My Experiences as a Father... December 5, 2001 to January 4, 2002 (32nd month)

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Wednesday, January 2, 2002
One of the things that we got Maeve for Christmas was a set of twelve airplanes and helicopters.  She really likes the helicopter.  Every night we pick two to carry when we do plane.  Maeve changes airplanes, but the helicopter is included every night.  She always asks what the names of the planes are, but it's hard for her to remember the differences between F-14, F-15, F-16, F-18, etc.

Tonight she told me that she thought everyone has airplanes and helicopters to play with.  I told her that most little girls are not lucky enough to have airplanes or helicopters.
 

Tuesday, January 1, 2002
Marianne came over for New Years again.  Today we went shopping and toured Woonsocket a little.  Since we were just driving around to see what we could see, we were driving a lot like someone who is trying to find a particular address.  After a lot of pulling over to the side, making quick U-turns, and pulling into and out of parking lots, Maeve said, "Hold on, Mom, Dad is driving crazy."  I wonder how many times Jill had to say that to Maeve for her to pick it up and repeat it so exactly.
 

Sunday, December 30, 2001
Jill visited Nanny Carol just before we left for Virginia.  Apparently there was a child named "Jess" there who was kind enough to give Maeve a cold.  Maeve then gave it to the rest of the family.  We are just now getting over it.
 

Friday, December 28, 2001
Last Friday we drove to my father's house in Northern Virginia.  In the past we have driven at night, because I prefer to have less traffic and not lose an entire day doing nothing but driving.  Jill complains that then we are too tired to do anything for the following day.  She also pointed out that I tend to stay up until the last minute getting ready, so I don't get a nap before we leave.  Because of that, she can't sleep because she is too worried about me falling asleep while I'm driving.  Years and years ago, the only time I got into accidents was when I was asleep.  As a result, I've learned my lesson, and if I get too tired I will stop to stretch, get some caffeine, and things like that.  Still, Jill isn't convinced.

This year, Jill insisted on driving during the day.  Things went well for an hour, until we got to Connecticut.  We also hit some traffic in New York, and a lot of traffic in New Jersey.  At one point it took 75 minutes to go 25 miles.  Another fun part of driving during the day is that Maeve and Hilde are used to being awake, so they don't sleep well.  Hilde wanted to eat every hour and a half.  Because we left in the early afternoon, it was still well after midnight when we arrived, so we ended up driving at night anyway.  The trip to my father's house took 11 hours.

The trip back was much better, because we drove at night.  We drove from Richmond to have dinner with a friend south of Baltimore.  We left there around 9:30 PM.  We stopped once for gas.  We hit about five minutes of slower traffic in New York City.  Hilde didn't wake up at all.  Maeve was awake for about two hours, but she and Jill slept most of the rest of the trip.  It only took us six hours.  It would have taken another hour to have driven from my father's house.  We could have made that trip in seven hours, four hours less than we took by driving during the day.
 

Wednesday, December 26, 2001
For Christmas Eve dinner, we were at Jill's parents' house.  When it came time for dessert, Grandpa offered Maeve ice cream with cherries on top.  He said that it's his house, so Maeve could have as many cherries as she wanted.

One of Maeve's Christmas presents was a set of cosmetic stuff.  She had been carrying it around in a bag, but then decided to dump it out on the kitchen floor.  She then got interested in something else, so she just left the toys sitting on the floor.  Grandpa came in and pretended to be mad.  He yelled, "Who left all of this mess on the floor?"  Fortunately my children are used to this kind of yelling, because I do the same thing.  If I had been yelling, I would have expected Maeve to exclaim, "I did!"  Maeve just ignored him.  I said, "I told Maeve not to make a mess of Grandpa's floor, but she said this is Grandpa's house, so it's OK to make a mess like that."
 

Sunday, December 23, 2001
While visiting my Dad, someone mentioned how Maeve looked like a Precious Moments figurine.  We had already explained how Maeve's name was the same as Queen Maeve.   I thought it would be pretty neat if someone would make a  Precious Moment's figurine of Queen Maeve, with armor, chain mail and maybe even holding a broadsword over her head.  That would be a lot better than the wimpy characters they usually have.  I would buy one of those.
 

