Hello Everyone.
It's that time of year when many families go to get 350 wallet sized family photos that they send with their holiday greeting cards to their closet friends, many of whom they haven't spoken to in years.
My 2 1/2-year old son Milo sat patiently for 23 seconds. We got some great shots of 5 year-old Neva making faces and a couple of baby Willa crawling out of range of the camera.
The photographer had me lying on my side with Milo sitting on my legs. My wife Kathleen and Neva where in behind resting their arms on me and Willa was held in the arm that I wasn't using to support myself. Too bad we didn't get a picture of everyone tumbling around after I collpased under the weight.
And suddenly our session was over. Of the dozen or so pictures, we found one single photo that had all of us in the frame, looking at the camera and smiling.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Thursday, November 18, 2004
SHHHHH ...
Hello Everyone.
Recently I have been pondering the animal kingdom. Do their offspring make anywhere near as much noise as my 9-month-old daughter Willa? I would think that yelling at the top of their lungs would attract all sorts of unwanted attention. Willa fortunately only attracts the odd annoyed glances from passers-by.
The thing is, she's not distressed, it's more like she's talking loudly. Very loudly. At first I thought she was just trying to keep up with her older siblings, but then I remembered that my oldest, Neva, did the same thing when she was an infant. Now, Neva watches TV with the sound turned way up.
I have been trying to figure out ways to curtail the yelling. It may not be the best solution but, when her mouth's wide open, I can easily get a Cheerio in Willa's mouth silencing her temporarily while she chews it.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Recently I have been pondering the animal kingdom. Do their offspring make anywhere near as much noise as my 9-month-old daughter Willa? I would think that yelling at the top of their lungs would attract all sorts of unwanted attention. Willa fortunately only attracts the odd annoyed glances from passers-by.
The thing is, she's not distressed, it's more like she's talking loudly. Very loudly. At first I thought she was just trying to keep up with her older siblings, but then I remembered that my oldest, Neva, did the same thing when she was an infant. Now, Neva watches TV with the sound turned way up.
I have been trying to figure out ways to curtail the yelling. It may not be the best solution but, when her mouth's wide open, I can easily get a Cheerio in Willa's mouth silencing her temporarily while she chews it.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Food for Thought ...
Hello Everyone.
When my two oldest, Neva and Milo, were babies, I followed the book on infant feeding. I started with all the traditional and "accepted" baby foods and progressed methodically from pureed grains and veggies to lumps and chunks, carefully watching for sensitivities and allergies. New tastes and textures were not introduced until after the prescribed time period had elapsed, safely and uneventfully, since the last new food. Nothing passed my baby's lips unless I approved it first.
Then along came Willa. I was in no hurry to introduce solid food. Quite frankly, I didn’t have the time. So when I did give her her first food it was more out of convenience. I was eating a banana. So Willa had some. And since that "unconventional" start, nothing’s been the same. She refused a spoon for the first month or two, accepting only food by hand. I have managed to get through some of the standard fare, however, she just keeps eating more and more things that aren’t on the menu. She has eaten plenty of scraps from Neva and Milo’s plates: muffins, grilled cheese, pork chops. But more troublesome than that are the rather unorthodox items. Take, for instance, the gravel in the bottom of the plant in the bathroom. Or the red play-dough she was munching on this afternoon. (Boy was that a treat to clean up!)
Oddly enough, despite all my efforts to start Neva and Milo off right, they are rather picky eaters. Milo, now 2 ½, wouldn’t eat a vegetable to save his life. And Neva cries treason if there’s even so much as sauce fumes on her pizza or pasta.
Happy sweeping,
Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com
When my two oldest, Neva and Milo, were babies, I followed the book on infant feeding. I started with all the traditional and "accepted" baby foods and progressed methodically from pureed grains and veggies to lumps and chunks, carefully watching for sensitivities and allergies. New tastes and textures were not introduced until after the prescribed time period had elapsed, safely and uneventfully, since the last new food. Nothing passed my baby's lips unless I approved it first.
Then along came Willa. I was in no hurry to introduce solid food. Quite frankly, I didn’t have the time. So when I did give her her first food it was more out of convenience. I was eating a banana. So Willa had some. And since that "unconventional" start, nothing’s been the same. She refused a spoon for the first month or two, accepting only food by hand. I have managed to get through some of the standard fare, however, she just keeps eating more and more things that aren’t on the menu. She has eaten plenty of scraps from Neva and Milo’s plates: muffins, grilled cheese, pork chops. But more troublesome than that are the rather unorthodox items. Take, for instance, the gravel in the bottom of the plant in the bathroom. Or the red play-dough she was munching on this afternoon. (Boy was that a treat to clean up!)
