Christmas with Harold

A classic Christmas joke would go something like this:

An adult asks a child, “Can you name everyone in the manger on the first Christmas?”
To which the child replies, matter-of-factly, “Sure. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the three wise men and Harold.”
The surprised adult questions, “Harold? Who is that?”
“The singing angel, of course. Don’t you know the song? Hark, Harold the Angel sings!”

Hilarious! I’ve been singing this Christmas hymn a bit in the car getting ready for Christmas. The tempo is quick and the lyrics almost compel louder singing – perfect for the solo drive : )

Last Wednesday was the youth group Christmas party and two of my nephews were with us that night. I was really surprised how well my fourth grade nephew fit in with some of our junior high boys – or perhaps partly worried at the maturity progress at those ages and wondering what I’m going to do with Hugh in seven years! On the way home, after picking up our kids at the nicest-couple-on-the-planet’s house, we started singing Christmas songs and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” was requested. Luckily I’ve been rehearsing it all week, so we sang it once. And twice. Hugh liked the sound and asked for it again and again as soon as we’d finish. Even Miah was trying to sing along! We probably sang the song ten times on our twenty minute car ride.

Of course, we’d only sing the first verse. If you are ever to write a hymn or song, make sure the first verse or chorus is catchy, because that’s all people will remember. I know bits and pieces of the next two verses, but had to look them up in my old UMC hymnal. As it turns out, the song is even better when you know the words! The hymn captures the birthday parts of Christmas, with lines like “Christ is born in Bethlehem,”  and the oft-repeated refrain “glory to the newborn King,” while some lines capture the essence of Christmas, like “God and sinners reconciled,” or the final lines of verse three:

“Mild he lays his glory by,

Born that man no more may die,

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give them second birth.”

Jesus’ birth is great reason to celebrate, because it is just the beginning! Definitely my favorite Christmas hymn this year, and definitely worth singing alone in the car. Or proclaiming with some angelic hosts . . . Or even with Harold : )

Dad Economics

Maybe its built into the job description, but dads have a certain view of home economics that, at the very least, kids do not seems to grasp. It is probably because they have absolutely no concept of money, and the first lesson in pre-school from a certified dad-economist would be, "Money Doesn't Grow On Trees." Common sayings from dads around the home, even my home growing up, would have been:  "Turn off the lights." "Don't let the heat out." "What do you mean we're out, we just bought that!" And all the others, half of which just do not carry the tried-and-true logic a dad thinks they do : )

It is funny what will carry a dollar sign. My sandwich for work costs two slices of bread , one banana and peanut butter . . . so perhaps $0.60. But I don't worry about that - a man's gotta eat! Disposable diapers are in the twenty cent range, unless they are night diapers, those are in the thirtys to fourties, or pull-ups, which are in the fifties. Changing two diapers while still at the changing pad could be half a buck right there! Ever hear about "vampire power?" Mainly just a clever term for throwing pennies away daily for all the unused electronic devices plugged into our homes and their LED "on" lights. And the list goes on and on, whether we keep track of it or not!

As a new father, I find myself thinking about the same things. Inventing a money tree, sure, but also, does the bath tub need to be so full or the sprinkler need to run so long? Why does it take four squares of toilet paper to dry a three year olds runny nose?  Hugh loves to play with the little wooden trains and tracks, and has a motorized "Percy" that can move on its own. Percy runs on a single AA battery and can pull a bunch of the other cars, even up over the bridge! However, sometimes Percy gets off the track, and nothing reminds me about the cost of batteries more than to see Hugh playing cars or robots while Percy is trying to tunnel through the base boards or grinding away the sofa leg. "Turn off Percy when he's not on the track," I'll say.

And I'll have to say it again too. In between Hugh will tell me, "Dad, Percy needs a battery. Can you fix him, in your workshop?" Of course I can, a dad can fix anything! I'll buy batteries again and again too, just to keep Percy running. The math doesn't add up to make a big deal over [i]those[/i] few cents. Hugh and Miah will learn the value of things some day and I pray they can keep a child-like view that anything and everything does not equal a dollar sign. In the world of dad economics, what our children learn from us will be obvious from what they observe, and worth far more than dollars and cents.

