Category Archives: Life

Bear Fight in the Ninja Turtle Fort

07/03/2014 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

Remember Avery’s tutorial on How to Fight a Bear last month? You know, instead of sitting still for us to take her 7 month photos, she decided Teddy needed to know who was boss?

We thought she made her point clear, but apparently the bear didn’t learn his lesson. When word about the ninja turtle fort spread across the nursery, Teddy Bear challenged Avery to another duel on her new stomping grounds.

Being the fearless daughter of two courageous parents, Avery was quick to accept, and luckily I had the camera to catch it all on film. Is it really called film? Maybe just all on memory card? Bah, who knows?! Anyway, back to the action….

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqNPLqSvFOs&w=560&h=315]

I’d say Avery made it rather clear she’s a force to be reckoned with. I love her victory dance at the end; it’s reminiscent of the “Halo Hump/Teabag” you would do on your fallen victims during online play.

As you might’ve noticed, we still have the TMNT fort standing like I first posted about on Tuesday. In that post, it seemed Avery was not enthused by the shelled superhero mutant turtles or my crafty fort, but now she’s taken a liking to both!

The very next day, first thing upon waking and feeding, I got her in there for some playtime and she had a blast!

The pictures speak for themselves, huh? Now I need to find some quality TMNT toys from my childhood, the originals.

Another dad blogger commented on Tuesday’s post and showed me part of his Ninja Turtle collection via instagram. Needless to say, I’m jealous.

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Well, as you can see, I did say that! So, now I’m on the hunt to find some of the originals for myself Avery. I have no clue what I ever did with mine, and all I found in my mom’s attic were old TMNT puzzles.

We did have fun putting them together that night, but I want the toys!

If you know of a person or place I should look, please let me know. As long as they aren’t too pricey, I might consider getting them; after my loving breadwinner of a wife approves first! I love you, Kelley! : )

Speaking of my mom/G-Ma, we’ll be going there for the 4^th of July weekend, so I better start getting my food packed. I typically bring several of my own eats which includes Brussels sprouts, tuna, egg whites, a nut and seed mix, and plain Greek yogurt.

Yep, all staples in my diet! It’s not that she doesn’t have a lot of good, healthy food, but I always hate to take other’s food (even my mom’s) I guess because I know how valuable it really is.

Do you have certain foods you like to have with you wherever you go, or can you just “wing it” with whatever’s available?

Life, Parenting

I Hope She Likes Ninja Turtles and Forts

07/01/2014 R.C. Liley 9 Comments

Did you know the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles originated in a comic book? They were created as a way to parody 4 popular comics of the 1980’s. Just your interesting fact of the day; you’re welcome.

If you’ve been reading my blog or following any of my social media outlets recently, you know Avery has “turned in” her rolling skills in exchange for crawling. Yes, this means more work for Going Mom and me, but it’s also exciting since it means more playtime during the day!!

We still can’t wrestle or run around the house as I chase her down with the “tickle birds”, but her crawling means that time is coming soon!

Turtles are a big thing in our family, hence Avery’s newborn pic in a turtle crochet as my blog header, and our home has several turtle toys, blankets, and stuffed animals spread throughout. If she grows up hating them, I’ll know we went overboard, but hopefully that’s not the case. Hey, her first encounter with our pet box turtle, Tash, went well, so I’d say things are going in the right direction so far.

As a kid growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were (I think they still are) awesome! Somehow, Nickelodeon has managed to take over the TMNT franchise and have butchered the way they look and act which really pisses me off. Despite this, I stand true to being a Ninja Turtle fan, and hope to impart my “turtle love” on to Avery.

Even as Kelley is trying to sound out “momma” and “papa” for Avery’s first words, I’ll throw in “turtle” for an impartial first word. If she says “turtle” first, there’s no animosity for her saying “mom” or “dad” first; win-win!

I don’t even know what to say…..

Man, if only I kept those original Ninja Turtle action figures from my childhood; the ones in stores now just aren’t the same. Please tell me I’m not alone here. Any other original TMNT fans who are disgusted with what they are now?

Sorry, had to rant a little, back being a parent……kinda.

Another thing I’m looking forward to is building forts with Avery. Another childhood (and parenthood!) must is having a fort to let the imagination run free. When you build a fort, it can be King Arthur’s castle or a space station from the future; both cool things, by the way.

