IV
Sometimes toddlers can be picky eaters, or they would rather go and play rather than sit down and eat. Personally, I know it is a trouble I have with my son from time to time. Instead of having the fights about coming to the table to eat, I have found that having my son help me with the cooking process is both fun, and it gets him more interested in eating the meal that is prepared for him.
Earlier, I walked through the process of how to make eggs with your toddler. Another breakfast I make with my son is pancakes. Like eggs, pancakes are great because they are simple to make, and they are hard to screw up.
Now, you can make them from scratch if you would like, and I guarantee that if you know what you are doing, they will come out better that way. However, the idea is to get your child involved in the process and to move the process along as quickly as possible. With that in mind, it is a good idea to get everything set up before you bring your toddler into the kitchen.
With everything set up, you don’t have to worry about having your toddler measuring everything out (they can’t), nor do you have to worry about your toddler wanting to do it himself. Now, one of the reasons why this Aunt Jemima mix is so great is that it is just mix and water. It doesn’t matter which one your or your child picks first. Hopefully, to keep the mess at a minimum, your child will select the mix first as my child did:
The next step is to pour the water in and hope it all makes it into the bowl. As for the bowl, you want a larger bowl than you really need. Toddlers tend not to pour things in slowly. Instead, they tend to just dump things in quickly. You also want the larger bowl because it will allow you to have your toddler mix the batter himself while greatly reducing the chance that there will be a spill:
For this next step, you really need to know your child, and you need to have some training. Having done this numerous times with my son, I can trust him not to touch the griddle. Early on, I did not. I would take his hands and hold them while we put batter on the griddle. When scooping the batter onto the griddle, I recommend using measuring cups so he has something to scoop and pour. As I like to make smaller pancakes for him, I typically use a 1/4 cup:
As you can see here, my son is pouring from high up as he does knows not to put his hands anywhere near the hot griddle:
You’re going to be lucky if you get similarly sized pancakes, but that’s not the idea. The idea is to have them participate in the process. For those that don’t know better, you want to flip the pancake when it starts bubbling on top and the sides start to brown:
Typically, I like to assemble all the pancakes on a plate to permit my son to pick out which ones he wants. Again, the idea is to let your child have some control and have some fun in the process so they want to eat:
Like I said, your child will be more interested to eat when they get to pick which pancake(s) they want:
Typically, I like to use frozen fruit to make a homemade syrup. It’s less sugar, and it is a way to get your child to eat more fruit. I have found Alton Brown’s blueberry syrup recipe easy to make and versatile. I have used it with other berries, like strawberry, and peaches as well. When you don’t have or have the energy for homemade syrup, I prefer the Trader Joe’s Agave Maple Syrup. Again, it has less sugar. For what it’s worth, my son prefers having the syrup and the bottle:
The only thing left to do is eat:
Again, once I started making breakfast (and other meals) with my son, I have found getting him to eat has been much easier. I have also enjoyed not only teaching him how to cook, but also spending time with him while doing it. I hope you have as much fun as my child and I have.
Back when my wife and I were in the beginnings of planning a family, we bandied about different baby names. Coincidentally, one name we compromised on was Olivia Shea.
We didn’t have a need for the name, nor will we ever use it as we had a boy:
With a boy, the stakes were much higher, and the pressure was on. My son had to be the IV. It was my name, my father’s name, my grandfather’s name, and my grandfather’s uncles name, who died in WWI. It was also the name of my first ancestor who immigrated from Ireland. As the family joke became, the name goes all the way back to Adam & Eve. For whatever reason, my grandfather started counting with himself, but I digress.
There needed to be a new compromise. My wife knowing how important it was to me acquiesced, and in the interim, obtained naming rights to the next boy or our first girl. With that, we will not be using the name Olivia Shea. Still, it’s a good name, and someone should use it.
And who better than David Wright?
David and Molly Wright welcomed a baby girl, Olivia Shea Wright into the world on Saturday, July 23. #Mets pic.twitter.com/mI9oDPs9TA
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 25, 2016
I wish all the best to Wright, his wife, and to his daughter Olivia Shea.
On a typical Sunday, I’ll catch the first few innings on the car radio. Not today. We got out of the house earlier than usual to ensure we’d be home in time for my son and I to watch not only the Mets game, but also Mike Piazza‘s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Everywhere we went, Mets were talking about how excited they were for both an important game against the Marlins, but also to see Piazza join Tom Seaver as the only Mets players in the Hall of Fame. My son got caught up in the excitement as well singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Meet the Mets.” However, he was most excited when he got his lemonade. Check that, he took my peach jalapeño sticking me with the Strawberry one.
