Clearing Up the Confusion E Zi

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 4, Issue 5 My daughter Kaylie can be a real cutie at times. Anyone who has children knows what I'm talking about. Just watching her running around the house or out on the lawn can bring a smile to my face. When she decides to give the nearest tree a hug, well, I just have to get a picture of that. Unfortunately, unlike in days of yesteryear, none of Kaylie's grandparents live in the same village (or even within an hour's drive) of us. For some reason, me just telling them about these events just isn't the same as seeing their granddaughter in living color. Of course, they want actually...

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 4, Issue 4 My daughter, Kaylie, is well on her way to becoming an inveterate reader like her daddy. If you should happen to check in on her after she's fallen asleep at night, you would see her little toes peaking out from under the covers and between six and ten books scattered around her on the bed. I would love to catch that on camera, but I suspect the flash would be counter-productive. Now, being only a little older than two, she isn't quite up to the task of actual "reading". She has the general idea of the alphabet, but, asked to name any given letter, she's just as likely to sa...

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 4, Issue 3 Lisa and Kaylie just got back from visiting her parents down in Texas. They were there for less than a week, but I swear that Kaylie changed so much in just that short time that it scared me a little bit. Suddenly she's putting words together into sentences, her clothes are getting too small for her, and her gift of mimicry has really kicked in (I've *got* to get a video of her singing "Do Re Mi" with the "Sound of Music" on TV). One of the challenges we are having in our lives right now is just keeping our schedules straight. Between each of us trying to run our business, t...

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 4, Issue 2 Thanks so much to all of you who welcomed me back after my hiatus. It's good to know I have some loyal fans. Thanks also for checking out "The Reluctant Networker" (http://thereluctantnetworker.blogspot.com). I hope it continues to have value in your lives. Anyway, on to the main reason for this newsletter -- stories about my daughter, Kaylie. In January, Lisa went down to Texas to visit with her parents. For various reasons, Kaylie and I weren't able to go. That meant I got to be Mr. Mom for nine straight days. Right now I've got to say, I don't know how single pare...

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 4, Issue 1 It's funny how life can get so crowded sometimes that you don't even notice the time passing by. In addition to some fun family things (which included a vacation at Walt Disney World at the beginning of December), Cyber Data Solutions has been keeping me a bit tied up. I'm not complaining, though. I like having work, even if it means the occasional long night. I've also been devoting my writing time more and more to developing a new project. I started a new blog called "The Reluctant Networker" (http://thereluctantnetworker.blogspot.com/) focusing on the networki...

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 3, Issue 14 Just so you know, in general, Kaylie is a pretty even-keeled little girl. She doesn't get too upset over things and seems to be laughing most of the time. Every once in a while, though, she gets in a mood when she's feeling not so happy (don't we all?) When that happens one of the things we've found that helps her calm down again is to sing to her. Now, I'm not much of a vocalist, but apparently Kaylie really loves my rendition of "Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog. Often she needs only one pass through and all is right with the world again. I was thinking that, wouldn...

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 3, Issue 13 When I write these introductions I always seem to talk about my daughter, Kaylie, and her exploits as she grows. This time, though, just to be a little different, I thought I would talk about my lovely wife, Lisa. Lisa, among her many other amazing talents, has an ability to organize that is just this side of unnatural. She knows whose birthdays, weddings, graduations, anniversaries, etc, etc, are coming up and always seems to have a card ready (many of which she makes herself). She's ordered our household so that all of the general upkeep gets done in a timely manner. The ...

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 3, Issue 12 We just got back from going to the park with Kaylie. Watching her, I am amazed at her utter fearlessness. She finds the tallest slide and proceeds to climb it to the top. She plays with the "big" kids in the sandbox. She even (much to our terror) keeps trying to climb up the jungle gym. She's running us ragged! Fortunately, there are times when she's a little more mellow. Swinging on the swings is a much more relaxing time. She also enjoys finding a nice flower bed or a quiet spot under a tree to just play by herself or lie down and stare at the sky. The downside to this is...

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 3, Issue 11 Lisa, Kaylie, and I, with a few friends, went to see the "new" U of M Museum of Art. They just recently re-opened with a whole new wing and we thought it would be a fun family-friendly weekend event. Kaylie loved it. OK, to be accurate, she loved running from place to place, letting out joyful yells which she could hear echoing back at her from every hard surface. Daddy spent most of his time in "chase mode", trying to keep the little one out of trouble. Not always succeeding. At one point Kaylie was running down a hall with me walking in pursuit. She couldn't go far, as ha...

------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 3, Issue 10 We went out to our local "Hands-On Museum" for a family-oriented networking event. Lots of fun science exhibits, a scavenger hunt, and numerous display tables for local tech companies, including the requisite swag. Kaylie had a great time running all over the place. Her particular favorite was a little rubber ball given out by my good friend, Megan Torrance of Torrance Learning (http://www.torrancelearning.com/). The ball, when squeezed, would bulge out and turn from a deep blue to a fluorescent yellow. Cool stuff. Let it be known that Megan bears no blame for w...