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Interview with a 4-Year Old

Ross — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:51:13 +0000

My daughter will be turning 4 years old in a little over a week. Now that she's big enough to actually stay focused on something for more than about 5 minutes at a time, I thought it would be fun to conduct an interview with her. Dee was sitting on the couch nearby while I asked the questions, and I don't know which of us laughed more at the interview answers. The questions were shamelessly cribbed from Beth at So The Fish Said, but the answers are all genuine creations of Violet:

1. What is something daddy always says to you?
I love you.

2. What makes daddy happy?
When I say I love you.

3. What makes daddy sad?
When I don't want to drink milk.

4. How does your daddy make you laugh?
By being silly.

5. What did your daddy like to do when he was a child?
Play with me. [She still doesn't quite get the concept that Mommy and Daddy were once kids her size.]

6. How old is your daddy?
I don't know.

7. How tall is your daddy?
Big…Bigger.

8. What is his favorite thing to watch on TV?
The commercial show. [There was a commercial on TV when I asked this question. I do everything in my power to avoid watching commercials, so I'm assuming this was a prop-inspired answer.]

9. What does your daddy do when you're not around?
Go around in circles round and round and round. [Pretty accurate description of my workday, actually.]

10. If your daddy becomes famous, what will it be for?
When I get sad at you. [Definitely didn't understand the question.]

11. What is your daddy really good at?
Cleaning up. [At this point Dee both laughed and "hmphed" simultaneously. It's obvious to anyone older than 4 who in our household is really good at cleaning up, and it's NOT me.]

12. What is your daddy not very good at?
Not good at playing with the balloon. [It's true, I fail at playing with balloons. Especially if they're tied to Violet's wrist and she is trying to keep me from getting them.]

13. What does your daddy do for his job?
Draw some special things on his paper. [Again, a fairly accurate representation of my regular workday.]

14. What is your daddy 's favorite food?
Taquitos. [If my 4-yr old notices, maybe it's time to cut back on them a bit?]

15. What makes you proud of your daddy?
I love you.

16. If your daddy were a cartoon character, who would he be?
I don't know.

17. What do you and your daddy do together?
Play, turn on fans, fix things. [So spending hours putting together a bookcase with your daughter is equivalent in value to flicking a light switch to turn on the ceiling fan.]

18. How are you and your daddy the same?
We're both girls. [News to me! But the answer to the next question makes me think she was still trying to work something out on this question...]

19. How are you and your daddy different?
I'm a girl and you're a boy. [THERE we go!]

20. How do you know your daddy loves you?
He gives me kisses. [Glad I'm doing something right!]

21. What does your daddy like most about your mommy?
That she loves him. [She's so astute!]

22. Where is your daddy's favorite place to go?
On an airplane. [Definitely not my favorite place to go, but since I've had to do a bit of traveling lately for work, I can see where she gets this idea.]

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Stairway, and Random Interjections

Ross — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:11:08 +0000

Led Zeppelin’s followup to “Stairway” never made the charts

No, I'm not dead (yet).
Yes, I'm still super-busy.
No, I would not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am.
Yes, vacation pictures from Mexico are still coming soon.
No, I didn't end up buying the Luchadore mask I was eyeing at the tourist trap in Playa Del Carmen (sorry, Mook).
Yes, I went running again today for the first time in almost a month.
No, it was not pleasant.
Yes, I feel better now for having done it.
No, I've never seen anything cuter than my girls, thank you very much.

Cuddle Time

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Beat the Blues

Ross — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:34:30 +0000

I'm still stuck in Duluth, but I'm flying back tonight. Feeling down (and cold) and I can't wait to get home. In the meantime, during my breaks here, I'm going through old photos I haven't yet uploaded to Flickr and just came across one that always brings a smile to my face:

Butterfly Bliss

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Happy Thanksgiving, and Kids Say the Darndest…

Ross — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:46:16 +0000

First, Happy Thanksgiving to all those folks out there that are celebrating today! May you have a great day, filled with wonderful traditions, delicious food, and fun.

