Taryn bought a half pound of coffee from Alternative Grounds in Roncesvalles and left it on the table in the living room while she went upstairs to tend to Michelle.  Meanwhile, I was working in the basement while James roamed the house freely. I began to smell the strong scent

James doesn't bathe alone.  Joining him in his nightly bath are four ducks, four frogs, four dinosaurs a boat and two identical rubber Bob the Builder and Muck toys. They all get in before he does and they all go back in the bin before he gets out.  When dropping

Exchanging gifts with my family this afternoon provided a precious moment of reciprocation that had to be shared. Steve unwrapped his gift from me and was happy to learn he had received The Simpsons Season Five on DVD.  I then unwrapped my gift from him to learn I too had

When Ryan was a young lad, he used to tell me he was going to be a football player when he grew up.  Sure he was a scrawny 70 lb boy at the time, but that didn't matter.  He had this dream and nothing was going to stop him. Unfortunately,

This week we celebrate one full year of James sleeping soundly through the night.  As I detailed in this entry, we Ferberized him and he's been the world's greatest sleeper for 365 days now. The nightly routine is as follows.  At about 19:00 he has a bath, at about

Grandma took James to see Santa today.  I wasn't there to bear witness, but did just receive my first report from the field.  For the second year in succession, James was scared of Santa. He enjoyed himself at the Christmas party, eating snacks, drinking chocolate milk and getting a present,

Last night, between the reading of "Goodnight, Moon" and the Bear in the Big Blue House's "I Love Bedtime", James got a little excited and inadvertently head butted his daddy in the mouth.  He split my lip good as blood started gushing out and I started to check if all

I want to wish my Grandma a very happy 89th birthday. May the luck of the Irish possess you. May the devil fly off with your worries. May God bless you forever and ever.

I've never cared much for this ridiculous holiday.  I went through the motions until I was about 11 or 12 years old and then I quit the whole charade.  No more dressing up, no more trick or treating and no more shelling out.  I was far too shy a kid

Congratulations Jen and Barry on getting hitched this afternoon.  I just returned home from the reception and should have some pictures to share tomorrow. Jen is my cousin and a swell gal so I wish her the best.  I like Barry because he's younger than me but has more grey

Between ball games tonight I managed to read James "Goodnight Moon" for the 734th time. James knows the story by heart and actually appears to be reading the pages when he recites the book to me.  It really is a story for the ages that's as true today as it

Once you start spelling out certain words, it becomes so natural you don't even realize you're doing it.  With a two year old at home, I find myself spelling out any words that might get an undesired reaction.  I'm talking about the names of certain treats, television shows or upcoming

This morning, James and I were at Tim Hortons where I was explaining currency and how money can be exchanged for goods and services. Following my brief lecture, I asked James where money comes from.  Without hesitation, he exclaimed "Pockets!"

I had to have a serious heart-to-heart discussion with James about dinosaurs this week.  You see, James is a big fan of dinosaurs.  He has a dinosaur puppet, dinosaur toys and speaks of them often.  The kid loves dinosaurs. Sometimes he'll rhyme off a list of animals that live in

Michelle is three weeks old and the biggest difference between her and James when he was that age is the amount of time she spends eating.  Taryn guesstimates she spends about 2/3 of the day feeding her.  James didn't feed nearly as often or for as long when he

Michelle came home yesterday.  Suddenly it's a rather full house with two adults, two children and a dog.  James has been giving his little sister lots of kisses and awoke briefly at 05:00 upset because he could hear Michelle crying.  He hates it when she cries. Michelle herself has

I want to wish my mom a very happy birthday today.  Today, she turns 39 years old.  I know that's hard to believe considering I'm 30, but that's what she tells me! Mom, we hope you're satisfied with the gift of two new grandchildren.  Ryan and I came up with

What were the odds Ryan and I would have children born on the exact same day?  I'm not talking about sharing a birthday with a close family member, but an actual birth date.  Michelle was born at 12:55 this morning and Kara gave birth to my nephew Zander at

Today is Michelle's birthday, so I thought it would be interesting to see which famous people celebrate July 29th as their birthday as well. Geddy LeePeter JenningsTed LindsayRachel MinerWil WheatonVida BlueTony SiricoPeter O'TooleGrigori RasputinBenito MussoliniGeddy Lee...cool!

At 12:55 this morning, Taryn gave birth to a beautiful baby girl we've named Michelle. She's 7 pounds and 5 ounces and the sweetest thing you ever did see.  I've just returned home from the hospital where I spent the last three hours admiring her.  She's definitely going to

Taryn's contractions are only seven minutes apart right now so if this keeps up we'll be heading to the hospital.  The bag is packed, we're ready to rock. Ryan's baby hasn't arrived yet and we're expecting him tomorrow at the latest.  It would be completely wild if Michelle and Zander

James arrived five weeks early by emergency c-section, so I missed some of the grosser aspects of childbirth.  Last night, Taryn was having slight contractions.  This morning, they're still there and she's feeling awfully crampy.  This past weekend, she lost her mucous plug, and yes, I'm aware of how disgusting