War

Most people don't think about germs and viruses very often. Maybe when flying on a plane, or touching a public toilet you might think to yourself "I bet there are some germs here. I hope I don't catch anything". For most people that is where it ends. For dad that is where it just starts.


His new passion is killing germs and viruses. Whats really funny is he can't see them so he never knows if he really completed the job. It's not like a fly that you can wack with a fly swater and see if its still moving. Most bugs have weapons that destroy them. The swater for the fly. The trap for the ant. Spray for the wasps. Boric acid for fleas. Germs and viruses are no different. The weapons of choice are heat and chemicals such as the ever important bleach and Lysol.



Dad isn't sure why he is becoming so obsessed. It might have to do with being a new parent. Seeing his daughter Charlotte sick yet again with a "stomach bug" is throwing him for a loop. Monday Charlotte attended her first "music together class." It should be called lets pass the germ infested flute around in a circle to share our germs class. In reality he doesn't mind that germs are shared. He does mind when bad germs are shared that cause his daughter to throw up all over him while he rocks her in his lap to put her to bed. Vomit soaking through his clothes, puddling in his lap. A lovely pool of warm smelly puke. That is when he has had enough.




Today was "playgroup" day. Did Charlotte attend? No. Why? Well because she was sick yesterday and tuesday. So we did what most parents should do. We kept her home. Why others can't seem to do the same with thier children I do not know.


So now the mission has begun. Kids, bring your runny sniffly noses near
my child and you will get sprayed with Lysol. Consider this your one and only warning. Dad has had enough with the cleaning up of puke and the smell of vomit is really getting to him. Germs and viruses are not friends to the new parent.

Never too young

When Bill Gates was in the eighth grade he took an interest in computers and programming. He learned BASIC and found bugs in computer software. At age 14 he made $20,000 with a friend by making traffic counters. By age 21 he joined forces with that friend (Paul Allen) and started a company called Microsoft. The rest is history.

The Bill Gates story is not unique. Linus Torvalds started Linux at the age of 21. Steve Jobs started Apple at 21 out of his garage. Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in their early twenties while studying computer science at Stamford. Jerry Yang (co-founder of Yahoo) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com) also started young. The one thing they all have in common? They all loved computers at an early age.

At the ripe age of 15 months Charlotte loves computers. At this pace she will re-design the internet and create a new programming language by age 10. Dad is expecting she will learn type before she can write (and he will help her accomplish this). She has already begun using the touchpad on the laptop and loves to hear the click of the keyboard. She loves surfing the internet for Disney Shows and can't believe the magic of downloading the Wiggles videos online. Yes a monster has been created.

However we have made a pact to ensure she is never allowed to put tape on her glasses or wear a pocket protector. Maybe having a "geeky" girl is not such a bad idea. Dad won't have to worry about her dating at an early age. He wont have to worry about late nights at parties. Instead she will be hanging out with her computer geek friends making spyware and viruses. He also won't have to worry about handing out gobs of money for her to go mall shopping. Instead, he will just have to fork over thousands of dollars for new computers ever 6 months. Not a bad trade off.

I know it's a lot of pressure for a 15 month old. Dad really wants to make sure Charlotte is kept grounded...you know, make sure she knows where she came from. So for every leap in technology she is exposed to, dad ensures she has something non-technological to play with. See example below:





Tupperware on the head. The least technological thing in the world.

Happy St. Patricks Day

Charlotte is very lucky to be Irish on such a spectacular day (ok she is part Irish). Regardless, for today she is to be called Lottie (the Irish rendition of her name). Lottie loved starting her day with milk that we dyed green. Followed up by some black pudding and soda bread. When Lottie finished eating she did a magical jig while mom played the fife and dad wailed on the bag pipes. She rode her zebra around the living room and drove all of the mice out of Ireland our house.