New Sayings 2

There are some more sayings floating around our house that I wanted to jot down before they were forgotten. None are from Miah, she still is not speaking yet. Physically, in height, weight, teeth and months-to-walk, she had Hugh beat. But speech is not her thing yet. There are a few syllables that sound an aweful lot like "dad" "mom" and "this" and "that" - but I am not exactly sure sometimes. "Dat" could mean "Dad, please get me that food." or "I want that food, dad." Just really hard to tell : )

Hugh says lots of things and often I do not know if they come from a TV show, preschool or one of his parents. He is at that stage where one has to be careful what is said, lest you hear it repeated back!

A few weeks ago you might have heard, "Sure is yummy, so yummy yum yum!" Typically that was referring to food, but it did not have to be said at the dinner table. Kind of an expression of fun! He is phasing it out though.

Often we hear about heroes but it pronounced, "here-ee-oughs." As in, rhymes with Cheerios. Getting a tissue, feeding the dog or putting back a toy might lead to the triumphant cheer, "We are the super herioes." And we are : )

Another saying he picked up with Nana, when she came to watch them for Jess' and my anniversary dinner. It became a hilarious reoccurring joke. Hugh would ask, "Is mom home now?" to which Nana replied, "No sirree  Bob!" and they both would laugh, "Pppppbtthhh." After repeating that, I guess at a minimum of twenty five times, it is often said as a single line of pure-humor, like, "Is-mom-home-now-no-sirree-bob-ppppbtthh!" Cracks him up.

Final saying for this batch is the wonderful magic trick performed during mealtime. Some might say it is an illusion ; ) I do not mean to spoil the trick, so do act surprised if you see it in person, but Hugh will hold up a piece of food having everyone inspect it. "See? Seeeeee?" Then holding it between two hands, he'll say "Abracadabra", put the food in his mouth, and ask us, "Where'd it go?!!" Ever amazed, we'll check under the table, on our plates, in the curtains, to which Hugh will reply, "No, it's in my mouth!"

Lots of fun times. Later.

New sayings

Hugh talks a whole lot now and surprises me with the things he says. It's not just the words themselves anymore but how he's gets the context right and forms full sentences. (Probably the smartest kid ever, no big deal ; ) I think with kids they change and develop so much faster than us "smart" adults that there is always a surprise just around the corner.

A few recent favorites of mine so I don't forget them (in no particular order)

• One day I told Hugh, "I'm going to the store," and he responded very quickly, "To buy some muffins?" For a few weeks there wasn't much of a point of mentioning the store without buying muffins. 

• I don't know if it was from a TV show or what, but often he lets out this war cry, "Fa CHA!" It's usually in the context of "let's do this thing," though I might adopt it for other uses. No idea what it means though.

• Hugh's Granny (and Granddad) speak with British accent and Hugh will often ask "whot?" just like Granny when they talk over Skype. It's cute.

• He recently told Jess, "when I a teenage, I be big." Adorable. Jess reminded him that he wasn't a teenage yet, and he pondered a moment, and replied, "Soon, mom. Soon."

• "Everyone gets a chance." This must be from some TV show, and he doesn't watch that many without Jess so I'm sure she would have heard it, but you could hear this line getting dinner ready, on the way outside or thrown into any normal conversation.

If I had to sum them up in a single sentence, it'd be, "Whot? When I a teenager, everyone gets a chance to buy some muffins. Fa CHA!"

Birth Story: Part 2

Miah, my daughter, is eight months old now. I haven't blogged as much since she was born, and heard it best when a previous manager of mine said, "you never know how easy one is until you have two!" True dat, D.L. : ) Despite busy times and new happenings, certain memories last longer than others. A true birth day is one of those, and I had better write it down before I am an old man and forget.

Miah's birth was a lot different than Hugh's, and in some ways it was a lot alike. During Jess' final weeks of pregnancy it was determined her amniotic fluid levels were low (which was scary) and labor would have to be induced. We knew a few days ahead of time, so it was not a huge surprise to say, "we are heading to the hospital on Saturday." My parents came up to watch Hugh and we were in the delivery room by 7:30am.

