We're 2!

Happy birthday to The Daddy Diary (if I do say so myself).

159 posts and still going strong. Now if Mr. Spielberg would please contact me for movie rights then maybe I can make some money off this thing.

Stella's First Installation

We finally got to see the installation of some of Stella's best finger-painting work, tastefully displayed in the bathroom of a Salem, Massachusetts law office.

If you ever have to do a real estate closing (and poop), this is the place to be.

Splish Splash

I haven't gone into the water past my knees at OOB since I was in my twenties. It's cold! And I don't swim all that well.

Last weekend I broke that 30-year streak.

We were a couple days into a 90 degree heatwave. And the water temperature actually warmed up so much that hypothermia was no longer an issue.

At one point I actually stripped off my shirt (down girls!), grabbed a boogie board and went in. Alert the media! But I wasn't the only one enjoying the tropical weather. Stella and Marni went koo-koo and embraced their inner mermaids.

Marni romped and splashed and "high-fived" in the surf wearing nothing but her Dora underwear. Stella went waaaaay out into the water with new BFF, cousin Janet.

Overheard #19

As I slurped a soda while eating at a restaurant with the family, Stella asked "Daddy, do you love me more than Pepsi?".

I paused...

4-3=0

Maybe when you're counting jellybeans then 4 minus 3 would equal 1. But when my girls are in Maine and I'm in Brooklyn then 4 minus 3 feels like zero.

I used to count down the months, weeks, days, and hours until my "summer freedom".

"Summer freedom" being defined as the month in the summer when my wife and kids stay in Maine and I have many days all to myself back in Brooklyn. I would get giddy with the possibilities. Watch t.v. Turn it up loud. Stay up late. Go to movies. Leave kitchen cabinet doors open.

Over the years though, the joy has leached out of the freedom. I began to miss those kids (and my wife) more than I valued my bachelorlyness.

I stopped going into the girls' room because it was depressing not to see them there. Eventually I started to shut the door to their room for the entire month. I didn't even want to see their room if they weren't playing in it. Now I've stopped sleeping in my bed. Instead, I sleep downstairs on the couch. I don't like sleeping in an empty bed (except, of course, if it's in a luxury hotel room).

Yesterday I walked past Marni's school on my way to work. The owners were out front as I approached. We chatted about Marni and how she was missed at school during August. I teared up and ended the conversation.

As I walked down the street I passed many, many Park Slope parents with their kids. I smiled at them. But I was missing my essential Park Slope accessories... Stella and Marni. I felt the need to wear a bumper sticker saying "Hey! I've got kids too!".

Tomorrow I fly back to Maine to rejoin the family for the weekend. Then, zero plus 3 will equal 4.

The Girls Do Cohan

As I mentioned previously, the girls have become big George M. Cohan fans ever since watching Jimmy Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Tonight the stars aligned and Stella and Marni performed a couple of tunes on camera. We're still working on the lyrics.

Old Orchard Beach: Take 52

Old Orchard Beach (OOB) is the most constant place in my life.

I was born in Hartford but moved away by the time I was in first grade. I grew up in Natick, but haven't lived there in at least 29 years. And those past 29 years have been split between New York and New Jersey. But nothing compares to the 52 years that I've spent "summering" at Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

My father spent every summer there as a kid. I spent every summer there as a kid. Now my kids are spending their summers at OOB.

So begins summer 52 for me. Summer 6 for Stella. And summer 4 for Marni.

Even though the cottage remains the same, there are some slight changes this year...

This year there are no diapers. There are no cribs. And the girls now sleep together in the same bed.

Stella and Marni have picked up exactly where they left off last year. They have their beach routine down. They know their way around the cottage as if it was their year-round home. They know their cousins from across the street and down the road. And they know that less than a mile away is their favorite amusement park (sorry Coney Island).

Now begins their new summer adventure. Take 6 and take 4.