In reality today was like most other Saturdays with the exception of dad having to snow blow two feet of snow off the driveway which took two hours. Luckily he flew home from LasVegas a day early by catching the red eye on Thursday night. He arrived at the LasVegas airport at 10pm Thursday evening. Arrived in Manchester at noon on Friday. In between was hours upon hours of cramped smelly airplanes with people snoring next to him while he struggled to sleep. He is however very lucky to have beaten the St. Patricks day snow storm and very happy to be home with his wife and daughter.


The was no Guinness and no Jameson at the Ronan household today. Not even corned beef and cabbage. Our Irish ancestors would be very disappointed and we are sorry. The snow prevented us from hitting the grocery store until this afternoon. Dad did wear his green sweater. Mom wore her green jacket. Lottie a green dress. We must have looked amazing to everyone in the grocery store. We realized we are one step away from wearing matching outfits with shamrocks on them. So uncool.


We did get a deal on corned beef today. I guess there are a lot of Irish people in New Hampshire since the grocery store was all out of cabbage. After venturing to another store we were able to find some. So tomorrow we will celebrate by cooking an Irish boiled dinner for Lottie. To think a couple of years ago mom and dad would have been at the bars in Boston all day and all night. My how things have changed.

Charlies New Friend

Charlotte found a new friend in North Carolina. Her friend is always with her yet seems to really love being around her in the morning and afternoon. Her friend copies her every movement and doesn't seem to ever go away. Her friend is her shadow. Literally.

Mom sent these pictures of Charlotte playing with her shadow. She found it. Ahh how wonderful to be a kid.

Weekend update

Dad got the chance to live his life like he did many many years ago before he got married and before he had Charlotte. Mom and daughter went to North Carolina on Friday leaving dad behind with the dogs. The excitement of sleeping in every day and running around the house in his underwear quickly ended when he arrived home after work on Friday. They house was dark and cold and when he opened the door after a long day of work there were only two dogs to greet him. No mom greeting him with a warm kiss. No daughter clapping and screaming that her da-da was home. Such a let down.

He was on his own which also meant "make your own dinner". This equated to left over ribs in the freezer from last summer and a can of corn chowder. Again such a let down. But without his wife to impress dinner was just about filling his belly not some elaborate home cooked meal.

Saturday morning dad awoke at 6:15am. He tried his hardest to go back to sleep but just couldn't do it. So he got up and cleaned the house for mom. Since everyone had the stomach flu a few weeks ago he figured he should clean with bleach. Needless to say there are no germs left in our house, on any surface. He didnt realize how much bleach he used until the dogs looked a little green. He decided it was a good idea to take them out of the house. So he cracked a window and packed the dogs into the car for a ride. He took them on a backwood excursion along the towns river trail. They were in heaven bouncing through the snow and woods. Unleashed they played by chasing each other through the heavy brush, rolling in the snow, and sniffing for animals. They were very happy to be outside.

They returned to the sanitary house and the bleach smell had dissipated. It was safe to enter. The dogs immediately went to sleep from exhaustion (or bleach poisoning). Dad decided to trek out to Portsmouth to visit with his friends that he doesn't get to see very often. So it was off to the seacoast for a little cookout at Rogers new waterfront mansion. Jon, Tracie, Kurt, Laura, and Anderson all were there. We ate then headed to the Asia (Chinese Restaurant) for Karaoke. Of course none of us sang. We just laughed at the people singing. Dad had a great time and headed home around 11pm.

That is your weekend update. Today dad is going to finish doing our taxes and take the two dogs for another walk. He misses his wife and daughter.

Charlotte Shakira

Charlotte thinks she is Shakira. Where do you think she learned to dance like this?

Happy Birthday Daddy!

