down the sidewalk, dressed as a soldier playing with a big spoon and a pan, playing with the food at the table and eating it watching the television, dressed as a cowboy, picking his nose, watching TV in another room, playing baseball in the living room and knocking down a vase, sitting in time out, and hugging mom. Today I could input C.J.'s name in every spot of the book. It felt like every two minutes I was saying, "No C.J., No!" She was pulling stuff down, kicking the floor, crawling towards the computer and she was even trying to get behind the love seat.

I will admit, because I was a little tired, she was getting the best of me. The more I said no, the more she totally ignored me and continued her exploration. I had to give up a few times but she gave up, too. At one point I was laying on the floor and she came over and plopped down next to me for a second. We ended the night fighting, though. I put her in the crib when she did not want to be in there yet. She fussed and crawled around but I held to my guns and just looked at her. Pretty soon she flopped out and fell asleep. Of course, she had her thumb in her mouth.

So now Daddy, who is a little under the weather, will lay down and get some rest. So please add dear old Daddy in your prayers tonight. As always, prayer changes things, people, and situations. We will throw in sickness today as well.

CJ's First Pancake

Today was C.J.'s nine month visit to the doctor. For all of you who have kept up, you know what that means, the Johnsons head to IHOP immediately following the visit. Tonight would be different, though. On previous visits C.J. would have to be sleep or have to dine solely on milk and rice. She was not old enough to have a pancake yet. Daddy was eager for this day to come. Her consumption of a pancake would be the final test to see if she was indeed her father's child. So of course you know Daddy took the honors of presenting C.J. with her first piece of pancake tonight. Daddy fed her a small piece and then another. Eventually C.J. grew impatient, and Daddy saw a little hand reach out and grab a piece of pancake. Instead of stopping her I grabbed Mommy's phone and took a picture. This was a moment I wanted to keep. As she continued to chew I guess she wanted a more "hands on" experience with her pancake so suddenly I looked over and saw C.J. grab the entire pancake off of her plate. Mommy looked, and her eyes got big. Daddy again got the camera first and snapped a few shots before taking the pancake from her. Ladies and gentlemen, with the last test in, I continue to claim and I seal it with my royal insignia, C.J. is definitely her father's daughter. She likes pancakes and that is a good thing in this household.

The visit to the doctor was great. C.J. is growing steadily and is in good health. Praise God for that. So now Daddy is very happy and all smiles as C.J. is in the bed asleep from stuffing her face, lol. Daddy is going to relax and watch some television. Before your night ends make sure you pray. We know prayer changes things, people, and situations.

Mother's Day 2010

I really should have Mommy write tonight. Since it was Mother's Day, C.J. spent the day with her while she spent the day with her mother. That left Daddy alone but he was with his mother. If it is one thing Daddy does recognize is the power of the maternal relationship in the life of any child. I know my relationship with my mother is a good one. I still call her Mommy. I had to prepare myself to make C.J.'s mommy the number one lady in my life when I got married. My mother has always been there for me. She supported, and still supports me, in anything I do, great or poor. She also knows how to keep a secret from my father. Come to think of it, if that is what mothers do, I need to break C.J. and her Mommy up, lol.

I respect mothers and praise them for all they do. The sermon today talked about being a praying mother. Daddy has one and I know C.J. has one, too. They pray daily and always praise God for their children. So today as I reflect on motherhood, I have to salute C.J.'s mommy. She has only been a mommy for nine months, but has learned so much and continues to grow, as I let her know today she is doing a fantastic job as a mother and C.J. is lucky to have her. I will always hold these days in my heart where they hug, kiss, and cuddle. This is so when they argue, fuss, and fight in the future, they have a point of reference of when times were filled with joy! Now I am not wishing a chaotic household, but as I have witnessed with my own sisters and I have heard from my wife, sometimes mommies and daughters do not see eye to eye, and the hormones have to be released. That is why God blessed them both with a husband and a Daddy to keep the peace, or as I would say, comfort C.J. and save her from her Mommy because she is Daddy's little girl. Then I will talk with Mommy and let her know I am on her side once we send C.J. to her room. Before any of you say it, this is not being manipulative, this is being smart. I have to make sure I am in good graces with each of them before they try to form a crew and take over my castle, lol!

