Here at last

Peanut has arrived.

She was born on Sunday, October 23 at noon.  She was 6 pounds 10 ounces at birth and 19 inches in length.  Both the baby and mommy are doing well after a difficult birth.  We are thankful to the talented group of doctors and nurses that helped bring her into the world.

Here are a few pictures.

Very quiet to start out.  RacDad was pretty worried until she finally let out a squeal.

First Cuddle With Mommy

Princess was at a Girl Scout Halloween party earlier.  Still in face paint.

RacDad with all the kids.

Bright eyes and a suspicious stare.

Toeing The Line Between Fun And Responsibility

There are many reasons to love South Dakota.  There is no state income tax.  The Black Hills are beautiful both this and every other time of year.  It houses some of the most fertile farmland in the United States.  And it is super cheap to register your car.  While these are all excellent reasons to love my home state, there is another that outshines them all.

Relaxed laws regulating the use of fireworks, at least in some towns.

That's right.  This is a 4th of July post.

Yes I know the 4th was last week.  This is my life now.

First I should give some you some of my pyrotechnical background.

As a child I had very little exposure to anything other than sparklers.  I grew up in Rapid City and was always told that fireworks were banned in city limits for fear of starting a wildfire.  My mother never much cared for them, so they weren't a part of our midsummer celebration.  Before my late teen years I count only two experiences involving fireworks.  Once was at the home of a family friend, while my mother and stepfather looked on in disapproval.  The other was with my father, watching him fire off a few for my entertainment on a hill overlooking Fort Pierre before being shooed away by a police officer.

It wasn't until I was a young man of fifteen years, flush with the disposable income of a professional part-time dishwasher, that I was able to purchase seasonal explosives for my own use.  Of course, the fact that they were illegal in town was part of the thrill of the occasion for me and my friends.  Most of our time was spent finding a suitably hidden location for our combustible exploits. Each of us in the group was a young Prometheus, fleeing the wrath of those in power in order to experience the thrill of recreational fire.

Since those days I have grown up and found a career in the casino entertainment industry.  One of the realities of said vocation is that holidays are for working.  We are at our busiest on days traditionally reserved for leisure.  And so, like many other holidays, my Independence Days are spent at work, helping other people relax and have some fun.

I've been blessed in many ways to be at the casino where I currently work.  Not the least of those blessings has been my schedule.  Along with great days off and phenomenal hours I was not scheduled to work on the 4th this year.  This is the first Independence Day I have not had to work in ten years.  That predates the both my marriage and the the birth of my oldest child.

I was finally able to spend the 4th with my family and it.. was.. AWESOME!  We spent the morning touring potential homes and had a great family lunch at one of our favorite restaurants.  We returned home to buy fireworks and start putting dinner together.  My Princess and I put together a short pre-dinner home fireworks display to the great enjoyment of Chunky Monkey.  Then we feasted on grilled brats with all the traditional summer sides.  After Princess and I ignited the rest of our fireworks it was time to put my son into bed.  Great-Grandma stayed home with Chunky Monkey and the rest of the family headed off to the city baseball field for the fireworks extravaganza.

Extravaganza is really the only applicable word here.  The local show in this small town is absolutely world-class in every way.  Put on by a local business owner (who also holds a Pyrotechnics Guild International license) at no cost to the city, this annual show is always the talk of this small town.  I had heard it described before but until this year I had never experienced it.  It began with a ground show.  This year's theme was "Godzilla".  Three different Godzilla monsters were made out of fire.  They attacked Tokyo, also made of fire, only to face defeat at the hands of a battalion of tanks also made out of, you guessed it, FIRE.

And that was just the first act.

It was followed by an hour-long aerial show featuring massive sky-flowers, ground based fountains, and explosions that could be felt deep in the gut.  All this was launched a mere 450 or so feet from where we sat.  Calling it grandiose would be an understatement.

Ears still ringing and slightly singed, we finally staggered back to bed at a completely indecent hour.  It was easily the best 4th of July I have ever experienced.

No matter where I end up in life, no matter how far away I make my home, I will always try to return back here in midsummer.  These folks know how to celebrate the 4th.

Lunchroom Life Lessons

Just an adorable little girl.

