2013 Update

Kole Turns 5, Karissa 3

Kole's birthday fell on a Tuesday and Karissa's on a Sunday, so both got the benefit of extended weekend with visitors and time with friends and family. Kole's being in the summer there were lots of activities that might be involved in an ordinary summer, but it's convenient to throw in the added bonus of being for his birthday to go to a water park, or go to the play park at a McDonalds.
Karissa turned three years old (today) and we had over Grammy and Pa Gedy, Grandma, Pa Pa and Grams, Dawnell and John, Duane, and Alison. We had burgers and hot dogs and hot links and brats and watched the Cowboys beat the St. Louis Rams.
Karissa's favorite thing in the world is Minnie Mouse, she got several dolls and clothes with the character on there. Once the crowd had left, she immediately wanted to watch 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' on Disney Jr. She also requested to watch 'Toy Story 3'.
This past Friday we all went to the bounce house place in the Parks Mall, where Karissa loves going to bounce. Kole is a great brother in that environment playing with her and watching after her. They play great together.
Kole had an eventful summer, in what would eventually become his last summer before entering the world of scholastic education.
With Kole being a little older and more independent (potty trained) and a little wiser, he may have had a more eventful summer. He learned how to ride a bike, finally going solo with no training wheels on August 4, and became a Kindergartener. And as part of the Fletcher father-son-grandson trip this year came a trip to the beach - to Port Aransas in Pa Pa's RV.
By the way, as it turns out, Karissa is 37 inches tall and about 28-and-1/2 pounds. The average for a 3-year-old girl in the US is 33 inches and 30.8 pounds. So, she's on the tall and skinny side. Again, thank God she took after her mother. She took to potty training very quickly, as legend goes, and I can't remember the last time she made a mess when the sun was up. We may have purchased our last diaper - ever!
On his 5th birthday, Kole was 44 lbs. and 46 inches, with the US average for boys being 41.8 pounds and 42 inches.

Kindergarten for Kole

 Kole began Kindergarten at Florence Hill Elementary in Grand Prairie. We did some testing with Kole over the summer to make sure he was ready for Kindergarten at such a young age and we stumbled into a program that was right for Kole at Florence Hill so we enrolled him about three weeks into the school year. We visited his class just before he was enrolled officially, so that helped the transition when he actually came up for his first day. His teacher is Ms. Wyatt. He goes from 8:10 to 3:10 each day and hasn't had a bad experience yet as of this writing. He mentions other kids getting in trouble or being mean, but he has steered clear of any trouble or negative feedback from his teacher. We found out that his school is a "no peanut zone", which is a head-scratcher for us as parents and makes us wonder, yet again, how we got by so well before without it when we were in school. If some kid has a peanut allergy, no one in the school can have anything peanut related. So, no PB&J, etc.
We don't know any declared friends, but we have heard the name Nicholas mentioned by Kole a couple of times.

Summer Fun

Summer festivities this past year included a little family getaway to Glen Rose in August where we were able to go to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and look at and feed animals. But that wasn't the best part. BY FAR. The best part, as far as Kole is concerned, is staying at a hotel with a pool. We ended up staying at a rather ordinary Holiday Inn Express with a pool no bigger than a standard residential pool. But to Kole and Karissa, it was paradise and a water wonderland. Kole slept with Mommy, which meant I shared a bed with Karissa. And even at 2 years of age, was a marvelous bed-hog, sleeping horizontally or diagonally in the middle of the bed, or as close to it as possible.  But, I'll admit it, upon waking up I just watched her for 10 minutes, sleeping peacefully. It was a magical parent moment.

As mentioned, there was a father-son-grandson trip again, this time we took the RV to Port Aransas where Kole saw the ocean and a beach for the first time and fell in love. He played and splashed in the ocean and every moment of it was sheer "Daddy watch me!"-joy. Daddy stayed back at the RV most of the time Kole and I were at the beach since he needed to minimize sun exposure. He's been having more skin issues and had a recent surgery to remove a good part of his upper lip. At any rate, Port Aransas was great. We ate out one night then cooked steaks on the grill another. Kole devoured every scrap of meat off a 12 oz. T-bone steak and proclaimed that steak was his favorite food ever. It should be noted that days later he proclaimed the same of spaghetti, then later of fried shrimp, etc. The drive was about 8 hours each way, with most of it spent watching Disney channel on satellite TV, thank the RV. Kole and I got lots of good bonding time. It's a trip I know me and Pa Pa won't soon forget, and I hope Kole won't either.

Halloween 2012

Another great Halloween here. Kole was a fireman for the second time in his brief four years of life. Karissa was a good witch, who a couple of times during her Trick-or-Treating was so stinking cute that she got extra candy from neighbors.

Kole eventually got lazy and needed his hat held, then his candy bucket held. They both got tired real quick, despite the fact that they both napped today, a bit of a rarity. Kole was the chief knocker at the doors, but still struggled with giving a sound "Trick or Treat!" He whispered it a few times, near as we can tell. His method is to wait for an open door then hold his bucket forth, if not stepping into the house and grabbing for the homeowner's candy. Karissa prefered to stand and watch and not so much as hold her bucket out, which became an issue for older neighbors who struggled to bend over to throw candy in and all Karissa would do is spectate or attempt to just take the candy from their hand. Afterwards, it was not just moving along like business as usual. She preferred to stop and inspect her candy and attempt to eat it while still standing on the stranger's porch. And what's so wrong with that? Sort of a practical approach to the day, if you ask me. We actually spent enough time out trick-or-treating and largely missed giving out candy at home, for the most part. We still have a large glut of candy still here. I think we'll manage.

Halloween History

2008: Kole - Skeleton

2009: Kole - Doctor (in Scrubs)

2010: Kole - Fireman, Karissa - Pumpkin 

2011: Kole - Race Car Driver, Karissa - Ladybug

2012: Kole - Fireman, Karissa - Good Witch

Karissa Turns 2

It's hard to write about Karissa here without feeling a little guilty. Kole, for the first two years of his life, had a monopoly on his parents' affection and left just enough of our time for plenty of story telling and chronicling of his life on this very space. But Karissa has already had to share space and time, without even knowing it, even as I type this out, with her brother, who's life is hopelessly interconnected with hers. And that's not such a bad thing. Currently, as things stand, she goes wherever he goes, and he absolutely refuses to do many things without Karissa.



Two blows to get them both out, but then, we think it was the

first time she'd ever been commanded to blow.



