Christmas Chaos!

Were your holidays like ours? I sincerely hope not for so many reasons I don't want to go into right now. But it wasn't all crying and feelings of hopelessness. We also had a really fun Christmas morning. At least Harper did.

Somewhere along the way Christmas changed for me. I wasn't upset when gifts transitioned from Star Wars figures to Nintendo games. That was actually pretty cool. But then I started getting "grown up" gifts. Dress shirts, organizers, desk calendars. You start to get needs instead of wants as you grow older. This is all well and good, I don't want to sound ungrateful. But there's something about being a six year old boy and getting a Jabba the Hut Action Playset that really inspires the imagination.

Harper made out like a bandit this year. I was never an only child, so I never had two parents, two sets of grandparents, and scads of aunts and uncles buying exclusively for me. This was Harper's situation for Christmas 2007. Some highlights:

The first thing Harper opened was her ginormous, overstuffed stocking. Among her favorites, was this Elmo doll.


Perhaps her favorite gift was this baby doll from her Great Grandmother, which came complete with pacifier and sippy cup.

Some for you...


...some for me.

Harper also got some books. I think her reaction below says it all.


Harper's favorite TV show is Teletubbies so we got her the entire collection.

From left: Po, Dipsy, Tinky Winky. Not pictured: Laa-laa

One of the more...unique gifts we received came from Harper's Great Uncle Jeff. It's a stuffed, sleeping dog that breathes. Just put in the batteries, turn it on, and watch it sleep. And breathe. Not overly exciting but with all the electronic doodads and gizmos she got, it was actually a really nice change of pace to have a calm toy that just quietly lays still. Thanks Jeff!

This comatose dog is the only animal in the house that doesn't poop, pee, or puke on the carpets and furniture (including Harper and McCall)!

Thoughts On Discovering We're Pregnant

In case you don't know, McCall is pregnant. She has been for quite a while, actually. So long that we know we're having a boy. But we wanted to be a little more cautious this time around just in case it "didn't take". Anyway, the day we found out she asked me to write down my thoughts. Here they are:

Wow, what a day! This morning we found out McCall is pregnant. She’s been feeling really poorly for the last two weeks. So yesterday she suggested I pick up an early pregnancy test while I was shopping at the grocery store. I know, fellas, I’m living the dream!

So this morning McCall peed on the thing, and the little plus sign showed up. I think it was either trying to be positive, or it was trying to remind us that we were about to be adding a lot. Adding another mouth, adding more dirty diapers, adding debt. Plus sign indeed.

But today also got me thinking. There are a few specific days that really stand out as defining moments in your life. Some may be bad, like the passing of a loved one, the end of a relationship, failure in the big game. But there are also amazing, positive days that change our lives forever. Graduation, promotion, I do.

Obviously, one of the most life changing days we can possibly experience is bringing a baby into the world. But almost equally as impacting is discovering that you’re expecting. In fact, I consider the day before I learned McCall was pregnant with Harper the last worry free day of my life.

So it’s a good thing I’d already given up my Bear Necessities attitude this morning when McCall took the pregnancy test. Actually, I should more accurately say, when she so totally failed the pregnancy test.

And it’s funny because I bought the cheapest test I could find and then we went to Kaiser Permanente and the most sophisticated medical machines available confirmed the ten dollar plastic stick sitting by the bathroom sink at home. So don’t spend extra bucks for a brand name, they all work the same. Okay, that’s my consumer advocate advice for the month.

Outside

Harper has learned the difference between inside and outside. Unfortunately for us, she only wants to be outside now. As soon as she wakes up in the morning she's asking to go outside.

As soon as we get her home from day care she wants to go outside. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, screaming and crying. She doesn't ask for mommy, doesn't want daddy. She wants to go outside.

Sometimes we'll take her out onto the balcony patio we have. This is not what Harper means when she says, "outside" (or more accurately, "owshide"). Harper has a very specific intent when she requests to be outside.

To her, outside means getting in the swing we have hanging from the tree in our front yard. She loves to go really high in her swing for about ninety seconds. Then she starts frantically signing "all done". As soon as I let her down from the swing, she runs over to our side yard and waits for me to open the gate.

Her first stop is typically the ladybug sandbox. She scoops sand pours it into this funnel thing which spins a paddle wheel as it falls through. Next, she likes to go into her playhouse and stand at the sink. She rubs her hands together and says, "wash". She will also usually ring the playhouse doorbell a few times just to make sure it's still working.