Yesterday I figured I’d try and combine my two hopeful desires by quickly making a fort with her new playpen and a big box along with a Ninja Turtle blanket for the door.

I know, this is the Nickelodeon version; I work with what I have!!

Not much to look at, but it’s perfect for her first fort encounter. Or so I thought….

I sat her down, proud of my turtle themed structure, and watched in anticipation for her to crawl into the fort. And then I waited, and waited a little more; nothing.

“Oh, duh.” I thought, “She doesn’t realize she can crawl through the blanket yet, I’ll just put her in there myself.”

She wasn’t impressed.

I helped her out of the enclosure and continued watching her in hopes that she’d come around and heed my efforts, but her fussing simply increased with each passing moment.

#fortfail

It was right around naptime, so I’m telling myself that’s the only reason for Avery not immediately taking a liking to awesomeness that is what I’m deeming the “Cowabunga Fort”. My efforts shall not be thwarted, and you can rest assured I’ll continue trying. Just like our baby-led weaning experience, I’m sure she’ll catch on and “take a bite” after several attempts.

Kelley is not totally signed on to Avery playing with Ninja Turtles, not because they’re labeled as a boy toy, but because she just doesn’t like them herself. Fine with me, now I have two girls to convince Ninja Turtles are totally tubular, dude!

We both believe toys should not be gender specific, and try hard to surround Avery in a variety of things colored more than just the typical pink. If we had a boy, I’d like to think I would be perfectly fine with him playing with a doll. After all, playing with dolls is not about being a girl, it’s about taking care of another person, about developing social skills, learning body parts, and so much more.

Read more about how beneficial it is for both boys and girls to play with dolls here. I found this link in another blog from the guest poster, Torsten Klaus. The blog is FromaDaddy, and I suggest you check it out as he shares great stories about his life with two children and one wife.

What’s your opinion on gender specific toys?

Were you raised to only play with toys geared towards your gender?

How do you feel about the Ninja Turtles operated under Nickelodeon vs. the orginal?

Life, Parenting

Week in Review: Crawling and A Homemade Activity Board

06/29/2014 R.C. Liley 5 Comments

This week seemed to drag on yet fly by at the same time. How does that work?

I consider “dragging on” and “flying by” as mutually exclusive, but I figure this occurrence has something to do with being a parent. Parents of the world, is this a familiar thing to you?

For the past few weeks, Avery had been showing signs of a soon-to-be crawler. This week she has graduated from rolling as if practicing what to do if caught on fire to being an official crawler! Now when we set her down to get something in the next room, she simply crawls to us.

Leave the room, huh? I'll find you wherever you go!! — Leave the room, huh? I’ll find you wherever you go!!

Yeah, guess we should probably get around to that whole baby-proofing thing, huh?

This is sturdy enough to pull down on, right?

I’m fairly certain our nights spent playing with the laser and our cat helped her progress into the crawler she is now. So many benefits from that little red dot emitting tool; cheap entertainment, exercise for cat and baby, and good for learning to crawl!

Don't move, you might scare it off! — One day, cat, I’ll crawl and even the playing field….

I have been wanting to build an activity board like the many ones I found on Pinterest, and finally had the chance early this week. On Tuesday, Avery was sleeping a little longer than usual, so I took advantage and went to the garage to put it together.

I am far from a great craftsman, but thankfully it didn’t have to be pretty! I grabbed several wood floor and carpet samples at the Home Depot, bought a chain lock, smiley face push light, light switch (not connected!), plastic chain, and several door stops. I figured the door stops would be her favorite just going off of her use of the ones around our home.

Turns out, my assumptions proved accurate!

I also bought a bell for bicycles that attaches to the handlebars, but don’t have a way to attach it to the board. I need to get another bell like those you see at a bank teller’s window that you just hit, but she seems happy with it as it for the time being.

Yep, I'm happy. Seeeeee? — Yep, I’m happy. Seeeeee?

This week was reasonably productive and busy with having a crawler to watch over, and I can only imagine what adventures we’ll have in the coming week. Whatever they are, I’ll be sure to document them all right here. She’s already bumping her head more, so that will be fun…

Now it’s time to enjoy our Sunday before the looming workweek starts again; it’s a vicious cycle!

Do you ever have those long weeks that somehow also seem to go by? Do I even make sense?

Ever make or want to make an activity board for your little one?