This week, I'm up in Pennsylvania with my grandparents/parents, who are enjoying seeing and playing with their great-/grandchildren (and giving Dee and I a much needed reprieve!) In the course of playing with everyone, Violet has come up with quite a few funny little statements and phrases that are worth sharing:

We were discussing traffic lights and what the different colors meant.
Me: Okay, it's a Red Light, what does a red light mean?
Violet: Red light means STOP!
Me: Good! Now what does a Green Light mean?
Violet: GO!
Me: And what does a YELLOW light mean?
Violet: Yellow means GO FAST!
Me: Ahh…and who's been teaching you that?? I bet it's Mommy!
Violet: Yeah!

Violet asked to sing some songs. When I prompted her on what song she wanted to sing, she said she wanted to sing, "Mary had a little MAN". Puts a whole different spin on the lyrics if you sing it that way….

One night, as she was getting ready for bed, she said, "Daddy, I'm big and strong! (Poses with her arms showing muscles). I replied, "Yes, honey, you ARE big and strong." Then she followed it up with, "I have a strong SMILE!" and posed again, this time matching it with a blinding visage of cuteness. Once again, I had to agree with her.

A Strong Smile

Last night, on our drive back from my grandparents' house, Violet, who's been on a Dora the Explorer kick, asked about what some words were in Spanish.

Violet: What's the word for hello in Spanish?
Me: You know that…it's…
Violet: Hola!
Me: Right! And what's goodbye in Spanish?
Violet: Adios!
Me: Good Violet!
Violet: What's the word for car in Spanish?
Me: Um, I think it's coche.
Violet: And what's the word for driving in Spanish?
Me: Mmm…I'm not sure. We'll look it up when we get home, okay?
Violet: I know it! It's Hota Taco!
(I didn't know how to follow that up, so I didn't even try….)

Violet and Rosalie were playing by some toys, and Violet accidentally pushed Rosalie a bit, which made her fall down. I asked Violet to apologize:

Me: Violet, I know you didn't mean to push Rosie, but she fell over because you pushed her. Can you tell Rosie you're sorry?
Violet: (In the most pitiful voice ever) Rosie, you're sorry.

Happy Thanksgiving!

NaBloPoMo 2008!

[NaBloPoMo 2008 - #27/30]

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Playing the Waiting Game

Ross — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:16:20 +0000

My oldest daughter is now three and a half. A few months ago, she started giving us grief about going to bed and all the activities that go with it (brushing teeth, etc). We were almost pulling our hair out in frustration over the nightly conflict. The only thing that seemed to work was threatening to take away her book-reading privileges for the night – that would almost always get her moving. This caused me personal heartache, however; not only do I think reading at bedtime should be an inalienable right for all kids, but this reading session is one of the few times I get to spend each day with my daughter bonding, especially on the days I had to work late. I hate to use "no books" as a punishment because it hurts her a lot worse than "no television" or "no cookies" would.

But I digress – the issue at hand: a stubborn three year old who has to be carried into the bathroom in the evening in order to get her to acquiesce to the inevitable tooth-brushing, hand-washing, etc. The solution? Something I never in a million years would have believed would work if someone suggested it to me: The Waiting Game.

The Waiting Game is my personal nickname for it, and you'll see why in a bit. It's more aptly described as The Clock Watching Game.

Ever since Violet started learning her numbers and letters, I have made efforts to point out all the interesting places they showed up – on the bottom of the TV (we keep Closed Captioning on), on stop-signs, billboards, buildings, and of course, on any one of the multitude of digital appliances we have in our house, all complete with their own set of numbers happily illuminating the time of day in glowing yellow. By the time of our bedtime struggles, she could easily recognize the digits 0-9, and was fascinated that they were on all these different clocks!

