ch-ch-ch changes…

Thanks to David Bowie for the title of today’s post.

I wrote the other day that we were kind of at a standstill, a calm before the storm. Well, that storm is coming. Not Hurricane Sandy, although not a powerful storm (category 1/tropical storm) but LARGE, very very large and hitting an area that is not equipped to handle a situation like this.  As anyone in Insurance will tell you, these big, slow storms are as bad, if not worse that the fury you find in a small, more powerful storm.

I am talking about Xavier and all the wonderful changes we are seeing from him almost daily. WE HAVE TEETH! He has one that is popping through on the bottom and another one not far behind. As soon as the little guy gives us a good look at them long enough to snap a pic, I will post it.

He is becoming so mobile! He is really really getting around quite well. well, without crawling. He is getting up on all fours and rocking, but he hasn’t quite figured it out yet, but he is soooo close. even without crawling, he is scooting around pretty darned well and starting to become a little more mobile. that means mommy and daddy have to start changing everything in the home. making sure he can’t pull anything down on him, making sure all sharp objects are well out of reach. just looking out for the little guy. Accidents are a part of life, but we can try to be as preventative as possible.

I am loving watching the evolution of this little man that Anna and I have brought into this world. he is really such a blessing and reminds me everyday what true love really is. and just when I thought I have hit the max, he finds ways to open my heart even more.  So not only is he changing, but I find myself changing just as much. He is the catalyst of that change,  and I couldn’t be more excited for whats to come.

Hows this for a PIC!???

OK, I was sent this Pic today…

 

I would love for you to write a caption for it in the comments section….

A couple magical moments in my day

Shortly after I started this Great journey, I wrote a blog about my favorite time of the day.  It was spending a few quiet moments with New Mom and our baby who was not here yet. You can find it in the archive for February.

Well, that was 8 months ago and boy have our lives changed. Long gone are those days. Now don’t misread that, it is not chaos like you would see on a sitcom or in a comedy movie with a child from hell. Actually just the opposite. Xavier has been very very good overall. I would say I can count on one hand how many times things have been a little hectic (not end of the world hectic), and they were because he was sick or just had a bad day (overly tired, bad dream, etc.).

But I was thinking about what is my favorite time of the day now? There are actually two. The first is when Anna and Xavier come home from work. She has a job that allows her to take him with her (for now) and they get home later than I do, so I usually have time to get a run in, or to unwind or sometimes if I don’t get a lot of rest the night before, take a quick power nap. But it is that magic moment where I go down to the carport when they get home and help get him out of the car and give Anna a welcome home kiss that makes my day. That HUGE smile when he sees me just makes the day perfect.

The second is when I get to feed him. Anna always makes sure I get to feed him in the evenings because I am not with him during the day when she gets to feed him. And the whole not being able to breastfeed thing. So I love being able to feed him. he is so cute and makes the funniest noises and facial expressions. Now how do I know he is his fathers son? He does get distracted (hey, look a shiny thing…) pretty easily and sometimes he is a little unfocused by whatever is catching his attention. Another HUGE bonus is through the marvel of technology I have been able to feed him with my family through SKYPE.

 

There are many other magical moments in everyday with him (and Anna) but those are two of my absolute favorites!

Pumpkin Patch!

Halloween has always been about the trick or treat when I was young.  I was never really into the costumes, the decorations, or any of that, I was always about the payday (both candy bar and getting something).  As I got older Halloween turned into parties, but I was still pretty lackadaisical about the whole thing, it was more about seeing everyone else’s costume and getting my drink on.

Now as a new dad, Halloween has taken off in a completely different direction.  We took the baby to Irvine park and met all of Anna’s family up there with the kids. it was a FREAKIN BLAST! although my little guy is not really old enough to participate in all the activities they had going on. we still had a great time.  I was standing with my brother in law and said “so this is part of the dad experience?” and he said “totally, and it is great!”

You know what? He was totally right.  We took pictures with the baby, took pictures of the baby alone, took pictures of his cousins playing in the bounce house, riding the ponies, getting their faces painted, all of it.

Anna dressed up the little guy in an adorable Halloween outfit and we got a couple of GREAT pics.  Here are a couple pics to share.

Family’s first trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Call Linus, I’ve found the Great Pumpkin!

 

Ricky is saying “then I said NO! I want MILK!” And Xavier is saying “Dude, we are totally on the same page!”

And…

A little pumpkin in each arm!

And finally, the Cousins (minus one, she was getting her face painted!)

Uhhh, everyone, look over here…nevermind.

With as great an experience as this has been, I am looking forward to dressing up the little guy (I am not saying as what, just keep your eyes here on this blog) and having fun this Halloween.

 

More…

So I was talking to a friend i hadn’t spoken with in a while and we were talking about this blog. I had told him that it has been a success,  but traffic was down. I have not been getting the visits I was getting earlier. His reply was quite simple…

‘Well, you could post a little more often.”

I admit, the posts have been dropping off a bit lately. Partially because to be honest, we’ve plateaued a bit. there really haven’t been too many monumental changes.

But then I realized, this is not about just celebrating changes, but talking about being a new dad (and running) which isn’t always going to be about firsts, or achievements.

So thank you to my friend, he knows who he is.  And watch for more traffic on this site!

Every Part has it’s Function and is important.

So my training plan this week included a run on Tuesday and spin class tonight. Neither of things are going to happen.

Why you ask?

The answer is a little unbelievable, but it is because of my pinky toe (on my right foot).

