Spain Dad, a baby blog

I was peeling a clementine when Alleke slid a book onto the table next to me. It was Lord of the Flies. I glanced over at the bookshelf and found the slot, like a missing tooth, on the second shelf. I sighed. “This is not Alleke’s book,” I explained again, holding up the book. “It’s [...]

Alleke may still be a little young to understand Christmas presents, but April isn’t. She spent hours playing with her Christmas gift after she opened it… Here’s a video of April explaining how her Hoppediz baby wrap works… Watch April got a baby wrap for Christmas on Vimeo.

“See,” I said, “it’s baby Jesus.” I held Alleke over the railing so she could get a better look. She squirmed, flopped over my arm, and reached for the floor. I set her down, and she ran over to investigate a metal plate on the floor. I leaned against the railing and watched. Sometimes I [...]

Alleke had some friends over yesterday to help her decorate her first Christmas cookie. Watch Christmas Cookie Decorating on Vimeo.

jedi puppy kitchen tricks, originally uploaded by dro!d. Alleke sat quietly in her high chair reading a board book while April and I finished lunch. At one point Alleke put down the book and looked at us, as if she had been reading the daily newspaper and had lowered it to tell us about what [...]

Beware of the tickle monster. She may be after you next… The Tickle Monster on Vimeo. For more, watch a video of Alleke at 3 months when we first discovered she was ticklish…

Probably the most common question April and I get when we meet someone in person who has been reading Spain Dad is, “How do you pronounce your daughter’s name?” So, for those of you who have been wondering, you can click on the button at the top of the left-hand sidebar that says “hear Alleke’s [...]

“I wonder what it would be like to have a boy,” April said over her oatmeal yesterday. “I didn’t know we were going to adopt a boy,” I said. “Really? I guess I just assumed,” she said, “that since we already have a girl, we would want a boy next.” I nodded. “It makes sense.” [...]

I leaned forward and adjusted the camera so my parents could see Alleke playing with dominoes on the floor behind me. “Can you see her?” I asked, glancing at Alleke over my shoulder, then back at my parents sitting in their living room, across the ocean, framed by the small computer screen. “It looks like [...]

Alleke stood next to me and watched as I hung the last ornament on the tree, then reached over the back of the couch and plugged in the lights. The corner of the room danced like a hundred fireflies, especially after April got up and turned off the rest of the lights in the apartment, [...]