Daddy Tree: Tiny Footsteps

I awoke when the winds howled outside our bedroom window. The winds had been whipping since our going to bed, and that was unsettling, but this wind, the howling wind, had much more malevolence. I was not unsettled. I was scared. I hopped from the bed and started off to do something, I don't know what, maybe save the world. I didn't have my senses with me yet. I stumbled to the front of the house and looked out the window. The only way I can think to describe what I saw was it looked like a hurricane had settled over us. White sheets of rain blasted sideways across our yard, and the trees gripped the earth in terror. I heard broken limbs bouncing off the roof. "There's a tornado warning," my wife snapped into my trance. And the city's sirens started to blare. We sprang to action. I grabbed the emergency radio and flashlights, and Cherish grabbed Willow. We huddled in our safe spot, the garage stairwell that drops alongside the base of the house. But by th...

My stay-at-home daddy adventure feels like it has reached a feverish pace. Willow is in her toddler prime, which means she has become a world-class mess-maker. I haven't spent much time around other toddlers, so I don't know if they're all world-class mess-makers, but I'm guessing they are. I'm guessing it's a requirement for being a toddler. On any typical day, I feel like I'm that short cleaning robot in "Wall-E," the one who uses its scrubber attachment to chase down and clean up "foreign substances." Throughout the movie, that guy is rolling around cleaning mess after mess after mess. I spring into action much the same way. I roll over to the mess and start scrubbing it up. Meanwhile, our toddler angel is off making other messes. A whole bunch more goes into my job, but, really, I can say with all honesty that being a scrubber robot chasing around mess-making Willow dominates my days. I am not complaining. I have the best job in t...

Willow, Mommy and I went to the Y's pool on Sunday to take advantage of our membership and to do something summery in this dreary and cold weather. We had so much fun swimming and splashing, Willow and I went back on Tuesday. On Sunday, surprisingly, nobody else was at the pool, and the lifeguard seemed resigned to having to sit boringly in her stand. I have no problem with having an entire pool and a lifeguard all to myself, but, again, I was surprised nobody else was there, except for a few exercisers coming and going to use the steam room and the sauna (and a couple of guys hopped in the whirlpool for a few minutes). When Willow and I went on Tuesday, several people were in the pool, but they quickly scattered when the tot and I entered the pool. Maybe their time in the pool had come to a planned end. Maybe they didn't want to be in the water with someone who might pee or poop at any moment. After the initial scattering a couple of men came into the pool area and swam qui...

Jan. 13 was a banner day for Miss Willow Rose Dunn. That was the day she tinkled for the first time in her potty. And she didn't do it just once. She tinkled four times in that potty, all to the glee and adoration of Mommy and Daddy (she even inspired me to tinkle a time or two in my potty). Willow is growing so fast, becoming a big girl at an alarming rate. Not even two weeks ago, she gave up her pacifier for good, and she never looked back. She was so determined to move on from Paci that she doesn't even allow her baby dolls to have them. Also she's moved from her high chair to a booster at the dinner table (sometimes she just sits in one of the adult chairs at the dinner table). This hasn't been all hunky-dory, though; Willow likes to throw plates of food to the floor when she's finished. We're working on that. Willow also has improved vastly on her tooth-brushing. We brush our teeth as a family in the morning and at night. She's gotten much better ...

"You're going to be outnumbered!" my sister exclaimed after hearing Cherish and I were expecting another baby girl. "I'm already outnumbered!" I retorted. Of course I know what my sister means. In just a few months, I'm going to have two little girls, one in full toddlerhood and another an infant, to take care of (or as I sometimes see it, two human beings to keep alive). And of course I knew what I meant. Taking care of one tiny person sometimes feels like taking care of 20 (and besides I'm already outnumbered two girls to one, or two Cherishes to one, if you want to look at it that way). Ah, but you see ... I love my girls. And I will love my girls. So I'm willing to take any punishment they dish my way. And I'm about to heap on a whole bunch of punishment myself. I already write this blog, which I really try to see as a record of my and Willow's time. Sometimes it's easy to keep up with this blog. Sometimes the effort is enor...

We've been weaning Willow off the pacifier for months now. We first stopped giving her Paci during the day, allowing her the pacifier during only naps. A few days, according to plan, we took the pacifier away during the night. We thought we'd be in for at least a few long and crying nights, but no, our angel surprised us, as she routinely does. Now, don't get me wrong, not everything is perfect or dreamy; she doesn't go straight to sleep like she used to when she had Paci. No, she stays up at least a half-hour, sometimes longer, bouncing around in her crib, babbling and giggling and singing. But it ain't crying, so we'll take it. Soon, I'll wager, she'll fall asleep as quickly as she used to. She used to roll around before falling asleep for her nap; now she sinks into that slumber as quickly as Mommy does (which I'm sure challenges the laws of nature). NOTE: I tend to write about things on here that make me smile, so you might get the idea th...

The singing toothbrush worked for two days, then the novelty wore off. She loves the toothbrush, but she's figured out she doesn't actually have to stick it in her mouth to listen to the music. So we're back to holding her in a headlock and prying her mouth open. The alligator wrestling is back. Well, here's looking on the bright side ... I'm getting lots stronger!