So today was great. Everyone had the time available to spend with their mother. Now we start the countdown to Father's Day. I think I am going to get a shirt made that simply says, I AM C.J.'s DADDY! I know I am crazy, so pray for me please. We all know that prayer changes things, people, and situations. We also know that it is the only thing that can help C.J.'s daddy!

Attention, Attention!!!

Usually when you hear the words "attention, attention", a statement will follow. Today however, I used them to describe C.J., who seems to be demanding more and more attention these days. Now for a little girl who is loved by her parents at home, at the sitter is loved by the entire family, and when she is up with her grandparents, she receives even more love, how can she still want more? Lately whenever she does not see who she wants around, she begins to whine. Daddy could be right at the doorway, and if she feels it is too far away, she will let him know.

Today my plans were altered. I was originally supposed to go to play paintball, but that was canceled. Last minute my friend called me and and said she was on her way north from Tennessee and wanted to see the baby. I said sure slide through but that meant Daddy needed to clean. Now you all know Daddy is out and about a lot so the house is not as tidy as my grandmother would want it to be, lol. So I figured that I would get up this morning and do what needed to be done. The morning started off well. C.J. and I woke up and had breakfast together. We caught up with the news and sent Mommy a text. We missed her a bunch last night. Daddy was lonely in bed and C.J. only had one set of kisses. Anyway, I was able to bathe her and put some loungewear on her. Now what I wanted to do was to get her settled enough to do some cleaning. I put her in her playpen and I began to hang things up and put some stuff away. Then I moved out of the living room and the whining began. The whining then turned to crying and I had come back. So I picked C.J. up to comfort her and then said I might as well sit down and maybe she will take a nap. After three cooking shows she began to doze and suddenly her head dropped in my arms and she was finally asleep. I laid her in her crib and went back to work.

My next thought was to take a shower since I knew I had guests coming. As I peeked in the room only to see my Princess up and looking out for her Daddy. There went that bright idea. So I brought her out of the crib and we sat and watched some more television. Soon we got the call Daddy was waiting for from Mommy saying that she would be home by 11:00am. A few minutes later she called back to say that she was running late, but she be there by 11:30am. Daddy was ready for her to come too since C.J. desiring attention meant that Daddy was limited to what he could do. Mommy eventually came, shared the attention duties, and Daddy was able to shower, finally.

C.J. received even more attention when Daddy's friends came by. She was held (not as much as I thought they would hold her) and pictures were taken. She was all smiles with the Diva Crew! It was great for them to finally see her and she enjoyed their company. She then needed to get to bed because she was tired and her guests were on to the next stop. The night is fading away and now Daddy is going to get some rest. Oh yeah THANK GOD THAT MOMMY IS HOME! She does not even know how happy I am, really she does not know. I am the fun guy with C.J. but she is the one who lays down the law and really is the reason that C.J. is such an "on point" baby.

So as Daddy prepares to do what his Princess is doing, you all please remember to keep my attention grabbing daughter in your prayers. I know, I know she is just a baby and this is what babies do. However I know prayer changes things, people, and situations! Have a great night!

Mommy Come Home

I am good with being with CJ for longs periods of time. That was the disclaimer for this statement. Mommy went out tonight so that left CJ and Daddy to be together and CJ sought to be in charge from the time I picked her up all through the evening. I moved the car seat this morning to lessen the amount of crying she would do while I was driving. It worked for a bit but she soon loosened the pipes and let go. I parked and let her out and she was fine as we went up and down the aisles.

We arrived home and this girl was all over the place. CJ seems to fins everything she does not need to have when she is on the floor exploring. She got a little piece of something in her mouth and I had to hook it out. On the other hand her hand eye coordination is developing more and more. I realized today that you really can not do much when you have her. Your eye has to be on her constantly. Even when I went to go get my delivery from downstairs a half sleep CJ had to come with me because I did not want her to fall or roll to far.

