Our Little Diva Turns One

Yesterday (September 29th) was Victoria Elizabeth's first birthday. We had a small family party with cake and presents, and enjoyed the time-honored tradition of letting the baby eat her first birthday cake on her own.

Now we know that there is a wide variety of babies' reactions to this tradition. However, I don't ever remember a one-year old being such a Diva that she would freak out at the idea of frosting getting on her fingers and would insist on neatly eating a few bites of her cake--with a FORK!

We should have had an inkling of her clean handed tendencies after the dry run that we had last weekend. Liz, Tori, and I were in Washington DC last week and spent some time with her cousin Lexie who turned one on September 22nd. It was fun to see the "cousin babies" together, being so close in age. Lexie was gracious enough to let Tori crash her birthday. As you will see on the link, the cousins had slightly different reactions to the beautiful cakes that Natalie made. While Lexie inhaled nearly half of hers, Tori spent her time complaining about getting frosting on her fingers. Uh-oh.

In both cases (last week and yesterday) she did seem to enjoy the idea of eating some cake, at least a little bit. Yesterday's offering was a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting that Liz made from scratch. Tori liked the cake and wanted to eat it. . . just not by hand. So we handed her a fork and after a few examples and some prodding, she was eating like a pro (at least for a one-year old).

We have some other videos and pictures of our trip back east that we need to catch up on, but for now here are some pictures of Tori and her cake.

This first picture was taken right after we calmed her down from the traumatic experience of making her it with her hands. The fork really calmed her down (notice the big tears in her eyes).

But wait! She realizes that there is still a small amount of frosting on her fingers.

And protests by showing it to us, hoping we will wipe it off.

Then she finally calms down enough to go to work on the cake.


She was very good at getting little bites of frosting (again, for a one-year old).

And quickly learned how to get the food from the plate to her mouth.

Good Boys

Today after I picked Charles up from school he had to sit in his room for a while and think about being a good boy at school. Charles who is generally a good boy has been having a problem following his peers bad example at school. He usually makes the right choice but lately has been having a hard time not joining the other boys that like to play in the bathroom. So, that is why he spent some time in his room today. While he was in there, Joey decided that he wanted to go out back with the chalk board easel and do some art work. After I got Joey set up I ran back up stairs to have a talk with Charles and released him from his time out. A short time later I ran back down stairs to see what Charles was doing and this is what I found. Charles had taken his shirt off and they had decided to share the chalk board by drawing a line down the middle. They really are good boys and want to do what is right. I just hope that when they are away from home and don't have us constantly reminding them of the right choices that they will not fall into peer pressure.

Happy Birthday Liz!

Today is Liz's Birthday.

I won't say how old she turns (but it rhymes with "schmirty-schmive" and she is now eligible to run for President of the United States). Honestly, I don't know what I did right to deserve having a wife that is so perfect for me. I guess I'm just lucky. We are truly one together and I'm thankful every day to have such a great friend who laughs with me through life.

We are immensely blessed as a family, but much of it comes from her tireless work. She works so hard for all of us and to keep our home a clean, beautiful, loving, healthy place. We are all so lucky to have her. She is an amazing mother who gives everything she can for her children, works so hard with them, teaches them so much, and sets such a great example for them. Whever I notice my inadequacies as a father, I rest assured that my children will be okay because of their mom.

She is the most unselfish person I know on the planet, by a mile, and always puts our wants and needs first. If you asked her what her dream day would be, she would never think about going to a spa or shopping (as much as she would enjoy it). She would most likely say that her dream day would be "being all together as a family" (and then she'd probaby think about it and add "in Tahiti"). I just never imagined having such an incredible wife and mother to my babies who is also such a complete friend and loving companion.

I love you Lizzy. Forever. More than I could ever explain.

This is my favorite picture of her that I keep in my wallet. I don't like it just because it shows how beautiful she is, but because it was taken as she was sitting in my house in college humoring me and my crazy kid brother as we modeled our tasteless Halloween costumes, and it reminds me of how great our relationship has always been--even from the start.