I have agitated the top of the toe and it had a blister that got agitated and became very very painful. You would think that something that appears to be as insignificant as your pinky toe would not be a big deal. You never realize how much contact any part of your body goes through in a day until it is injured. years ago I banged up one of my knees VERY badly. You have no idea how many times your knee makes contact with just anything until every time it does makes you want to cry.  The same concept applies to your toes. You never realize how well a shoe fits until you have a foot injury that causes any friction to make you remarkably uncomfortable. The blister appears to have become infected but is healing up nicely. I have kept it as open as possible allowing time for it to heal.

So with this setback, I have adjusted the workout schedule, I should still get the miles in, I will just be running three days in a row because I have had the past two off.

So remember, every part has function and does it’s job, and on occasion, can bring everything to a grinding halt, no matter how insignificant it may seem to be.

Training Update

Ok, so this was the plan for last week…

 So here is the plan for this week.

Mon- 5 miles

Tues-3 miles

Wed- Spin class (yes, Suzanne, i’m coming home!)

Thur- 3 miles

Fri-off

Sat- 5-6 miles.

Here is how the week actually went…

Mon- 4.59 miles

Tues- 3.46 miles

Wed- Off (I was needed at home, so no spin class)

Thurs- 3.47 miles

Fri- Off

Sat/Sun- off saturday so I made up by running 4.38 miles

Total for the week = 15.9 miles.

 

Not great, not bad, I was really only scheduling 16-17 for the week, so I was just a touch off. But I need to pick it up this week. So here is the plan:

Mon= 4.5-5 miles

Tues= 3.5-4 miles

Wed= We will try to make Spin class again (miss you Suzanne!)

Thursday= off

Friday= 4.5-5 miles

Sat/Sun= find a way to get 6 miles in over the weekend

total for the week= Spin class (?) and  18.5-20 miles

 

Stay tuned, I will provide another update next week on actual versus planned.

 

SIX!

Wow, that went so quickly. Xavier turned six months old Friday.

I just am in disbelief on how quickly it has gone by.  Many of my friends have told me so, and I knew it. Next thing I know I will be writing about his first birthday.

So this Blog is Titled “New dad in Training”. And that has really been a good way to describe the past six months, as training for the years to come. It really is just the beginning, learning about diapers, bedtime routines, putting together furniture but more than that, training of my heart, as I have really never loved anything or anyone the way I love my baby boy, and how my love for his mother (new mom) has changed as well.

 

I did NOT die!!

Ok, So Sucktember is finally past us and we are now into the glorious month of October. the weather finally broke and it is not 9 thousand degrees with 150% humidity. I actually got out and ran twice this past week and did not die. At least not physically. I am not anywhere near proud of my performance in either run, but to be honest, I will take them, I finally got out there and got some miles in for the first time in over a month.

Bow for any of my readers who run at all, you know that any time off is the kiss of death. Any momentum, and stamina or endurance you had built up before the time off magically just disappears. I felt like I was out for the very first time. I am just Glad my very good friend Heather was out there with me, to talk to me as we ran/walked and keep my mind from realizing how bad the run actually went. I walked wayyy too much and my overall time was really terrible, but, i got out there, and that is what matters at this point.

I still plan on getting a set number of miles in this month, and I will do everything in my power to make that happen. So here is the plan for this week.

Mon- 5 miles

Tues-3 miles

Wed- Spin class (yes, Suzanne, i’m coming home!)

Thur- 3 miles

Fri-off

Sat- 5-6 miles.

so I will check in and let you all know how the actual went against the planned.  As Mojo the helper monkey says… “Pray…For…Mojo…”

Sucktember is finally over (THANK GOODNESS)

Yup, I called it, it was truly Sucktember.

September was a rough month, thus necessitating it’s renaming.  I traveled twice, my son got sick, he got Anna and I sick, and it was freaking HOT all damned month!! Because of these factors, I ran exactly ZERO miles.

I was so disgusted with myself. I have not had a month with zero miles ever since I started tracking my miles.  Any chance I had of hitting my 600 miles in 2012 went right out the window. There is still hope of hitting 500 but I am going to need to be very focused and dedicated to reach that goal.

The very beginning of Sucktember started out as you would imagine, sucking pretty hard, as we were in our Toyota highlander that we have had for FOUR months and were rear ended! Everyone was OK, but there was enough damage that the car had to go to the shop for repairs. We still have not gotten our deductible back even though we were the ones rear ended, so liability is not real hard to figure out.

The heat really never let up the entire month, the only real break we got was when we left the state to go to a wedding (more on that in a second).  I have been out in California for just under 15 years now and yes, there is usually a week maybe two where it is uncomfortably hot, but this year it has been like that for almost three months. And HUMID. I left the midwest and the humidity back there, it did not need to find me again.

I did a quick little post in Sucktember about being sick. I HATE being sick. absolutely hate it. And what is worse as a new dad i had to go through my first experience of watching my little guy suffer through his first cold. Never have i felt more helpless to do something to help him.

Not all of Sucktember was terrible. I did get to celebrate our four year wedding anniversary with my beautiful wife. In Chicago. The trip was awesome. Spending the time in Chicago with Jennifer and Joe, JJ and Jack was GREAT!  My cousin Katie got married, and I got to see family which was GREAT! Xavier turned 5 months old. And the Ohio State football team started off 4-0. So despite it vast amounts of sucktitude, there were a couple of bright spots in the month.

Here’s to Sucktober being over, and on to October!