34 reasons why I love my daddy

34) You love to take me places..like on vacation, to the beach, to the bookstore, the grocery store
33) you are very funny
32) you make me laugh everyday all the time
31) since I was only a few weeks old you have been putting me to bed
30) and reading me tons of stories before I have to go to bed
29) you give me a bath every night bath
28) and make sure there are bubbles
27) which you put all over me
26) you feed me your special K with red berries
25) most mornings when we eat breakfast together
24) you play hide and seek with me all the time
23) and love to chase me after I come out of my bath always saying " I'm going to get you"
22) which makes me run even faster and giggle
21) you are very sensitive
20) you have become more so since I was born.
19) you tell me you love me everyday
18) and give me kisses all the time
17) when you leave when you come home and just whenever
16) I love to watch you cook
15) you love to have me try all types of food
14) I especially love your Mexican food
13) I love when you tickle me
12) and pretend to bite me
11) which makes me laugh hysterically
10) you buy me flash cards which include flashcards about animals, colors, numbers, states and capitals
9) and keep telling mommy I am not too young to learn these things.
8) you even read me the nature book you bought which has about 600 pages and the Science book
7) I am going to be smart like you
6) you can't wait to teach me things about nature outside
5) and are going to let me touch bugs and stuff that mommy will have NOTHING to do with!
4)You married Mommy
3) You turn on Shakira, or Sergio Mendes and close the blinds or door so no one can see you and you dance with me to my favorite music.
2) you let me watch The Wiggles in the morning even though you don't' like them. You dance with me and sing with me while I watch them and tell me to never stop dancing.
1) you are my daddy and I couldn't ask anyone more perfect to be my daddy and I love you very much.

This is us last year on your birthday













This is us this morning...how times have changed!

Mexico

Now is a good time to revisit a little story between mom and dad. For our honeymoon we decided to escape the frigid New England weather by going to Mexico. We absolutely loved it. Partly because it was our honeymoon (and how many people hate their honeymoons) and partly for another reason. We had fun on the beach, in the pool, and on our little excursion to the ruins of Tulum.




Tulum was amazing to walk through. Seeing the Mayan ruins dating back to 1500 AD. One of the building we visited was the Temple of the Fertility Goddess. During this time Tiffany and Ian were trying to conceive Liam so we prayed for them here. We also prayed for ourselves, that we would have a quick conception and a healthy baby...if ever we decided to try (remember this was our honeymoon). We left Tulum feeling good having enjoyed our day learning something instead of doing tequila shots at the pool.

When we returned home we found out Tiffany was pregnant. Shortly after we found out Shelby was pregnant. In reality we had nothing to do with Tiffany getting pregnant as she already was during the wedding, we just didnt know it. However, Shelby is another story.

So between Shelby and I we joke about Mexico and the powers of the Mayan Fertility Goddess. What makes it even more wild is that Charlotte absolutely loves Salsa Music. To top that Charlotte can not get enough Mexican food. At first we just thought it was a coincidence. Now we really think there is something to this. To us she is a fussy eater. But put some taco meat in front of her and watch out! Keep the fingers and toes away from her non stop chomping mouth. She will eat whole limes. Black beans dont stand a chance with her.

So who knows. We are blessed to have had her and joke that she is part Mexican. Dad is ok with this since it might give her an advantage when applying to college.

Below are some pics of her eating tacos:





















Charlotte has also been reading a lot of People and US Weekly Magazines. Seems she is totally star struck. She keeps telling us the paparazzi is following her, No Pics Please!! We told her she should try to hide behind some dark glasses since thats what all movie stars do.






















The paparazzi was able to snap this pic before she threw a temper tantrum.



















And finally folks, the paparazzi was able to sneak into the hospital for a first look at baby Marin Taylor Slosberg.

Mall Shopping

Dad finds mall shopping with Charlotte very disturbing. First there was the family in Sears the just took over the store. Kids playing on the treadmills, more kids running around in circle, still more kids opening and closing the doors of a dryer, mom fiddling with torque wrenches, dad touching buttons on every plasma television he could find. Its just a bit much when you are just there to look around at things. This is why I dont like to shop unless I know what I want.

KayBee toy store was not much better. The highlight of this visit was the mother, father, and two children who were playing with toys in the middle of the aisle. As a parent, yes I understand you let your kids play. But to have them literally sitting on the floor playing with trains and every single toy they can find is just a little much. Especially when I am trying to push a child in the stroller down the aisle. Please pick up your damn kids and move them out of the way so I dont have to bump into them and say excuse me 100 times. This is not your living room, it is a store. Other people come here to look at things and buy them without having to try every single one out. Maybe they were related to the people in Sears.

