An Ode to Cally's Dad

Over the past six months, I've been told many times that I'm really lucky. I'm really lucky to have such a happy and healthy baby, to have found a great childcare situation for Cally during the spring, to work so close to home, to have been given so many great hand-me-downs from my wonderful friends and family, etc. etc. But most often, I hear that I'm lucky to have such an attentive and loving father for Cally. The list of the amazing things that John has done for both Cally and me is lengthy. He really is a fantastic father to Cally and husband to me. Not only did he take six weeks off from his job to be the stay-at-home father for Cally, but he continues to devote so much to this lovely gal. He does it so naturally and without hesitation.

Before Cally was born, John bought one of those "Dad's Guide to Kids" kind of book. By December, when Cally was born, he'd never cracked it open. Even now, six months into the game, he hasn't had to look at the book once. He just "gets it". He gets what being a father is all about-- that it requires time away from the mountain bike, the skis, and the climbing gear, but time that is well invested and makes him happier and more fulfilled than I've ever seen him. He gets that when Cally cries, she needs something, that mom's need a break sometimes, and that our life is better because of having a child.

Just the other day, John and I were driving back from our camping trip through East Burke-- a place we've gone many times because of it's amazing single track mountain bike trail network. In fact, he popped the big question to me there two summers ago. As we were cruising by a river that we had dipped in after a long ride the previous summer, he said, "You know, I miss the way we used to be able to be so spontaneous and adventurous ....... but I wouldn't give up what we have with Cal for any of that. She's made our lives so much richer".

John is one of the most selfless and wonderful father's a girl could ask for. He loves spending time with his daughter. Last week, we decided to utilize the help of our friends (Medora and Mary) to babysit Cally so that we could go out on a rare mountain bike ride together. A minute into the ride, John realized he had a flat. He quickly tried to fix the flat, only to find out that the tube he had borrowed from a friend had a hole in it. He patched it and tried to reinflate that tire only to find out that the tube was the wrong size. Without a second thought, he insisted that I go on without him. He exclaimed, "This is stupid! Cally is over at our friends house and I haven't seen her all day. I'm going to stop messing around with my bike and spend some time with her this evening". Upon arriving at Medora's house, he saw that the ladies were having limited success feeding her. He jumped right in and took over in a way that left my girlfriends quite impressed.

As you can see, John lights up when he's with Cally. But so does she.

Not only did I wind up with a wonderful partner and best friend, I've found an amazing father for Cally. I'm lucky, I certainly know that, but so is Cally. She'll never been want for love and adoration from her father. In fact, I sort of feel sorry for her......... any partner that she ends up finding will have a tough act to follow.

Happy Belated Father's Day John!

Bright Baby at Brighton

We did it, we went camping with Cally for Father's Day weekend. John and I are well versed at the minimalist backcountry camping details, but the family car camping adventure is a whole new experience. It only took us three hours to get the car packed and road ready.

Compared to our friends that we joined for the adventure, we were very JV (Junior Varsity vs. being well versed or Varsity). While we did manage to fill our Saab wagon to the brim, we didn't realize all the luxuries you can bring when you are car camping. We did, however, borrow an enormous tent from our friends the Krulls (see picture of John and Cally on the blow up mattress below)


We went up to Brighton State Park in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont (near Island Pond in the far northeast corner of the state). We met up with four other families for a total of 9 adults and 9 children. My friend, Medora, reserved three sites on a lake/pond for four days. She's amazingly organized and I knew if we forgot anything, she'd have whatever we were missing. Here's a picture of Medora and Cally:


Cally was a super camper, though she decided that there was too much going on to really take any naps or go to sleep at a reasonable hour while she was there. Who would want to sleep if you might miss things like this:

Happy Half Birthday

Since it was Cally's half birthday yesterday and I was assigned to bring dessert one night, I decided to take advantage of my summer off and make home-made cupcakes in celebration of her first half year on the planet.

I like to bake, but I've never made homemade cupcakes. Perhaps this is because the store bought box brands are so tasty and easy........ Because I was going to be joining a group of friends who do bake cakes from scratch and I actually had the time last week, I decided to give it a try. It was quite a production...... buying the somewhat obscure ingredients (buttermilk, dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, etc.) having all the ingredients at room temperature, and then all the mixing with the electric mixer. In any case, I was pretty pleased with the end product and I think these guys were too:



This is a picture of Cally with her big fans Addy and Claire. Of the nine kids that were camping, six of them were four or five year old boys. Claire and Addy are seven and they LOVE Cally. They are eager to help with anything that needs to be done for Cal-- feeding her, dressing her, changing her, giving her a ride in the stroller, etc. Cally is lucky to have all these amazing older friends:


On Sunday, I took the opportunity of having all these loving friends around to go for a run. John had gone on a mountain bike ride with the other fathers and was back, so I went off with two of my girl friends to get some exercise. Upon my return, I found this:


And it wasn't Addy and Claire who put our daughter in a baby stroller. It was the grown mother's of the other kids, Jen and Medora. John had left Cally with them so he could join the boys and older kids on the "school bus"-- an old school motor boat. Jen and Mud were thrilled to get to watch a baby (as their babies are between 4 and 7 years old) and not have to "compete" with the seven year old girls. As you can tell, Cally didn't seem to mind playing baby with the moms.

Cal's got Teeth

A few weeks ago, our normally happy-go-lucky girl was out at a party that Tom and Kara were hosting and she was a mess. We were totally perplexed. Her diaper had been changed, she'd been fed, she hadn't had gas pains in months. Not knowing what else to do, we finally decided to call it defeat and leave the party before even eating dessert. On our way out the door, our friend Cynthia asked if maybe it was her teeth bothering her........... She was right. Note the two little nubbins making their way through the center of her lower jaw.