For 2 she is obviously on the tall and lean side. She's 26 lbs 12 oz and 35-and-1/2 inches. That's tall and skinny. 35.5 inches head to toe laying down puts her in the 95 percentile (only 5% of US kids her age are taller); 26 lbs, 12 oz is about 70th percentile. CDC stats don't need to tell us that she has an inch or two on kids her age. At church, in her daycare class, she casts a shadow on just about everyone else in the room, even though most of the shorter ones have more evolved speaking ability.

Karissa is a chatty little noise box, there are many words, but few of them are distinguishable and words that have been taught her. Lots of babbling in between, which is fine, and in fact great. Right about the same time, three words were being slurred or barked out just about simultaneously, in the battle for First Words. There was "ball", "dog" and "Daddy". Ball and dog both hard hard-O pronunciations ("DOAG"  ,"BOW") but Daddy got two hard syllables right on cue: da-DEE. And, much like Kole, Daddy was the beneficiary of being out of the house most of the time, working or otherwise, so Daddy was a more conversation word (Daddy's working, where's Daddy?, Daddy will be home soon, let's go see Daddy, etc.) and with Kole offering another voice, Daddy was the one referenced most in absence even when Mommy had solo duty in the house - though rarely referencing herself as Mommy.

Just after Karissa started walking, she began running. This is not Flo Jo in Olympic form, mind you, but little legs marching cartoonishly with arms flailing about as if she has no control of them whatsoever. Around the house, from here to there, she's running. Not being real expert at it, she falls a lot. Since she was about 14 months, I don't think a day or week has gone by that she hasn't had skinned up or bruised knees and ankles. And rarely are they from an event that brings tears. She just routinely hits all fours, maybe bringing a whimper at times, then off she goes. Upon diaper changing, we just notice the new bumps and scrapes. She's a tough gal. And her brother makes her tougher.

Life with Kole is a challenge for the whole house. He's a rambunctious 4-year-old who enjoys having his voice heard. He has reached that dreaded stage where he has constant tabs of what's his, and when it's in Karissa's hands there's often trouble in the house. Even things that are rightfully Karissa's, given to her as a gift, for example, he'll freely take them away. The tears flow from the little girl. At times, and these are the times we dread the most, he will push her or knock her down. He has been seen needlessly hitting her over the head with objects or his hand. Not good. Karissa cries often, but endures it. Once her brother has served his punishment, she's right back at his side. Most times, he's sweeter and more forgiving and mindful of sharing.

But, more times than not, Kole is a proud protector and keen bodyguard of Karissa. One day, I think we were just leaving for church, and we were heading for the door, and - as always - no idea of precisely where either kid is. We open the garage door, let the noise to bounce around the empty and quiet house, and expect kids to be cued at the door accordingly. This day, for whatever reason, Karissa must have been occupied with a toy somewhere or something, we were on our way out and Kole said we need to wait for Karissa. Kathy or I, one of us, I forget, just casually joked with Kole, "Nope. We're going to leave Karissa here, we can't find her. Just us three are going. Come one!" then began shutting the door ... Kole freaked out! "NOOOOO!!" he cried - in a literal screaming cry - he was shouting Karissa's name running through the house looking for her. Moments later, still sobbing, Kole comes down the hallway with both hands on Karissa's arm dragging her towards the garage; Karissa with a look on her face that both careless and clueless, but man did Kole ever protest the idea of leaving Karissa behind.

On September 1, Karissa was a flower girl in the wedding of Stephanie
and Ben Dunlap (Keith's step-brother) 

If Karissa's hand needs to be held when crossing a street or parking lot, Kole wants to do it. When the baby monitor confirms that Karissa is indeed awake in her crib, Kole is the first through her door to throw open the blinds and some sunlight, then chat away with her and make her laugh. If Karissa has eaten what's on her booster-chair tray and her plate of food is still out of arm's length, Kole would rather be the one to circle the table, take the plate of food and give her more. When she drops her sippy cup, his feet are the first to hit the floor to go pick it up and give it back. We know the moments are fleeting, and we are just moments away from a potential Kole meltdown when he's got a good Lego tower under construction when Karissa gets too close for comfort and the shoving and screaming starts up again, but the tender, caring moments bookend those fits with such frequency that we are ever convinced that Kole loves his sister as deeply as we do.

Most days, in the evening during prime time TV hours, Kole and Karissa will be back in Kole's room, sometimes with a movie, otherwise left to their own rules of play. Three out of four times this goes without a hitch. Then there's last night, where all is good with Tangled on DVD, never a moment of silence, constant movement and chatter, then out of nowhere - BOOMPH. The distinctive sound of a head thumping a piece of furniture then followed by high-pitched screaming and crying. It was Karissa, holding her head, Kole suddenly still and quiet like he was wrapped up in his movie. Moments pass and a bump and bruise slowly raise to the side of Karissa's left eye. How did it happen? "She fell", Kole reported. How did she fall off the bed? "I don't know" he says, eyes and head never moving from the screen with the movie.

And there, in a nutshell, is Karissa's life. It's got it's share of hard knocks. She takes it all in stride, though.

However, if there's one strident wish I had for her third year, it's that she lose the infant-like fascination with putting things in her mouth. Still, she walks around with a seemingly constant fish-face, mouth elongated with lips puckered, cheeks puffed out. We still constantly have to squeeze her cheeks to see what sort of prize is produced out her mouth. Lots of coins, small toys and especially rocks - one of her favorites. One time, when Kathy went to check on the kids outside, the contents of her pie hole turned out to be the old dried leavings of our dog Maggie.

Oh, and that's far from her first toil with feces. When Kathy and I went to the viewing of Kathy's grandmother, Ora Jane, back in July, we dropped the kids off at my Aunt Eva's nearby. Cousins Kade and Kallen (Kevin and Kathy's two youngest sons) were there as playmates and we were only going to be a few hours. When we came to pick them us, Eva entertained us with the doozy of all poop stories. Along with her own grandkids, Eva and Joe were also caring for one of Kade and Kallen's four-legged brothers. I forget even the dog's name, but it was just beyond a puppy and not well trained for doing his duty (or "doodie") outside. As Eva's story goes, the kids were playing happily in a back bedroom for some time. She finally went to check on them and the room was filled with the air of digestion's final product. A trained sniffer of poo, Eva determined it to come from a dog. To her horror, Karissa had not only found the steaming pile of droppings, but had two hands full of it and even some smears on her face and in her hair. So - long story short - not only did we get Karissa back fed and entertained, but also fully bathed.