Zoo Run

This weekend the San Antonio Zoo held its 23rd annual Zoo Run. This consists of an eight mile team relay on Friday night for the adults and various kids races the next morning.

The Wheelers came over from Houston to participate with us on both days. Greg and Jessica joined Liz and I for the relay. We were in the Novice Co-Ed division, since we had never run the race before, and our team was named "Mabilisna" by Liz's younger brother James who was a missionary in the Philippines (I think it means something like "really fast" in Tagalog, and it was hilarious watching the guy try to pronounce it at the awards ceremony). We were hoping to run under one hour, but just missed and ran a 1:00:59. Still, we placed 37th overall out of 175 teams, averaged a 7:37 mile and won our division by nearly eight minutes. The course was through Brackenridge Park next to the zoo and was pretty flat, but had lots of uneven surface and sharp curves. It was 94 degrees at race time (6:30 p.m.) and pretty humid there next to the San Antonio river. Jessica and Liz ran the first two legs in the sun and suffered through it. By the time I ran the third leg and Greg anchored, the sun was down and the fireflies were blinking everywhere. It was a great time and even though we didn't quite hit our target, running away (HA!) with the division was a good consolation prize. Click here for the official results.

The next morning we got up early for the kids races that started at 8:30 a.m. inside the zoo. Charles, Joey and Victor ran a 1/4 mile course while Samantha and Rachel ran a 1/2 mile course.

In the 0-3 boys division, Joey ran a great race and won the bronze medal (actually, Joey should have gotten silver, but a slightly crazed grandma dragged her grandson into second place at the last minute--and while we're making excuses, we should have checked the birth certificate of the winner as well). Joey was both excited and serious about the whole thing. He talked about the race non-stop before hand, was very focused during, and continued to talk about it non-stop afterwards. He went out pretty fast and started to fade near the end, but Liz (who was running with him) encouraged him to keep his pace up and he did a great job. He was beaming when they put the bronze medal around his neck.

Charles, on the other hand. . . well. . . let's just say he enjoyed his time at the zoo. He probably placed somewhere in the bottom third of the field in the 4-5 boys division, but he can also probably tell you every animal he saw, in order. As with Joey, Liz ran with Charles, but was slightly annoyed at how many times Charles would slow down to look at an exhibit, read a sign, or point out some other curious thing.

The Wheeler kids also did a great job. Rachel was especially strong and destroyed everyone in the 8-10 girls division, winning the 1/2 mile in 4:22 and beating the second place girl by a full 30 seconds.

Here are some pictures and videos of the races:

Our relay team before the race.


The winning team "Mabilisna" with our gold medals after the race.


Joseph waiting for the start of his race.


Probably thinking of Chariots of Fire, with his escort close behind.


Right after the finish--very pleased with his participant ribbon.



Not able to take his eyes off of his bronze medal at the awards ceremony.


One last picture of him admiring the medal.


Charles ready to run. . . or not run. . . whatever.


The Kewish boys with their ribbons.


This quickly devolved into them putting their ribbons on their heads.

And as always, Tori's big blue eyes watching everything that is going on.


Video of Joey's race. Pay close attention to him yelling to me "DAD! ARE YOU READY FOR ME TO RUN?" from the starting line. Also, I crack up at his immediate reaction to the airhorn. Maybe it was the adrenaline that helped him.


Video of Charles' race. I fully believe he is trying his best, but it just doesn't seem that way when you watch him. We were still very proud.

Snake in the grass

This morning, as I've been plodding through a few conference calls on one of our projects that is under construction, my mind has been wandering quite a bit with lots of different emotions. This post is an attempt to quickly vent so I can get back to work.

I think it's a collection of things that has set my mind free:

Shinzo Abe announced he is stepping down, which was widely expected. He seemed like such a good successor to Koizumi, but kept making mistakes. Unfortunately for him, the economy pulled back and he lost control. Can you think of an industrialized country more tortured by economic cycles than Japan?

