Daddy Dan

This is supposed to be a “Daddy Blog” chronicaling my life as a father, but I’ve been focused on other topics lately, so I thought it was time to provide an update on how The Babito is doing…….

• His Mommy took him for his 15-month checkup yesterday and he’s doing great.  He’s been battling a cold for the past week or so that’s starting to go away.  The cold got him out of his 15-month immunization shots until after the holidays, so he’s got that going for him.  He’s been great about the cold, happily taking his cold medicine and letting us suction out his runny nose.  We make a game out of it by counting “1, 2, 3!” before we start to suction and he thinks it’s fun, usually.
• We were worried about putting up all of the Christmas decorations and the tree.  We thought he’d be constantly touching and pulling off all of the decorations, but he hasn’t.  He’s been really good about minding us when we tell him not to touch something.  He’s even left the train (seen in the video below) alone, though he loves to watch it go around and around.   He loves looking at Christmas lights and we’ve driven him around our neighborhood a few times to check them out.
• We’ve tried a few times now to get a picture with Santa, but he is NOT HAPPY AT ALL when we put him on Santa’s lap.  We’ll try again next time we go to the mall.  We’ve been trying to encourage him with our near life-sized Santa at home.  He likes this Santa because he sings and dances.  At first he was afraid of him, but now he loves him.  Hopefully this love will transition to the Santa at the mall.
• I’m really excited about Christmas this year.  I think he will understand some of it and I can’t wait to give him some of his presents, because I know he’s going to love them.  I think each Christmas will get a little better as he begins to understand what Christmas is all about, with the anticipation of Santa Claus coming to the house and the presents and everything.  I can’t wait.
• For the last few days I’ve been dropping him off at the babysitter in the morning.  You may recall that earlier he would scream and cry whenever I dropped him off.  Now he doesn’t cry at all and even waves and says “Bye Bye Dada.”  I’m happy that he doesn’t have the separation anxiety any more but I’m also a little sad that he doesn’t really care too much that I’m leaving him.  I guess he knows now that we’re not abandoning him and will be back for him in the afternoon.  By the way, I still feel terrible every time after dropping him off.  I miss him before I even get into my truck to drive to work.

Kangaroo Farts Could Ease Global Warming

Australian scientists are trying to give kangaroo-style stomachs to cattle and sheep in a bid to cut the emission of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, researchers say.

Thanks to special bacteria in their stomachs, kangaroo flatulence contains no methane and scientists want to transfer that bacteria to cattle and sheep who emit large quantities of the harmful gas.

The poor kangaroos may be in for some future troubles, despite their methane-less farts:

Another group of scientists, meanwhile, has suggested Australians should farm fewer cattle and sheep and just eat more kangaroos. The idea is controversial, but about 20 per cent of health-conscious Australians are believed to eat the national symbol already.

Woman Defends Christmas Decorations by Shooting Two Men

Authorities say a Springfield, LA woman was booked on attempted murder counts for allegedly shooting two men whose dog damaged Christmas decorations at her home. Ethel Shannon McKinney, 28, was booked on two counts of attempted second-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon, Jason Ard, a spokesman for the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Department, said.

McKinney and her boyfriend got into an argument with the men over the damaged decorations, and McKinney allegedly fired at the men, Ard said. One man was hit in the upper torso and arm; the other, in an arm. Ard said none of the injuries were life threatening.

I wouldn’t want it to come to this, but I would lay down my life to protect my 300-light snowman and the three cute penguins we have on our front lawn, so be warned.

Danger: Avoid Death

That warning was selected Wednesday as the winner of the 11th annual “Wacky Warning Label Contest,” sponsored by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch. The contest is part of an effort to show the effects of lawsuits on warning labels.

Kevin Soave of Farmington Hills, a Detroit suburb, won the $500 grand prize for submitting the tractor’s “Danger: Avoid Death” label.

This story got me to thinking about all of the other dumb warning labels we see every day. I found a list of dumb warning labels on Listology.com, including:

• “For external use only!” — On a curling iron.
• “Do not drive with sunshield in place.” — On a cardboard sunshield that keeps the sun off the dashboard.
• “May irritate eyes.” — On a can of self-defense pepper spray.
• “Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage.” — On a portable stroller.
• “For indoor or outdoor use only.” — On a string of Christmas lights.

That’s all I have for this week. Not a lot of weird things going on, unless you count Al Gore getting a Nobel Prize or Mike Huckabee leading the polls for the Republican nomination.

It’s very hard to Christmas shop for a toddler, especially when that toddler’s Mommy and Daddy buy him toys nearly every time they go shopping at Target! Despite that fact, I’ve been looking around Amazon.com trying to find things to get him this Christmas. There’s a lot of cool stuff. Here’s what I’ve found so far.

