Apr 17
MattBranding
My wife and I took my older daughter (who just turned 2) to see Sesame Street Live this morning. This was her first live show and we weren’t sure how she would deal with all the glitz of the Great White Narrow Way.
Now, Noa watches Sesame Street so we had that going for us. She also dislikes loud and chaotic “situations” so we didn’t have that going for us. The show was at 10:30am and we knew there would be a large number of kids so we had that going for us. She also really dislikes loud and chaotic “situations” so…
We arrived at the arena and got to our seats with about 10 minutes to spare. So far, so good. I don’t know it the whole thing was just confusing or if she recognized the Sesame Street sign or if the amount of other kids around made her feel comfortable but she was calm, cool, and collected. We had been explaining to her for about a week what we would be doing but I don’t think that it really clicked. Then again, maybe it did.
Then…the voice of Big Bird started talking to us and told us the show would be beginning in 3 minutes. That caught her attention. It seemed like she wasn’t sure what was gonna happen. She is sitting in her very own chair, feet barely making it to the edge of the seat. Her weight barely enough to hold the seat down.
The house lights go down.
She looks a little on edge/confused.
Big Bird hits the stage.
She throws a finger (pointer, not middle) towards the stage and shouts, “BIG BIRD!” with an ear-to-ear grin. One at a time the other characters make their way out and she is announcing them all. She is having the time of her life. My wife and I are elated but neither of us can figure out why. I suspect it has something to do with us both realizing that we have a bonafied little girl.
The show was great. We all had a great time. We get in the car to come home and ask her what her favorite part was. She said matter-of-factly, “the chipmunks.”
I don’t know what show she was watching but I suppose it doesn’t really matter does it?
Apr 13
MattBranding
I am a 2nd child. It’s not always easy to grow up in that position. My sister is just about 3 years older than I am. When I was born she was old enough to have an established routine and a fair amount of independence.
My older daughter had just turned 1 when my younger daughter was born. She had not learned to walk yet, was barely talking yet, and really didn’t have much independence. I’m sure that it wasn’t always easy competing for mommy and daddy’s attention for either girl.
The good news is that neither girl will remember a time when they didn’t have each other. They won’t know a time when they didn’t have someone to accidentally cuddle with or learn to share with. The good news is that even though being the 2nd sister has initially been a lot of “stuff the 1st sister does,” their interests and personalities seem to be different and that’s been really cool to watch.
We’ve made it through our 2nd 1st year.
They have both made it through their 1st years.
Happy 1st Birthday Sasha.
Apr 05
MattBranding
So I was watching this show that had a really captivating plot. I am not going to go into too many details here because I don’t want to spoil it for you. I will say this: the plot was a little all over the place and included action, adventure, drama, celebrity cameos and more. It still kept my attention for what felt like an entire night.
It seemed we were nearing the conclusion of the story and then blammo!
I woke up. Well how does it end? I kept trying to fall asleep again to find out how but it seemed to be a futile effort. Then I realized I was the screenwriter, director, and producer. I should already know how it ends.
But I don’t.
And that sucks.
And then…
Apr 04
MattBranding Nerd Alert
Maybe the addition of the iPad to my geek arsenal will motivate me to blog more. Maybe.
Jan 21
MattBranding
My resolution for 2010 is to write more blog posts.
Hey, if people haven’t taken down their Christmas lights yet, I can only imagine they are just leaving them up in preparation for next Christmas. If we’re going to plan ahead, I might as well make my resolutions in advance too.
Apr 02
MattBranding
So I’m at the doctor’s office the other day filling out the forms. Patient’s name. Patient’s address. Nice and easy.
Relationship to the patient: Father.
That’s gonna take some getting used to.
Mar 23
MattBranding
It is 3:30 PM on March 23, 2008. I have been sitting here since 6:45 AM. Pretty sunny outside. As far as New England early “Spring” days are concerned, there is not much to complain about today. Looking out the window, I can see Fenway Park in the distance. This will be a point of “contention” for quite some time.
I am at the hospital with my wife, awaiting the arrival of our first child. The only sound in the room is that of the fetal monitor. It’s very quiet and calm right now as we wait to see what happens next, and believe me, we understand that we have no idea. Within the next zero to, well, who knows, hours, we will finally learn whether we have a son or a daughter. The nurse (of which we’ve had 3 so far today) thinks girl, I think boy. My wife thinks boy 1 minute, girl the next. My grandfather thinks boy. My mother thinks boy now, but girl before. My sister has no idea. Everyone has different opinions. None of them based on science.
I come from a pretty large family. Either today or tomorrow, a baby will born with the last name Brand. This will be the first time in 27 years that this has happened in my family. Apparently, my uncle Jeff is the closest-without-going-over winner of the pool. Of course, nobody told us.
So we’ll see what happens…I am sure of two things: We are in for a wild adventure and we can’t wait.
Three things: My wife just had a contraction…
Jun 13
MattBranding
Today, I had to stop by the new house on my way to work to pick up granite counter top samples. On the adjacent street, there was some road construction going on and a police officer helping with traffic flow.
After I stopped at the house, I was coming back down the adjacent road, on the phone (wishing a friend a happy birthday)…bluetooth hands free…both hands on the wheel. I get up to where the police officer is…he walks over to my window…knocks on the window…and then the following happens…
“Are you on the phone?”
[ Is it illegal to use a cell phone in a car? I'm using hands-free. I've got both hands on the wheel ]
“Yes”
[ Ignores answer ]
“How do you like this car?”
[ Umm... ]
“I love it. Smooth like a regular car, ‘tough’ like an SUV.”
[ Line of cars forming behind me. Birthday friend talking in my ear..."What's going on over there" ]
“Great. I was thinking of getting one. Was gonna go for the 45 but I think that’s too pricey so I’ll probably go with this one.”
[ Is this really happening? ]
“Well, you definitely should. Have a great day.”
“You too, thanks.”
So that happened…
Aug 03
MattBranding
The following is an IM exchange between my sister and I about Velvet the cat:
Me: Velvet took a dump!
Sister: mazel tov
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