What was unexpected, however, was that Putin dissolved his government today so he could hand pick all of his successors and stack the deck before he steps down. He didn't even name Ivanov as his PM. Why don't people talk more about the blatant disregard for freedom and democracy in Putin's Russia? Or the fact that they recently resumed the Cold War practice of having Bears and Blackjacks constantly flying around, assumedly with nukes on board? Or how they just punish, exile, and/or kill any successful free-market businessman, ex-KGB agents who don't still toe the party line, or reporters who ask questions? Did you happen to see that they tested a gigantic bomb yesterday and then said that it wasn't meant as a provocation? The only people who beat Putin in the saber rattling department are Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong-Il, and they're both clearly insane.

These things remind me of grad school in DC when I spent most of my time near Dupont Circle thinking about economics, geopolitics and globalization. It was a fun time and great place to be. And there's just nothing like seeing the leaves change in the Northeast.

Thinking of DC and Philly and their leaves remind me that fall is quickly approaching, which is far and away my favorite season of the year--beautiful colors, the smell of the earth after the harvest, the anticipation of the holidays, football, good food, family. Of course, everyone loves Christmas, including me. But I'd have to say my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving makes me think about all of the good things in my life, which are too numerous to count. Yesterday's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks also allowed me to reflect on how much I love my country and what a blessing it is to live here--even when I share my freedom with those who would rather have us lose the fight against those who hate us for our freedom than defend it. Then today, we got an update on the ongoing story of Youssif, the 5-year-old boy from Baghdad who was horribly burned and disfigured. If you haven't followed the story, I encourage you to catch up on the background here, here and here. Yesterday (on 9/11) Youssif and his family arrived in the US for his treatment--only made possible through the care, efforts and donations of ordinary Americans. Here is the story. Pay attention to the comments of the family and think about how they must feel. Is there anywhere on the earth this story would sound the same? As I've said before, one of the reasons this story hits home to me is that I have my own 5-year-old. In contrast to Youssif and his family, Charles' main concern these days is how to not pass out from boredom in Kindergarten while the class reviews the alphabet. I don't mean to trivialize either situation, just to draw a contrast. I know bad things happen to people everywhere. But sectarian death squads run amok in Baghdad while I have conversations with Charles that go like this:

Me: "How was school today?"
Charles: "It was good. I didn't have to move my pawprint." (a disciplinary penalty)
Me: "That's good. Did you have fun in class today?"
Charles: "Yes, I did. I had PE today and we played with a parachute."
Me: "Cool. Charles, do you have any friends in your class?"
Charles: "Yes Daddy, I have lots of friends."
Me: "Really? Are all the kids nice in your class, or are some mean?"
Charles: "No. They're all nice."
Me: "Who are some of your friends in your class?"
Charles: "Well, Cassie is my 'cute' friend in my class, and Tori is my 'beautiful' friend."
Me: "Really? Why is one of them cute and one of them beautiful?"
Charles: "I don't know."
Me: "What makes them cute and/or beautiful?"
Charles: "Umm, well, one has a cute face so she's cute and one has a beautiful face so she's beautiful." (like, DUH, Dad)

Also, I'm grateful that Joey is doing well his Frankenstein staples. You can't even tell by the way he acts, except that he is very careful getting dressed/undressed. When I cleaned him up the other night, he sat there wincing, but didn't complain. What a great kid he is, and what a relief that it wasn't much worse. He should get his staples out on Monday.

I'm grateful that Liz and I could do five straight hours of hard work in our yard on Saturday. It's great exercise and reminds me of my Dad. Also, the yard looks amazing. We ripped out the third of five big hedges that we are removing. This one was covered in thorns and not pleasant at all. It was made better by finding at least a half dozen Green Anoles, which can change from bright green to dark brown in the blink of an eye and are all over our yard. Then, we caught a Texas Blind Snake, which is much more elusive. Between those two species and the geckos that sing to us at night, the boys have fun with the critters here in TX. And they haven't even seen an armadillo or a horned toad yet.

Here are some pictures of the blind snake.

It's only a flesh wound...