Even though I had not been in a hospital for about twenty three months (since Hugh was born), labor was looking very familiar. The beeping heart rate monitor, the contraction-level printer feed, IV bags, nurse visits, etc. Not that I could replicate it myself, but I doubt the hospital's process changed much since last time. One thing that does not change during labor is the pain. My feet were killing me!  . . . Just kidding, of course ; ) Most of the activities in the room are basically distractions from the contractions, and in a weird twist the more pain Jess was in meant the closer we were to delivery time. We'd walk around the hallway, bounce on a peanut ball (mainly Jess), sit down, lie down, stand up or call the nurse to wonder if it was time yet. Different this go around were the popsicles, a nice mid-labor treat (for both of us!). Nurses were checking vitals, of mom and baby, very often and since everyone was healthy, our time was a big countdown, except the finish line is always unknown.

The final few minutes went by in a hurry. The doctor was not in the hospital during all the waiting time, (could you imagine that bill?!!), so when things were progressing at the end our nurses kept saying, "just wait until the doctor gets here. Hold it in there." Now, after nine plus months of baby-carrying and hours of increasing-frequency contractions, along with drugs to induce labor and whatever hormones are ramped up during child birth, I thought Jess was rather polite to them : ) When the doctor arrived, she had her out in about two pushes. All six pounds, twelve ounces, and twenty inches of her. And the "her" part was a big deal - Himmelberger boys have not produced a girl in generations! 

Oh, and the name. While we were engaged, Jess and I were following the same plan to read the Bible in a Year, and were both encouraged and wowed by Nehemiah (he has his own book in the OT). We decided we could not use that name for any boys we might have, but "Maya"/"Mya" was a nice sounding name and we used the spelling. Her middle name was based on her two grandmothers, who both have the middle name Ann(e). So Miah Anne it is! I got to hold Miah after the weighing and footprints, but the post-delivery recovery was much faster for Jess this time, so I had to share more than with Hugh. Just precious, little babies are amazing. And all the visitors, first being my family and big brother Hugh, thought so too : )

Wanna Hear Something Gross?

This post may gross you out. If you have kids of our own, you're probably fine. All others, you've been warned!

The other day Hugh started getting crusties on one of his eye lids. Kind of yucky, but we cleaned them off. (If you're getting queezy already, stop now). However, one morning he woke up and couldn't open that eye, it was crusted shut! Jess cleaned it off and we were a little concerned it could have been pink eye. Now, I don't really know what pink eye is, or does, or why I should be worried about it, but I have heard it is contagious and as parents you just get it taken care of.

When we call the doctor, we hope to hear something like, "no need to come in" or "you can take care of that on your own," but those words are not prescribed too often. As was the case with Hugh and his pink eye, because from the description we gave it could have been one of many kinds of pink eye, each of which are treated differently. To the doctor's! (Get ready, it's coming)

Our pediatrician explained that it wasn't pink eye at all. Hugh had a double ear infection and things inside his head were getting blocked up. So his running nose wasn't simply a running nose and the draining that typically goes on in the ear tubes (medical term : ), nose, eyes and throat wasn't as it should be. His backed up nose had to go somewhere and the most natural place for the pressure to be relieved was his tear duct. So those crusties? They were boogers. And they were coming out his eyes.

Boogers. Out. His. Eyes.

Gross.

The Mean Kid Story

This afternoon my youngest nephew and I spent some time together while his family went skiing and my family took naps. We had a good time. He beat me at Stratego (I lost Tortoise and Hare style) and I showed him the ropes on Super Mario Bros Wii. He also told me this story about his basketball team.

"There's this kid who kicks people in the nuts and calls people bad names."
"That's pretty mean," I replied, "does he get in trouble?"
"His mom gets him in trouble when she sees it."
"What about your coaches?" I pressed
"Only when he travels."

Funny dialog but a not so funny tale. Hugh is starting to hang out with other kids more often now - library on Mondays, church groups all week, etc - and I suppose at some point I'm going to hear a story like this. What do I tell him? How do we handle a situation like this, especially remotely and when they're really just little kids? Somehow I'll need to find the best mix of solve your own battles, don't worry about it and building a 48" nut-kicking practice dummy - all while doing the the right thing : )

Not really sure if the other side would be worse. What if Hugh were the one having stories told about him? Once we were someplace and a saw a kid acting mean to another kid, but when the 'mean' kid's mom came by asking what was going on, the upset kid's folks just said, "nothing, everything's fine." I'd want to know. If my family is jerking it up, I want to hear about and would prefer the awkward talk. So just tell me if you see it. And blow the whistle on traveling too, it is technically cheating.