Yankee Doodle Dandies

A few weeks ago the girls joined me for an outdoor screening of one of my favorite movies, Yankee Doodle Dandy. Anyone who knows me well knows that James Cagney is my favorite movie star of all time. Not only could he play roles that ranged from gangsters to song-and-dance men, he was also a very fine human being.

Well, much to my delight, the girls have picked up on the title tune from the movie and we all go around the house singing Yankee Doodle Dandy. They can both pretty much sing it on their own. It's even become one of our nighttime lullabies.

So things like this blow my mind. I've been watching this movie for probably 40 years. And now I have 2 kids who are also watching (and digging) this movie. How can you even imagine this stuff?

Fun at Nana and Papa's... Again

While we were away at Randy and Rochelle's wedding this past weekend, the girls had a nice couple of days alone with my parents.

From what I hear, activities included a trip to Boston Common, a swan boat ride, a trip to the Children's Museum, and lots of ice cream and french fries. You know, the normal grandparent stuff.

The highlight was when Marni got stuck in a large climbing tower at the Boston Children's Museum and had to be rescued. But they had a lot of fun and were returned to us in good health (except for a splinter which daddy removed from Marni's finger).

This visit was a milestone in that it was the first time my parents had both kids on their own. Job well done!

Your Normal Voice

Sometimes Stella can get a little over-tired near bed time if she's had an exhausting day. This leads to irrational behavior. You parents all know what I'm talking about.

On this particular evening, Stella decided to have a meltdown as she prepared to go to bed. She was inconsolable about... whatever, and there was nothing we could do to appease her. At this point, she was pissed off at me so the only person she wanted to talk to was Lisa.

Stella sobbed and screamed and tried to explain to Lisa why she was so upset. But Stella got it into her head that Lisa was talking to her in a funny voice (she wasn't). No matter what Lisa did, every time she spoke, Stella would scream "Talk in your normal voice" and would get even more upset. Over and over again Lisa would try to speak to her to calm her down but all Stella would do was scream louder about using a normal voice.

At this point I was rolling on the floor (I know I shouldn't).

Eventually a time-out was invoked to defuse the situation and peace eventually returned to the household.

Luckily there hasn't been a repeat of the "normal voice" episode. But boy do kids get wacky when they haven't had enough sleep.

Summer Love

It seems as though Stella has a boyfriend.

Ok, he's 18 and lives in Germany, but no big deal.

We've had two very nice German teenagers staying with us for the past week while visiting the U.S. for the first time. Manuel and Philipp. Philipp is the son of friends of Lisa's and she's known him since birth. Now, evidently, he is going to be our son-in-law. At least as far as Stella is concerned.

After a few days of visiting, Stella began to warm up to Philipp. Eventually she would slip into bed between the two boys when we were all getting up in the morning. She would cuddle with "the blond boy". Once Lisa caught her staring at him from inches away while he was busy texting. Yesterday I noticed her playing with the hair on his leg while snuggled next to him in bed. He was texting and oblivious.

A day or two ago she started actually referring to him as her boyfriend and said she loved him. Yesterday, before he left, she took a video of him promising that he was her boyfriend and that she could come visit him whenever she wanted.

Smart girl to get it on tape. Next, I will teach her about pre-nups.

But, sadly, like most summer loves, this one had to end. Philipp and Manuel headed off to the flughafen and I had one sobbing girl on my hands ("I miss my boyfriend".). I actually had two sobbing girls on my hands. Marni was sobbing "Mommy!" as Lisa drove off to JFK.

Only time will tell if this love will last. We are scheduled to visit with Philipp and his family in October. But, by then, Stella may be on to the next love of her life.

Stars Sighting

The P.S. 39 "Stars" had a little mid-summer get-together on Saturday.

Stella (and Marni), Sean, Zacarias, Zane, Adam, Uma and Cobe all showed up with family in tow and enjoyed eating, running and playing behind the Picnic House in Prospect Park.