There are some pretty important lessons in life that we learn outside the classroom.  I remember when my Princess learned one of those.

It was August of 2007.  She was still getting acclimated to our new house, into which we had moved four months before.  She had spent a busy summer playing in the yard, fishing with dad, and visiting the zoo.  We celebrated her fifth birthday just two months before with our family and the one little friend she had made at our old apartment complex.  She was both excited and a little scared to be starting Kindergarten.

I would totally put one of these in my house.

On the first day of school we went in and met her teacher, Miss Williamson.  It was a wonderful classroom with a few tiny desks, lots of toys and games, and even a little loft area the kids could climb around on.  She tentatively explored the room, finding her birthday on the big calendar and the desk with her name on it.  She was a brave girl and didn't shed a tear when it was time for mommy and daddy to leave.

I hadn't been so anxious for the end of the school day in ten years.

Finally the three-o-clock bell rang.  Mommy and Daddy were both at the school ready to receive the report on that critical first impression.  "It was OK," she sighed, "but I would have liked my cookie."

See, our school has all-day Kindergarten.  And the kids eat school lunch just like the older elementary kids.  Her first school lunch included a little chocolate-chip cookie for dessert.  In our family, we are more likely to eat fruit with a meal for dessert, and save the extra special stuff (cookies, cake, etc.) for a mid-afternoon or bedtime snack.

What she had done, upon receiving her school lunch tray, is exactly what she had learned to do at home.  She ate her entree and vegetables, drank her milk, and had intended to keep the cookie for a snack later in the day.  The lunch helpers, all adults, had come around to the Kindergarten table to bus the trays for the little ones.  When the Princess had her tray taken away, she had assumed that the cookie left on it would be held for her later.  It was only when she was talking to a little boy in her class about how much she was looking forward to her treat that she learned the cookie was gone forever.

I remember being struck by the tragic comedy of the situation.  She handled it like a champion, there were no tantrums, no tears or anger, she just pursed her lips and swallowed her disappointment.  Of course, after a trauma like that, we had to go out for a special after-school treat.  And The Princess learned a valuable lesson:  When the establishment hands you a cookie, grab it with both hands and don't let go.

The Princess's Top 10 Songs of the Moment

The Princess and I had some free time again this past week.  So we decided to collaborate for a second installment of our ongoing musical experiment.  If you haven't seen this post then please allow me to give you a quick run-down of what we're doing.  My music collection contains just over 7500 songs and I keep it all on my portable mp3 player.  My collection has selections from nearly every genre of music, and I am often surprised by what pops up when we shuffle through the whole caboodle.  I've downloaded music at the request of my wife, my kids, and my friends, so I'm not necessarily a fan of everything on there.  So when the Princess and I have the time, we hop in the car and put the mp3 player on shuffle.  Princess has the power of veto, and the first ten songs she approves get published here with my commentary.  This time I changed the rules a bit by making her listen to each song for at least a minute before allowing her to go to the next song.  I really think this provides some insight into her tastes in music and allows her to broaden her horizons a bit.

So without any further ado it is my great pleasure to present:

The Princess's Top 10 songs of the moment.

#1 The Kinks | The Contenders | Lola Versus Powerman and The Moneygoround, Part 1
What a band! What an album! I cannot begin to tell you how I swelled with pride when Princess gave the okay to this song.  There's so much to love about this song, from the bluegrass opening to the rollicking piano line.  This coming from a girl who still would list the Jonas Brothers as her all-time favorite band. Perhaps the next generation isn't completely lost after all.

#2 Garth Brooks | We Shall Be Free | The Hits
I'm confused about why I even have this song in my collection.  Granted I was a teenager in South Dakota during the 90's, and owning a Garth Brooks album was practically compulsory back then.  But   GB never tripped my trigger.  I think I may have downloaded this album in an effort to put some country/rock playlists together for work, but who knows.  Anyway I liked this song better when John Lennon released it as Imagine.

#3 Nick Drake | Bryter Later | Bryter Later
So Princess is now 2 for 2 on her 1970 imports from across the pond.  Drake has grown on me steadily since I was introduced to this album a year or two ago.  I gave a friend of mine a hard time for putting this song on one of his top ten lists, but after hearing it a few times I'm probably going to have to eat my words.