Next she'll go down her little slide once or twice, point to one of the neighborhood cats and say, "shishy", which is how she says "kitty" (as well as "fishy" as when she asks for her favorite Goldfish crackers). She also points to the fish wind chime that hangs outside our neighbor's window by the side yard and says, "shishy" (which is also how she says "kitty").

So at 3:00am, when Harper starts crying to go outside, it's nearly impossible to calm her down. We have to distract her or something and we're usually up anywhere from one to three hours. Harper still has a really hard time sleeping and almost never sleeps undisturbed between midnight and 6:00am.

McCall was lamenting the other day the fact that she taught Harper the difference between inside and outside. But at least this way we know what she wants. It would be so much worse if we just couldn't figure out what she was crying for. At least in theory.

Mini-vacay!

What a week! I don't even know where to begin. The beginning just seems so contrived. EVERY story begins at the beginning. Except those tediously obnoxious stories that begin somewhere in the middle or even the end! Get over yourself, just start at the beginning like a normal story.

We had plans to visit my brother, Joel, and his family in Minneapolis for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Harper Jo got sick so we postponed our flight a few days. We ended up having Thanksgiving dinner with old family friends, the Sunukjians. Harper Jo didn't get better, though, and it turned out she had a mild case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. So we canceled the flight we had previously postponed.

This left us in a bit of a quandary. We had nowhere to go, nothing to do, a week in which to do it, and Harper Jo the whole time. That's right, she was barred from daycare for 10 days. I guess I'm thankful for that policy, but it sure bit us at the worst time. I started thinking about last year when we went down to San Diego the weekend after Thanksgiving. We had a such a great time. Then McCall's grandmother suggested we take a quick getaway to San Diego.

We Pricelined four star hotels in San Diego and got the Hilton Resort Mission Bay for a reasonable rate. We booked two nights and had a plan: we would drive down and spend the day at the SD Zoo, sleep, the next day go to the SD Wildlife Park, sleep, return home.

Then, and I swear I'm not making this up, we get a call from Harper's agent. She has an audition for Mattel the second day of our mini-vacay. Get on the horn, change nights, new plan: audition, drive, zoo, sleep, park, sleep, home.

The audition ran later than we estimated. We made it to the zoo about an hour before it closed. We had planned to become members either way, because then we got free admission to the wildlife park. So we went in and made sure there were still animals at the zoo, then we left.

At that point the plan morphed to: eat, sleep, zoo, sleep, park, home.

The zoo was a blast. We had a great time and saw all of Harper's favorites (ducks and flamingos, which she refers to as "mingos"). We rode the Skyfari lift three times and we even saw some Great Pandas.

That night we went ate a nice a restaurant/bar called Saska's. They the had the Cowboys and Packers game which was only available on the NFL Network and therefore not available at the Hilton Resort Mission Bay. After dinner, McCall took Harper back to the room while I finished the game. The Cowboys improved to 11-1. The best record in franchise history. Meanwhile, Harper randomly threw up all over McCall and the bed. I wasn't sorry to miss that one.

Friday morning we woke up the strangest thing. There was water, and it was falling. From the sky. It was like the clouds were crying. It'd been so long since I'd seen it, I almost forgot the word for it. Horrificallytorentialdownpour.

Rain hit us like we stole its lunch money. We checked the Weather Channel and all of SoCal was getting drenched. The plan: pack, leave, check out wild life park, eat, determine new plan.

The wild life park seems like it would be a lot of fun on a beautiful day. Yesterday it was the most miserable place on the planet. There was no place to sit down and have a meal indoors. We were there about 10 minutes and called it a bust. Somehow, we spent about $40 there.

The rain was really furious. We found the nearest diner and stopped to eat. The TV reception kept going in and out due to the storm. Thankfully, be the time we were done it had let up a lot. We drove home pretty exhausted. Harper was a handful the whole time.

But all in all, it felt like things really worked out the way they were supposed to. We had such a great time at the zoo, and San Diego is so nice, plus the Cowboys won. It's really hard to complain. It's also really hard to come back. But at least we can put Harper back in day care!

Ice, Ice, Baby

We decided to take Harper ice skating today. I haven't been ice skating in a long time. A loooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggg time. McCall asked me how long it's been. So long it didn't cause excruciating pain the last time I went.



