Life Moves Fast

Taking a moment to gather my thoughts and reflect on dad-hood has been tougher and tougher. It has been almost a month and half, and the things that need reflecting are many.
The Holidays.
The holidays came and went without much incident. Tiernan got his train table so he’s happy. Here’s a hint for all you parents of toddlers obsessed with Thomas and his gang of “Really Useful” but wallet emptying friends, Step2,-- the folks that make outside plastic play stuff like houses and sandboxes makes a train table. It is plastic and all the “tracks” are molded plastic. Everything is preset. All train sets, as well as Matchbox cars, fit on the tracks/roads. There are hills and bridges and my son loves it. And here is the best part. It comes with a cover. You can put the cover on it becomes a regular play-table.
Tiernan got one for Christmas. He loves it and the trains seem to enjoy it, as well. Tiernan got a bunch of toys, Reagan got a bunch of toys. Tiernan was so happy with his train table he decided he didn’t want to open his last four presents. It was nice. Not great but nice. Reagan’s first Christmas was much like Tiernan’s uneventful.
Ok, everyone with two kids under four that had a fantastic/super-special/unbelievable/one-in-lifetime New Years Eve please raise your hands. Nobody. We didn’t either. We went to our friends house, took the kids with us. Tiernan didn’t feel good. We went home at 11 o’clock, put the kids to sleep, watched the ball fall on the couch, kissed my wife and went to bed. Such is the life of a parent.
Tiernan’s Birthday.
Tiernan turned 3 on 1/3. It was like Christmas all over again. I went down the basement grabbed the left over Christmas presents and gave them to Tiernan. He opened them, he likes them, he plays with them. All is happy and shiny.
The Daughter
Reagan is growing up so fast as well. Just before Christmas we took her to the doctor for her check-up. She was 19 lbs, 15 oz. We’re gonna call that 20 lbs. and 27 and half inches. Dr. Wong declare her to be perfect. Teeth continue to sprout. She’s a pretty good eater, she no longer wishes to eat baby food and wants to eat, “human food” so we are introducing more and more table foods. We’ve almost completely stopped buying baby food. She is doing very well.
The Major News.
For those of you who have been following along for months, we have been trying to get Tiernan potty trained since August. We didn’t really start pushing hard until after Thanksgiving. It was with pride and trepidation (because saying it will jinx it) that I can declare that my son, Tiernan is potty trained. No more diapers for my boy. Even at night. He’s wearing underwear and keeping everything dry. The boy is brilliant.
And he’s getting smarter, because potty-trained equals pre-school. He started pre-school last week thrice a week for 2 and half hours. The kids loves it. I drop him off and he barely even looks back at me. The teacher seems to gush over him. “He such a good boy. He goes to the potty. He listens so well. He gets along with the other children. He’s great.”
To which, he responds, “Yeah….I know,” in a awe-shucks voice. Brilliant.
The Ride
The last of the big news, I am no longer a minivan driver. Longtime readers with will know the three part saga of the minivan which I bought last June, well last week I traded it in for a Ford Freestyle. Higher gas mileage, higher value, higher self-esteem. Who needs sliding doors?