#4 Dominic Miller | February Sun | First Touch
Between this and the previous song, I needed a cup of strong coffee just to stay awake.  I shouldn't have been surprised to see Princess's tastes lean toward laid-back guitar melodies, as she is quite possibly the most laid-back little kid I've ever met.  When the mood hits her she can be the apotheosis of merry tranquility.


#5 Traveling Wilburys | End of the Line | The Traveling Wilburys, Vol 1
One of the most likable songs ever recorded.  Possibly the greatest musical supergroup of all time.  I've never met anybody who doesn't like this song.


#6 Queen | Seven Seas of Rhye | Greatest Hits Volume I
Queen is a tough band to put into a single genre.  This song does a pretty good job of covering the bases of what makes a Queen song.  Freddy Mercury is larger than life with his vocals and lyrics, and Brian May rocks the guitar solos.  I really dig Queen, especially their "epic fantasy" songs.


#7 Kidz Bop Kids | One Thing | Kidz Bop 7
I've had a lot of time to regret obtaining the Kidz Bop albums for the Princess.  Still, they are her most frequent request when we have the opportunity to listen to music together.  Anyway this is a soulless cover of a soulless single from the Canadian rock (*cough*) band Finger Eleven.  


#8 Better Than Ezra | Breathless | Before the Robots
I've gotten to hear this band live a couple of times and I've always liked their sound.  This is one of their more generic pop-sounding songs, but I think that is what appeals to Princess.  Still, my opinion on  Before the Robots is that is was a strong release from a band that has yet to sell out to "big music" despite countless opportunities.


#9 Bad Religion | Won't Somebody | The Dissent of Man
I am completely dumbstruck with this.  My little girl digs her some Bad Religion.  I can forgive every doe-eyed sigh at the synthetic Disneyco pop icon du jour as long as she keeps punk rock alive in her heart.


#10 Eric Clapton | Change the World | Phenomenon Soundtrack
Here Princess shows that she is a girl after her mother's own heart.  I have long since come to grips with the fact that, should Mr. Clapton express an interest, The Trophy Wife would abscond so fast that a cloud in the shape of her body would materialize.  But I can't fault her; he's a hell of a guitar player. Am I the only one who noticed that, for a brief period in the late 90's, every movie was a heartfelt and generally appealing John Travolta vehicle and every song was a heartfelt and generally appealing Eric Clapton single?


So that wraps up this edition.  In honor of baseball season, I give Princess an .800 average for this showing.  Those are Hall of Fame numbers so I'll definitely be happy if she can keep it up.

On the Last Bastion of Original Storytelling

I'm going to start by talking a  little about my Mother-in-Law.  My M.I.L. and I get along quite well.  I find it sad that the relationship between a husband (or wife) and his in-laws is assumed to be one of conflict. One of the things I love about my mother in law is that, like me, she is a bibliophile.  Not only do we both love to read, but we both love many of the same genres and authors and have enjoyed several of the same titles.  It gives us another connection beyond that of our relationship by marriage.  Our interactions are made easier by the understanding that even if I hadn't married her daughter, we still could have been good friends.

This morning my M.I.L. and I were having breakfast and talking about some of the books we have read.  She asked me a very good question that I will relate to you.  Have you ever looked back and reread any of the books you enjoyed during you adolescence?  If you have then what did you think of them now that you've grown up?

It's been fourteen years since I graduated from high school, and I remember that I was not the bookworm that I am today.  It was during my college years that I was introduced to most of the books that have earned themselves a place in my mind.  A cursory perusal of my bookshelf offered a few titles that were representations of my youth.

I have a few volumes of Robert Aspirin's Myth Adventures series.  I remember first reading these during my salad days of the fifth grade.  I purchased them in recent years for some lighter fare to cleanse my palate between more adult offerings.  Even in my adulthood I found them to be very appealing with their good natured cons, tongue-in-cheek use of puns, and PG-13 prurience.  These books were written for a 10-year-old boy, and will always appeal to that Lost Boy inside me.  As my daughter (a voracious reader like her old man) approaches the same age it is my hope that she will find some amusement in the many dimensions explored by Aahz and Skeeve.

