What the Funk????

So yesterday, I finally figured out what was smelling up the house. After I took the garbage out, I came back in and looked in the bottom of the trash can. There it was, I'm not sure what it used to be, but it had liquefied there. I had to take the trash can out and wash it out. Man it was really awful.

As you can see via my previous post "Godzilla Attacks", Oda Mae is turning into quite the toddler. She loves to chase us around the house. I'll run away from her looking back and she totally cracks up and comes after me. Then she turns around and wants me to chase her. Way fun!

It is really amazing how you can see her ability to comprehend things as she gets older. It seems like one day she just woke up understanding certain words. The first one that I noticed was when I would ask her if I could have something while holding out my hand and she would give me whatever she had. Now I can ask her for something specific and she will give me that item. Most recently, however, I'll ask her if I can have something, and she has to think about it first. If it is something she likes, then NO WAY, "you're going to take it away from me." I can already see where this is headed.

Oda Mae is starting to try and say real words now as well. She's been babbling dada, nana and others now for a while, but now she tries to say real words like CAT "dat" and DRINK "din". I can see her trying to imitate some of the other words that I say to her as well.

Speaking of the CAT. I really thought Mahly was going to have to be put to sleep last week. Most of you know that I love this cat, but she's had one foot in the grave for a couple of years now. It turns out she has HYPERTHYROIDISM which can be treated with half a pill twice a day for the rest of her life. Damn cat! I suppose the least I can do is make sure that the time she does have left is comfortable.

So anyway...Oda Mae and I (and Mahly) are enjoying the nice weather this week and are looking forward to more days out and about. Yeah for fieldtrips!!!!!!!


-OD

Finished a movie tonight!

CLICK HERE to view!

So, I'm doing okay.

Apparently, I'm doing just fine in my abilities as a SAHD (so say the comments in the previous post). But, there is some kind of FUNK in my kitchen. I've taken the trash out twice now and I don't know what it is. That is my mission for today. That and making sure Oda Mae gets fed.

-OD

Been kind of busy...

Well, last week was kind of a blow for the "Oda Family". Daddy working every night Momma working a couple of nights. Thanks to the Grandma's who helped out! The concerts I played with Brave Combo were great. I even got a free copy of the CD that won a grammy last year. If Brave Combo ever comes to your neck of the woods make sure that you and your kids go see them. I got to do the Chicken Dance twice and the Hokey Pokey once last week. So Fun!

I have a question for all of the Stay At Home Dads (or Moms for that matter.)What do you do all day? Do you have a routine that you go by? How do you get (and keep) the house clean, make dinner, take care of your kid, and all the other stuff while keeping your sanity? I've been staying home now since August and I thought that I would eventually just kind of fall into a routine, but I tend just to wing it most of the time. Sometimes I get stuff done, and sometimes not. So feel free to chime in and let me know what works for you.

Oda Mae has decided that she can walk now. She doesn't quite know that she should practice slowly for a while longer. Gonna have to watch out for her pretty carefully for a while until she really gets the hang of her new mobility. Here she is having some fun rocking around the house...


-OD

Happy Valentine's Day!

Oda Mae got some Valentine cookies yesterday from her Gran. She loves them! They make her hair stand up on end though. :)Daddy got her a new Sandra Boynton book called "Dinos to Go" She likes it. If you don't know about the Sandra Boynton books, you should check them out. They are really good! They have great pictures and it's fast reading for when your 10 month old is turning the pages as fast as she can. Oda Mae is walking across the room now-a-days if you didn't already know. I'll try to get some video this week and put up a little movie sometime soon.

UPDATE: For those of you who are interested. Last week I was diagnosed with "chronic sinusitis" due in part to a bone spur in my nasal passage. The doc told me that there was nothing he could do for me outside of surgery. No pills, sprays, or shots. So I have to put up with feeling pretty crappy most of the time until I decide to have this surgery. I don't have any time off until May or June so we're just going to have to live with it for a while. Maybe it'll go away. "Give me what I want, and I'll go away." Do any of you know what movie that line is from?

Free Tickets: For those of you in town, I'm playing some concerts this weekend and the guest artist is BRAVE COMBO. This will be their first "symphony" concert. I can get a couple of tickets for Thursday, Friday, or Saturday evening @ 8pm. If you haven't heard of this group, check them out. They are a really fun "nuclear polka" band that got their start playing in mental hospitals. They have a great arrangement of the "Chicken Dance" as well as "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma.

Have a happy Valentine's Day!

-OD

Temper, Temper...

So Oda Mae had her first temper tantrum today. I'll preface this by saying that she was very good all day long with the exception of this one little moment. We were at great grandma's house this afternoon when Oda Mae decided to play with some grapes on the coffee table (fake plastic grapes). She was doing just fine until she started trying to eat them. Well, obviously I didn't want her to choke on a grape (especially a fake plastic one) so I took the grapes away from her. She went off like a bomb. She started screaming and crying first, then she started kicking her feet while I was holding her. Fortunately, this only lasted a minute or so. To her defense, she was getting pretty tired. As soon as we got in the car to come home, she was out like a light.

My little baby Oda Mae is turning into a little kid. I was just looking at her a couple of days ago when she was standing up next to a cabinet and she seemed so big. Here is Oda Mae and Fergus, her bestest friend.

Arrrrr, matey.....

Yesterday, Oda Mae and I built a pirate ship out of duplo blocks. Okay, well, I built a pirate ship and she knocked it down. Never-the-less we had a good time.
The Captain of course...
The First Mate (looking out for sea monsters)...
The First Mate didn't act fast enough...



Kudos go out to Kinsey for spotting a recalled toy in one of the previous Oda Pictures. Oda Mae got a Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Musical Learning Chair for Christmas that apparently needs a little attachment to make it more safe for learning and fun. Make sure that if your child has one of these cute little chairs that you take it away until you get the safety attachment.
Oda Mae's favorite chair has been banished to the closet until we get the corrective part...

Here is the recall if you happen to have one of these.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06068.html