It’s a big Mets day, I’ll call it my Darryl Strawberry one.
Naturally, we started with the Mets game as Piazza wasn’t at the podium. By the way, God bless whoever created picture-in-picture. The Mets game got off to a great start with Michael Conforto showing that he just might be able to play well in center field:
Then, in the third, Jose Reyes would hit a two out RBI triple scoring Conforto, who was actually in scoring position. The Mets had a 1-0 lead, and soon it would be time to tune in to watch Piazza officially become a Hall of Famer:
His speech was perfect.
He touched on everything you would want him to touch upon. He spoke glowingly about his boyhood idol Mike Schmidt and how Johnny Bench was the standard bearer at the position. He thanked everyone on the Dodgers including Tommy LaSorda, Eric Karros, and Tom Candiotti. He talks about how great it was growing up as a Dodger before talking poignantly about what it meant to him to be a Met.
He talked about how John Franco welcomed him into his home and gave him his #31. He talked about his on and off the field relationship with Al Leiter. He spoke about how clutch Edgardo Alfonzo was making it easier for him to do what he did, which was hit big homers including the post 9/11 home run.
But like the most of the speech, Piazza deflected the attention away from himself. Instead, he talked about the real heroes were those that gave their lives on 9/11. Much like the moment he hit that home run, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house – Cooperstown, yours, and mine.
His acknowledgment of Mets fans was also touching. It’s something that’s not always seen in Hall of Fame speeches. It was touching to hear he loved us as we loved him.
All while this was happening, Steven Matz was back in form, and he was mowing down the Marlins. I barely noticed him pitching six innings allowing four runs, none earned, and two walks with six strikeouts. By the time, I was fully re-engaged in the game I mostly ignored in the picture-in-picture, Hansel Robles was on the mound.
Robles did what he has done for most of the year and shut down the opposition. He seems to have been given the seventh inning job, and he has it locked down.
In the top of the eighth, the Mets finally got some insurance. Yoenis Cespedes singled home Alejandro De Aza, who had reached base on a wild pitch by Kyle Barraclough after striking out. Seriously, how else would De Aza reach base? James Loney singled home Curtis Granderson. The Mets seemed poised for more after a Kelly Johnson walk. However, Asdrubal Cabrera hit into a force out with Cespedes out at home (initially ruled safe, but it was overturned on replay) making him 0-32 in his last 32 at bats with runners in scoring position. Juan Lagares then lined out to end the rally.
Lagares had come on for defense in place of Conforto in the seventh. Conforto has played well before the seventh showing he could be a viable option going forward. He also had a nice day at the plate going 2-2 with a run scored.
After eight, it was 3-0 Mets which was a lot more support than Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia needed. Reed and Familia shut the door giving the Mets a 3-0 win putting them a half-game behind the Marlins. It was Familia’s 34th straight save this year and 51 straight dating back to last year.
It put the end to what was a great day to be a Mets fan.
On July 2nd, my family was able to attend a Brooklyn Cyclones game courtesy of Nicco Blank. With him getting called-up, he was able to leave us tickets to attend a Cyclones game while he left seats for Taylor Swift for the Columbia Fireflies game. Overall, it was a great experience, and my family is grateful that Blank was able to arrange for my family to get tickets to the game.
For those that have never attended a Cyclones game, MCU Park is located at the end of the Coney Island boardwalk.
The Original Nathan’s Famous is within walking distance if you want to get a pre-game meal, and you very well might as there is no outside food allowed in the boardwalk. Security does check. Also, it should be noted that most of the concessions located within the ballpark is cash only. It should also be noted that MCU Park charges major league prices at their concession stands. Once you have had your pregame meal, it is time to head over to the ballpark.
Right outside MCU Park is a statute of the moment where Pee Wee Reese put his arm around Jackie Robinson.
It is quite fitting this statue is in Brooklyn as this is the city in which Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier. The particular moment, whether or not it actually happened, is quite fitting as it symbolizes not just Robinson being accepted by his teammates, but also by all of baseball. This area is a good meeting spot and place to sit in the relative shade until the balllpark opens.