So one evening, when the 2nd-most stubborn child in the world (or rather, the 1st, now that I am grown up) began to dig in her heels, out of desperation, I pulled her attention away from the toy she was playing with by pointing out the clock.

"Violet," I said, with feigned excitement in my voice. "Do you see the numbers on the clock? They say Seven Two Seven!"

She ran over and exclaimed with glee that the numbers DID say Seven Two Seven! I then told her to keep watching the clock, and it would change to Seven Two Eight. She pretty much jumped up and down in place with excitement when the clock inexorably flipped the last digit. Then the clouds parted and the heavenly choir rang down from above:

"Violet," I repeated. "When the clock says Seven Three Zero, we're going to go brush teeth and go read books. Got it?"

The enthusiastic response I received from this statement was a complete 180 degree turn from her previous behavior. Suddenly, the bedtime ritual had new meaning for her, and SHE could figure out when SHE needed to do things, all on her own! From that night on, we've had no problems with bedtime – all we do is give her an impending deadline to end all play activities, and as soon as the clock reaches that point, she's off like a shot to get ready for bed.

Since that day, we've used The Clock Watching Game for any number of things. Have to wait for dinner? Tell her when it will come out of the oven and she's all set. Need 15 minutes downtime? Tell her to go color with her crayons until the clock reads 3:43 and then promise to play Candyland when she's done. It works all the time, any time (in moderation, of course).

The funny thing, though, is that since then, she is fascinated with clocks. Often, when you give her an upcoming time mark, she'll stand there in front of the clock, watching it change from minute to minute. She might sing some songs, or do a little dance, but she always flits back to the clock, calling out each minute as it changes. She has more fun waiting for the clock to change than most people have watching television.

And it's a good thing, too. If this hadn't worked and the frustration had continued, I think I WOULD have resorted to tearing out my hair. And since I'm just starting to get used to all the grey hair I'm seeing in the mirror every day, it would have been a shame to have to get used to seeing a bald head instead.

It’s hard to say no to a face like this…

NaBloPoMo 2008!

[NaBloPoMo 2008 - #21/30]

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The Walls Have Ears

Ross — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:05:02 +0000

Conversations you may have heard at my house in the past week:⁺

1) The Purse

Dee: Mmm…my pretty new purse – it's so niiiice…
Me: Huh?
Dee: Honey, right now I feel just like you do, when you get a nice new electronic gadget.
Me: *lightbulb comes on* Ahhh, I see! I'll stop giving you the strange looks then – you put up with me spending 2 hours configuring my phone a few months back.

2) The 3rd Grade Sense of Humor

Me: Violet, guess what?
Violet: What?
Me: CHICKEN BUTT!
Violet: *hysterical laughter*

Me: Violet, guess why?
Violet: Why?
Me: CHICKEN THIGH!
Violet: *hysterical giggles*

Dee: Violet, guess where?
Violet: …??
Dee: CHICKEN HAIR!
Violet: *even more hysterical giggles*

Violet: Mommy, Daddy – Guess why?
Me: Why?
Violet: CHICKEN LEG!
*hysterical laughter from all of us*

3) The Infant With a Newly-Discovered Sense of Mobility

Me: No Rosie, don't put that dust bunny in your mouth.
Me: No Rosie, don't try to climb up on the fireplace.
Me: No Rosie, don't grab the lamp cord, that's not for babies.
Me: No Rosie, don't crawl under the coffee table, you'll bump your head.
Me: No Rosie, don't eat that paper, that's yucky.
Me: No Rosie, don't pull Violet's hair.
Me: No Violet, don't push Rosie for pulling your hair.
Me: No Rosie, don't try to pull that basket of toys over onto yourself.
Me: No Rosie, don't eat that crayon, that's yucky.
(Repeat ad nauseam)

4) Television Priorities

Me: Violet, this is football. See the team in blue?
Violet: Yeah! That is football!
Me: That team in blue is called the Panthers. Can you say "Go Panthers!"
Violet: Go Pan…Panfe…. I can't say it.
Me: Pan-thers.
Violet: Pan-thers.
Me: Go Panthers!
Violet:Go Panthers! Yay! Go Panthers!
Me: Yeah, good job! Go Panthers!
Violet: No, I want to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

5) The Ideal Marriage is Based on Equality

Me: Honey, since you're going to Vegas with your friends right before Thanksgiving, if I hypothetically had to go to a seminar in Vegas for a couple days later this week, you wouldn't have any grounds to complain, right?
Dee: Honey, I love you dearly, but I will ALWAYS have grounds to complain if you pull something like that.