She loves to be held, cuddled and hugged. Right about age 2, Kole would rather squirm away than really be held and loved on. Not the little girl. She likes being held and squeezed and she loves giving squeezes and pats right back. She has the sweetest, prettiest face, and a voice to match. Now, just to hear her voice, Kathy and I like asking her things we know she'll answer affirmative. Instead of just putting out a snack and telling her it's ready, ask her - do you want a snack? "Yes!" she says in perfect diction. After a couple of bites - are you all done? "No!" And it's not a quick, snapped "no", it's a very sing-song "no", sometimes taking two or three full seconds to complete.

She's still in her crib, but not for long. We haven't begun potty-training, but that's not far away. She'll always be the baby of the family, but as a growing toddler she's started to shed those last few characteristics that make her a baby. We'll hang on to them as long as we can, but embrace her growth. When she's not crying from some torment from her brother, or not with fish-lips and rocks in her mouth, she is in a constant state of a smile or laugh. She is, per capita, per moment, the happiest person in Dallas County. From the moment we pull her out of the crib until we sing "Jesus Loves Me" at night and put her back down, she radiates joy and happiness. No matter what else is happening in the lives of the three around her in the house, she lifts the spirits of everyone. She's never had a bad day. As a result, there's never been a day with her here that hasn't been one of the greatest of our lives.

Summer 2012

What an eventful summer it has been in the Fletcher house. It's hard to pick up where the summer started around our house, but I'll pick up just after Kole's birthday.  Obviously there was plenty of time for swimming and wearing the kids out like dogs. For us - without a big fancy cement pond in our back yard - that meant trips to Grand Prairie's nearby Splash Park. It's actually better for the kids, since there's really no standing water anywhere but a series of spouts and sprayers.

We also went to nearby Joe Pool Lake's Lynn Creek Park, which has a swimming area, picnic area and even a regular park area. Grand Prairie residents get in absolutely free. So we had a few trips there and had a great time. They both use flotation devices, Kole isn't swimming by himself just yet, but he doesn't have much practice in the water either. Both, however, are experts at devouring pimento cheese sandwiches.

Also while at this park on a recent visit, we happened to come the day a man's body was found. He was a Mansfield man who was training for a triathlon, a father of a 1 and 4 year old, and drowned. It was very tragic, but I had only heard on the news the night before that the man was "missing" but didn't really follow the story closely. The next day I played hookie from work and we all went to the park to play and a lady from Channel 5, the NBC affiliate, wanted to talk to us about the body being found. I, frankly, didn't have much to say not knowing the guy, but made some generic comments about what a tragedy it was and can't imagine what the family must be going through, since I too have a 1 and 4 year old. A couple of my comments ended up on the news, as did several shots of the kids playing.

Here's the link to the whole story that aired on Channel 5.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Body-of-Grand-Prairie-Swimmer-Recovered-167032545.html
Another venture during the summer was a trip to the Aquarium at Grapevine Mills Mall.

Eventually, just after the July 4 holiday, Kathy and I took a trip on our own. My sister and nieces came in from Midland to stay at our house and watch the kids while Kat and I took to New York City. It was Kat's first time there, my fourth, but I've never had much touristy time. All my previous trips were working trips where I didn't see much in the city and only went between the hotel and Yankee Stadium. The two of us in July had the chance to see the Ground Zero Memorial and the Statue of Liberty, two of the big ones on our list.

We spent some quality time on subways and walking through busy Manhattan streets and had an airline ordeal getting back, but we got four solid days of alone time recharging our batteries. It was one of those busy vacations that seemed rushed from one site to the next, but we still had time to chill in Central Park for a few hours on the last day. We ate like royalty at some of the best restaurants in NYC. We had a great time.
Back at home, it was back to the business of watching the kids grow up and live together, battle together, love together, brush teeth together ...

... and no doubt bond together. Kole devotes most of his life to trailing his sister to take from her whichever toy she chooses to play with, for the simple fact that it is, or once was, his toy. We know it's part of childhood and siblinghood, but it doesn't help. Karissa spends much of her day crying over having a toy taken, or simply having her alone time hoarded, under the umbrella of sharing. Karissa then, likewise, finds quick interest in anything Kole is doing, and we teeter on that principle of Playing vs. Sharing. As much as an outright bully Kole can be to his sister, he is unquestionably her biggest protector. When we leave and we're about in public, he will rush to grab her hand and walk with her. If we're in a rush to get out the door at home for something, Kole will absolutely panic if Karissa is not in our cue heading for the door, racing around the house to make sure he walks her to her car door. Karissa still does not have much of a vocabulary, but understands a lot, and definitely knows what she wants, affirmed or negated with an enthusiastic "Yes" or "No". She spends most of her days just being cute as a peach.

Eventually, just last weekend, we took what was technically the first family vacation, the first of hopefully many to come. I guess we could have loaded up a station wagon, driven cross-country and played Slug Bug, I Spy and all sorts of highway games. But at ages 1 and 4, and in control of our own destiny, we set our sights a little more ... modestly. My friend Rob is the chef at the DFW Marriott South on the south side of the airport, maybe 15 minutes from the house. The kids got to pack a suitcase and go somewhere with a pool. It was, officially, a vacation. It was a chance to stay around home and do things like go to LegoLand at Grapevine Mills mall. On the way we actually stopped at Founder's Plaza on the north end of DFW Airport and watched the airplanes land and take off.

We had a couple of different outings at the pool at the hotel, we watched movies ("Garfield", "Monsters Inc.) and even had the ultimate away-from-home vacation experience of eating pizza off the floor!

This all went fairly well. We straddled Kole and Karissa as close as possible to the pizza box - bought from the Big Apple, a nearby place with real New York-style pizza. We had napkins but no plates, so we wanted them to use the box as a plate. After Kole's first bite, he promptly scooched his but cheeks back a couple of nudges and placed the pizza right on the floor. Now, I'm about 1/10th the germaphobe as my wife, but even I almost fainted. As a frequent traveler, I know that there may be no more germ-infested place on the planet than a hotel carpet. Even more so than a bathing spot for homeless under a bridge. That piece discarded, the rest of the dining experience was grand.

Start to finish, the summer was not nearly as hot as it was a year ago. We spent more time together. Karissa is a year older and doing, understanding and experiencing more. It was a great way to spend the summer together.

Kole Turns 4

It's insane to think that it was four years ago that we paced the halls of Arlington Memorial Hospital, for hours and hours.  And somewhere in the back of my mind I knew we wouldn't be parents that day. Something in my gut gnawed at me and something about the birthday June 17, 2008 didn't set. Maybe if it's written numerically - 06-17-08 - it makes more sense. I don't know. Whether OCD about even numbers or just plain psychic, I knew we were in for a long day, and our little Kole wouldn't come until after the strike of midnight.