Liz and I marked a major milestone today as parents--our first trip to the emergency room!

The relatively short version of the story is that Liz and I are very sick today--so sick that I stayed home from work, which nearly never happens (apparently the joys of school starting include the various bugs and germs that kids bring home to get their parents sick). So Liz and I decided this morning to go to the gym, check Joey and Tori into the kids area, and stagger into the sauna/jacuzzi/menthol steam room to try to sweat this sickness out of us.

As we're walking into the children's area to check them in, Joey did his typical run ahead to jump up on a bench where he can see over into the kids computer area. The problem was that today someone had parked a stroller in the middle of the floor in the way of everything, rather than over where all of the other strollers were. Joey went running through the small lobby, clipped his foot on the wheel of the aforementioned stroller, and shot forward full-speed and full-force into the aforementioned bench. Did I mention that this bench inexplicably has a slab of marble on the top of it, which is slightly beveled at the corner, but still is amongst the harder and sharper objects that a child could ever bang his or her head against? No? Well it does.

Since we were still coming around the corner into the room when it happened, I didn't see the actual contact, but could see just a fleeting glimpse of his little body careening recklessly forward into where I knew nothing soft awaited him. He was on the floor by the time I was up to him and looking at me with his hand on his head and a terrified look on his face. He let out that haunting terrified scream kids do when they're really really hurt--the same scream that makes a parent's body crackle with adrenaline and able to lift a car over their head (or at least not feel like a walking zombie).

I grabbed him up and looked for the damage, which was easy to find since blood was gushing from a spot about four inches up from his ear, near the top of his head.

I whisked him out and around the corner into the men's locker room where I could wash his head and inspect the damage. As all the gross naked old men stared at me (stop staring and just get dressed already so you can get to Applebees for your 11am lunch!!!), I successfully cleared the spot and got a great view of his skull, through about a 1.5 inch gash that he had opened up on the marble bench (who puts marble on a bench in the kids area lobby? Is it even comfortable to sit on?).

Luckily, some attentive gym employees had followed me in with ice and towels and we put direct pressure on the wound and stopped the blood pretty quickly. I carried Joey out to find Liz, who was waiting right outside wondering what was going on. When I said to Liz, "we need to go to the hospital and get this stitched up" Joey said, "NO! I'm okay now Dad, I'll stop crying!" I told him that the hospital would be fine and that he could cry all he wanted.

We are lucky to live in a place that has such great hospitals. Our main hospital was just a few minutes away and they have a ridiculous kids-only emergency room, which is more like a playground with doctors. They were very good with him and only slightly annoying to me, which says a lot for hospital folk. Joey was in the door, through triage, assessed and cleaned up by the nurse, watched Shrek in his own deluxe patient's room while he waited, seen by the doctor, held down by the nurse while the doctor did a needle torture and put 5 staples into his head, and out the door in about an hour. That has to be a modern record for an emergency room visit.

Joey is very interested in his staples and was such an incredibly brave boy. Only when the doctor was jamming a large needle every which way into his head to "numb the pain" (which I took to mean as "totally exhaust all of his pain receptors in his head to make the staples seem not so bad") did he even cry. He kept telling us things while we were waiting like, "I won't cry. I'm tough because I eat fruit and vegetables." When things obviously hurt him, he winced (actually, we all did), but only cried during the needle torture.

Now he has a gigantic gash on his head with five metal staples that look like the hospital picked them up at Office Depot. On the bright side, Halloween is coming up and we can dress him up like Frankenstein or Dana Carvey's old SNL character Head-wound Harry.

Here are some pics of the poor little guy.

Patiently waiting in the triage station.


Trying to be positive in the patient room--he didn't want to lay on the bed.

And here is a link to some slightly more graphic pictures (they're not that bad, but Liz insists they are inappropriate for the front page of a family blog).

I love Joe

I am so lucky to have a husband that likes to frequently surprise me with flowers. This last time he gave me a dozen roses that have opened up to be so big and beautiful that I had to take a picture and share them. Thank you Joe, I love you.