How Is This Fun?

Why?!?! I just cleaned up her toys when I received a call from my golf buddy. No golf tomorrow because of a surprise visit from his family. I immediately called the golf course to cancel my tee time. I was about to call my wife so she could celebrate when I noticed that Malia had just undone my cleanup. It probably took her 5 minutes because I know I wasn't on the phone that long. I can't wait until she's old enough to do chores.

She's 1/4 Mexican...

Let me say right off the bat, Malia ate everything on her plate. This isn't necessarily proof that I'm a great cook. After all, she is just a baby. Have you ever tasted the puree peas in a jar?

Here's the lineup. Batting first is a hearty helping of home-made Spanish Rice. I didn't make a whole batch just for her. This is actually leftover rice from Mama and Dada's build-your-own tacos.

Second up is some home-heated up, canned pinto beans. Canned pinto beans are sooooo much easier and less time consuming than the home-made version. They are still a little time consuming because I have to cut each individual bean in half with some kid scissors we bought at Target.

In the hole... home-made quesadilla. This one is super simple to make. Pan on Medium. Tortilla, cheese, fold, flip... done. Of course, I also have a little more work to do there. I'm required by my wife to cut the quesadilla into 1/2 cm. x 1/2 cm. bite-size morsels. Fortunately, I'm a pro with the knife, drawing on my extensive experience in Veg-Prep on board the USS California (shout out to Addis, Shun & Jason).

Honestly, this is a pretty simple meal to prepare... and Malia absolutely loves it. Again, not a testament to my cooking ability. I just think that she feels the whole Mexican food experience is fun.

BTW, the drink container does not contain a Margarita. It is just water. She's a lot like me as far as the way she looks and acts but she's not addicted to Margaritas yet.

Milk Math...

When I was in High School and Middle School, I drank a lot of milk. My Dad said when I moved out, he went from buying 1 gallon every two days to 1 gallon a week. I didn't believe him when he said it. Now that Malia's drinking whole milk, I could easily see how my Dad could be right.


Malia's Pediatrician told us to give her Whole Milk instead of formula after her first birthday. Before, I would buy a 1/2 gallon every five days. Now I buy a gallon every 3 or 4 days. She's only 19 lbs. and she's already drinking a bunch. If she's anything like her dad, I'll be buying a gallon a day by the time she's in elementary school.

Big Smiles...

I work graveyard shift so I am by myself a lot of the time. The other day I was doing a Cold Check and I thought no one else was in the room. I was startled when, out of nowhere, one of my co-workers asked me why I was smiling so big. I didn't realize I was smiling but I knew why I was.

I was thinking of Malia.

My answer to my co-worker was that I told myself a joke I've never heard before. I learned almost right away that my co-workers are a little less appreciative of baby stories than most co-workers. I've learned to keep most of them to myself.

Part of it is my lack of story telling talent. I have a hard time expressing my experiences verbally. But, thanks to modern home video technology, if I have a story to tell, I can just film it.

So here's what I was smiling about...

Flash test and the battle of wills...

This is just a test post to see if I can post flash movies. It looks like I can, which is too bad for you because I plan to post a lot of flash videos of my baby girl.

Speaking of my baby girl, she was a bit of a crazy girl today. My daughter does not like green beans, peas or any other green vegetable. She's only 8 months old but she already has a picky taste in food. She gets that from her mom.

This crazy little girl absolutely would not eat her food. She would not open her mouth. When she started crying, I thought I'd be smart and put the food in her mouth... that was messy. It took an hour to feed her a little container.

I have to stay true in this battle. My will is strong and I will see her through to the end. If not... S-P-O-I-L-E-D is the only thing that can result. She may look at me and swear she's adopted but she will finish her vegetables.

I won today. It was a tough battle but with if I continue to stay strong and do what is best, I will win the war.