Hero worship

It starts early.

Please don't hurt me.

PS - this only makes sense if you click on the picture and enlarge it.

Educating Americans

1. Please hope that your child doesn't require a special diet.
2. If he does require a special diet, please have a sense of humor.
3. If you fail the sense of humor requirement, have patience.

It's not that Ryley has serious diet limitations, he's just lactose intolerant. In general he can have a splash of 1% on his cereal but downing a carton of milk at lunch is pretty much a no no.

The way the school system works these days, if he wants to have pig in a blanket at school along with his classmates instead of PB&J from home, the lunch ladies are required to put a carton of milk on his tray. I've paid for it, fair enough. The problem is really the chocolate milk. It's like heroin for a 6 year old with lactose issues. He can't say no and they offer it as an option. Because I know he has a problem, I have a couple of options.

1. I can send him with PB&J every day and listen to him whine.
2. I can have him come up with a solution to the "milk problem".

Ryley's rather fantastic solution is that on the days he wants to eat at school, he takes a juice box from home. Awesome.

We tried to execute this plan in the last week but it's more difficult than it would appear.

The lunch ladies get pretty irritated if you rock the boat. They have to put that carton on his tray. The only way they won't is if you send a doctor's note to school indicating his "special diet". I don't know about anyone else but I'm not about to take my kid to the doctor just so I can tell the doctor that milk gives my kid the runs and the doctor can write a note. Kids, that's $100. No thanks. Try explaining that one to the school system. They must think we all run off to the doctor the moment our kids sneeze. Not in my house.

I talked to his teacher at length about this yesterday since she called me about it. She talked to the head lunch lady and emailed me to let me know that he could take his own juice but that they would have to put the milk on his tray until such time I provide a note about his special diet.

Fine. I told Ryley he had to take the milk but he didn't have to drink it and I don't want him to drink it. He got it.

Today the school nurse calls me because his teacher asked her to. Guess why. She had to ask me for the note from the doctor about his special diet.

And Ryley's teacher thinks he's the one with ADHD.

Didn't we just clear this up yesterday?!?!? Why is this so difficult and why are we wasting so much time over a carton of milk? I think the nurse got it but I'll probably get a call from the principal tomorrow.

Jennifer as a baby

Uncle Barney was nice enough to send me some pictures he had of me as a baby and some other assorted family shots. I'll post those here and there for comic relief. Today's pictures are of me as a baby.

I can't tell if Taylor looks like me or not here.

6 months

It's scary to me that my baby is 6 months old today.

Every day I'm amazed at the things she does or reacts to and yet I want to keep her my tiny baby.

Yes Mom, it is quite a different view from the other side. It's hard to let your heart go wandering about on the outside of your body.

Anyway... my doctor wasn't terribly upset about the solid foods. He seemed pretty okay with it really. He's this funny South African man with a great accent and a decent sense of humor. Half the time I think he's not sure what to make of me.

She weighed in at 17lbs 2oz and was 26.5" long this morning at her 6 month check. That puts her in the 75th percentile. I thought she weighed more the other day but maybe I don't know how to add. I mean I'm sure getting on the scale with her is scientific and accurate. If it's true that she's 2 pounds lighter... maybe I'm 2 pounds lighter. That would be awesome. That would mean I weigh two pounds less than I did on my wedding day.

I digress.

Happy 6 months Taylor.

No, I'm not pulling a Britney here. We were sitting in the truck watching the marching band parade.

This lovely picture is just to show off the two new chompers she has.

PS - Thanks for the great hat Keedran. No, it doesn't really fit her anymore but we love it so she wears it.

Ol' Blue Eyes

I may have to beat them off with a stick in like... 10 years.

Just a dose of...

Carrots

My doctor told me to wait until 6 months to give Taylor solid foods
other than cereal.

Since I'm such a follower of rules, I totally listened to him.

I can't decide if this is a look of happiness or just "I'm totally
full". Either way, she likes food and has since the first moment (at
exactly 5 months). I keep waiting for her to make some sort of face. Any face. She won't do it. I've given up even trying to get a picture.

Mullet Hunter

I actually took this picture for a hairdresser I know. I couldn't help
but share it here.

Business in the front, party in the back. Yes, that's a woman. If this
is you... I apologize, but seriously...

Rubber Duck Dash

The United Way of Western Nebraska does this thing every year called the Rubber Duck Dash. Basically, you purchase a rubber duck for $5 and they put numbers on it. On the day of the race they dump all these ducks that have been purchased into the river and the first duck across the line wins a car. The duck tally this year was 18,000.

This was my first year attending the event. I wasn't really sure what to expect but they had stuff for the kids and Ryley seemed keen on going. I only included a few pictures of the ducks here but it's an amazing site to see all these ducks come around the bend in the river. I'm pretty sure my 5 ducks were in the back getting caught up in the river bank.

We drug Grandma Linda along to make a morning of it as well. Here she is helping Ryley decorate his gift duck.

They have a theme every year. I'm guessing this year's theme had something to do with motorcycle ducks.

Ryley tends to get food all over his face. I guess with the size of the cinnamon rolls it wouldn't be so hard to do.

Taylor wasn't that into it. The race was cutting into her morning nap schedule.

Here they come around the bend...

Duck wranglers at the finish line.