Sticks And Stones

It is not nice to call people names. While I know this is true, I still occasionally find myself calling Lily things like "Captain Obvious" and "heathen". If the shoe fits . .

Lily, on the other hand, does not make a habit of calling people names. She does a good job for her age of addressing people by their names, some even with appropriate salutations. Miss Lisa, King Daddy, etc. Yesterday, however, she slipped and called someone she doesn't even know a really funny name without realizing she was doing it.

Avery has a cousin named Abigail, and there's a picture of her on our refrigerator. Lily asked who it was yesterday and I told her. She responded, "Who's Abigail?" "Avery's cousin," I replied. Avery then chimed in with "I don't think you've ever met her Lily." "Actually," I said, "I think we met them at Cracker Barrel once when Lily was very young."

As Avery struggled to remember the details of the encounter, the wheels were turning feverishly in Lily's mind. She went potty, and as she was getting herself put back together she cocked her head to the side, put her hands on her hips and said "Daddy, who's Crappagail?"

You should have seen the look on my face. "What did you say?" I replied. "Who's Crappagail?" My mind raced through the last few minutes' conversations and I eventually figured out what she was doing. Somehow she'd amalgamated 'Abagail' and 'Cracker Barrel' into an entirely new, all encompassing nickname for the girl she'd seen on the fridge so many times. When I caught my breath from the hysterical laughter she'd elicited I enunciated the two names for her again, and explained again what they both were. Avery and I must have laughed for the next five minutes or so as we drove to the park.


In a related story, as we were driving to said park Avery complained about her body, specifically her arms, cramping. She had put in some extra time on the monkey bars earlier that afternoon and apparently she was sore. I'm quite sure what she had was not cramps, but rather just some localized soreness due to overuse of her skinny little arms. Later, as we were playing and laughing I was helping Lily across the monkey bars. About the third bar in, she looked down at me with an exasperated expression on her face and said "Daddy, my arms are crappy."

"They're what???"

"Crappy!"

"You mean they're cramping Lily?"

"Yeah Daddy, they're crappy!"

I didn't have the heart to correct her again, I just helped her make it all the way across and let her go on about her playing. Have a crappy . . I mean happy Memorial Day!

Trajectory Issues

My uncle Doug has never let me live it down. "When you were just a baby" he'd say, "I went to change one of your diapers and you pissed right in my face!" I always wondered if I was the only baby boy who did things like that, or if it was a common occurrence. Fast forward 31 years or so, and though I've heard the stories of other parents getting peed on by their young boys, I've still never experienced it first hand. Oddly, when I learned last week that we were expecting a boy, one of the first things I thought of was whether my peeing in Doug's face was finally going to come full circle. I envisioned changing my son's diaper in a sleep-deprived haze and being startled alert by a stream of his pee hitting me right in the face. I figured I'd just have to wait and see if that would be my fate, or if I'd be a shrewd daddy and figure out a changing method that limited my exposure, so to speak.

Well, the last two days provided me with an entirely new pee-related issue.

My basic understanding of the female anatomy paints a vaguely fuzzy picture of the way urine is "directed" to the potty. This, obviously, is not an issue I face concerning little boys. Ready, aim, fire. Yesterday, however, Lily encountered what I'd like to refer to as a little trajectory issue. Before her bath, she sat down to pee and I was in what has always been a relatively safe spot in these instances . . directly in front of her, kneeling on the floor. Seconds later I was being sprayed with an unwieldy stream of urine, traveling at approximately a 30 degree angle upward from horizontal . . clearly an issue I was ill-prepared to deal with. I just sat and watched as the little bugger peed all over me, and then I laughed hysterically with her as I wiped the wayward pee off of my shorts. No cause for alarm really, just a funny story.

Then, a disturbing pattern began to develop. This morning, in her first trip to the potty, we nearly had a repeat of the same events. This time, however, the damage was contained to the toilet seat and a few small drops on the floor. My clothes were spared, and again we laughed it off. Clearly though, I needed to consult some resources. When I asked Mandi what I should do, she said "Just tell her to aim it down!" Which brings us back to the crux of the issue . . how do you teach little girls to aim? Is it even possible? I can only hope that this little trajectory issue works itself out naturally, as I feel I am ill-equipped to solve it.

