C is for...

In honor of Levi's favorite thing in the world right now, this blog post will have a "C" theme to it.

...Cookie Monster
Levi is not really into TV. Not that we're all that disappointed about it (there will be plenty of time for him to watch TV when he's older and supposed to be doing his schoolwork), but it would be nice if every once in a while he'd be happy watching something so mom and dad could get stuff done around the house. Levi has never watched Sesame Street but dad was a big fan growing up so Grandma and Grandpa Chapin got Levi a Cookie Monster book and stuffed animal for Christmas last year. He now sleeps with that stuffed animal and lovingly refers to him as "Cook" (like they're long-time buddies or something). So the other day I found a youtube clip of Cookie Monster singing "C is for Cookie" and played it for Levi. I stopped counting, but I believe we've seen the video about 5,274 times since then. He just wants to watch it over and over and over. In the middle of playing he'll run to the computer room, point at the door, and say "Cook". First thing in the morning it's "Cook". Last thing before bed is "Cook". We're glad he's into the video, but that song has been burned into my brain and no amount of Metallica is going to get rid of it.


The song is great, but try watching 1000 times in a row and you'll know our pain.

...Coxsackie A Virus
AKA, Hand Foot and Mouth disease (HFMD). Late last week Levi started drooling a lot and didn't seem himself. He does have a lot of teeth coming in so we attributed his behavior as that. On Sunday morning Courtney left to go to a conference and was going to be gone until Monday evening. It was going to be the first time I had been alone with Levi overnight. I was pretty excited because I had all these cool ideas for some fun dad/son bonding experiences. Unfortunately for Levi and Dad, his HFMD blew up the moment Courtney walked out the door. He refused to eat or drink anything (which, if you know our son at all, is completely out of character because he eats ALL the time). He was crying a lot and not wanting to play. I was very worried but had no idea what was going on. I just assumed it was something to do with teething. So after a night of him waking up about once an hour, I got him around to take him to daycare. He seemed a little better and I thought that daycare can handle a teething baby, right? About 2 hours after I dropped him off I got a call from daycare. Levi had a rash and I had to come and pick him up. Mom left her conference early to come rescue Dad and we took him to the doctor that night. The verdict? Ear infections in both ears, HFMD, and he is still teething. No wonder the little guy was such a mess. In case you're wondering he is doing much better now. He's eating again and is back to his old self.

I think the valuable lesson that we can learn here is...Mommy should never go away and leave Daddy all alone with the kid(s) again.

...Christmas Preparations
It's hard to believe that Christmas is only 2 weeks away. We still have a lot of work to do before the big day, but as a parent of a little one I can say I am very thankful for online shopping. It certainly makes life a lot easier.

The day after Thanksgiving we took Levi out to pick out our Christmas tree. He enjoyed walking around and looking at all the trees. He calls them "ouch" because the needles poke him and they hurt. He also wants the tree lit up at all times (when we go out to get him breakfast in the morning he points and the tree and says "please" until we turn on the lights) and he loves the angel on top (he points to it and says "angel"). We haven't gotten around to putting up the ornaments yet...maybe we'll get it done before the 25th.

Trying to push the cart.

Posing between the "ouches" (aka trees).

A family Christmas photo in front of our ornament-less tree.

Getting in the Christmas spirit by wearing his Rudolph hat.

...Curtis Granderson
I know sports is a business but its hard to not get attached to certain players. I was very disappointing this week when my favorite team, the Detroit Tigers, traded my favorite player Curtis Granderson to my least favorite team in any sport, the New York Yankees. Jerry Seinfeld has a bit where he compares rooting for a sports team to rooting for laundry. In other words we should root for the team itself not the individual players because they can leave for more money, get traded, etc. So I understand all that, but I'm still upset. And this isn't the first time the Tigers have traded my favorite player to the evil Yankees. On June 4th 1990 the Tigers traded my favorite player Matt Nokes to the Yankees. I was only a kid at the time, so I'm sure I was pretty upset for about 15 minutes and then played Super Mario 3 and forgot about it.

I think I have 10 copies of this card buried in my basement somewhere.

I'm older now so I kind of understand the reasoning behind the trade...cutting costs, adding younger talent, thinking Granderson had peaked, etc. But Curtis was just a likeable player...the kind of person you respect and root for, and the kind of person you hope your kids respect and root for. With all the jerks out there playing sports (I'm looking at you Tiger Woods) its refreshing to root for an athlete with character. Think I'm exaggerating a little? You should read this article from the Detroit Free Press website. Here's the end of the article:

Sports is a business. This is just your daily reminder. But I am thinking about all the kids out there who are now learning this for the first time. Kids adored Granderson, and for good reason. They probably thought, the way a lot of us did, that he’d be a Tiger for life. And I’m sure at a lot of breakfast tables around Detroit this morning, there were sons asking their dads the same question: “Why would they trade my favorite player?” How do you explain a shrinking payroll, shoddy management and bad fiscal planning to a 6-year-old?

I thought this morning about a huge Tiger fan named Timmy Vachon, who was tragically killed at the age of 7 in an accident at a ski slope in 2007. His favorite player -- like so many in Detroit -- was Curtis Granderson. When Curtis heard of the accident, he contacted the family and wore a bracelet in games to honor the memory of Timmy. Here’s a link to a video by my man Matt Shepard that tells you the story of an amazing ballplayer and a more amazing young boy.

Watch that video and then try telling your kids why the Tigers traded away a player like that. We all get that it’s a business. But a player like Granderson should trump that.

I'm just glad Levi isn't old enough to root for the Tigers yet. And the worst part of all of it is now I might have to actually not hate the Yankees. Thanks a lot Tigers.

Thankfully I didn't buy Levi that kids size Granderson jersey yet.

...Crash
Which is what I'm about to do because its after midnight and I'm exhausted. Good night!