Fathering the Ninja

Tired...But doing ok

2011-03-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

So The NyQuil didn't do as good as I'd have hoped. I'm still tired. The boy woke up fifteen minutes after mommy left, so much for me time. I just got a turkey call and a rabbit distress call. I can practice those with him in the room. HE thinks they're hilarious, mommy does not. However I can't play my new PC game as he can't really be in my office and I'm not going to leave him alone in the living room. Sigh. I feel like crap, but he seems to be doing better. Monday, Monday. Mommy's work is going to be getting insane and we're going to have to pick it up here. Poor momma.

Monday Monday....

2011-02-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

Monday's around here are purgatory. It's where to do lists go to not get done. It's also a day of adjustment. My son, who has had mommy around all weekend and/or been drug halfway across the state, is usually in a foul mood. I don't set a lot of goals for monday. I just try to survive. Add in the fact that he has been getting up a 0400 lately, and you have a tired grumpy daddy. And a tired grumpy mommy, which means a grumpier daddy. Thankfully the month of hell seems to have ended. I refer to the last month, in which the ninja seems to have gotten every tooth he was supposed to get and then some. Eight teeth at the same time. Yippiy Ki Yih Yah!

So where are we now?

2011-02-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

Well my Packers have won the super bowl. I've taken up hunting. And my son has been teething. For almost a month, The ninja has been screaming and fussing and fighting. Now I'm not sure how much of that is teeth, and how much is toddler fits. Oh speaking of toddling, he is officially a walker. GOD HELP ME. He's all over the place and he gets faster every day. He's almost running. My wife thinks it cute. She's not the one with the messed up knee. OK, so it is cute. Especially when he walks over and climbs up on the couch to watch hunting shows with me. The weather has been really warm, most of the snow has melted and it is supposedly going to be in the 60's this Thursday. We'll see. Right now I just keep going through it. Fortunately great creations such as Dinosaur Train, Barney, Super Why!, and Word World keep him entertained. Speaking of Dinosaur Train. That has to be the strangest premise for a show I've ever heard. Talking dinosaurs that take vacations on a time traveling train. And I really want to know what that T-rex was doing in a Terranadon nest.

Somewhere...

2011-01-27T04:35:00.000-08:00

Somewhere there is a lake with no ice on it. It's also about 70 degrees with a light breeze, and no mosquitos. The fish are biting and putting up a good fight. Sigh. Unfortunately that is nowhere in the state I live in. But Ice out should be here in a month and a half or so. The son is getting four teeth at the same time. Yah! The wife is working longer hours and is always in such a grand mood when she gets home. Makes my day great. Maybe I can get some rabbit hunting in this weekend. Other good news, MY PACKERS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL! Unfortunately against the Steelers, but we have a chance I think. The boy has been walking more and more. A late bloomer for certain, but my knee appreciates the slower development. We'll it's 0630 here and he's been up since 0500. I'm hoping I can get him to go back to bed here soon.

Teething, Fly fishing and how I fear winter.

2010-09-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

Well I decided against the home biz. Too much to do with my son to have the time. My wife is getting a lot of over time, making a part time job almost impossible. I also took up fly fishing. It's not any easy hobby(or cheap) but I have more overall success with it than just conventional angling. Plus it's fun. However the on coming of fall and the rapid approach of winter bothers me. We had a horrible winter last year. My neighbor had 15 feet of snow in the road by his house. The gravel we live on seemed closed all the time. We had February temps in december. It was bad. Add to that, me being alone all day with a child and can't go anywhere? Every body of water frozen? Thank god for football.

Home Business

2010-07-27T15:24:00.001-07:00

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. Many moons ago my Grandfather created our family's first computer repair business. Many more years and my father founded his own. Now I'm going to bring into the 3rd generation. It'll mostly operate out of my house, and my operating hours will be nights and weekends. Its justa part time gig to bring in some money besides my puny disability check.

Family Pics

2010-07-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

Well I had scheduled a family pic session at the local Sears for today. I'm hoping the Ninja cooperates and we can get the hell out of there ASAP. Then a local park has an art fest going on, and they happen to have a petting zoo. Not that my not quite 8 month old son will get much out of it, but hey why not. Other than that its going to be near 92 degrees today with a chance of storms. Fun.