The pinnacle of the trip to the mall with Charlotte and mom was the walk through the puppy mill pet store. Lots of little puppies stuck in open topped acrylic boxes filled with shredded newspaper. Kids reaching their dirty hands in to pet the dirty dogs. Of course there were also the standard sick dogs stuck in cages behind the glass as well. One was obviously not happy being in a cage and was soaking wet. From what we dont know. Mom commented loudly..."that one looks sick! Why is it all wet and shivering??" The woman who worked at the pet store went in with a towel and dried it off. We had enough. Charlotte of course just laughed at the puppies in the clear boxes. She thought they were funny. It was very disturbing and we will not be taking her to any more puppy mills.

Our walk through the mall was quick. We had had about enough. Between the stores and then seeing 30 kids playing on the jungle gym in the middle of the mall we were all set. What parents let their children play on dirty mall jungle gym toys with hundreds of other kids, coughing, spitting, and touching everything? If you are one of those parents please email me. I have some questions.

Tonight our friends Paul and Jena had a baby. Congratulations and welcome to the world of parenthood. Just look at all of the things you have to look forward to!

The trip that almost was

Mom and Charlotte have rescheduled their trip to North Carolina for next weekend instead of this weeked. Dad had to call everyone and cancel the party he was planning.The kegs of beer have to be returned. The entertainment has been canceled. The idea of sleeping in until 9am has been buried into the back of his brain until next weekend. There goes running around the house in his underwear and sock singing Old Time Rock and Roll like Tom Cruise. The good news is he wont have to try and come up with the money to replace the Porsche that accidentally falls into Lake Michigan. (again some of you like my mother wont get the reference).

Dad is exhausted after a horribly sleepless night. Charlotte was up at midnight and required dad to rock her for 20 minutes, then put her in her crib and rub her belly for another 15 min. Everytime he stopped she would look up at him laying on her back in her crib and grab his hands and put them back on her belly. She must have had a tummy ache. Again she woke up at 3am. Then at 5am. Then finally mom went and got her at 6am.

Dad will be taking a little siesta on the couch very shortly.

Almost 100%

We are almost 100% healthy. Dad is in New Orleans trying to stay away from as much spicy food as possible. Mom is at home still with a queasy stomach and Charlotte is starting to have normal stuff in her diaper.
Mom and Charlotte head to North Carolina tomorrow to visit Grampa and Glamma...pray the snow holds off and that they don't get stuck sitting on a runway for 6 hrs (mom's biggest fear).

HELP

Shelby caught Charlottes puke bug last night at 9pm. Dad caught it at 11pm. We have been fighting over who gets to use the bathroom. Both of us are hurting, mom especially. She has been throwing up all night and so far all day. Dad hasnt thrown up since 7am, although he is fighting it. He was susposed to be flying to New Orleans for work today. Obviously that isnt going to happen. They rescheduled his flight for tomorrow. Hopefully this thing will go through him quickly.

Feel free to send any help you can. We could use it.

Spit up vs. Vomit

Charlotte has the stomach bug. She started getting sick this morning as dad took her out of her crib. At first he thought it might have been just spit up. Then she did it again, and again, and again. Definately not spit up.

This morning dad had plans to take Charlotte grocery shopping so mom could get a little peace and quiet. Charlotte seemed to be acting fine depite her vomiting episode, so he packed his diaper bag and mom fed Charlotte a little breakfast to settle her stomach.

They made it to the grocery store. As soon as dad put Charlotte in the cart, she vomited up her breakfast. She puked a couple of times but then seemed fine. Dad wiped off her sweatshirt and figured he was safe to get some shopping done. He would be quick. He pushed Charlotte around the grocery store at record speed in hopes that he would finish before another puking episode. He made it to the check out line....happy that he got everything he needed. Then it hit. More puke. And more and more and more. All over the cart, all over her, all over dad, all over the floor. He grabbed his puked covered daughter, swooped her out of the cart and ran out of the store. Full grocery cart left behind and all.