And then he came. At 2:46am. Funny. There's still something about the middle of the night he enjoys. Cruising the house looking for a cat he had apparently dreamed about, coming to the bedroom in a fit of tears, or just flat-out wanting his Mommy.

Kathy and I will remember Kole's third year in different ways for different reasons. First and foremost, his language skills came in a rush and suddenly he began explaining himself and his thoughts with complete verb-noun agreement. No longer will he just verbalize a need for a drink or food, he can wonder aloud why we haven't seen our wild rabbits that live in our backyard underneath our shed; or suggest where I firetruck might be going - not just yap at amazement in just seeing a firetruck.

It's cool watching and hearing his mind work, being curious and being expressive. We're learning things about him that are cool to witness:  he has a great memory; he's creative; he really has a loving heart and he always wants to know what's up with his Momma. Good Lord, that Momma's boy.

 Favorite phrase: "Whatcha doin?"

The curiosity that never stops. Whether you're whipping something up in the kitchen, doing a home repair, or in the bathroom answering nature's call, the boy will appear and look for affirmation of what's going on. Once the favorite phrase comes, I repsond with my favorite response: "What does it look like I'm doing?"

He's either exactly right or mostly right.

Of course with better speech and more comprehension of speech, the more he is wading into more deep and tempting waters. More recently, if Kathy or I ask Kole something - like to let Maggie inside when he's right beside the back door, there has been an occasional comeback like, "No - YOU let Maggie in!"

On his birthday he had his little stool out he stands on to help in the kitchen. We were making cupcakes and Kole will stand and watch and maybe give the batter a few stirs and help where he can. After cupcakes, we moved on to preparing dinner, but Kole was still on his stool jacking around with stuff on the countertops. I told him to get off his stool and to get off the counter. He shot back - "YOU don't tell me what to do!"

There was a stern exchange given about who gives and takes orders in the house. It was almost more excusable because I could tell the tone of voice he was in. It was more parental mocking than sheer vengance. If I hadn't detected that tone in his voice it'd be a different story. But, I also recognize that a large part of him right now is part parrot and what he says is mostly derived from what he hears.

His birthday was spent at home with Karissa. It was not Kathy's day to work, but Grammy came over after visiting Doris in the hospital. Kathy went out and ran some errands. Not having the best verbal ability, Kole still expresses emotions physically. Not sure what emotion was going through his head, but he crapped his pants with Grammy in the house. Not sure what's going through his mind, but we thought he was done with that area of his life and we were down to figuring out how to pee at night and not in bed. That was a disappointing twist to the day. We let him pick his favorite thing to eat - whatever he wanted and from anywhere. He picked orange chicken, the Chinese dish that he prefers in its form from Costco, which sells a frozen version. Easy enough, and he and Karissa loved it. Mom and dad opted for something else, since we just did orange chicken recently. But, tha'ts fine. Next came cupcakes that we made. Aunt Kelley and Regan called from Midland to say and sing Happy Birthday, just before we opened their gifts which we happened to get in the mail earlier in the day. The final act of the day was to let Kole watch whatever movie he wanted and he, of course, picked Elf. So, we got a great mid-summer viewing of the Christmas classic.

I need to get a video on here, where I interviewed Kole this morning while he had breakfast. Our home desktop computer is down (another reason for low blog output) and I need to figure out how to get video here, but it was a good depiction of who Kole is and where his mind is. As the recording ends, I tell him 'Happy birthday', and then his PMS kicks in. He begins crying, saying that "today is my birthday". I strangely affirm that, yes, today is his birthday so I'm telling him Happy Birthday. The cry turns in to a wail for his Momma, saying he needs a hug.

It's moment I'm proud to have on video.

Kole is mostly happy, and frequently curious. That makes me happy. He may or may not be a straight-A student, but I hope to bring him up as a boy that is curious about all things. Being mostly a B-student through grade school myself, I really didn't start shining academically until I reached college. Then, and only then, I started allowing my curiosity lead the way to my learning - instead of treating school as a job. For most of my life, learning was no different from a house chore like taking out the garbage or mowing the lawn. In college, my natural curiosity of how the world worked, and why it worked, came out. That's when I wanted to learn. Better than making A's, I was learning. What I see in Kole now is curiosity, and I'm glad.

You'll hear people say that a good teacher makes learning fun. Rubbish. A good teacher makes learning interesting. I'm trying to lead the charge in making learning interesting for Kole, so he may yearn for more when I turn my back, or when a bad teacher comes along. I think he's well on his way, and that weighs heavy on our minds as he has one more year of mental growth before heading off to Kindergarten.

He hugs like he could squeeze the air out of you, and he sometimes offers up "I love you" before we have a chance to say it first, making us believe that he actually is expressing the feeling, not just parroting the words. He says more, he feels more, and it's becoming more and more obvious that he may be more boy than baby, which is a difficult thing to see and admit to.

Goodbye 2011 ... And to a Large Part of Me

I think the calendar year is constructed well with spiritual and secular holidays. For Thanksgiving we give thanks; into Christmas where we remember our Creator, shortly followed by the turnover of the calendar into a new year. It's reflective. It's rejuvinating. It's a tangible line in the sand for one to step over and start again.

In reflecting, what stands out with the kids is Karissa's wonderful year of growth and milestones, while Kole ramped up his potty training, comprehension and vocabulary. We have introduced the concept of a "big boy" to Kole and are losing grasp with the things that made him a cuddly little baby and toddler. Karissa now has a small plate of what we eat - as her bottles and bottle washing gear, begin to collect dust and clog up our cabinet space. Every time we turn around we see some toy that doesn't belong. Something that somehow escaped a bedroom closet, or stash space in the living area.

It's a rattle, or a teething ring, or a finger puppet. It's something for a little itty-bitty baby, and now depresingly out of place.

Kathy is a better mother than she'll ever give herself credit for, but has recently come to the conclusion that she is ready to re-enter the workforce on a part-time basis. She will work two days a week at her old X-ray job, then every other week she will work three days in a week. Five days every two weeks. Semi-permanant daycare has had to be established. The home and lives of the people therein continue to evolve.

And then there's the daddy. Good year. The higlights, outside of every day and hour spent with my wife and kids, has to be attending the Rangers ALCS playoff games against Detroit. I've been a Rangers fan all my life, and covered them every day as a reporter on the Budweiser Rangers Report on Channel 5 for four years. I cover other sports for a living now. I go to no fewer than 100 live sporting events every year - but I'm never allowed to be a fan, even if I want a team to win. The Rangers were a different territory. It wasn't for work. It was on the doorstep of the World Series. Luckily, cousin Brent is far more successful than I am and could afford playoff tickets and invited me to three ALCS games. I'll never forget the clinching Game 6. Being able to cheer like a kid again - screaming and jumping in my seat like a mental patient off his meds. I cared about the Rangers in the World Series. I wish I could say I didn't. But, I did. It sucks they lost. But, being there when they clinched the ALCS and made it to the World Series was an experience I'll treasure.