Similar to Citi Field, the ballpark opens an hour and a half before first pitch. Season ticket holders are given priority entrance, and once they are squared away, they will open the gates for general admission. Typicall, the promotion or theme night for that date will dictate whether or not there is much of a line outside the stadium. As we attended Seinfeld Night II, there was quite a line to get into the ballpark:
Other than these giveaways, the Cyclones hand-out programs to everyone that attends the game. For fans like me that like to keep score and buy the programs at games anyway, this is great. If you don’t have anything on hand and you want to get autographs, this works out great as the players can autograph either the cover or the inside where their player profiles are located. Finally, if you got to the game early and need to keep your toddler entertained, you can give it to him with the $4.00 pen he had to have from the gift shop to keep him entertained before first pitch:
Tickets to the ballpark range from $12.00 – $19.00, which would similar to the cost of Promenade seating at Citi Field. However, due to the fact that this is a minor league ballpark and there is only 7,000 seats, your seats are going to be much better than the seats you would get at Citi Field.
Fortunately, we were able to sit very close due to the generosity of Nicco Blank.
One of the benefits of being so close and being at a minor league park is you are close enough to get autographs seemingly no matter where you are sitting. Most, if not all of the players, are ready, willing and able to provide autographs. My son was quite fortunate as many Cyclones players, including Colby Woodmansee, Darryl Knight, Harol Gonzalez, Blake Tiberi, and others, signed my son’s Cyclones pennant. In particular, Knight stood out in his efforts to sign autographs for everyone despite the fact that his left arms was in a sling. Personally, I was hoping to snag an Edgardo Alfonzo autograph, but that was not in the cards for the day.
Another benefit is that since you are sitting close no matter where you sit, the chances are very likely that you are going to catch a foul ball. The one I caught was courtesy of Blake Tiberi:
I should mention that my son took all the credit for catching the ball (and yes, we did have the quick panic moment of him thinking about throwing the ball back onto the field):
I will say that it was nerve wracking at times being that close to the field with a two year old. While my son is good and will sit to watch a game, his attention span does wander at times because he wants to see what’s happening as all two year olds do. Considering how fast the foul balls were coming in, I did take some time to go around the ballpark to see if there were other things for my son to do.
Right outside the left field stands was a pitching game. For just $2, you were given three balls. If you were able to hit the catcher’s mitt, you were given a Cyclones hat:
Considering, I spent $4.00 on a pen, the $2 hat was a welcome surprise.
In addition to the Cyclones game and the pitching game, the other main attraction for the fans is Sandy the Seagull, who my son was just dying to meet:
Eventually, as the game ended Sandy made his way down to where we were sitting much to the excitement of my son:
Honestly, I’m not sure if this, winning the hat, or catching the foul ball was the highlight of the night for my son. But that’s the thing about attending a Cyclones game with your children – it’s a fun experience. Everyone, Taylor Swift included, should go out and see a Cyclones game to enjoy a great night at the ballpark. We enjoyed every minute of it, and we thankful to the Cyclones for creating such a family friendly atmosphere and to Nicco Blank for giving us the tickets.
This is my third Father’s Day, and it still feels odd.
On the one hand, for me, Father’s Day has always been about my Dad. The man who raised me. He’s the reason I am who I am today. And yes, he’s the reason why I’m a Mets fan. For the first 32 years of my life, the day was all about my Dad.
Now that I’m a Dad, or “Mets Daddy,” Father’s Day for me is about my son. I see it as yet another day to spend as much time as possible with him doing the things he loves to do.
Three years later, Father’s Day is still strange for me. Maybe I’ll feel differently in the future. For now, the day isn’t about me. It’s about all of the other people in my life. I want those people to enjoy their day. If they’re having fun together, all the better. That and a Mets win make that a good Father’s Day for me.
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out here, but especially my Dad. Now, Lets Go Mets!
I was having an absolutely terrific day. It was gorgeous out. My family got together today instead of tomorrow to celebrate Father’s Day because my parents know we can stay longer on a Saturday than a Sunday. It was so perfect that we even had a Fudgie the Whale:
Speaking of moving slow like a whale full of ice cream, somehow, someway Tim Teufel sent Wilmer Flores with no outs in the bottom of the ninth with the Mets down a run. I’m only slightly exaggerating when I say Flores was rounding third when Tyler Flores caught the ball waiting to tag out Flores.