This is my life . .

When I worked outside the home, I used to get invited to quarterly meetings, seminars, information sessions, and awards ceremonies. Now, these are the only invitations I receive with any regularity. Welcome to the spectacular life of the stay-at-home dad.


To their credit, it was a really well put together fashion show. They had a little runway on the floor angled right toward the door (past which I was not allowed). It was made of a "Dora The Explorer" exercise mat and a knitted blanket. When I arrived for the show Avery had Lily in her green room, which was actually just her closet. As any good event coordinator would, however, she'd moved a chair in there to ensure the star's comfort, and her entire dress-up wardrobe was laying conveniently nearby (on the floor, of course). She came out first in her new Snow White getup, which she accessorized with some fancy new purple high-heels. Smashing I tell you. After excusing myself to run downstairs and check on dinner, I came back to outfit number two, which was the latest and greatest from the Ariel collection. A cotton tank paired beautifully with a fancy polyester skirt, emblazoned with beautiful pictures of Ariel and all her underwater friends. It really was smashing.

Unfortunately, the show ended there because dinner was ready and I just couldn't take any more. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come for me though . . maybe my destiny is to go into fashion writing and tour the toddler circuit. We can only hope.

It's a veritable baby factory around here!

Surprisingly, I'm not referring to the new MALE addition to the Slovick family. Instead, I'm posting the much-awaited photos of our first brood of Eastern Bluebird chicks of the year. Mama and Daddy bluebird persevered through the predation of their first clutch of eggs laid in March and have successfully hatched a second brood! Three of the eggs hatched on Mother's Day, and the other was hatched when I peeked in Monday morning. On my brief trip out there today to photograph the little runts I could only make out 3 mouths, but they're crammed in there so tightly that #4 might have just been hiding under her siblings. I'll keep you updated on their progress. Based on their hatch date of 5/11 I'm estimating that they'll fledge on or around Wednesday 5/28. I will do my best to get a progression of photos of the little cuties leading up to that time. Here's the family; Papa, Mama, and the kiddos.

Daddy had a grub in his mouth, just waiting for me to clear out of the area before he went in and fed the little chicks.

Mama had just come out of the nestbox in this shot. She was surveying the flower bed below her for more food for the chicks.

Their eyes aren't open yet, but their instinct is to look up and open their mouths when they hear sounds. I guess I sounded like I came bearing mealworms. I decided to leave that to the experts.

Some other yard visitors were feeling especially photogenic today, so I took advantage.


This frog (or is it a toad?) is a resident. I found him today when i was cleaning the bird bath.

The Chipping Sparrow is an unusual sight in my yard. This is only the second time I've ever seen one here. I can't even ever recall seeing one of these at the Nature Trail. I wonder where they hang out?

"I'm NOT Captain Obvious!"

Verbally, I think anyone who knows her would consider Lily advanced. She still has some moments of obvious toddlerdom though, and when she does she's fun to pick on.

A few months ago, apparently in an attempt to express her understanding of the events of the world around her, Lily uttered the following phrase. "When I was a baby in Mommy's tummy, I was a baby in her tummy". The quizzical glance that Mandi and I shot in each other's direction was comical to say the least. I think I actually shook my head unconsciously as if to jolt myself awake from whatever daydream I was having and ask myself, "What did she say?" These proclamations continued on at regular intervals, sometimes they were repeats of previous statements and sometimes they were fresh ideas. Yesterday, predictably, she said "If I have a baby brother, I will have a baby brother!"


