My Experiences as a Father... January 5 to February 4, 2001 (21st month)

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Saturday, February 3, 2001
Jill has been singing "Tell me why the sun does shine..." as a lullaby since Maeve was born.  Maeve has decided that she doesn't like it anymore.  Jill will say, "Tell me why" and Maeve will stop her by saying, "No."
 

Thursday, February 1, 2001
I left Jill with some tools so she could hang up some pictures.  Somehow she lost the tape measure, though she knew it was in the living room.  Maeve wanted me to lift up the couch.  When we did, we heard it drop.  It had fallen between the cushions and ended up in the lining on the bottom of the couch.
 

Tuesday, January 30, 2001
The weather today was nice enough for Jill and Maeve to spend some time outside.  First Jill wanted to re-pot a plant.  Jill was looking for her garden trowel.  She found the pots and other gardening supplies, but could not find the trowel.  Maeve was playing, and Jill casually said, "Maeve, do you know what Dad did with my trowel?  It's a little shovel, about this long."  Maeve walked back into the garage, walked right to the shovel where she left it, and gave it to Jill.  Maeve had used it when she was helping me break up the ice on the driveway.
 

Sunday, January 28, 2001
Jill asked if I would "be in a funk" if we had a boy.  A girl would probably be easier at this point, because we already have one and I would not have to learn new boy-parenting stuff.  We also have plenty of hand-me-downs.

So my answer to Jill was, "Not as big a funk as you will be in when I dress him in Maeve's pink hand-me-down coat."
 

Saturday, January 27, 2001
Maeve likes to put her blanket over her face and pretend to hide.  Jill and I will play along, running around yelling, "Where's my baby?  Where is Maeve? Is she over here?  Is she under here?", etc.  Today Jill heard Maeve bumping into things and found Maeve walking around with one of my kerchiefs over her head.  She was hiding, but she also couldn't see where she was going.  I got Maeve a threadbare kerchief so she could "hide" and still be able to see where she was going.
 

Friday, January 26, 2001
As I mentioned on Wednesday, Maeve is very attached to her dolls.  When Jill went to get Maeve up after her nap, Jill found that Maeve had taken off her diaper and was trying to put in on her doll.  Jill and Maeve went to the store to buy some cheap "newborn size" diapers just for the dolls.  It's hard to believe that Maeve ever fit in those.
 

Thursday, January 25, 2001
We took Maeve to get a haircut today where Jill gets her hair cut.  Maeve had seen me getting a haircut, so when we told her that she was going to get her haircut, she was making the sound of the electric clippers that my barber uses.
 

Wednesday, January 24, 2001
Maeve is getting very attached to her dolls.  Today she put her "babies" in the back of her fire truck, along with Maeve's purse and some bags.  Then Maeve got in the front and was driving, but kept turning around to talk to the dolls.
 

Monday, January 22, 2001
Jill is having some sort of nausea problems with this pregnancy.  It's not morning sickness.  It's just that she gets queasy easily.  For example, chicken is a problem for her.  She can't eat it, and even opening chicken noodle soup for Maeve is a problem.  Another example was that Jill couldn't clean some old cheese sauce out of a measuring cup.  Also, she can't deal with lunch meat that I say is still good, but that she thinks is too old.

Today Jill was going around with her hand over her mouth, trying to keep from vomiting.  Maeve saw her and started doing the same thing.
 

Sunday, January 21, 2001
Maeve and I were taking out the molding in the kitchen to prepare for the new floor tile that we are putting in.  I called Jill in to see what I had found behind the molding, under part of the wall.  Jill let out a shriek when she saw the red, 1970s shag carpet.  The wall must have been put in after the carpeting was already installed; the wall was just installed over the carpeting.
 

Saturday, January 20, 2001
Maeve is mimicking lots of sounds.  If I am taking a nap and Jill asks Maeve where I am, Maeve will make snoring sounds.

Tonight Maeve was mimicking the noise of the modem trying to connect.
 

Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Maeve is very good at saying, "No".  She often says it when she means "Yes".  For example, we will ask if she is done eating, and she will say, "No".  We then ask if she is going to eat any more, to which she replies, "No".  Jill has found a perfect use for Maeve's special talent.  Jill sings, "This little light of mine".  After the line, "Hide it under a bushel..." Maeve says, "No!"
 

Monday, January 15, 2001
My father flew home today.  Maeve's word for him sounds like "Pops", instead of "Grandpa".
 

Sunday, January 14, 2001
Today we took my father and Marianne to Dick's Last Resort for brunch.  They had live gospel singers.  Just like with the R & B group that Maeve saw at the motorcycle show yesterday, Maeve kept swaying to the music.  My father said she very well might end up being a dancer.

One of the waitresses at Dick's Last Resort tied a balloon onto Maeve's chair.  Maeve has never been too excited about balloons, but she really liked this one.  Through the rest of the meal Maeve had one hand on the balloon string and ate with the other.  She kept looking up at it and making it bounce up and down.

During dinner tonight, Marianne said that I have turned out to be a much better father than she ever expected.  I'm not sure what she meant by that.

Jill had gone off to some youth event at church, so I had Maeve for the night.  After Maeve finished eating her dinner and was cleaned up, we got out a cake.  Maeve was doing a lot of running around and playing, so I did not want to put her back in her high chair.  Instead I put a fork on the plate with the cake, and put it on the floor for Maeve.  It seemed like a good way to let Maeve eat and still keep playing.  She would eat a little cake, run off for a few minutes, come back for more cake, etc.  Marianne said she wouldn't tell Jill that I was making Maeve eat off the floor.
 

Saturday, January 13, 2001
If Maeve is left in her crib long enough after she wakes up and wants to get out, she usually throws her blankets and stuffed animals on the floor.  Today I went in to get her and found everything in her crib except her pajamas and diaper.  They were there when I looked in on her at 7:45, but by 8:45 she was a nudie baby.  I didn't think she could get out of her pajamas all by herself.

I took Maeve and my father to a motorcycle show today.  Jill told Maeve to not let me get anything pierced.  The show is held in the same place that often has computer shows.  The crowd for computer shows is dressed a little differently than the biker crowd.

After we got home, my father and I spent the rest of the day wiring new lights and installing new shelves in our utility room.  It was nice to have someone who does things right to help with that.  The house already has enough goofy wiring and carpentry from whatever buffoons were living there before.
 

Friday, January 12, 2001
My father came to visit for the weekend.  Maeve has gotten into a habit of wanting everyone to be drinking when she drinks.  If everyone isn't drinking, she points and fusses until they do drink.  My father said her demands that every drink when she does is going to make her quite a party girl.
 

Monday, January 8, 2001
THE DIAPER ENDTIMES HAVE BEGUN!  We got Maeve her own toilet training seat a week or two before Christmas.  It has been in the bathroom for a while.  Maeve has known for a long time how the bathroom works and what goes on in there.  Today Maeve used her training seat for the first time.
 

Sunday, January 7, 2001
Jill says Maeve is always happy, but around the time that I get home, she starts yelling, "Daddy", and is a lot more noisy when I am around.  I wonder where she picked that up.
 

Friday, January 5, 2001
Jill got a new shower curtain that is clear with some flowers on it.  Maeve does not like to have her hair rinsed in the tub, so she has been having her hair washed in the shower with Jill.  She likes to pinch my nose through the shower curtain.  She doesn't pinch my nose when there isn't a shower curtain between us, so I don't know why she always does that when she is in the shower.
 


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