So I am soliciting Mommy to come home. Not that I can not handle her but I need a timeout, lol! I do not know how Mommy does it but she does it well. So let me find where she is go get her and then at least we have a fighting chance against CJ. I have to go back to the drawing board to stage my defense because I need to keep the title in this house, lol! All in all it was a good night for Daddy and CJ. We watched a whack basketball game as the cavaliers rocked the socks off the Celtics. CJ finally played herself to sleep and now I will go sleep alone tonight. I miss "My Baby" the bed will be so cold and uncomfortable tonight. COME HOME BABY, COME! You all remember to pray because prayer changes things, people, and situations.

What A Trip

By the title you would think that I drove for miles today. Truth be told, round-trip I probably covered eight miles. These miles felt like eternity because of, you guessed it, C.J.! Now folks I will tell you as a parent I have learned that there are times where you have to make a decision and stick with it. No matter what the circumstances, if you want to have any kind of effect, you must stay the course.

Today Mommy had to get all pretty for a function she is attending tomorrow. That left good ol' Daddy and C.J. to their own devices this evening. So after we dropped Mommy off, we stopped by the house to get C.J.'s travel bag. Since she was asleep, I took the opportunity to catch up on the news and check some emails. Once I was done, we went back out and away we went. That is when the fun began. We literally were going (maybe) seven minutes from the house. C.J. could not see anyone from the back seat so she begins to cry. If you know C.J., her cry for attention is not subtle at all. It is a loud shrill that gets annoying after seconds. Now I could have pulled over, comforted her and hoped that she would allow me to keep going after a few minutes. I decided not to, I wanted to get back home so I kept driving as she kept wailing! I reached back to rub her arm but she did not want to have any of that. What made it worse was that every light that could turn red did, which added more minutes to our trip. We arrive to our destination and I get out of the truck. As soon as C.J. hears the door crack, her hysteria stops. I give her a kiss and all I could do was shake my head because she did all that just to see her Daddy.

Now you know that tonight is Thursday so it was Daddy bath night. For the past few nights, C.J. has been a little difficult when it came time for her to lay down. She was fussy and would not go to sleep. She had to be taken out of the crib, rocked and cuddled with, which is so uncharacteristic of her. Tonight I went a different route after I bathed her without being splashed, read a book about animal babies to her and of course shared a word of prayer. I picked her up, looked her in the eyes and with a stern voice informed C.J. that she would be laying down and that no one was coming in to check on her. I laid her down and she fussed a little, but sooner than later tonight she was fast asleep. I will admit that this stern stuff is tough for Daddy but he has to set his Princess straight now so she knows how to conduct herself in the future. I have to make sure that she represents the Johnsons of Old Bridge Kingdom wherever she is.

On that note I will part ways with you tonight. It was a great day, Praise God! I am going to wind down, listen to some music and catch the score of the Magic versus Hawks game. Do not forget to add prayer to your daily agenda. I can assure you that prayer changes things, people, and situations!

Just so you know, the Magic are up 107-89 with a little over four minutes left!

Sleeping Beauty, NOT!

Mommy called me early in the afternoon to tell me that CJ was having a good day. She also informed me that CJ only slept for about an hour today. Which meant she should sleep later. Day by day CJ reveals more and more of her similarities to Daddy. As a child I never took naps and now that I am an adult I rarely take them. So it would be fitting that CJ would ave problems (at least that is what others would call it) with sleeping during the day. We like to be active and doing, we can operate on minimal sleep if need be.

Tonight Mommy insisted on laying CJ down early so she she bathed her, read to her, and prayed with her. However CJ was not ready to go to sleep so she began to make as much noise as possible. Now Daddy was preparing dinner and felt like telling Mommy to let her be but he held his piece. More and more noise came from CJ and Mommy became more and more intent on putting her to sleep. Now from the outside looking in I would say that Mommy was on the short end of this stick. At one point I summoned her to come on and eat and let CJ be since she was not going to let her stay awake. See Daddy is soft when it comes to CJ and does not mind letting her get her way sometimes. I know this is not a good thing but hey, its my Princess for Pete's sake.

So now CJ is sleeping comfortably, I guess she needs to be in the confines of her own crib to rest her eyes as my great-grandmother use to say. I will have to work on CJ and her sleeping habits. I have said it before and now I have to get it to sink into CJ that to operate at its optimal capacity the body needs 8 hours of sleep. Some power naps will not hurt either. I'm done for today so as always remember to pray because prayer changes things, people, and situations.