Now, on to the part that is the most personal I've ever blogged about, and toughest to admit.

In February, I turned 40. Quite a milestone. At that time, I had a 2-year-old and a 5-month old. And without stepping on a scale, I knew I was well over 300 pounds. A scale didn't need to tell me. A scale some time before informed me that I was 280, then 285, then 290, then 295. Then I stayed away from the scale. But, I knew. Whether it was 301 or 311 was essentially insignificant. I knew I hit a number that was not only undesirable and unattractive to the superficial world. It was dangerous. It was irresponsible. Being the breadwinner in a household of three precious others, I had collateral damage all around me. It was ignorant and selfish. It was lazy.

Was there a breaking point beyond just looking into a mirror? Of course there was. March 4, an American Eagle flight from DFW to Des Moines for a championship event at Iowa State. I was seated and reading a book while the boarding process continued. As a flight attendant began shutting overhead bins, she came to my seat and said, "Can you buckle your seat belt." I then clumsily marked my book and put it in the seat pocket in front of me, then did that squirmy dance where I look for the straps of the seatbelt from underneath my loins, yanking and tugging them out.

All the while, the flight attendant stood and watched and waited. I quickly glanced at her and made eye contact. She was giving me that look of partial pity and partial impatience. I then realized that her previous comment was not a statement of instruction.

It was a question.

Not, Can you buckle your seatbelt - pretty-please with sugar on top? It was - Are you capable of fastening that belt around your ample waist and belly? My face had to have been as red as it ever has been in my life. Not red with embarrassment. Red with anger.

I grabbed both sides of the seatbelt, scooted back in my seat, inhaled, and clamped the two ends together with no slack to spare. I smiled back at the flight attendant, like, "Happy?" Before stepping away she leaned in and in a hushed voice said, "Let me know if you need an extension."

I stared at my open book for the rest of the flight but never read a word. I just fumed. An extension? That's a tool used by people who buy clothes at Big & Tall shops, motor through a grocery store on a Rascal and take the fatty ramp to the all-you-can-eat buffet. No matter how I wanted to view myself and my generous love handles, it was clear that society and the medical field was viewing me as obese. A heart attack waiting to happen.

For the next few months my brain would stew. I knew my weaknesses. It was not sweets or fried food or fast food. It wasn't a food classification. It was volume. It was portions. Even if it was healthy and low-fat, I'd pile it on and lick the plate clean and go back for more. And with little ones in the house, empty calories are everywhere - Doritos, Oreos, etc.

Women must wonder what is going through their husband's mind when they talk and talk, and the husband is zoned out, mind somewhere else. We get accused of tuning them out. Comedians, men and women alike, can live like a king making fodder of this interaction. Many, many nights, I would come home and be completely tuned out and zoned out. I would get busted tuning Kathy out. It made a tough time tougher. Yes, I know I should have talked about it. But, I didn't want to. I wanted to grovel. I wanted to stew. I wanted to plot. I wanted to do something about my weight that was bullshit proof. I tried to do as much of this thinking as possible away from home, but sometimes I couldn't help but to let it follow me through the door when I should have been paying attention to the others inside.

I knew my weaknesses and strengths. I tried gyms and fitness centers and couldn't make it fit my schedule. I wasn't going to realistically stick with a plan that was based on eating pre-packaged low-cal crap. I didn't want to sit in meetings, participating in Pity Parties and heaping false praise on strangers just to get the same in return. I had to start a regular workout regiment. But how? When? I got two little ones and a wife who is routinely stir crazy from them once I get home from work and often wasn't up to cooking right after one or both kids refused to go down for a nap - and I don't blame her.

It took me a few months to find those answers, research them, and plot a plan of attack. I didn't need New Year's Day for mental moxie and a phony resolution. I had that. Another frustrating piece of this puzzle. I just needed all the pieces of the puzzle to fall into place. And after Kole's 3rd birthday in June, my work schedule lightened up. The weekend after Kole's birthday was a little RV get-away that Kole, myself and my dad took to Lake Whitney. When I got back, the door was wide open for at least 6-8 weeks where my work was about as close to a stand-still as it is all year. Lots of down time, half-days and half-weeks. That's when the plan was going to be enacted.

On June 30, I stepped on a scale for the first time in a long time. I weighed 307 pounds. I really felt like it could have been more. I began a high-protein, low-carb/no-carb diet of less than 1000 calories per day. I drank at least one gallon of water throughout the day. After a couple of weeks, I began going for walks around the neighborhood. It was early July and the DFW area was in the midst of a record heat wave. The summer saw 70 days of at least 100 degrees, 40 of those days were consecutive and included the entire month of July. Many days clipped over 105. In the late afternoon, when the temperature was peaking - but the kids napping - is when I hit the pavement and began going on extended walks. I slowly increased my distance and time spent walking. Soon enough, I found myself walking more than four miles in relentless 106 degree heat without even a whisper of a breeze.

On August 5, just before Kathy and I's 6th Anniversary, I weighed 276. I had dropped 30 pounds in July alone. Down another 10 pounds in August. Then another 10 pounds by Karissa's 1st birthday on Sept. 22 - officially the 50 pound mark, in just under three months. I've lost another 10 since then, while enjoying the holidays and all the solid and liquid treats that come along with it. I've attempted to at least maintain my weight, if not losing, and have done so. I'll hit January 1st at least 60 pounds lighter than I was on July 1st and a full 10 fewer inches around my belly.

Work was cranked up and busy by September, but I was walking - and occasionally jogging - after the kids went to bed, around 8:30. I discovered podcasts, and found some programs I actually enjoyed listening to, as opposed to the same 16 songs on shuffle every day. I challenged myself: Jog all the way to that light pole, then walk no further than that corner before jogging again for at least a 60-Mississippi count.

I stayed firm to my calorie intake and portions. Kathy and the kids deserve credit for tolerating me. Most nights, I ate something different than the rest of them. Overall, they were good sports and helped make my journey tolerable. Every night as Kole got in his PJs, I got in my walking shoes and earbuds. More recently, a jacket and hat and gloves join the mix. "Daddy go for a walk" he'll say.

