When I found out that Compassion International had a group of bloggers in Kenya this week, I had to come out of hiding briefly to let you all know – and to put up a link on the right here for you all to check it out yourself.
Our family sponsors a child in Kenya, [...]

Faithful readers, I want to let you know we will be taking a short break here at Being Michael’s Daddy.
But do not fear, for we shall be back in time, with plenty of musings, nattering, grumbles and witty repartee. And maybe even a few things that you’ll enjoy reading.
In the mean time, if you haven’t [...]

Thirteen years ago, I stood watching an ultrasound, silently hoping we were looking at a girl baby. I was pleased to see my wish come true as the technician pointed out the important part of the grainy black and white image. This would be my second daughter, affectionately known here as “L”.
When the technician moved [...]

“Mama? I want candy.”
“Okay, Michael. What kind of candy do you want?”
“I want these:”

“Oh, okay. Let’s see… ah, here they are:”

“Yep. Thanks, mom!”
Daddy was witness to this little exchange while we were at the store yesterday, but has given up trying to figure out how she was able to interpret his gurning-based descriptor.
Communication between mother [...]

Congratulations! Your first child is on the way.
As you await the blessed day of your baby’s arrival, you daydream about being a parent, envisioning sunny, carefree days romping across the lawn with your beaming, freckle-faced, curly-topped child who will skip through her days eager to learn and enjoy this world and all you offer. [...]

Today we bring you a blast from the past.
I recently got back some old home videos of my daughters from long ago, and I was hoping to find this clip.
This little gem was something I recorded in 1995. I was a new dad of one little girl, and I spent most of my time [...]

Michael has been asking questions since he first learned how to properly string two words together.
The first ones were simple: what’s that, where, how and of course why.
His questions come continually these days. But they don’t often make much sense, and most of them leave me puzzling for a suitable response. For years I’ve [...]

Michael gets in trouble quite a bit for having grabby hands. He’s very tactile, having to touch things and manipulate them in order to fully appreciate their essence. I figured he’d get past this phase once he reached three or so and could thoroughly comprehend what “NO” means.
He’s been known to shut down the dishwasher [...]

A couple of years back my neighbor had a huge poplar taken down. This particular type of tree is also known as a dogwood to some.
This tree was mammoth. Gargantuan. Ginormous. There are some tall trees around here but this thing was head and shoulders above them all.
So after having it cut down and [...]

Summer is here, and the sprinklers are running. And Michael is once again in a watery heaven.
I detailed Michael’s love of sprinklers here, so I won’t delve into the back story so much. Suffice it to say that since we are now seeing sprinklers pop up all over town, Michael is beside himself with glee. [...]