Charlotte seems to be feeling fine minus the vomit. No fever. She is not fussy. Just puking.

There are some really big differences between spit up and vomit:
*Spit up is cute. Uusally small amounts of milk. They make "burp cloths" to wipe it up.
*Vomit is gross. Despite how many wet wipes you have or napkins, its usually never enough to contain the puke.
*Spit up doesn't smell too bad. Usually it just smells like milk.
*Vomit stinks and smells like, well vomit. The smell alone can make another person vomit.
*Spit up happens once or twice then its done until the next feeding.
*Vomit can hit at anytime and is usually one wretching episode after another.
*Spit up doesn't make you run out of the grocery store. Vomit does.

On a lighter note, last night mom and dad had a wonderful dinner to celebrate their anniversary. Dad bought mom tons of flowers on friday and put them all over the house. Last night we hired a babysitter and hit the Hanover Street Chop House for an elegant dinner out. Mom really really really loved the Kobe Beef Carpaccio. Who would have ever thought mom would love raw meat? Thank you to Kristy for babysitting.

My first barrette!

















Another shot
















Static electricity in a fort that dad built.
















Whats going on with my hair??
















Happy Valentines Day!
















I love playing with dad!
















Hey, give me that hat dad!
















Learning to do chores early.
















At this pace it will take days to vacuum the whole house!
















I love my goat!!

Happy Birthday Glamma!

It's Glamma's birthday (aka Glamorous).She is probably sleeping late; having a few cups of tea and maybe has an appointment for a manicure and pedicure later today. What a life
No, actually she probably got up when Liam did and is on Liam/Chase duty. She probably changed a few poopy diapers and has spit up on her Pj's. Not a glamorous birthday but one I am sure she is enjoying.
Happy Birthday Glamma. We love you

All is well

Dad has recovered. It was messy but he is now better and about 10 pounds lighter. Knock on wood, neither Shelby nor Charlotte have caught the fever poop bug. Let's hope it skips them.

Oliver and Abigail got new hair cuts yesterday. They look wonderful.

Dad drove 480 miles today to Bangor Maine and back again.

This is the news of the day and week so far. Please be sure you check back tomorrow for some REALLY EXCITING NEWS!!

Of course

Dad cant get sick during the week...it has to be on the weekend when mom is ready to have some spare time. Friday night dad come home not feeling all that great. He ate dinner and quickly got Charlotte into bed. Good thing. About 30 minutes later he was in bed shivering with stomach cramps. So he put on some thermal underwear. Still shivering. Then a sweatshirt. Still shivering. Now the heat was cranked to 70 and he had out the heating pad on high, laying on it under a pile over covers. Still shivering uncontrollably. Mom was still downstairs putting dishes away when he came down yelled at her..."You know you could at least check on me!'....his body shivering beyond belief. Mom now laughing at him because his body was shaking. He grabbed the thermometer. 103.00. He threw back a couple of extra strength Tylenol and headed back upstairs. Mom still laughing. Oh of course he kept telling mom she should be calling the hospital for him because he was coming in! What a mess.

The shivering ended as fast as it came. Suddenly he was boiling. He counted down the time until the Tylenol would kick in. 50 minutes later the fever dropped slightly and he felt hot but at least a little more like a human being. Mom brought him some pedialyte since he was losing fluids (we wont get into that, Im sure you can figure it out).

Its crazy that he is such a baby with a 103 fever...when Charlotte was at 104 she was acting like normal. Sometimes Big People are more like babies than babies are.

Night number two was not much different. He is trying to figure out if he ate some Peter Pan peanut butter or some lettuce that some mexican migrant farm workers pooped on. Then again it could be the Noro virus but he hasnt been on any cruise ships lately. Who knows. Please send chicken soup and clear liquids.