⁺If you were a fly on the wall.^*
^*You don't want to be one of the flies that was on my wall. They met with a horrible demise over the weekend, courtesy of my flyswatter.

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Pardoned for My Crimes Against Fashion

Ross — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:43:23 +0000

Growing up, I was never known to have the greatest fashion sense. As a kid, this didn't really matter – I was always sort of off in my own little world and the rules of proper couture were about as interesting (and useful) as learning the proper way to clean out an oven. Of course, my habit of committing the occasional fashion faux pas was in part derived from loving but somewhat misguided attempts by my parents and grandparents to give me "stylish" clothes; while some clothes may actually have been stylish at the time, I can definitively state that the almost-neon-yellow shorts I wore in 9th grade did not fall in that category. My classmates who asked me how many batteries my shorts required did not dissuade me from wearing them, but made me all too aware of their….uniqueness.

And then there was my love of red pants as a kid:

Ross roller-discos (and dresses) like it’s the ’70s

Revenge of the red pants

I don't know that there's any excuse for these. I do remember thinking they were uber-cool at the time. In fact, I thought they were so cool, I wore a pair to my 8th-grade graduation. Where I was valedictorian. And had to give a speech in front of the entire graduating class and their parents:

Note the matching valedictorian medal

While the red pants may be the benchmark of my fashion statement atrocities, there were many other times that I'm sure I came close:

OK, OK, I may be going a little over the top. I mean, when I did make the effort, I cleaned up pretty well:

I pride myself on having come out of the fashion slump somewhere around the end of high school, and now dress relatively sanely. I can always count on my wife to point out my more egregious offenses, but since they're now few and far between, hopefully it's not too onerous a task for her to take on.

All dressed up for a holiday party

Of course, every once in a while I still have a craving for red pants. But I try to ignore it, and bury the urge in something productive, like dressing up my daughter in a tiger costume.

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I Got Nothin’

Ross — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:08:55 +0000

Actually, that's a lie. I've got plenty I could write about:

I could write about how my patio table shattered last night when the thunderstorm's winds picked up the umbrella and yanked it out of the hole in the center of the table, and how I'm NOT looking forward to picking up all the pieces and worrying about letting my daughter ever go outside barefoot ever again.
I could write about how Rosalie is getting to the stage where a game of peek-a-boo makes her laugh uncontrollably, and we managed to capture it on video. Oh so cute.
I could write about how busy work is right now and how it seems like it is never going to slow down (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
I could write about how I got a new phone (Motorola Q9C) and am LOVING being able to get online wherever I am, be it on the couch or at the bookstore.
Slither

I could write a post about how silly-yet-entertaining I found the horror movie Slither starring Nathan Fillion to be.
I could write a post about the nice relaxing 4th of July weekend we had, and the fantastic restaurant I took Dee to on her birthday.
I could write about how Violet is making friends at the YMCA day care, and how last night she shyly told me about her friend who "is a boy, and his name is Scott, and she [sic] has short hair like you Daddy". (I better watch out, she's already got the boys chasing after her at 3 years old!)
I could write about how I finally got around to listening to all 3+ gigs of SXSW music and rating all the songs I want to keep.

I could, but at least for today, I think I'll pass. But at least here's a tune I'm enjoying right now:

Click, Click, Click, Click

Bishop Allen

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Father’s Day Weekend Fun at Casa de Ross

Ross — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:16:46 +0000

Although this wasn't my first Father's Day weekend, it quite possibly might have been the best one yet.