We had a very special surprise quest, Ms. Cassens, who took a break from her summer activities to join us. She even brought brownies. Ms. Cassens (and the brownies) were the hit of the day.

Stella made sure to get a little private time with her favorite teacher.

Best Picure of the Summer (So Far)

Taken at Merwin Meadows Park in Wilton, CT.

Overheard #18

Lately we've been getting a lot of "It's all about..." from Stella. There's usually nothing pleasant about an "it's all about" sentence. For example:

• "It's all about those kids", when a group of children will not relinquish the use of playground swings.
• "It's all about Marni", when more attention is paid to her sister than herself.
• "It's all about me", when she demands that it is now Stella-time.

When imagining Stella and an "it's all about..." sentence, it is best to also include a scowl.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Observant and absorbent. We know that kids pick up on all the sights and sounds, and feelings and emotions that surround them. But this one made me laugh.

We were running some errands with the girls the other day. Each had their own stroller and babies to push around. But Stella was especially slow in keeping up with us as we walked down the street. I looked back at her and noticed that she was attempting to push the stroller with one hand while talking on her (non-functional) cell phone with the other.

Just like she sees her mommy and many other mommies do on the streets of Park Slope.

She even was carrying on one side of a conversation ("Yes. Right. I know that. To the store.").

Maybe we need to get her a non-functional Bluetooth headset.

Good Enough To Eat

Well, that's what the dog thought when he took a nip at Marni's face last night.

We were visiting some friends at their home. We'd already been there for about 45 minutes and the girls and Max the dog were getting along fine. But all of a sudden Marni started screaming. No one had been watching her so we had no idea what had happened. The dog was nowhere in sight. But Marni was clearly in pain. I looked around to see if she had touched something hot in the kitchen. No clues.

I picked her up and noticed that she was scratched and beginning to bleed. We asked her if the dog bit her and she nodded yes. We cleaned up the blood and calmed her down. She explained that the dog bit her on her face.

The dog was banished for the remainder of the night and, after about 2 minutes, Marni was back to normal... but with a bandage on her face. She didn't seem particularly traumatized by the event.

We cleaned her up a little more once we got home. Today I took her into the doctor to make sure all was ok. Marni was happy to relate the whole story to the doc who didn't think it was much of a bite. Just keep in clean and use some anti-scarring potion for the next few weeks.

And there you have it. It'll be interesting to see if the kids keep their distance from dogs going forward. They certainly have been warned!

This Says It All

Presenting: My Geek Dad

Marni is proud to present her geek dad, resplendent in his embarrassing pool attire.

Go-To Dad

It certainly would never have occurred to me before my kids were born that I would be the kind of dad the kids would flock to for fun and frolic. But apparently, that's the case. Especially with the four cousins.

And, actually, there's nothing I love more than to get down on the floor and mix it up with the kids.

This weekend we were in Albany, and even though we were at temple and I had a nasty back ache (some people would say the back ache was psycho-semitic), I was down on the floor and loving every minute of it.

When I'm not on the floor, I'm into some other sort of mischief with the kids. For example... I was serving the kids all sorts of imaginary food at the Hoffman's 1970's-era downstairs bar.

Even little cousin Delia is beginning to warm to my charms!

Fire Restaurant

"The Fire Restaurant" is what Stella and Marni call the local hibachi restaurant, Ginza. They've been there four times already. The first time was so traumatic for both of them that we figured they'd never want to go back. When the flames shot up, Marni was literally shaking with fear.

But, regardless of their fear, they kept talking about the place and kept insisting they wanted to go back. So they went back again with me and Lisa. They were anxious about the fire, but definitely not as scared. Then they went again with my parents. And this past week they went again with me and Lisa.

As you can see from the video (which runs a little fast for some reason), Stella is still wary and tended to observe the fire from 50 yards away. Marni, on the other hand, stood her ground. She's especially fond of when the little water-squirting doll "pees" on her.