Sunshine on my ears can make me cry…

At one point this last weekend, Vicki sang John Denver’s “Sunshine on My Shoulders” for Katie. Katie really liked the song and quickly learned the words. She constantly wanted us to sing it to her.

I have a John Denver “Greatest Hits” CD, so I decided to pop it in the stereo and play it for her. She loved it. She loved it too, much really. It’s all she wants to hear now. I’ve even tried playing other John Denver songs, but apparently they don’t measure up.

So, this morning we had to listen to it before we left the house. When we left the house, we had to bring the CD with us and listen to it in the car. I had to explain that she couldn’t take the CD with her to daycare. She actually took that pretty well, but I had to promise to play it for her again tonight.

But the really amazing thing about this all is how it has shown me how much I really love Sunshine on my Shoulders and Little Girls.

What I did for my summer vacation

I've been meaning to write this for awhile. But as usual I am late in posting my blog entry.

We took a family vacation in Maine this year. It was really nice - we split our time between the pool, the beach, and some exploring of the towns.

Katie enjoyed living in the "different house", sleeping in the big girl bed, and the wonders of the beach.

But the best part was just hanging out the three of us - something we don't get to do that often. It's amazing how we let our lives get so busy that we don't have time to really spend with the ones we love - even if we are physically with them every day.

What I learned from the experience is to make the effort to do a little something each day - a mini vacation.

If only I could relocate my office to the beach...

And so it starts already...

We went to Vicki's cousins wedding this last weekend. We all had a nice time, and all three of us even got out on the dance floor at one point. Katie sure seemed to be enjoying "dancing", especially when the bubble machine was on.

And then it happened. A cute little boy roughly the same age as Katie walked up and held his hands out to her. She looked at him for a second, then seemed to say, "Yeah, ok!" and took his hands. The two of them held hands and twirled around the dance floor for 4 or 5 songs. One time the bubble machine came on and they stopped to try to catch some bubbles, but resumed their dancing when it went off again.

I'll never forgive myself for not having the camcorder. If there was ever a moment so cute that it was screaming to be captured on film, this was it. Fortunately, Vicki did capture a picture of it, so I'll have to upload it soon.

Eventually we had to go, and she came without a fuss off the dance floor. Only two years old, and already breaking the boys hearts.

I discovered this cool thing... Outdoors

In the last week, I've had two really cool experiences.

On Sunday, for Mother's Day, Vicki, Katie, and I all went up to Forest Park and pretty much spent the whole day there. It was so nice the three of us just hanging out together and checking out the aquatic gardens and the playground. It was a beautiful day, and I don't think any of us could have enjoyed it more.

Then last night, I went fly fishing for the first time ever. It was awesome. There was the one moment, where I stopped worrying if my form was any good at all, or where the heck the fish were, and just soaked it all in. The sound of the stream babbling along, the cool but pleasant pressure of the water against my legs, the view of the hills covered with freshly grown leaves, a goose, numerous swallows, the cars passing by on a vintage iron bridge, and the sight of my companion casting his fly perfectly back and forth.

This outdoor thing rocks - now why is it I don't enjoy it more? Oh yeah, because I'm a dummy and moved to New England where the weather is only nice a few months a year. But the fly fishing rocks. I can't wait to go again.

A Pissy Day

Well, yesterday was a bad day for the whole family. I had a very stressful day at work where it seemed I worked at full pace, but did not get as much done as I would have liked. Vicki also had a bad work day – mainly because she lost power at work and was unable to get much done. But the worst day was had by Katie. At daycare she had an “incident” where it sounds like another child took a toy away from her. Unfortunately, she decided to retaliate by trying to bite the offending child.

As a result, she got sent to the director’s office and got talked to about how biting is wrong, and what she should do instead. (Clap and get the teacher’s attention, apparently.) Then when Vicki picked Katie up, she felt like she was being pulled into the Principal’s Office. Then on the way home Katie and Vicki had a conversation about asking for help when we are angry or frustrated, and biting is a Bad Thing.

When I got home from work, Katie got to hear how biting was a Bad Thing from Daddy, too. Needless to say, it wasn’t a happy evening in the Knapp Household.

But then, an oddly wonderful thing happened. As I mentioned earlier, we’ve been starting to potty train Katie. As we were starting to get ready for a bath and bedtime, Katie wanted to sit on the toilet. Vicki and I have gotten used to lots of sitting, but not much action. But we dutifully complied. Much to our delight, however, she sat down and immediately peed. Celebrations ensued. It was really nice to end the day on a happy note for everyone.

Only parenthood could put you in a situation where urine saves the day.