Thursday, December 20, 2001
Tonight Maeve and I went to get food at Taco Bell.  Maeve kept calling it Chinese food, since the last time we brought food home from a restaurant it was Chinese food.  I tried to explain how it was Mexican food, and that Taco Bell does not sell Chinese food.

Jill and I have been taking turns praying at dinner since before we were married.  Tonight Maeve grabbed our hands before we could start, and she prayed.  She closed her eyes, bowed her head and said, "Lord, bless this Chinese Taco Bell, and bless Dad on his birthday."
 

Tuesday, December 18, 2001
Hilde rolled over for the first time today.  Now she doesn't like to be on her back at all.  I think she can see more on her back, but she likes being on her stomach.
 

Sunday, December 16, 2001
We visited the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets.  Maeve has been listening to Jill again, and called them, "Fancy schmancy".
 

Saturday, December 15, 2001
Maeve keeps putting toys and clothes in the refrigerator.  When we ask her why, she says she wants them to be cold.  She didn't do this at the old house.  Maybe this refrigerator is easier to open.
 

Thursday, December 13, 2001
Today Maeve got some butter knives from her kitchen, some blocks of wood and her wire sculpture toy.  She showed me how she had a miter box just like I used to cut the new molding for the old house.
 

Wednesday, December 12, 2001
Maeve was sort of playing Doctor with Jill.  Maeve had the flashlight and was shining it on Jill's arm.  She said that Jill had bolts inside her, and that she would need a screwdriver to get them out.
 

Monday, December 10, 2001
Maeve helped me put in the new washer and dryer.  I had to move the electrical outlets for the washer and the dryer.  I also needed to change the dryer vent, because the old vent was full of lint, and the new dryer was going to be closer to the outside vent.

We got a fancy new washer and dryer, with the largest capacity available in the market, and stainless steel drums.  They were close-out specials at Home Depot, so we also got a great deal.  Jill was very excited about them, and made a comment about how she is such a good housewife to get excited about new appliances.
 

Sunday, December 9, 2001
Maeve is still getting used to the layout of the new house.  She heard an ambulance and wanted to go look out the big window upstairs.  That window was in Townsend.  She said she wanted to go downstairs to play.  Playing downstairs was also in Townsend.
 

Saturday, December 8, 2001
It snowed for Maeve's first full day in her new house.  We got to put on the snow pants and snow boots that we had been waiting to use.  We got the snow shovel that she used last year, and she helped me shovel again.  When we were done, we went inside to get hot chocolate.
 

Friday, December 7, 2001
The movers unloaded and mostly unpacked today.  It only took them five hours.  Pretty impressive.  The only things they left packed were things like all of the books for the office, because we haven't decided where to put the desks and bookshelves.

Unpacking consists of taking everything out of the boxes and putting it on "the nearest flat surface."  This means that the kitchen items were all over the counter tops, table top and all over the living room.  It looks like a pretty big mess.  Still, it's a lot better than unpacking ourselves, because that would have taken a lot longer, and we would have had lots of empty boxes and packing material to put someplace.

I was trying to get past Maeve with some boxes  Then Maeve started chasing me around, purposely getting in my way, just so she could say, "Excuse me, excuse me,..." and flatten herself against the wall so I could get by.
 

Thursday, December 6, 2001
We were eating lunch at McDonald's when Jill discovered that Hilde had a tooth.  Jill said she almost cried right there in the restaurant, because this is the last time she will have a child to get their first tooth.
 

Wednesday, December 5, 2001
The movers started packing today.  They should be done packing and loading tomorrow morning.  I was warned that they would pack everything that wasn't moving.  I tried to make sandwiches for lunch, but they had packed the knives, so I couldn't spread any condiments.  However, I didn't need a knife, since they also packed the bread.  At dinner I told Maeve to not make a mess because they packed the sponge.  When it came time to clean Maeve up afterwards, we found that they had packed her washcloth.
 


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