I also see two omnibuses from the fantasy world of Krynn: the annotated Chronicles and the Elven Nations Trilogy.  A good friend of mine suggested that the fantasy pulp novel was the male version of the female's Harlequin romance, which I found to be surprisingly astute.  I'm actually in the process of re-reading the E.N.T. for the first time since high school, and I am finding them to be far less satisfying this time around.  The storyline is more awkwardly paced, the character development more ham-fisted, and the use of deus ex machina more pronounced in resolving the problems.  I find it reminiscent of my own awkwardness during adolescence, and perhaps that is the reason that I connected with it at that time.  I remember rereading the Chronicles a year or so ago, and feeling similar sentiments to a greatly reduced degree, it could have been due to a better quality of writing, or the fact that my Chronicles volume contains notes from the author that provided some level of insight as to the process of creating the series.  Likely it was a combination of the two.

Finally there are a couple of Stephen King novels that I distinctly remember first picking up when I was fifteen or so.  Specifically It and The Stand.  I have reread both of these at least once since my daughter has been born.  What I find unique about King's work is that it elicits many of the same feelings that it did the first time around.  On one hand, there are no new disappointments when reading them as an adult.  There is something universal about his writing that speaks to both young adults and fully grown readers.  Furthermore, because I had read more of King's work when I reread both of these, I had gained a more understanding attitude toward some of the aspects of his writing that I found disappointing the first time around; specifically his difficulty in creating an ending as satisfying as the story that precedes it.  I had become accustomed to his foibles, and I still enjoyed his work in spite of them.

Strangely, none of the required reading of my youth has made it to my personal library, though there are many titles that would like to sample again.  I hope to once again have the chance to run with Cooper's Hawkeye.  I want to witness the struggle for power between Ralph and Jack Merridew.  I am even curious to see if my reading has matured enough to finally figure out what was the big deal about Catherine and Heathcliff's thwarted love.

I also find myself curious about some of the new generation of YA fiction writers that I see my daughter enjoying.  Those authors who are putting out a constant stream of the new order of serial fiction, who owe their entire livelihood to J.K. Rowling.  Some of the worlds they have put together are fascinating.  The Princess just finished the first volume in the 100 Cupboards series.  I hope to read it myself soon and perhaps use this medium to write a co-review that critiques the book from both an 8-year-old's and a 30-something's perspective.

So while some trips down memory lane have been far more rewarding than others, I still find myself with the occasional urge to revisit the worlds in which I once lost myself.  I must work to balance my literary palate and keep up a steady stream of new choices, there are too many great stories out there that I still have yet to read.

The Wonders of a Wandering Imagination

My daughter is a character.  Actually she is dozens of them.

Her creativity astounds me.  She can create distinct and detailed stories, songs, or games from the whole cloth of her imagination.  I often wonder if she is somehow unable to do anything in a mundane fashion.  She takes everyday occurrences and makes them extraordinary.  She takes a mundane task and turns it into a huge production, simply because big productions are more interesting to her.  Her fantasies are compelling and filled with detail.  Please allow me to give you an example.

The other day she asked me to make her a paper airplane.  Luckily, an airplane is one of three things I know how to make out of a piece of paper.  The other two are a boat and a bow tie, but the latter is made with a dollar bill or similarly shaped piece of paper.  My paper airplane design was perfected when I was her age.  My birds are sturdy and can fly straight, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to pass this knowledge on to the next generation.  Here is the basic design:

A nice looking piece of classroom contraband if I do say so myself.  I handed this off to the Princess, expecting her to toss it around the room for a few minutes until something else caught her fancy.  Little did I realize that even something as simple as a paper airplane needed a story to have a place in her world.  Within a few minutes I noticed some strange markings on the craft floating around our living room.

These are, of course, windows and doors for the convenience and comfort of the passengers of Stationary Airlines.  'What passengers?' you may ask.

These passengers.  Notice how some have chosen to pull the shade down, blacking out their window, and that the corresponding windows on the outside surface of the plane reflect their passenger's choice of shade or not.  

Now, nobody flies without a bag.  And even in this day and age of baggage fees many people still choose to check their luggage.  This is just as true for the two-dimensional airline passenger.

And she completed all of this before she started playing with it like a normal paper airplane.  It was these additions that made it interesting to her; that gave it that believability that made it fun on her level.