Let me back up a minute. McCall phoned all the local ice skating rinks to see if any had toddler skates. The Culver Ice Arena carries toddler size six skates. Perfect for Harper Jo. So we loaded her up and made our way down to Culver City.

Before leaving we had a brief debate about how warmly we needed to dress Harper. Did we need a cap, mittens, scarf, etc. I insisted no, it would be cold, but the air wouldn't be too cold. As soon as we walked through the door I knew I was wrong. The place was FREEZING. And besides that every kid in the place was bundled like Everest expeditioners.

In my defense, I grew up in Texas where the only ice rinks were in the middle of malls with huge open space all around. So the cold air was able to rise and diffuse. This place was a huge slab of ice in a room. It was a meat locker.

Anyway, we got laced up, snapped a couple pictures, shot a few minutes of video and then Harper was pretty much done. She made one full lap around the rink being guided by McCall. Then she started crying to leave which was fine with me, because my feet were killing me. I don't know what's changed in the last 17 years but it started by squashing any grace I ever had on ice skates.

We didn't get many, but here are a few pics of Harper at the ice rink.


Harper Jo once again proves that there are no limits to being cute.



"What do you think it is, Harper, 45 degrees?"
"Lower."
"40?"
"Lower."
"35?"
"Lower."

10 Second Picassos

Harper loves to draw. We gave her some markers and a pad of paper and she started scribbling immediately. Problem is, after a few strokes she's ready for the next sheet. She's very specific about when one of her masterpieces is finished. I imagine in her head it's something like...

Scribble, scribble, scribble
"Voila! Perfect. Next!"

Some pieces for your viewing pleasure:


"Fishy"


"Bunny Rabbit"


"Guernica"


The artist in repose.

One Night Only

McCall is a HUGE Ben Harper fan. Her affinity is one of the main reasons Harper is so named. McCall has told me numerous times that Ben Harper was the voice of God for her until she could hear Him for herself, that listening to his music was a form of prayer and worship for her.

Last night, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals played the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Our good friend and former nanny, Moon, is in town visiting and she agreed to babysit Harper for us so we could go to the show. It was a much needed and anticipated date night for us.

Through a series of events, the details of which I'll spare you, we had an extra pair of tickets we were hoping to unload. We weren't trying to make a profit, we just didn't want to eat the cost of an extra pair of fairly expensive tickets.

We dined at the Daily Grill and before our meal we prayed that God would guide the tickets to the right people. When you live by faith, you never know what moments may lead to life changing experiences for yourself or those around you. So we wanted to be open to the possibility that our extra set of tickets could be God's unexpected grace in someone else's life.

Standing outside waiting for the valet to bring us our car, McCall starting asking other patrons if they were fans of Ben Harper. The first guy professed that he didn't even have cable TV. I'm not sure what that had to do with Ben Harper, but he seemed to offer it as an explanation for not knowing who Ben Harper is. We then saw a young couple and the girl became immediately excited at the prospect of seeing Ben live. Unfortunately, the guy she was with had some "homework" he had to finish and she was unable to raise anybody else on the phone to join her.

So officially that left us at Expensive Tickets 2, Kyle and McCall 0.

We hopped in our car and headed over to the Orpheum hoping we might be able to find someone looking for seats there. McCall was very concerned because the show started at 8pm and we were cutting it close. Almost immediately it seemed that unloading our extra seats was going to be very unlikely. It was obvious that anybody hanging around this area of downtown either already had tickets, was homeless, or was looking to purchase something else.

When we saw the marquee, we realized there was an opening act, Piers Faccini, so we had a little bit of time. McCall and I both thought to call Moon and have her bring Harper down for the show. So Moon roused Harper, rushed out the door, and roared down Wilshire to the Orpheum.

She arrived just in time. McCall took Harper to our seats in Row G, center aisle right as Ben settled into his opening number, 11th Commandment, a solo on his lap steel guitar. Meanwhile, Moon and I took our seats in Row V. If my seat had been any further to the left, I would have been sitting in the parking lot.

I kept looking over to try and see McCall and Harper. Harper was pretty easy to spot with these big florescent pink earphones on. Unfortunately, she tends to get squirmy when we hold her too long. She really loves to run, explore, and meet new people. So McCall was constantly getting in and out of the row. I was very worried that the people next to or behind her would get upset.