Hours of Fun

Water,Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocmide MEA, Aloe Barbadenis Leaf Juice, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Quaternium-15, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid, Red 33. Sound like fun? Want to guess what it is? No it is not Play-doh. Not Coffee Heath Bar Ben & Jerrys ice cream. Its one of Charlottes new favorite items that dad is about to throw into the trash.

What is Quaternium 15 anyway? Here is a picture of the chemical structure for you:
I will give you a hint. Like everything else in this world it is a preservative. On top of being a preservative it releases formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is one chemical dad does not like (remember the fight with the pediatrician about giving ANY vaccines to Charlotte that even have trace amounts of formaldehyde)? Its a very common allergen and is also listed as a probable carcinogen by the EPA. It causes proteins to bind to RNA. Formaldehyde is a nasty chemical and unfortunately is made by lots and lots of preservatives in food, cosmetics, and yes folks, even Mr. Bubble, Charlottes new bath time buddy that is about to get poured down the drain.

She loves bubbles. Loves lots of bubbles in the bathtub. But that innocuous pink bottle has the ingredients listed above. Doesn't sound like so much fun when you actually read the ingredients and think about what is in Mr. Bubble. It should be called Mr. Chemical. The funny thing is the front of the bottle says Gentle Formula and Hypo-Allergenic. Folks read the back. Caution, may cause irritations to skin and urinary tract. Hello?? How is this hypo-allergenic. Bastards! My kid just wanted some bubbles in her bathtub. Not some chemical soap that is going to give her a rash and screw up her RNA. Proof that you have to read the back of the lablels. If you dont know what one of the ingredients is, don't buy it. That simple.

Oh and the Tetrasodium EDTA? Well since you asked....Tetrasodium is a slightly toxic and mildly irritating colorless transparent crystalline chemical compound. Common foods containing sodium pyrophosphate include chicken nuggets, marshmallows, crab meat, imitation crab, and soy-based meat alternatives. The EDTA? Well that's not irritating. Its actually given to people who have acute lead and mercury poisoning. Also for those of you scrabble players out there EDTA stands for Ethylenediaminetetraacetates. It is the LONGEST LEGAL Scrabble word (although it is longer than the width of a standard North American Scrabble board).

Yes this is what dad does on a Thursday night. Thanks Mr. Bubble. Have fun meeting Mr. Septic System.

Happy Valentines Day

Dad woke up this morning to smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls...and the wafting scent of coffee brewing. The daily newspaper delivered to him in bed. Charlotte mysteriously quiet. Mom standing next to him in bed with breakfast on a tray. Greeting him warmly with a smile and a kiss. Her apron spotted with flour from baking the cinnamon rolls from scratch. A bouquet of flowers in her other hand.

Suddenly dad heard screaming and crying. The picture perfect Valentines day morning vanished before his eyes.....the dream melting into the darkness of the bedroom. He was dreaming. Now he faced reality. He was still in bed. It was 5:30 am. There was no coffee brewing, no cinnamon buns baking. The only smell that would be wafting his way would be that of Charlotte's dirty diaper rancid from a long night. Reluctantly dad got out of his warm bed....leaving mom sleeping...to go get Charlotte and bring her downstairs begin her morning like every other morning.

He did have some Valentine's cards that both he and Charlotte made for mom. He left them out on the counter for her to see. He made coffee while Charlotte watched the Wiggles in her excersaucer. He poured a cup for mom so it would be ready for her. He let the dogs out into the fresh snow and picked Charlotte up and sat down on the couch with her. She smiled, laughed, and clapped at the show. Talking (more like babbling) about how wonderful the Wiggles were. When he started thinking about it this was a perfect Valentines Day Morning. His two favorite women were happy, healthy, safe, and more importantly with dad.

The snow continued to fall throughout the day. Total so far has been about 12 inches. Luckily dad didn't have to go anywhere today and was at least able to work from home. He made dinner for mom and Charlotte. Mom made desert (Chocolate fondue). In the end he had a wonderful valentines day. One of the best ever.