Happy Birthday Lauren!

Today is Lauren Claire's 2nd birthday. It's very hard to believe just two short years ago we went to the hospital to be blessed with such a wonderful little girl. She is growing up to be daddy's little angel (and sometimes devil).

To start the day, we took Lauren to portrait innovations for her 2 year pictures. Little did we know, she was in no mood to take pictures. After lots of coaxing and a couple packs of smarties (for her and Brayton who actually wanted to have his picture taken today) we got enough decent shots to make the trip worthwhile. The first picture is one of them from this mornings adventure.

After a quick trip to Jordan Creek to play at the park, we came home and ate lunch and got ready for naps. While the kids were napping, Colette baked the duck cake that Lauren had chose as her birthday cake. It actually turned out really well, it looked like a duck coming out of the cake pan, and once Colette got done frosting it really looked like a professionally decorated cake. Good Job Colette!

Lauren was really excited for her cake (and so was Brayton). While the kids were napping, Grandma and Pappa Anderson arrived, and an hour or so later so did Uncle Matt and Aunt Audra. After waking up, I asked Lauren what she wanted for dinner, of course the answer was PIZZA! So we played outside a bit, Colette went and picked up pizza from Nick & Willies and we had a pizza picnic outside. Once the pizza was gone, the kids opened up gifts from Matt and Audra and Colette and I. Brayton was trying to open them himself, I literally had to restrain him. Lauren got lots of fun new toys for her birthday. Matt and Audra brought a shovel, rake, and watering bucket for the sandbox and garden. We combined all the money from Grandpa Gordon and Grandma Cindy, Ryan & Mikhael, Grandma & Grandpa Hansen, and Colette and I to buy Lauren a new play house outside. The kids both had a ball playing in it this afternoon. After pizza and playing we had birthday cake and by 8pm they were both about cashed out.

The first film clip isn't actually from today, but from the other day when Lauren decided she didn't want to eat dinner at the kitchen table. She went into the foyer and proceeded to push the kids table and both little chairs into the kitchen to eat. I turned on the camera and only got a second of her moving the whole table, but the funniest part of the whole video is when I asked Lauren if I could help her, she abruptly replied "NO!" and that has been the new thing lately. She really is learning to speak her mind, with authority.

A few nights ago, I was trying to get Lauren to come to me to rock before putting her in bed. Colette and Brayton were already in Brayton's room and getting ready for bed. Lauren was milling about in the hallway as I was trying to pursuade her to come into her room so we could read books and rock before going to bed. She obviously didn't want anything to do with this, so she kept wandering the hallway stopping to look in the doorway at me. After having enough of this I got a little more stern with my request to her to come in or she was going to begin losing her books (for not obeying daddy). I said, "Lauren, come in here so we can read books and get ready for bed." She walked about four steps into the room, stopped, put her hands on her hips and shouted "WHY!". My oh my, I thought, she's not even two and already we're getting this. She said it in the same tone she said "NO!" in the video clip. It's quite funny really (the way she interjects), but I didn't show my hand to let her know inside I was really laughing.

Am I a bad Father?

That's the question I had to ask myself tonight.

Got home from work today and I asked the kids if they wanted to go play at the school park (Westridge). Of course the answer was an affirmative from both Brayton and Lauren. I told them we had to eat supper first before we could go. So, Colette had cooked a nice casserole for us. It had some hamburger, mixed vegetables, and was topped with macaroni and cheese. Everything by itself the kids love it, but mix them together and it takes a ton of coaxing to get them to eat it. I even pulled out the junior mints to try to pursuade them. Brayton cleanded his plate up only because he wanted the jumior mints worse than a meth addict wants that next fix. Lauren, well, I never got her to take more than two bites. She never got a junior mint either.

Colette wanted to go to Lowes and buy some flowers tonight, so she dropped us off at Westridge and we went and played while she took off to Lowes to buy flowers. I always stress to the kids going to the bathroom before we got to the park to avoid the exact thing I wrote about earlier this month, that is having to pee at the park. Well, tonight after playing for about 15 minutes, Brayton comes to me butt sticking out waddling along like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, he says "Daddy I've got to go poop!" I asked him if he could hold it or if he wanted to go home, he said he could hold it and kept on playing.

I put my hand inside my pocket and realized I hadn't brought my keys to the house. So even if we did go home to go poop, we couldn't get in. I proceeded to call Colette. She called me back and I told her not to worry about it because he seemed to be fine and to keep shopping for flowers.

Not 30 seconds later and Brayton is walking like the Hunchback again. I said "Brayton - what's the matter?" He said, "Daddy, I really really got to go poop!"

I said, "Can you make it home?" He said "NO! I got to go poop NOW!" I had no idea exactly what I was going to do, I had no diaper bag, no wipes, no keys to the house, nothing - I was going to have to improvise.

I told him to come with me under some of the playground equipment, he pulled his pants down and I told him to squat down so he didn't poop in his pants. Right there, he pooped under the playground equipment. Of course Lauren had followed us under there and was watching Brayton do his deed. She then proceeded to get curious and almost stepped in the mess, but I managed to grab her and move her away from Brayton's poop before she stepped in it.

Luckily there wasn't anyone else at the playground, it was about 7:30 PM. After he pulled his pants up I had to then debate what to do with his poop. Do I try to pick it up? No way...I decided to kick a bunch of the wood chips from the playground over it.

I buried it pretty well, but I can't help to think some kid is going to step in it tomorrow at recess. Here I sit, writing this blog entry, debating about going back to the school with a flashlight to try to find my son's duke and clean up the mess.

But I haven't, and I probably won't, so does that make me a bad father?

After we got back from the park, Colette met us and let us in the house. I took the kids up, gave them baths and put Lauren to bed while Brayton picked out a couple of books to read. After we read our books, Brayton looked at me and said, "Daddy you put wood chips on my poop."

I said, "Yes I did son, someday you'll do the same thing for your son."

That's what fathers do.