Yep. Going for a walk. Walking away from an early grave. I've attached some before-and-after photos, but I'll end with two stats: In June, on a routine dental check-up, they nearly wouldn't clean my teeth because my blood pressure was 152/98. At last check, on Dec. 9, it was 118/72.

I have no New Year's resolution except to be a better husband and father and to enjoy life more now that I'm not toting around the 60 pounds I started the year with. I won't worry about busting a button on an XXL shirt, now that I'm loosely draped by my old XLs, plus some new Christmas ones. Although, by my birthday in February I do have a goal weight in mind. We'll see.

Karissa Update

Karissa went in for a 15-month checkup and a shot. She weighs 21.4 pounds, which is in the 25%, and is 32 inches long, which is 90%. So, in other words, 75% of American babies her age weigh more, while only 10% are longer. Tall and slender. I think she got the best of both of her parents' attributes. For now.

Verbally, she's a bit behind the curve. However, her coordination and much of her physical attributes are very advanced for her age.

She is healthy. She is happy. She does gymnastics on the sofa - she is now climbing on all the furniture and has a weird sense of when she's at the edge and about to fall off, and quickly self-corrects. She kicks and throws balls with enthusiasm, while Kole even now is still getting the hang of it. 2011 was an eventful year for her - four months of it spent in a cranial corrective helmet. Her other updated stat from the doctor visit is a 44.5 cm head circumference, which is 15%. She is long out of that head contraption, her hair is growing longer and more girlie, and she is the most beautiful little girl in the history of the world.

Christmas 2011: Santa is Here

I don't believe that Santa Claus is a lie. Santa Claus is part a fantasy, a vivid world of make believe, which is something that children do and handle very well. It's a wonderful part of childhood.

Kathy and I have different memories of Santa Claus as kids ourselves. I remember a handful of Christmases where I really wanted something, waking up in the morning, and seeing some or all of them around the fireplace. Cookies reduced to crumbles. Milk glass drained. A house that was bereft of toys and Christmas energy, after a night's sleep, had been transformed. I remember it as a magical, beneficial childhood experience.

With that, we played up Santa to the hilt with Kole this year. For three or four weeks leading up, St. Nick and an army of CIA-trained elves were watching with arms folded and a tapping foot making sure he was being nice, and was not too tolerable of naughty behavior. Not sure how much it helped, but it was a useful tool every now and then to straighten him up for a bit. Really, at 3-and-1/2, Kole still wasn't sure what he wanted for Christmas beyond "toys". We still have a challenge of rotating toys he currently has, since he quickly bores of them, plus he has access to all of Karissa's toys, which he gleefully takes ownership of.

Christmas festivities began two weeks ago with my mom's family at our house. Mom and Pa Gedy, aunt Doris, Kelley and Kelly and the girls were in from Midland, newlyweds Shanna and Paul, Ben and girlfriend Stephanie. I wish there was more of this event that I could write about. Again, I'll be writing at the end of the year about a large physical transformation I've gone under this year, losing 60-plus pounds. Suffice to say, I can count the number of spirited beverages I've had since July on both hands. I have become a lighweight. So, it didn't take too many Sangria wines to promptly knock me on my kiester. I was having a great time, then things got a little foggy and the next thing I know I was being led to bed. In hindsight, there's nothing more embarrassing or idiotic than not having control of oneself. It's really not that hard. So, I feel like a jackass after all of that, but we did have a great time together. Kole got to see his cousins Riley and Reagan, which happens few and far between now, and that's what I was happiest about. They are his only cousins, and unless a small miracle happens from Kathy's brother or sister, they will be his and Karissa's only cousins. I hope their relationship together is as strong and meaningful as Kelley and I had with our cousins growing up.

We had a Chinese gift exchange, but the more interesting gift was one we collectively gave to a family in need. At Thanksgiving, everyone gave at least $20. Some gave more. The hope was to give that gift collectively to a family who probably wouldn't have a Christmas otherwise. Through our church, I was led to Austin Elementary in Grand Prairie, where I was led to our helpful angel, school counselor Tonya. She extends herself every year beyond what the GPISD is paying her to know who in her school needs help, then brokers families like ours towards them. I did the leg work with Tonya in finding a family of four kids, ages 11 to 5, three girls and a boy the youngest. The dad works two jobs. Mom is out of the picture. An aunt watches the kids wile dad works a night job. Grandpa also lives at the home but apparently isn't much help. That's the sketch I was given. The kids are all qualified for a government assistance for breakfast and lunch at the school, and all are on the receiving end of an annual coat drive that our church orchestrates each year. This was a family we were looking for and we were able to provide them with $300 in Wal-Mart gift cards, to be spent on Christmas or whatever they needed. Kathy and the kids and I went up and met the family and the dad, Roy. Everyone was thankful. It's something I hope we do every year and I hope our kids learn to appreciate.

Next was Kathy's family on Christmas Eve - Grandma, Uncle Dewayne, Aunt Dawnell and her husband John. We again had everyone at our house, ordered pizzas, exchanged gifts and played Taboo. Mostly it was watching Kole and Karissa open and enjoy their gifts. Dwayne got Kole a Hot Wheels race track, one that electronically can keep the car going on a continuous loop, over and over and over again. At one point Kole was standing, holding his tinkle gear, doing a small dance. We asked him if he had to go pee-pee. Yes, he had to pee-pee. We told him to go pee-pee in the potty. He then expressed concern for leaving his racetrack and didn't want Karissa interfering with it. We assured him that we would keep Karissa away and he could safely vacate his track and not have to worry about it. Kole still showed hesitation at leaving. Then, he lowered his pants and underwear to his ankles, still standing at the track behind our sofa in the living room. He then inched away from the track, then turned it into a full sprint - or as fast as 3-year-old legs can go with pants and underwear shackling his ankles. He disappeared into the loo, reappeared 17 seconds later, and was on a desperate sprint back to the track - where he then, and only then, was able to safely pull up his pants and resume watching his Hot Wheels go round and around. Karissa was given great toys, but had just as much fun in the trash, walking through and throwing around the bits and scraps of wrapping and tissue paper.

Taboo was boys against girls and the boys won. We all had a great time together, but it was Christmas Eve and we had kept Kole from napping so he may crash on the night we were expecting Santa. It kinda backfired. Kole was punchy by 9:00, tired to the point of being a little delirious. We got Karissa off to bed and she was asleep in no time. God bless her. With all the challenges that Kole can be surrounding sleep, Karissa snoozes away almost on command and stays in good spirit through the day. Kole got then put out the chocolate chip cookies and milk for Santa. We moved our fireplace guard. Karissa can't have access to the fireplace or else she'll try to eat the lava rocks. So, we keep a piece of cardboard duct-taped to it. That was removed on Christmas eve night, and you could tell Kole was still a bit curious about everything but excited. I'll attach the picture here of our attempted pose of Kole and Karissa in front of Santa's cookies and milk. Karissa was not prepared to understand that cookies just sitting out on a table were not for her, and pushing them further away from her just to take a picture was as good as eating it in front of her face with a smile. She burst into tears and made several failed attempts to scramble onto the table for the cookies.