If you’re a Mets fan, you know how the rest of the inning was going to go. Ty Kelly hit the ball “deep” to center for a flyball out. Deep is in quotes because it didn’t reach the warning track, but Ender Inciarte did have to go back a bit on the ball. Of course, Curtis Granderson, who had a brain cramp in the eighth leading to the go-ahead run scoring, struck out looking. Game over. Mets lose two in a row to a horrendous team. The Mets didn’t play any better than yesterday’s poor showing.
Simply put, the Mets beat themselves by playing bad baseball. They made mistakes and miscues. It was embarrassing. By the way, I’m not sure if this is referring to tonight’s game or any other loss since the calendar flipped from April to May.
If that wasn’t enough, here are some fun anecdotes from the night:
- Dario Alvarez, who the Mets dropped from the 40 to add Kelly to the roster, earned the win;
- Jim Henderson left the game with a shoulder impingement; and
- Steven Matz is experiencing elbow tightness.
It’d be funny if it wasn’t so depressing.
By hey, it was a beautiful day, and my son had fun at his grandparents.
When my son has a good day, nothing, not even the Mets, can ruin my day. My evening on the other hand was completely ruined. Thanks for that Tim Teufel.
At the end of the 2014 season, Modells had a sale to clear out some of their baseball inventory. As luck would have it, there was a children’s David Wright jersey on sale for $15. As I left Modells that way, Wright jersey in hand, I never imagined my son may not have an opportunity to wear the jersey.
At the conclusion of the 2012 season, with free agency on the horizon, Wright had signed a seven year deal that effectively was going to make him a Met for life. When his contract expired, Wright was going to be the all-time leader in nearly every offensive category there was. At this time, Wright was really transitioning from the young superstar Cliff Floyd took under his wing to the mentor of a new crop of Mets players he was going to lead to the World Series. It was his destiny much in the way that it was the destiny for Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry in the 80’s. As we saw with Doc and Darryl, life gets in the way. The things outside baseball can take everything from you.
For Doc and Darryl, it was substance abuse. Both of them have missed out on the Hall of Fame, and God knows what else, because of these issues. It may not have robbed them of their careers, but it did rob them of their greatness. It robbed them of their seemingly assured path to Cooperstown.
For Wright, his body is failing him. While Wright has lost some time and some great seasons to injuries, no one expected the spinal stenosis. The spinal stenosis has robbed him of his ability to truly be an everyday player. It may have robbed him of his chance to put up the numbers he needed to get inducted into the Hall of Fame. However, through almost sheer grit and determination, Wright wasn’t going to let the spinal stenosis rob him of his chance to win the World Series. Seeing Wright play this year was to be all the most impressed and amazed with him. No, he wasn’t the Wright of old. No one expected that. Instead, he was an effective major league player. He was hitting .226/.350/.438 with a 115 OPS+. He had eight doubles and seven home runs. More impressively, he homered in each of his last three games.
There was almost a certain beauty to what Wright was doing. He was taking everything he had, and he was willing himself to be great again. He was able to combine his experience with what physical tools he still had to be an effective to very good major league third baseman. While many feared he might be a drain on the Mets, he actually proved to be one of their better everyday players.
Then, because life is not fair, disaster struck yet again.
In addition to Wright’s spinal stenosis, he is now dealing with a herniated disc in his neck. Initially, he wanted no part of surgery. He wanted to return this year. He wanted to help the Mets win the World Series. He wanted to hit another home run at Citi Field. He earned that right, and he was going to do everything he could do to experience it this year. As we learned yesterday, the chances of Wright’s return became all the more remote. Yes, he still wants to rehab and try to avoid the surgery in his neck. However, almost tellingly, Wright is now speaking with doctors about certain surgical options. A surgery on his neck would almost assuredly end his 2016 season. After that, who knows?
Now, as we saw last year and this year with Wright, we can never count him out. He is going to do what he can to be on that field to lead the Mets to the World Series. There is still hope he can return. He should return. He deserves to leave that field not just with a World Series, but on his own power. He should be able to make his own decision. It shouldn’t be forced upon him. However, the more time passes, the more you question if that is going to happen. Sometimes baseball can be cruel, and right now it is being about as cruel as it can get for David Wright.
Whenever Wright’s career is over, he will have retired as the greatest homegrown Met’s position player. He will be the greatest Met to spend his entire career with the team. As time progresses, Mets fans will talk about him in the way that Yankee fans talk about Don Mattingly, which would be all the more fitting as both players had their Hall of Fame chances and their careers taken away from them due to back injuries.
Selfishly, I just want Wright to hold on just a little longer. I want to see him win that World Series. I want my son to have some David Wright memories of his own. I want him to be able to wear his David Wright jersey to something other than David Wright Day.