She also loves putting on a show whether or not she has an audience.  When we cook dinner together, it is never just a task to complete.  It is always a cooking show where she describes in great detail every step of the process.  She always gives her best performance and tries to teach her viewers how they can create similar meals in their own home.  Occasionally we manage to catch some of her antics on video, like this magic show:

What I find fascinating is the tiny details of her performance.  Where did she hear the phrase "teenie-weenie genie"?  I love how she reassures us that because she is wearing the hat, it must be empty, and the vaudevillian finish with the rabbit bouncing on her head after she has returned it to the hat.  


I don't know exactly what the world looks like to her, but she paints a pretty good picture of it for me.  And I'm happy she gets to experience it.

Sharing Our Home

"Guests, like fish, smell after three days." - Benjamin Franklin


Our most recent house-guest stayed with us for far longer than that, but in all fairness, she was kind of ripe when she arrived.  Piper is a year-old German Shepherd and Border Collie cross.  She is a beautiful dog, very smart, funny, friendly, active, and above all BIG.  We don't have a very big house.  On a normal day our house holds me, my wife, our Princess, the Chunky Monkey, and our mini American Eskimo, Layla.  The addition of Piper filled much of the remaining space in our home, and her personality filled what was left.

Border Collies need a job.  This one is able to hold down the rug while blocking the front door.  

We call that "dual-functionality".

Don't get me wrong.  Piper is a very good dog and she will remain a welcome guest in our home.  I think most of Piper's problems stem from the fact that, in her own mind, she is much smaller than in real life.  When she tries to squeeze between people and objects, stuff gets knocked down.  She has very little awareness of her own tail, or the path of destruction it leaves in her wake.  Bottom line: Piper is a LOT of dog.  Each of her breeds are known for their high intelligence and level of activity.  Most of the pictures we took of her show her calm or sleeping because we wanted something to remind ourselves that it does occasionally happen.

The reason that Piper will always remain welcome in our house is her personality.  Piper one of the friendliest dogs I have ever been around, and was absolutely great with the kids.  At one point during her stay, she had waled into the living room and was standing directly over where the Chunky Monkey was sitting (like I said, she is a big dog.)  So the Monkey decided to examine Piper's belly fur by grabbing two big handfuls.  At first Piper is oblivious, but then C.M. starts to lose his balance and goes down, but he doesn't let go of the fur.  Now I don't have much belly fur myself, but I can imagine that area is pretty sensitive.  Instead of growling or nipping at the area (where the baby's hands are still locked on) she just starts whimpering and looking at me as if to say, "are you going to just sit there or are you going to do something?!"  I went to her aid, and she learned a valuable lesson about curious babies. 

 All was soon forgiven.

Piper picked the Princess as her primary pestering point (I'm sorry... just... sorry).  Piper would bother her during meals, or while she was trying to read a book, or while doing her homework.  It seemed as if Piper recognized another "puppy" and didn't understand why she couldn't play all the time.  Still, it was the Princess who first voiced the question as to when Piper could stay with us again.

The Obligatory Super Bowl Post

Like most Daddys in America, I watched Sunday's big game.  I'll let the sports bloggers give in-depth discussion and opinions on that.  Here is the run-down from my point of view.

Christina Aguilara's remix of the our national anthem went over like a fart in an elevator.

The Packers won by capitalizing off of turnovers.

Aaron Rodgers emerged from Favre's shadow, proving himself to be as good as Bret ever was, probably better.

But the big winner of the night was Axl Rose, who's come-from behind victory of the Guns n' Roses breakup happened about halfway through a spectacularly horrendous halftime show.

My wife has never been a fan of the Super Bowl.  Her birthday falls on January 30 so she has always felt an animosity toward an event that overshadowed her special day throughout her childhood.  While in previous years I would always be working during the game, this year was the first that the game was shown in our household.  Luckily the NFL expanded the postseason in 2002, so my wife could expect her birthday to receive the attention it deserves, though it rarely does.

Looking toward the future, I would like the Super Bowl to become an event at our home. My daughter has a pretty good history of enjoying "masculine" activities with daddy.  She likes watching hockey games and can always be counted on to go fishing.  I'm not sure I can get her interested in football, but it's worth a shot.  Going by my son's personality right now, I expect him to be both an athlete and a fan, but who knows?  All I know is I have some hot wing recipes and I want to try them out.

