I started this blog nine months ago in April 2012. It's not a full year old yet, but much of 2012 in our family has been punctuated in some way by the stuff I post here. In the "about this blog" tab, you'll read that I started the blog to reflect on some of my experiences as a parent before they disappeared down the swift river of time. It's already kind of surreal to go back and read about Addison's behaviors from just nine months ago, when she was barely two years old.
A couple of months ago I had to severely limit the time I spent online, since Lindsay got a job teaching and I became the primary caregiver for Addison. I created a Facebook page to have a more casual way to record some of the conversations I have with Addison without the pressure of trying to craft them into carefully edited posts. I also joined a dad blogging group on Facebook, which is really opening up my eyes to the behind-the-scenes stuff that other dad bloggers deal with. As a sort of collective project, a lot of the dads in the group chose their single favorite post of 2012, and Oren Miller of A Blogger and a Father got them all compiled in one place. Go check 'em (and mine) out!
While trying to decide on that one post to stand for the best of my blogging in 2012, I spent some time sorting through the almost 100 posts I published in 2012. In the sidebar to the right, you can see what some of the most popular posts have been. There's some good stuff there, I think.
But there have also been some posts that have slipped by a little less noticed, some of my favorites, in fact. Yesterday I read through most of these with Addison on my lap, and between the two of us, we've highlighted some of the best.
Here they are, with commentary from both Addison and me (click on the pic to get the full post):
Addison: Hey! I got someone else's hair on my head. Why? I want my own hair back. My crazy hair. Oh, I miss it. Not want that hair.
Me: This one is actually in the sidebar as a "popular post," but I've included it because it's one of Lindsay's favorites, and it's got a lot of fun pictures in it. It's possible that I joked to Addison that "scalping" explained where the hair from other people came from, and then had to backpedal quickly when I realized I was in tricky territory.
Addison: Me has arrow eyes! Why I got arrow eyes? I got circle eyes, not those eyes.
Me: So, Addison doesn't seem to understand that this is how an "artist" draws squinty eyes. Also, since we're still in the thick of potty training, this stuff is still on our minds, and most parents can probably relate.
Addison: That's me! Right there. In the pirate pants. Fighting the princess. I say aaargh!
Me: I'm pleased that Addison looked at this picture and identified with the pirate, and not the princess. Not that there's anything wrong with princesses.
Addison: It's a Queen! Also, it's me! Addison Sage Call!
Me: She is a queen. That's better than a princess, right? This one gets at the way I miss my little girl when she's gone, or when I am. And the way she just kinda misses me.
Addison: That daddy has tears. And he is putting a pencil in my mama's mouth.
Me: I'm not sure where Addison's pencil story comes from. Anyway, given that I devoted at least a full month's worth of blogging to the fact that I hate the heat, this is my favorite of the bunch, complete with a tirade against Weather.com.
Addison: Oh, I am crying. I don't like cows. Cows make me cry.
Me: Cows have really scarred this kid (which you can read about here). But this post is actually about my unconscious reaction to hearing my kid cry. And it offers a picture of the first time she flipped me the bird.
Addison: Bunny! Oh I very yuv it yuv it yuv it. It is so special to me! But . . . it's fire hurting my bunny. Makes me sad. And it makes my bunny feel sick.
Me: Just so you know, that's not fire, those are the fumes of a stanky bunny. This isn't actually my favorite post; it's Addison's. She always wants me to show it to her when we sit together at the computer.
Addison: That's a daddy. They hush little babies. Like this: hush little baby, don't say a word . . .
And then a big storm comes and my daddy runs away from a big storm.
Me: I wrote this as my first guest post, and really spent a lot of time editing it down to something I'm proud of.
Addison: I messed up mama's make-up. It made me fancy!
Me: I wrote this Halloween post as a way to exercise my fiction-writing muscles, just a little bit, and as a way to think about just how creepy my daughter is. But I still love her.
Addison: I don't like this one. I don't like this one the most. I want a picture with my bunny.
Me: Okay, so the comic isn't that great. But I felt good about the prose in this one; I really tried to polish it.
Addison: Daddy doing exercises! I'm sitting on him! He is an airplane and we are flying!
Me: I've written a number of posts about trying to get in shape and do physical things in order to show an example to Addison, and this is probably my favorite.
Addison: I am playing in the mud! It makes me feel good. Very good. So so good. I yuv the mud!
Me: She really does love playing in the mud. This was an effort to introduce one of my literary loves (Moby-Dick) into a post, and I think it came out really well. Also, it was the very first comic that got my father-in-law to crack a smile, so that's something. And now he's totally happy that I started cartooning and didn't get a job.