Oddly enough, despite all my efforts to start Neva and Milo off right, they are rather picky eaters. Milo, now 2 ½, wouldn’t eat a vegetable to save his life. And Neva cries treason if there’s even so much as sauce fumes on her pizza or pasta.
Happy sweeping,
Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Another Day of Fatherhood ...
Hello Everyone.
There was snow on the ground when we woke up this morning. When my 5-year-old daughter Neva discovered it, she announced enthusiastically that school was cancelled, which it was not of course. Neva and I managed to scrape together a few snowballs and mercilessly throw them at one another before she went off to school.
My son Milo spent most of the afternoon singing an eclectic medley of the "Bob the Builder" theme song and the old club standard "YMCA". This led me to wonder if all 2 1/2 year-olds are tone deaf.
Baby Willa followed me around on and off for the better part of the day. When she is happy, she has a habit of scrunching up her nose and making sniffing noises. I guess now I know what it must be like to be a dog.
In other words, nothing out of the ordinary.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
There was snow on the ground when we woke up this morning. When my 5-year-old daughter Neva discovered it, she announced enthusiastically that school was cancelled, which it was not of course. Neva and I managed to scrape together a few snowballs and mercilessly throw them at one another before she went off to school.
My son Milo spent most of the afternoon singing an eclectic medley of the "Bob the Builder" theme song and the old club standard "YMCA". This led me to wonder if all 2 1/2 year-olds are tone deaf.
Baby Willa followed me around on and off for the better part of the day. When she is happy, she has a habit of scrunching up her nose and making sniffing noises. I guess now I know what it must be like to be a dog.
In other words, nothing out of the ordinary.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Something About Nothing ...
Hello Everyone.
Sometimes when I sit down to write the stories about my kids I end up going completely blank. Today is one of those days. It's not that I don't have anything to say, that's never, ever happened to me, but what I do have to talk about doesn't seem to be very interesting.
I had already had 4 or 5 false starts and now once again the page in front of me was blank. I made 17 trips to the kitchen, 4 to the bathroom, checked the mail, raided the kids' Halloween treats twice, tripped over a dozen toys and still the page waited for me to type something... anything.
I decided to go outside to sit on the top of the stairs to think. Just then the whole family returned home from grocery shopping. As my wife Kathleen carried the groceries in, Neva and Milo played outside. I was fascinated by how wonderfully they played together, like best friends, totally unaware that I was watching them.
They'll be fine when they grow up, I thought to myself.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Sometimes when I sit down to write the stories about my kids I end up going completely blank. Today is one of those days. It's not that I don't have anything to say, that's never, ever happened to me, but what I do have to talk about doesn't seem to be very interesting.
I had already had 4 or 5 false starts and now once again the page in front of me was blank. I made 17 trips to the kitchen, 4 to the bathroom, checked the mail, raided the kids' Halloween treats twice, tripped over a dozen toys and still the page waited for me to type something... anything.
I decided to go outside to sit on the top of the stairs to think. Just then the whole family returned home from grocery shopping. As my wife Kathleen carried the groceries in, Neva and Milo played outside. I was fascinated by how wonderfully they played together, like best friends, totally unaware that I was watching them.
They'll be fine when they grow up, I thought to myself.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Customer Service ...
Hello Everyone.
Banks should know better than to put their brochures so low that a certain 2-year-old little boy named Milo can reach them. But then again, perhaps they foresaw the outcome.
It was late in the day and for whatever bizarre reason, my wife Kathleen and I piled all three of our kids into the truck and went to the bank. We weren't in there a minute when Neva and Milo were off running amuck. Baby Willa sat on my lap as I slumped in one of those wonderfully comfortable chairs all banks seem to have.
I was really quite relaxed and totally engrossed in Willa's babble when I noticed Milo. Seems that he had grabbed a bunch of those brochures I was talking about and was politely handing them out as he made his way through the line-up of customers.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Banks should know better than to put their brochures so low that a certain 2-year-old little boy named Milo can reach them. But then again, perhaps they foresaw the outcome.
It was late in the day and for whatever bizarre reason, my wife Kathleen and I piled all three of our kids into the truck and went to the bank. We weren't in there a minute when Neva and Milo were off running amuck. Baby Willa sat on my lap as I slumped in one of those wonderfully comfortable chairs all banks seem to have.
I was really quite relaxed and totally engrossed in Willa's babble when I noticed Milo. Seems that he had grabbed a bunch of those brochures I was talking about and was politely handing them out as he made his way through the line-up of customers.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
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