I relieved McCall for a while and let Harper roam around the Orpheum's massive lobby. She loved climbing the marbled stairs and we took a quick peak from the mezzanine. Eventually, a very kind couple in the same row (opposite side) gave McCall their aisle seats so she could get in and out more easily. We didn't seem them after that, I guess they just left or something. Regardless, this allowed me and Moon to come down to Row G.

It was so much fun to watch Harper. Everyone around us seemed awestruck by our little girl. People kept checking in with her to see her reaction. Several times she walked down to front of the stage and stand at the security rail. At one point, we gave her a bottle and she sat bobbing on Mommy's shoulders with it stuck in her mouth. It was the funniest sight. I can't imagine that's happened too many times before at one of their shows.

The concert ended at the perfect time; just as Harper was starting to get really restless. At the end of the show McCall carried her down to the front and Leon Mobley, percussion, handed her a drum stick. Then Ben gave her one of the fabric roses that had adorned the piano all night.

The show itself was totally amazing. It had the feeling of a worship service. I could definitely sense God's presence. And why not? If I were God, I'd go to a Ben Harper show. I'm reminded of the song Anyone Can Play Guitar by Radiohead. In it Thom Yorke sings "I want to play in a band when I get to Heaven." Well, I'm pretty sure I'll be watching Ben Harper for the rest of eternity play the lap steel in Heaven's band.

Three moments in particular stand out to me. The first was a cover of Tom Petty's Breadown. I'm a huge classic rocker, so I was stoked when I heard the band playing it. Unfortunately, I was in the men's room at the time with Harper Jo (hey, the title of the blog isn't alliterative lip service). However, we were able to make it back into the theatre to catch the tail end.

The second moment was during Where Could I Go, the last song of the set before the encore. In the middle of the song, the band suddenly went totally quiet. Ben swung the microphone away from his face and stepped in front of the monitors to the very edge of the stage and sang the next verse a cappella. The excitement in the crowd was palpable and many had difficulty containing their hoots and caterwauls.

Ben recoiled from the shouts, obviously wanting absolute quiet. We obliged. Even Harper remained silent. The result was one of the most amazing live performances I've ever witnessed. Ben's voice filled the cavernous hall. I'm very glad I was standing so close to experience this, but I wander if it was wasn't even more spectacular from the balcony. He finished with the lyrics "They say freedom is just a place to hide/Now I'm coming to you with arms open wide/Where could I go but to the Lord," and the band kicked in at full volume as the crowd erupted in ecstatic rhapsody.

The last moment was something really special. Towards the end of the show, the band finished a song and the crowd started cheering. But the band just stood there looking at us. And we cheered louder. For what seemed like five or six full minutes we cheered, the volume rising steadily. But I don't think we were applauding Ben Harper's personal musical achievements as we were the opportunity to come together with so many different people and witness the beauty and inspiration that comes from watching someone do something they love so passionately so excellently.

As he stood there gazing out into the audience, I think Ben Harper felt humbled. He made no gestures to prompt the applause, did nothing to accept it. Simply stood and listened. Ben Harper may be a musician but it's possible this an erroneous label for him. I think more accurately he might be described as a harbinger of joy. Because that's what we were all feeling in that moment. Regardless of what awaited us when left the Orpheum, no matter what demons hunched at the doors, in that moment, everyone in the audience knew they were alive. We felt joy and we expressed it, we lifted it up and shared it with each other.

Eventually, the band had to start playing the next song. Because I for one had no intention of stopping. In fact I was just getting warmed up.

As we filed out, people kept wanting to meet Harper, take her picture, have their picture taken with her. She made tons of friends and brought smiles to everyone. I remembered my prayer from earlier that evening and I realized it had been answered. God had directed those tickets into the right hands. And our family was able to experience an amazing event together.

Not only was it Harper's first Ben Harper show, but it was Moon's as well and she was totally blown away. It felt good that we could give that to her considering how much she does for us. She is a really incredible friend.

God also demonstrated to me His unexpected grace last night. Everyone around us at the show was ready to help with Harper. Everyone was so kind. Everyone was positive. From the woman into whose drink I accidentally put my hand, to the kind couple sitting next me in Row V who thoughtfully asked me if I would like to share their weed. It was truly awesome to see even a small portion of Los Angeles come together in celebration and love. If you were at the Orpheum on Thursday, November 8, 2007, you showed me grace and I thank you.