It took Kole a while to cooperate and fall asleep, but Kathy and I eventually got the presents out and set up. It's something I'll have a fond memory of. It's the first time I've been a part of something like this for our kids, and knowing my memories of Christmas, it was especially eventful. This year, Santa brought gifts for all of us. Wrapped Christmas presents weren't going to last very long under the tree any earlier because of Karissa's easy access and stealthy curiosity, so the tree was bare underneath up until this point. In fact, because of the same curious little girl, the tree itself sort of had a noticeable equator where the main decorations were in the northern hemisphere, while the southern hemisphere was sans the glass balls and decorative ornaments. Christmas will be an evolving process, but this year all the presents came on Christmas eve when the kids hit the hay, all wrapped.

On Christmas morning, we got Kole up around 7:15. He walked to the living room bleary-eyed and stumbling. But, he quickly caught the enormity of the scene. His first reaction was to look around, left and right for Santa. We had to inform him that Santa had already left and was now safely back at the North Pole. Kole continued to take in the sight of the presents. And his eyes kept going back to the plate of cookies, now a plate of crumbs and milk glass empty. He smiled and contained his bewilderment. It was official: Santa Claus is not some harmful lie. It's a great theater of make believe, it's traditional and cultural, and it's fun for the parents too. Soon enough, Karissa was awaken and she joined the fun. Presents were opened and a litter box of wrapping paper was quickly established in the floor. Later in the day we went to my dad and Kay's, where Alison and Mike and his kids plus Kay's niece and husband were there. A traditional turkey dinner was served and there was seemingly a desert for every side dish. The kids destroyed presents and we all had a great time. But that, like so much of Christmas Day, seems like a sad anticlimactic ending to at least a two, sometimes a three, often a four-week build up. I was fortunate that going back to Thanksgiving, I saw all of my family and first cousins with the exception of cousin Jason, a missionary doctor in the African country of Mali.

Without singling out any one gift, everyone got something they wanted for Christmas, and then some. We got and we gave, we spent quality time with loved ones, we snapped more pictures than a Japanese tourist, we helped a family in need, we watched "Elf" no fewer than 10 times (that's not sarcastic), we acknowledged Christmas as a celebration of Christ's birth, we ate like we were on vacation and some of us drank like a college kid at Spring Break. It was a very, very Merry Christmas for the Fletchers in 2011.

Giving Thanks

A holiday is a good cue to write about some of the things we are thankful for, even if it is a week late.

First and foremost, everyone is healthy and happy. Kole is tall enough to turn lights on and off. That's a head trip. Talk about a senior moment, one day I stood spinning like a top, hands on hips and eyebrows furled, trying to figure out how a hall light kept coming on that I had turned off. Karissa silently gets into mischief when she gets into any room so we try to keep all the doors closed. Kole comes and goes as he pleases and never remembers to shut a door. So, in the evening, I try to restrict activity around the front of the house where their bedrooms are by keeping the hallway lights off. And one day, magically, it kept coming on moments after I had turned it off. I finally stepped into the kitchen and listened closely to anything and finally saw and heard the light switch on. Yes, it was Kole. But, it wasn't with the aid of something to boost him up a step, quickly propped and disassembled in the flash of an eye. He just stood on his tip-toes flicking the switch either way.

It's a moment that quickly freezes in time, where physical, literal signs of our little boy growing up just randomly drop in. It is an ice cold can of beer on the back of your thigh - shocking you into into a dance and realizing that while life seemingly just sat in neutral and coasted along, our boy was growing and becoming wiser.

Karissa's walk has become a rapid trot. She is cutting molars, and all the discomfort that comes along with teething has been the theme of the past few months. Her babble is more babblish, but she still doesn't have an official first word - clearly identifying something with a word, be it Mommy, Daddy, cracker or milk. She is a great eater, but is slow as the Great Northern Glacier. She carefully chews and is easily distracted by the TV or her brother. She has figured out that if she presses down the spout of her sippy cup onto her little table it will create a small pool of milk that she can then splash and spread around. She is interested by books and TV - things draw and hold her attention more quickly than they did Kole. Like her brother, she's not a frequent cuddler. She'd rather squirm away and do her own thing than be held and loved by her mom or dad, but just often enough she will not only allow it but enjoy it.

Kathy has been challenged with motherhood duty of a 1-year-old and a potty-training 3-year-old. It depends on how you slice it up, I know, but I can't imagine that it gets any tougher than this year. She's been phenomenal. You wouldn't know that if you were conferenced into my calls home after 5:00 when I head home and she's on the verge of tears from either Kole being a brat or deciding that he's forgotten where the potty is and deciding to crap his big-boy underwear (or on the floor). She has decided recently that she will go back to work part-time in January, working at her old job. That will get her out of the house, around adults, put some cash in the bank, and hopefully allow everyone to see some new faces and refresh.

This has been a strange year for Dad. Very thankful for a great job that provides a great creative outlet and an environment around cool people. This has been a great year for sponsors, which I'm thankful for. Being in cable television, success of my shows are shown with sponsors, not ratings. SportClips Haircuts, On The Border, Woodmen Of The World and Texas Pete hot sauce have all stepped up to the plate, earning my Big 12 Showcase program a nice paycheck, which reflects well on the producer.

2011 has been a real up-and-down year, to say the least. I'll write more about this at the end of the year, but as it is I'm 60 pounds lighter than I was on July 1. I survived Thanksgiving - enjoying myself, splurging on pies and all, but still maintain a new mindset and eating structure.

I'm thankful my family is healthy, our faith is strong, and we still have a good roof over our heads.

Happy Halloween!

Kole's third and Karissa's second Halloween went off without a hitch. There were actually two events. Thanks to Aunt Dawnell, Kole went as a race car driver.
... while little Karissa, at 13 months old, went as a ladybug ...

