Make a Wish

Before we had Caitlyn, I would zip around town in a Toyota Vios, the cheapest, smallest, most reliable car that could be had for people on a budget. There was really no concern for space. But after Caitlyn came around and there was a need to put in a car seat along with lugging countless diaper bags and various knick-knacks, space became an issue.

Even with me pulling the driver’s seat all the way forward so that my knees were practically touching my chest, the wife would still complain about not having enough space in the back. This would only be magnified when my parents would come to visit for extended periods of time and space became an even more precious, limited resource.

Even after I traded the Vios in for a bigger sedan, complaints would still arise from time to time. It was then that I decided it was time to say the one word most men dread when it comes to buying a car - “mini-van.”

They’re the complete opposite of sporty and sexy, but what it lacks in physical appeal, a mini-van more than makes up with physical space. I realized that to give the wife the space she was looking for was to add a second row in the back. Any extra passengers or bags could be thrown into this row when needed without the wife sacrificing any of her space.

In my eyes, the Toyota Wish was the perfect car for us, especially if we ever plan on expanding our family. It has decent gas mileage, two rows of seating in the back, and is actually smaller than our previous sedan for easy maneuverability in the city. Thinking that the wife would see eye to eye with me, I laid out my well-thought-out plan to finally get her the car she needed.

Unfortunately, her response merely confirmed that women just aren’t the logical and rational creatures they like to think they are. Instead of jumping up and down for joy over the prospect of having all the space she could possibly want, she stated that it was ugly and that it reminded her of a taxi car.

Well, first of all, this isn’t a beauty contest. Beauty is only skin deep. Second of all, having taxi drivers everywhere driving this car is probably a good sign, as it means that it’s a reliable and useful car for transporting people around town.

After much heated debate and discussion, I finally wore her down, and she reluctantly agreed to the car, though she warned me that it didn’t mean she was going to like the decision. But after having ridden around in the car for about two weeks now, I haven’t heard a peep from her yet, which is the wife’s way of telling me that I was right and she was wrong.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time because my parents unexpectedly came up for another two-month visit without any real prior warning. What better time than now to put this bad boy to use! The icing on the cake is that for whatever reason, Caitlyn has now started insisting that the wife sit in the front passenger seat instead of next to her. Win-win for everybody.

Happy times

At the beach

 

Long way home

Picture time!

 

Run, Forrest, run!

Kisses!

View from room

Taking a stroll through the grass

Balancing beam

Picture perfect

 

Strike a pose

Kickin' it

Look what I caught

At Ocean Park

Flying in the water

Feeding time

 

Looking for jade

River stream

 

Looking for Mommy

View from the lake

Fright Night

First and foremost, a happy belated Mother’s Day to one of the hardest working woman in the world who holds down the fort day in and day out and puts up with my annoying habits and shenanigans. Your tops in my book!

After an early Mother’s Day dinner on Friday, the wife and I were cozied up watching True Detective on TV late at night, when out of the blue, Caitlyn comes out of the bedroom and walks to the end of the hallway to the living room. This, in and of itself, is surprising because she never does that. If she ever wakes up, she’ll always choose to shout out our names and wait for us to come to her instead of actually climbing out of bed to find us.

But what happened next was creepy. Instead of looking at us and speaking as one might do when seeing someone for the first time, she had a glazed-over look in her eyes and proceeded to walk silently into the kitchen. My first thought was, “Oh my God! She’s been possessed by a ghost or demon!” My second thought was, “She must be sleepwalking.” My third thought was, “Yup, she’s definitely been possessed.”

As the wife and I watched Caitlyn wander into the kitchen, we weren’t sure what to do. This has never happened before, which made it all the creepier. My mind started racing through all the horror movies I’ve ever seen with scary kids as I began to get goose bumps all over my arms. What's the correct protocol for dealing with demon-possessed children?

A few seconds passed in which there was no sound or movement, so we decided to get up to see exactly what she doing. What we saw was enough to give me chills down my spine. Caitlyn was just standing in the middle of the kitchen blankly staring at the rice cooker. “Why the rice cooker,” I remember thinking. But I suppose looking at a harmless rice cooker is better than looking at the sharp knives on the counter that can slice and dice.

After about ten seconds of this, she turned to look at us. Oh, snap! This is the part where she says, “Time for you die,” in a demonic voice while pointing a finger at us. The wife finally broke the tension by going in and picking her up, at which point, the glazed-over look left Caitlyn’s face.

Looking back, I don’t know if I would have had the testicular fortitude to go in to pick up Caitlyn after something like that. I’ve seen way to many movies where the child suddenly lunges at the person and proceeds to bite and maim the victim. I would have kept her at a good stick’s length and told her to get back into bed by herself, and when I was sure she was asleep, secretly lock the door.

I love my daughter, but I’m not about to have her turn all Paranormal Activity on me. You can never be too careful.

Caitlyn's best bud at school

Happy Mother's Day!

 

It's stuck on my finger!

Making chocolate-covered pretzels

 

Serious about candy-making

Who says I'm scary?