1. Fisher-Price GeoTrax Rail and Road System Grand Central Station

This train set looks extremely cool. You can buy different sets that add on to this one. You control the train with a remote control. These are the types of toys that are kind of fun for parents (at least Daddys) too!

2. Fisher Price Baby Gymtastics Bounce and Spin Zebra

The Babito’s baby sitter already has this toy and he loves to play with it. It’s similar to a rocking horse but it also turns around as well as rocks back and forth. The baby sitter says it keeps him occupied for long periods of time, and any toy that can do that is welcome in our house!

3. Hasbro Playskool Busy Ball Popper

The Babito loves playing with balls. This one shoots balls up into the air. They land in the funnel and go around again. This toy received extremely high ratings on Amazon. I think about 200 people took the time to rank it and all but about 5 of them gave it 5 stars.

4. Playskool Wheel Pals Triple Track Tower

The Babito also loves cars. For this toy you line up the three cars on the top of the ramp and hit the button to open the starting gate and the three cars race down the ramps. I pride myself on picking toys that the Babito will love and I have a feeling this will be one of them.

5. Santa Fe Train Set

Last, but not least, is this ride-on electric train. Babito’s Grandma and Grandpa already bought him this for Christmas. This will no doubt be his favorite gift. The train travels on a 6′ by 8′ oval track (we’ll have to find a place to put it!) at a brisk 1.5 mph.

If you know of any other toys that a 15-month old, adventurous toddler would love, please let me know in the comments!

…..your calves feel like you’ve just finished running a marathon when all you’ve done is put up the Christmas lights.

That’s right, I put up our fake tree and Christmas lights this weekend.  I didn’t even put that many lights up.  There’s a long string that goes along the entire front of our house and strings going around our garage doors.  I also put lights on some of our bushes.  I’ll post some pictures later on.

The act of going up and down the ladder and standing on tip toes to reach the eaves because I didn’t want to go any higher on the ladder (did I mention I’m a little afraid of heights, at least on ladders) has really done me in.  Damn, I’m getting old!

The hottest gift for 2007 appears to be……….gift cards.  According to one study, U.S. gift card sales are expected to grow from $27.8 billion in 2006 to $35 billion in 2007, a gain of 25%.

Now, I don’t mind getting gift cards as gifts, at least when they are for stores where I shop, but you have to admit they’re not the most thoughtful gift you can buy someone.  In fact, if you don’t know what to buy for someone, wouldn’t it be better to just give the person cash?  That way they could spend the money anywhere they want instead of being tied down to the store you decide to pick for them. 

That said, there are some exceptions for gift card giving.  I think it’s acceptable to give gift cards if you’re a grandparent with 20 grandkids spread across the country.  It’d cost a fortune to ship that many gift packages, unless you shopped at Amazon.com or something, but we all know that the typical grandparent is not that computer-savvy (and I know I’m stereotyping here).  Also, if you’re taking part in some kind of work or party gift exchange and you don’t know the person who’s receiving the gift very well, a gift card is ok.  Lastly, I think it’s fine to buy a gift card if the receiver specifically requests one.

Wow, this is just a long, rambling post to say “Don’t buy gift cards!”  Put a little thought into the gifts you buy someone.  Gift cards are even more impersonal now that you can buy a card for nearly every store imaginable at your local supermarket.

Come on, people.  Let’s keep the holiday magic alive.  Show people you care enough about them to spend a little time shopping for something you think they would enjoy.  And if you DO end up receiving gift cards you don’t want, there’s an online company that will buy them from you for about 80% of their value.

Merry Christmas!

Jones Soda Company is issuing a Special Holiday Pack of Christmas flavored sodas. Sounds good right, maybe cranberry soda, or even candy cane soda? No, their flavors are a little different. The four flavors in the pack are: Eggnog, Sugar Plum, Christmas Tree (?!?), and Christmas Ham! Christmas ham? That sounds disgusting. And Christmas tree? What the heck does that taste like? Now, I love the smell of fresh-cut Christmas trees as much as the next guy, but I’ve never been tempted to actually bite into one or drink the water in the Christmas tree stand bowl.

What makes it even worse is this quote from Yahoo News: “The company - fortunately or unfortunately - prides itself on the accuracy of the taste.” Yuck!

I had to check out the Jones Soda Company website to see if this story is really true. It is, and I found that this isn’t the first special pack they’ve put out. I found these two packs and (surprise!) they still have quantities available:

2006 Holiday Pack: including Turkey & Gravy, Sweet Potato, Pea, and Antacid-flavored sodas. You can drink your entire Christmas dinner!

Seattle Seahawks Collector Pack - featuring the following soda flavors: Natural Field Turf, Sports Cream, Perspiration, and Dirt. I’ve been clamoring for these flavors!

How do they stay in business?