Anyway, after the first few repeats of this pattern it started to remind me of a skit I used to love when I'd listen to The Bob & Tom Show on the radio in the mornings. Once a week or so they'd get a 'phone call' from a doofus who'd describe an everyday occurrence in comical detail, acting completely dumbfounded by what was going on. The recipient of the phone call was a character they called "Mr. Obvious". Mr. Obvious would mock the caller mercilessly as he listened to the description, and then he'd tell the doofus what was really going on. He'd say things like, "I don't think you've got a wild animal in your pipes caller, I think that's your garbage disposal." So one day when Lily spouted off one of her little gems, I retorted "That's great Captain Obvious". This did not go over well. Her immediate reaction was to convincingly demand "I'm NOT Captim Oveeous!" The fact that she got so close to pronouncing it correctly just goes to show how truly advanced her verbal abilities are. But I can't help myself when she opens the door for me to give her a little needling in the ribs. It's just too cute to see her get all bent out of shape about it, when she thinks she's saying something profound and meaningful and Daddy's calling her names.

A Big Morning

This morning Lily and I went on a long walk on the Moss Creek Nature Trail. Each subsequent trip on the Trail in the last few weeks has brought about a great variety of wildlife. Migrating birds are plentiful, but it's the other creatures that have really piqued my interest. I'm no expert, but my guess would be that this particular area offers one of the most diverse combinations of habitat in Cabarrus County.


Above is a Blue Corporal (Libellula deplanata) dragonfly. This is a mature male.


Another dragonfly, this one I could not identify.


This one (above) is a Common Whitetail (Libellula lydia).


Another unidentifiable dragonfly.


And another.


As much as I'd like to see Monarch butterflies, this is not one. It is a Viceroy (Limenitis archippus).


Above, the white butterfly with black spots is a Cabbage White (Pieris rapae).


An oriole sighting is exciting for all birders. A singing male Orchard Oriole is even more uncommon. At this particular spot on the Trail, I've seen as many as 5 of them, 3 males and 2 females.


I went further down the Trail today than I've gone recently, and I was rewarded for it. I saw a Ruby-throated Hummingbird near the stream, and this male Prairie Warbler.


Taking cover in this tree is a Brown Thrasher. This isn't an uncommon bird in Cabarrus County, but it's the first one I've ever seen here on the Trail. I saw a total of 2 today.


The Killdeer was leisurely strolling along the trail just ahead of us.



The Indigo Buntings were singing loudly this morning. There were at least 15. I also saw a pair of Blue Grosbeaks, a first for the Trail. In all I recorded 40 species of birds on my walk this morning. To date I've ID'ed over 60 species at the Moss Creek Nature Trail since December. The count for my Big Year count now stands at 107 species identified, with a trip tentatively planned this weekend to a migratory bird walk held by the Mecklenburg County Parks & Recreation Department at the Evergreen Nature Preserve. I hope to be able to add a good number of migrants to the list at that time.


Apparently Lily was comfortable in her new jogging stroller. She napped for about 30 minutes while I birded.

This thistle flower, the particular species of which I can't determine, was a very bright spot in an otherwise leafy landscape.

Happy Birthday Princess

My baby girl turned 3 years old yesterday. It sounds completely implausible to me when I say it out loud. Lily has gone from sweet sleepless baby to mostly-sweet sleepless big-girl, and it seems like it all happened overnight.

We spent the day at Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury, NC with Mandi's sister Emily and her daughter Taylor. The girls love spending time with Taylor, she's such a fun little girl. Ever since I can remember, she's always gotten so excited when Avery comes in to the room. She gets a big old smile on her face and squeals with delight.


Among the activities for the day were a ride on the carousel, a trip through the petting zoo, and of course, a stop at the concession stand for some ice cream.




Avery and Lily wore their new matching dresses.


Lily made sure she wore her "I'm 3!" ribbon all day long.

Then, as is her style lately, Lily passed out on the couch before I even had a chance to put her in the bath tub. Of course, she was in full Princess-gear getup at the time. I did manage to get the shoes off of her before I put her to bed, but the dress stayed. I didn't want to risk her waking up before I got her in to bed, you know?



With that, I leave you with a song I can't help thinking of when I think about my girls and how quickly they're growing up.