A Lady of Breeding and Refinement

I have always been fascinated by the way my daughter's mind works.  She is now eight years old, which means that my wife and I are now facing the fact that we must give over some of the influence that we have enjoyed these past years to the outside forces of teachers, school friends, television, and of course the internet.  This is not something that we will relinquish without a fight, although we recognize and take some pride in that fact that the choices she now makes reflect the quality of our parenting over the years.  And she has not let us down.

My wife and I are both trained musicians, but our tastes in music differ greatly.  We manage to agree on a few artists, enough so that we can listen to the radio together without any major meltdowns.  We also strive to influence our daughter's tastes in music.

 

We have tried to influence her tastes before.  As a baby and toddler, we did not dress her in pink.  My wife is a somewhat reformed tomboy herself and wanted to pass that on to our little girl.  However, when she was old enough to communicate her own choices on clothing and decorations we found ourselves inundated with goods and clothing in every shade of pink imaginable.  Her room right now is enough to strike a unicorn blind.  When asked about her choice in hues, she gave an answer as profound as it is innocent: "Pink makes me happy."  And as her father, that's enough for me.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

I like recurring themes in blogs.  A friend of mine over at the professional appreciator frequently posts his "Top 10 Songs of the Moment" which I often use as a compass for groups I should listen to.  His taste in music is pretty similar to mine.  So I'm stealing his idea and making it my own.  Since this is a blog about parenting and family, the music selections will be my Princess's, not mine.

My iPod contains some 7000+ songs at the moment, so what Princess and I decided to do was listen to music together, and she would have veto power over any song she didn't like.  So we put on some headphones together, hit "shuffle all songs" and started listening. Here are the first ten songs she liked, and my comments.

Princess's Top 10 of the Moment 1/24/10

Artist | Title | Album

#1 Moxy Früvous | River Valley | Bargainville

I was introduced this this little known Canadian group during a high-school trip to North Dakota.  I like their harmonies and their humor.  For those who don't know their style, think of early work by Barenaked Ladies.

#2 Budapest Symphony Orchestra | Ride of the Valkyries | Watchmen Soundtrack

I was kind of proud that she picked one of my few orchestral pieces.  She told me that she recognized it from a video game she has.

#3 Lauryn Hill | Tell Him |  The Mis-Education of Lauryn Hill

I got this CD in college from one of those "Buy 12 for $1" record company deals.  I forgot to send this one back in time.  

#4  Kidz Bop Kids | Girlfriend | Kidz Bop 12

With a spot of particularly effective manipulation my Princess coerced me into obtaining the Kidz Bop musical anthology.  For those who are unfamiliar with Avril Levigne's Girlfriend it contains such poetic lines as, She's like, so "whatever".

#5 Pulp | Cocaine Socialism | This is Hardcore (Deluxe Edition bonus disc)

Pulp is a really excellent brit-pop band who hit their stride in the 90's but went on hiatus in 2003.  I was very pleasantly surprised by my Princess's inclusion of this song.

 #6 Taylor Swift | Forever and Always | Fearless

Don't judge me.

#7 Big & Rich | Filthy Rich | Comin' To Your City

My wife is more of a country music fan than I am, but I like some of their stuff too.  Though Horse of a Different Color was by far their best album.

#8 The Dixie Chicks | Godspeed | Home

One of the sweetest lullabies ever written.  I can't help it, I'm kind of a big old softie where this song is concerned. 

#9 Elton John | Your Song | The Very Best of Elton John

This is just a pleasant song.  I defy you to argue that point.

#10 Elton John | Rocket Man | The Very Best of Elton John

I only have this one EJ album, so I was somewhat surprised to hear two songs from it.

So all in all I think Princess did pretty well for her first time out.  She isn't much of a hard rocker, but then anybody who knows her wouldn't be surprised by that fact.  Luckily, I don't have any Jonas Brothers music on my iPod, otherwise that would have definitely dominated this list.  And for the record, during the process of picking out the 10 songs for this list, 114 songs were vetoed.

This was a lot of fun, so you'll probably see another top 10 list from the Princess soon.