Saturday was just an easy-going sort of day – I worked out at the gym, did some shopping with Violet, puttered around the house, and cooked some excellent chicken and vegetables on the grill for dinner (although all the hard work marinating/seasoning everything was done by my wife, so I can't take all the credit). After we got the kids asleep, Dee and I watched No Country for Old Men, which lived up to every bit of hype that I've heard about the movie. Definitely a must see. By itself, Saturday would have made the weekend, but in this case, it was superseded in specialness by the Father's Day Sunday I had the next day:

My alarm went off at 8AM, and before I had time to even galumph my way over to it to hit snooze, the bedroom door opened and a torrent of unbridled energy in the form of my toddler came rushing in and crawled all over me and the bed, excited to give me my Father's Day cards. I snuggled with her for a little bit while I opened the two greeting cards she and my wife had bought/signed for me, and cheered when I saw that one of them also included a gift certificate to a nearby bookstore – as my wife put it, I'd be able to get in some guilt-free book shopping that day.
I spent the next couple hours hanging out with and taking care of the girls while Dee went to her Weight Watchers' meeting and out to the grocery store. The highlight of that time came when I was throwing around a nerf ball with Violet and she told me out of the blue, "Daddy, I love playing football with you."
My new books

When Dee got back, she let me duck out of the house for a couple hours to hit up the bookstore and use up my gift certificate. I spent a little time just browsing through some of the bookshelves, but ended up with 5 books that I'm really looking forward to reading.
I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some yardwork and home improvement projects, with Violet tagging along and "helping" whenever possible. Although I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, I did make a dent in my ever-growing to-do list, which always feels good.
After I managed a quick shower and shave, we dropped the kids off with my mother-in-law, who was nice enough to watch them while Dee and I went out to eat at the local Thai restaurant. A couple hours, some beers, and some excellent (and very spicy) food later, we stopped by Jack in the Box for a couple Oreo milkshakes on our way back to get the kids. Ended up VERY stuffed, but also equally happy with how the day had progressed.
When we got home, I had a little more bonding time with Violet in the form of bedtime story time, and then the kidlets were in bed and very soon after, so was I. The alarm on Monday morning was a rude awakening (literally), but still couldn't detract from the happiness I felt from the wonderful weekend I had.

Don’t ask – not sure even *I* want to know what’s going on here

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New Flickr Video is Pretty Damn Cool

Ross — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:51:25 +0000

Just heard about the new feature for Flickr Pro members – the ability to upload video to your account and tag/organize it just as if it was a picture. Decided to test it out for myself to check out its capabilities, drawbacks, etc.

Pros:

The video quality is much better than YouTube, and by default is bigger than the default YouTube size. Also includes a full-screen option without any hacks!
You can organize/tag the videos just like you do your photos, including adding it to a set/collection.
You can embed the clip in a blog or webpage very easily through the "embed" option, which allows you to set parameters such as size of the clip.
Has the same public/private sharing options as your photos, so if you already have these set up for family members, they'll be able to access the videos the same way they do your photos.
Videos are uploaded the same way you upload photos, and can actually be uploaded in a batch along with photos.
No limit on number of videos you can store in your Pro Account.

Cons

Video size/duration is limited to 150 MB or 90 seconds (whichever is less). Not a big deal for little clips, but it would be nice if this got bumped up a bit for longer videos.
Video uploading is limited to Flickr Pro members. Free members can view publicly-shared videos, but cannot upload them to their accounts.
No Vox integration yet, so no tagging, linking, etc on Vox. You'll have to use the "embed" code to insert a video into a page, for now.

Even if Yahoo/Flickr isn't touting this as a YouTube killer, it's still a very nice application and one that I'll definitely be using in the future.

And a comparison test, for you to see for yourself:

Flickr Version

YouTube Version

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