Life as we now know it...

I'll try to find a positive side to this...

No matter what they tell you, hearing aids can be chewed and still be fine - it just takes a while for them to dry and yes, they WILL work again!

I got Caitlyn bright red/orange/pink hearing aid "ear gear" and try to teach her to be proud of them.

Most "normal" kids I know don't have a whole team of people looking out for their best interest. Caitlyn has a social worker, OT, hearing therapist, audiologist, ENT and other people within Early Intervention that are there for her every little need.

As parents you will typically become great at research and the ability to learn new things is endless. In some ways you will become an expert about what ever your child has.

In so many ways, these little defects our kids have certainly give them more charachter! Shows us how strong we can really become!

Mommy was trying to keep my hearing aids on with this stupid bow... I hate bows. When I get older none of this crap is going to happen. I do look kinda cute though. I always look cute. I wonder when I am going to get some more of those strawberry-apple puffs, those are pretty tasty. Maybe they will give me some water straight from the bottle if I sit her and look cute for long enough... nah, not worth it, they will give me the water to keep me quiet if I start screaming! Screaming it is!!! Waaaa Ahhhhhh! 

Baby girl, if only your daddy didn't have that silly look this would be a pretty cool picture (even though you are only in a diaper!)

Always curious.















There is that look.

At least the entertainment value has lasted for 2 days. 

This is the new toy that Daddy got for me after I gave him those kisses! It is sturdy enough for me to pull up on and cruise around. Another selling point is that it does not break when I beat it with my blocks. Plus now Mommy & Daddy have the ABC'S song stuck in their head permanently.

This is her uncle... she was trying to get his attention and in a few seconds she will start screaming. She was also petting his shirt, she thought it was very soft... as it should be considering his metro sexual status.

Don't worry Cait, he will get you a really expensive christmas present! 

Miss Dinh is 7 months old and having her first piece of ice cream cake. She just liked the cold feeling on her little slimey fingers. 

You are getting sleepy... very very sleepy...

Now go to bed! It is after 10 and you have to be up at 5:30! 

Where's the love for Mommy???? I am the one that takes care of you most of the time. Deals with your attitude. Tries to keep you smiling and prevent situations that you would freak out in. I am the one who constantly wakes up and checks your monitor to see if you are doing okay. I am the one that just went in because Emily was down by your feet and you couldn't find her!! BUT do I get the cute giggles? Do I get the 3 kisses you gave out on Saturday? Noooooooo! Daddy gets all of that. It's okay, I still ove you. 

She is adorable and he is goofy... poor kid, I thought she was supposed to be the silly one! There is one proud papa.

You'd never know by looking at her that she throws some mean temper tantrums.

 

OH SNAP!!! Our little angel has grown so much these past 7 months, within a blink of an eye. She has already moved into her own room and all of her stuff is no longer in our bedroom. Our bedroom feels so empty without her changing pad and her mobile storage station. No longer do the smell of dirty diapers are permeatting throughout our bedroom or the clutterness of her bottles and diapers cover our bedroom. What is next....college....boys....OH SNAP!!! I better start nailing down the windows and start setting up motion detectors. It is sad in a sense that her stuff is no longer in our bedroom, I guess this is a prelude to what will happen when she is ready to spread her wings and fly on her own. I will miss that diaper smell in our bedroom, I only hope that filling the void with a purchase of a 52 inch flat screen TV will help ease the pain and sorrow.

Fatherhood has had its share of the good times and the bad times. I long for those days of sleeping in til 11 AM on a Saturday morning and the key word is longing. There have been many times where I wanted to just give up and turn to a nice bottle of Congac for comfort but looking back on these last 7 months, it has definitely been worth the hassel. The picture above alone describes how I feel about fatherhood and shows that at the end of the day, memories like those are well worth its weight in gold. No matter how angry I am, how upset I feel, how confused I may be or how hard and tough I feel, the touch of daddy's little angel is this Superman's kryptonite. Lois Lane, you gotzzz to go!!!!

Every morning when I wake up I am greeted with that beautiful face to the right when I go to get her up from a good night of sleeping. That smile and that puppy look in here eyes melts my heart every day and tells me that today is going to be a good day. My little baby gave me her first kisses this past Saturday at a friend's 30th birthday BBQ. I only regret that I didn't realize that she was trying to give me kisses....and Val is so jealous!!!! OH SNAP....did daddy's lttle angel just played daddy??? I think she was testing me out with her little kisses and puppy look face because next thing I knew we were at WalMart buying her an expensive toy and I didn't even think twice about splurging for her. I AM DOOMED!!! I can hear the bank right now.....kaching...kaching....

These past 7 months have gone by so fast....I have never been happier and I look forward to the next 7 months....7 years....fatherhood has been everything that one can expect and more. I can't wait until I take her to her first movie, her first sporting event, her first buffet with daddy, her frist trip to the beach and her first trip to a Vietnamese restaurant to get some Pho (noodle soup) where she is able to participate and not just watch daddy. These are just a few of her soon to be favorite thinsg to do. Fatherhood has definitely changed me, I am a better person because of her and I have only my wife and God to thank for giving me a beautiful daughter.

Yesterday I was looking back at some of Caitlyn's first pictures and was shocked at how big she is now and so very different. My baby looks like a toddler and is almsot the size of one. She skipped most 6 and 9 month clothing and is now mostly in 12 months. There are 3 large bags of her clothes packed away, I am not quite sure why I am holding onto them. Well, I will post a "baby" picture and a more recent one to show how my baby grows! She started out at 7lbs 13oz and 20.5in and at 6 months she was 19lbs and 27in.


Next thing you know she will actually be driving a car! Time is going by so very fast.

She started crawling really fast and a week later started to pull up on furniture. This kid has no fear what-so-ever.

So she has mastered standing but has a hard time getting back down... once she is back to crawling position she will chase after me with this weird look on her face. What is up with sucking the bottom lip in and looking like an old man with no dentures?!

He is so proud of himself and making her sit on that can! You can only guess the rumbling we heard a few minutes later... maybe potty training won't be so difficult.

Miss cranky pants was really sick last week and stayed home with Daddy. He likes to put her in weird places and take pictures and not tell me... I download the pics from the camera and get a surprise. Well, this time you can see how helpless the look on her little face is and he is trying to be funny. I really hope that the clothes were clean! Dad has a gas problem and his boxers are in there!!

I never update this and haven't even really posted anything except for pictures. After seeing Susan & Amy's blogs I need to get on the ball. Of course I will still post tons of pictures since I take so many... maybe too many, she is only 6 months old and I have over 1,000 pics. I swear I am NOT one of those crazy, obsessed mom's!

I guess I should really do some work.

Have to post one of Cait's latest pics... she is so adorable!