Another Day

2010-07-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well its Friday and I'm sure the wife is looking forward to it. I feel bad for my son. He's playing in his play pen while I clean. Now I know there are carriers, and we own some good ones. I just can't use them too long thanks to a bad back, and a bad knee(Thank you US Army). SO he Plays/fusses while I work. Its even worse since he can pull himself up so well. You look over and there's a little head looking at you crying, or giggling. Depends on his mood. The ninja turns 8 months here soon. Growing up so fast.

Sigh..

2010-07-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Been trying to clean out the garage, but its getting too hot to do so. Bear is sleeping(finally) Hopefully my job application at TSA goes through.

Weekend at the Inlaws

2010-03-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

As the young ninja naps in his swing, I have my stuff packed(including fishing gear) his stuff packed and my wife's stuff packed. We're off to her folks place for the weekend. We have to sign our wills tonight, and I have my first appointment at the VA hospital Monday morning. I just cooked breakfast and have some cookies in the oven for when my wife gets home. This weekend will be a nice break for us both, since the boy is taking a bottle. My inlaws house is big enough that I can stay in a room with my son, and she can stay in her old room and not hear him when he cries. So finally some sleep for mommy. Saturday I might take him up to see my grandmother, and am hoping I can get out to fish Sunday. Or I might try to switch it around as it might rain Saturday night and Sunday. I guess it's all good since I get to go to Bass Pro on Monday, but I also have to drop by my old Guard unit to straighten out a very expensive supply issue. Oh am I glad I'm out...

..and so I blog

2010-03-05T04:25:00.000-08:00

As a new stay at home dad, I realize there's a lot(but not a whole lot) of stay at home dad blogs. I have no idea why I decided to start my own, maybe because no one in my family has really done what I do and almost none of my friends(on Facebook etc) have either. Well lets get on to the description of me:

I'm 28. I live in the middle of nowhere Iowa. Literally. I have two towns near me for the total population of maybe 1000.

I've done a few jobs in my life before the Ninja. Fast food, telemarketer,college student, Soldier, retail sales, and maybe security(I'll explain later.) I spent eight and a half years of my life as a member of the Iowa Army National Guard, starting 27 March 2001. If you can do the math, my life got real interesting a little over six months later. I was a communications guy to start, and after a deployment overseas and 5 years decided to move to Electronics Repair. I thought it would help me get a better job. I was wrongish. It didn't help me get a job where we lived. What my military experience did help me land was a 2nd shift security job at a trucking firm. Unfortunately, thanks to an injury and surgery on active duty they want to see my records of it. Since I've been out of the military since September of 09 it has to come through the VA ( I filed for disability) which is either like pulling teeth or trying to get a stunned snail to move. So we wait.

My hobbies, oh my hobbies. I used to be a dedicated nerd. I've playing Dungeons and Dragons. Though my favorite game will always be Battletech. I'm a consummate PC gamer. Keep your console. Oddly though... I fish. Picked it up last year, I found myself playing an old SNES fishing game and thought "Why play fishing games when I can fish for real?" and its been an obsession since.

Onto the wife(wait isn't that how we got here?) I love my wife, and I'm not just saying that on the odd chance she'll read this blog. She works at a company that produces animal pharmaceuticals, testing their vaccines. She works 40+ hours a week and is a much more dedicated worker than I could ever be(outside of the military). She has stood by me through my deployment and even me reenlisting against her wishes. Plus she's a great mother, especially given that she had no prior experience with kids under 5(my sister is 11 years younger than me). All in all I couldn't ask for a better partner.

Now the most important part, the one known as the Ninja. This is gonna be long, so hit the latrine and get your coffee now.

My son was born 23 Nov 2009, at 1905(?). After 20 hours of labor, with no pain killers. He had a little trouble breathing when we was born, but quickly showed the lungs that were his birth right from me(I can be loud, just ask some of the privates who pissed me off). He's called the ninja mainly due to all the kicking he did and also because he always tried to hide from everyone but Mommy during the pregnancy. Sonograms, ultrasounds and even Daddy. Now I call him Baby Bear, cuz he's a biggen. He was 8lbs 13 oz at birth and is over 15lbs now. He's in the 99% for length. He's gonna be a big Boy. Hopefully a tight end for Iowa State, then Green Bay.
The boy had colic really bad, and is now pretty much over it, even though we still have bad days. I wouldn't want another job, at least not until he's older.

Well I think that's a start. I'm getting tired of typing, and I'm just tired honestly. Hopefully some place is thawed enough this weekend so I can get some fishing in.