There are many skills you need to have as a father that you never thought you would need. One skill I’ve rarely if ever seen discussed is being skilled in carnival games.
You go to a fair, carnival, or the Jersey Shore, there are games all over the place with these massive prizes that are bright, vibrant colors intended to catch your child’s eye and make them beg you to win it for them. At this point, your choice is clear – you either deal with the kid who is begging and/or throwing a tantrum over the prize they’ll never use, or you shell out a lot of money trying to win that prize. On a hot and sticky June day, the former really isn’t much of an option.
Fortunately, for me, I’m really good at carnival games. What was once a useless skill is now of vital importance. Two months ago, it was the ring toss. Today, it was Down a Clown. We’ve all seen some version of it somewhere:
Note: not the actual game played today.
Essentially, you get bean bags to try to knock down three clowns. Most fail. Even people who are good at baseball or have decent aim fail. The reason they fail is the big windup. Instead, they need to throw it more like a catcher. Think Paul Lo Duca pitching to David Wright in the 2006 Homerun Derby.
You just want to have that catcher’s snap throw. The shorter the windup, the less likely you’re going to be off target.
In any event, I got it first try, and my son was first given an inflatable Yankees bat, which I’m proud to say he didn’t want. Instead, we walked away with an inflatable hammer:
It sure was fun blowing that thing up while my brother was trying to deflate it at the same time. It was also fun giving a two year old what really amounted to an inflatable weapon. With that said, happy son means we all had fun!
Better yet, we didn’t have to see the putrid effort the Mets put up on Sunday. At least now, we have the tool to hammer some fundamentals into them.
There’s been a new addition to some family friendly chain restaurants like Red Robin and Chilis. It’s called a Ziosk:
Initially, when my son was younger, I thought these were a godsend. If you need something, just order it from the Ziosk or hit the button to summon your server. Instead of waiting for your server to pay your check, you can pay right from the Ziosk. It was absolutely amazing.
Now? Not so much.
The Ziosk is more than an ordering service. It also has a lot of games for purchase. It gets added right onto your bill. Better yet, it’s right at your two year old’s eye level. It’s a distraction. It appears to be a toy for them. It’s not.
Basically, the Ziosk is a parent of a toddler’s worst nightmare. It’s exacerbated by the fact that there really is no place on the table to hide it. It’s just there the entire meal. Getting two year olds to focus can be a frustrating experience at times. It’s even worse with a giant distraction at the table. That’s what the Ziosk is.
Fortunately, when you want to leave with your child upset over his/her inability to play with the Ziosk, you can use the Ziosk to pay the check and get out of there. In that respect, I guess the Ziosk has served its purpose of being convenient.
Back in 2014, my son was a little over nine months when we went to his first Mets game. There was a condition precedent for us going to the Mets game – there had to be an area where our son could breastfeed. I had done my research, and my wife was satisfied with the results of my reasearch.
Unfortunately, the information provided on the various mommy blogs were completely wrong. There really wasn’t an area to breastfeed at Citi Field.
During that September 14th game, my wife searched high and low for a place to breastfeed. First, we went to the nurses’ station, which was the recommeded area. We were turned away. Next, we tried to go to one of the family rooms you see scattered across the Field Level. They’re all locked. We tried speaking the ushers, but they had no idea. Finally, we made our way back to Fan Assistance where they arranged for my son to be fed in a right field promenade ticket booth while an employee stood outside the door preventing anyone from entering. This is not an ideal situation, and it really prevents families from bringing their little ones to games. Fortunately, the Mets have remedied this situation.
Now, the Mets have a Mamava Station located at the Empire Level of Citi Field. Note, all moms are allowed to use this station regardless of where they are sitting. All you need to do is to contact guest services, and they will assist you. Your best bet is probably to to go Fan Assistance the minute you get to the game and figure out how the process works. In this private booth, mom is able to either breastfeed her child or pump. I’m assuming it’ll be easier to bring a handpump into Citi Field. I’d also caution that there only seems to be a USB station and not an outlet listed in the amenities located in the booth. One thing that is really nice about the booth is that it’s air conditioned so mom can be comfortable while she is breastfeeding the baby.
The Mets should really be commended for making this addition to Citi Field. Anything that encourages families to attend Mets games is a good thing. Anything to helps mothers is an even better thing. Unfortunately for me, it was about two years too late.