First, there was an event at our church over the weekend. If you haven't noticed, many churches are moving away from "Halloween" as a holiday celebrating dark magic, evil and death. Instead opting for a "Fall Festival" where kids get to dress up, get candy, etc. No big fuss made about those who stick to Halloween, just a different title with the same rules and theme of season. It would be nice if Atheists could learn a thing or two - at least the one (sometimes, literally, ONE) who annually gets a bug up his ass about some public display of Christmas and can't let it go without ruining it for the entire town. But anyway - the non-protesting, culturally cohesive and tolerant Fall Festival: Games and a bounce house and things to do for costumed kids to earn candy ...Then came the big day, Monday - Halloween Night ...
They trick-or-treated together for a little more than half and hour. We have a lame neighborhood - lots of porch lights out. Karissa wasn't going to last on a big, extended neighborhood venture, so she and Mommy stayed back at the house to hand out candy then Kole and I took to the streets and made a pretty good haul. A very good haul for a 3-year-old race car driver who can barely keep a Big Wheel on the sidewalk without swaying into the grass.
Happy Halloween!

State Fair Day

We got a sitter for Karissa, figuring she would be confined to a stroller for most of the day, and figured that her napping or lack thereof may restrict or hamper our day - so Kathy, Kole and Daddy all headed for the State Fair of Texas today.
It was a lot of fun and Kole had a ball. He went on far more rides than we thought he would - spooked by none of them, although on some he did want one of us with him. That's not real easy, as you can see in the one photo where Daddy is riding along side him with knees in his chest. We walked a lot, we pet animals at the petting zoo, we ate corny dogs next to Big Tex and cotton candy as we strolled through the Midway playing games and riding rides.
We had a really, really good time. We got to the Fair around 9am and left around 2pm - and the final photo of the slideshow is of Kole completely wiped out in the back of the car. He was like that practically before we pulled out of the parking lot.
Great day!

Karissa In Motion

Time to play catch-up, and prove that while I've been a bad blogger, I have not been asleep at the wheel with the camera. Here are the highlights of Karissa crawling and walking for the very first time.

Karissa Turns 1

Unbelievable. It's hard to say the time flew by. Kathy and I agree that some segments flew by, some inched by at a snail's pace, in the first year of Karissa Reese Fletcher.
It was slow out of the gate. We both vividly remember her first days and weeks - born out of the chute with a sniffle, then came the surprise stay at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth with a urinary tract infection. Her first month seemed like two.
Then we went forward. She has been a great sleeper - and her parents couldn't be more thankful. Not a great napper, but when the sun goes down she's ready to dream and snooze the night away.
It's hard not compare her with Kole, strictly as a personal parental experience. There's really no fun in them being the same or almost the same, but comparing and contrasting their similarities and differences is a fascinating thing. When an infant has no conscious ability to choose one way or another, the DNA takes over and puts one on a vastly different path than the last.
It's hard to chart 12 months of progress, but here are some things we know to be true here at the 1-year mark:
*Her life has not been reported, in detail, on this blog. Sad to say, there is a large Been-There, Done-That factor with her, whereas with Kole everything was breaking news that needed reporting. I think it's a compliment to Karissa. Her parents are living in the moment more now than we did with her brother, where issues were Googled and researched and talked about and debated and blogged about. Now, with her, life happens and we deal with it and we keep moving on. Obviously, I should better manage my time to write things down. But, the simple fact is, it's harder to write about the exploits of a 1-year-old now because now there is a 3-year-old who needs time and energy focused on him. Free time isn't what it was three years ago.
*One bold prediction: Karissa will be tough as nails. Especially in the past six months, her doting brother plays with her the way a cat plays with a maimed mouse. Problem is, she laughs 70% of the time. She blissfully doesn't know better until at some point Kole gets too rough and then she cries - briefly. Otherwise, she takes a rugged wrestling match with her brother a few times a day.
*She crawls with surprising speed and is now taking her first steps. She is topping out at about 5 or 6 steps at a time before her beefy legs give way. Sometimes, she'll just stop while standing upright and take a slow, leisurely squat into a sitting position, as if sinking in quicksand.
*She will now mock Patty-Cake, clapping and rolling her hands then throwing them in the air - often without prompting. That's the best. When she just sits there minding her own business and you suddenly notice her clap her hands, roll them up, then throw them in the air.
*Where behind her brother in physical milestones like crawling and walking, we are finding that she is very intellectually aware much earlier than Kole, especially with TV. To this day, Kole has an extremely short attention span with TV. He knows who all the major players are - Barney, Elmo, Chicka from the Sprout network - but after 5-10 minutes he becomes bored and moves on to other things. We've convinced ourselves that's a good thing, that he needs other stimulation that TV can't provide. Karissa, however, for several months now, can be captivated by video. She can watch for several minutes at a time. With a 58-inch HD wide-screen, she has plenty to take in and it's fascinating to watch her eyes dart around the screen, taking it all in. Sometimes it's to a fault. At breakfast she sometimes gets so distracted by the TV that we have to turn it off so she'll eat. Otherwise she'll just bob her head around any obstruction and keep watching. We're telling ourselves that she is much quicker to be engaged and interested in video, and that's a good thing.
*She smiles more than she cries, her babble and gargle has a sweetness that resonates into a melody that plays in my head all day, and she is quite the cuddler when she is exhausted.
*She gets hand-me-downs left and right; both in color-neutral sleeping jammies and with toys and books and stuffed animals. And she's taking it all in stride and is the happiest baby she could be.
*She shares almost everything with her big brother, including many of the toys she does get first-hand, but has little say in how infrequent said brother has access to those toys. She now even shares a bath with her brother. The way we figure it, Kole had a couple of years of independence and it didn't do him any favors, so - the heck with it - the girl better get used to sharing. Here in a few years there will be more need and urgency for privacy from Kole.

The next few milestones will come fast and frantic: walking, talking, teeth and eating habits. We'll look forward to other things drawing her attention, like books and games. As it is, the thing that most easily draws her attention is a green lit power button on our cable box. She gets drawn to it like a moth to a light bulb, and there she'll stand turning the TV on and off and on and off.

We'll be ready for anything. The first year had many surprises and, to the detriment of the blog, we mostly had a great time just soaking it in and living it. And where I regret not having chronicled many events, even the more comical and mundane day-to-day things, most of the significant milestones have been photographed or videoed and just not posted. It's kind of like getting your second new car. The first one you drive around to show off to all your friends and the people who you want to make jealous. Then, the second one, you just more quietly and modestly appreciate, and spend more time cleaning and buffing it in the garage than showing it off around town.

Somewhere in the next few months, once the milestone is behind us when we never really knew that it passed, Karissa will be a toddler and we will never be the parents of an itty-bitty little baby again. That bums us out, but now we are more poised to know how to appreciate these coming days ahead. I may not be rushing the photos or the stories over to the computer and the blog, but know that we are devouring the moment and savoring every morsel.