Andy Lester [entries|archive|friends|userinfo]
Andy Lester

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Quinn talks about fire [May. 1st, 2008|10:02 am]
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Lately, Quinn has been very interested in natural disasters. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami, tornadoes, you name it, if the Earth kills someone, she wants to know about it.

The other day, she asked "Do other planets have tornadoes?" I thought about it and said "Well, a tornado is just part of a storm, and some planets have storms, and some don't. For instance, Jupiter's surface is basically all storms, and Venus has many storms. But Mars doesn't have any atmosphere, and neither does the Moon, so they can't have storms."

So I extended my bit of science teaching. "You also can't have fire on the moon. Fire has to have heat, fuel and air. If there's no air, there's no fire." She said, thoughtfully, "No S'mores on the moon!"

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Pluses and minuses about Quinn [Nov. 26th, 2007|10:50 pm]
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Plus: Quinn cheerfully and eagerly lets out Baxter The Dog Who Wants To Go Out All The Time If He Is Bored.

Minus: Doesn't do her own laundry. Yet.
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Fun with Quinn and Dad [Nov. 14th, 2007|12:17 am]
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In the car on the way home from school, I tried to convince Quinn to come to my Perl Mongers meeting:

"Quinn, you should come to my computer meeting tonight! We're going to talk about computers!"
"Dad, that's BOR-ing"
"But we're also going to play with Barbies. And ponies."
"For troof?"
"No."
"Dad, you're the fibber."
"Would I ever fib to fool you?"
"YES."
"OK, but only once."
"No, Dad. A hundred million fousand fifty-nine times!"

That sounds about right, come to think of it.
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Freaks & Geeks / Andy the hippy / Quinn the drummer [Feb. 25th, 2007|11:54 pm]
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[music |"Candy Man", Grateful Dead.]

If you haven't watched Freaks & Geeks, do so. I've never seen such a real show about growing up. Amy & I just watched the last three episodes of its only season last night, and I'm sad that it got canceled. Maybe if I'd known about it when it was on.

In the last F&G, Lindsay gets turned on to American Beauty by the Dead, and they feature a fair amount of "Box Of Rain," which I had to admit I liked. (The previous episode had someone listening to "Tom Sawyer", but it was clearly NOT Moving Pictures on the turntable.) I figured "OK, I have no Dead, I guess that's a decent enough place to start."

So I stopped to see Tim at Vinyl Frontier with Quinn and picked it up, and while I was there also snagged the reissue of Fillmore by the Allman Brothers, and the Rhino reissue of Waiting For Columbus by Little Feat, both double discs. Total cost: Less than $30. I kinda think they should have come with rolling papers.

Also, while we were there, Quinn announced she had to go to the bathroom, so we went into the back room where the bathroom is, and lookie, there's Tim's drum set, and he said "Sure, go ahead." Dad played for a bit, and then Quinn decided she was going to play: (If you can't see the pix, you need to be a friend on Flickr)

Quinn on the drums at Vinyl Frontier

Quinn on the drums at Vinyl Frontier

She agreed that we should put Dad's drums up in the basement.
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Annie and Silly Putty [Sep. 21st, 2006|12:41 am]
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It's been quite an evening with Dadder.

Amy's still fighting bronchitis, so after Quinn came back from the pulmonologist following up on her pneumonia, it was only 2:30 and Amy was about to pass out. Amy put on Annie for Quinn and went up to bed.

Now, I don't think we've discussed quite how ravenous the appetite for Annie is in this house, but trust us: It is large. Quinn knows it all, knows many songs, etc etc. She used to not be able to watch any scene with Miss Hannigan, because Quinn's #1 fear is of anyone being mean. Now it's OK, because she knows "She's silly mean!"

Typically what we'll do is sometimes before bed, she'll get to watch the first half hour, and then skip to the big ending where ....

**** SPOILER ALERT!!! ***

.... Annie gets to live with Daddy Warbucks and they all live happily ever after. The last two times we've done this, though, she has cried. "I want anovver Annie movie about where she lives in the big house!" She is so like her mom at being able to cry at both sad and happy endings.

So today, at about 4:10 when Annie got over, after Quinn had even sat through the scary part on the bridge, Quinn was sobbing. Sobbing. I tried to talk to her and cheer her up, but she was having none of it. I sang silly lyrics to Backyardigans songs, but she scolded me: "Dad, don't be SIL-ly when I'm SAD!" So I just went back to work in my green chair, and let her be sad. Again, just like how I do when her mom is sad and doesn't want to be cheered up.

After a bit, she came over by my chair, plopped on the floor, and started coloring in a Barbie coloring book with markers. After a minute I remembered that we had a new rule in the house where we only write at a table, because of the couple of colorful spots on the carpet. :-(

"Quinn, please sit at a table. Or your little desk over there." "Dad, can you bring it over here?" So I went and picked up her little schoolhouse-style desk and put it over by the couch, about 6 feet from my green work chair. "No, I want it by your chair." So I brought it over right next to my chair, and she sat there and colored, happy and content. It made me so happy to be a dad.

...

Later, we got ready to go have dinner at Steak & Shake, since I really wanted to get out of the house. I went to go into the garage, walking towards the door near the bathroom. "Dad! Don't go into the bathroom!"

I went in, but didn't see (or smell) anything obviously wrong. She followed close behind. "Quinn, what's wrong?" She answered in a quiet voice, "I don't want you to look. I made a mistake."

I looked around, but didn't see anything. No water on the floor. Nothing on the floor of note. Then I saw a towel on the sink, covering a lumpy object. I reached to pick up the towel and she implored, "I don't want you to look!"

I found the remote control for the TiVo.

I've seen the putty and the damage done

I asked "Quinn, what happened?" "I put Silly Putty on it." It all fell together. She had showed me impressions in the Silly Putty from various objects earlier in the day. Apparently she'd tried to get an impression of the buttons on the remote, and Silly Putty didn't peel off the soft textured buttons. Then I realized that it was wet.

"Sweetie, why is it wet?"

"I tried to wash it off. I washed it in the sink."

I was annoyed that she hid it from me, and so very proud of her industriousness. But I told her "Sweetie, I know you made a mistake, and that's OK. If you make a mistake, I want you to tell me, or tell mom. I'm not mad. I love you, and we can clean it later. Now, let's go to Steak & Shake and have some cheese fries."

Oh yes, she does love to dip fries in cheese now. So many things the kid loves.
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Don't ask about Al Cowlings [Aug. 19th, 2006|08:01 pm]
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Quinn wanted a glass of orange juice before going to bed, so I poured it for her.

Dad: "Quinn, come get your OJ"
Quinn: "What's OJ?"
Dad: "Orange juice."
Quinn: "Is it Spanish?"
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Songs for Quinn. [Jun. 18th, 2006|03:24 pm]
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Quinn loves singing. Sometimes they're songs she learned from school:


1 2 3 4 5
Once I caught a fish alive
6 7 8 9 10
Then I let him go again
Why did you let him go?
'cause he bit my finger so
Which finger did he bite?
This little finger on my right

But a lot of times, she likes to make up songs about people, or things, or activities, and just ad-lib the words as she goes. She'll say "Dad, tell me what song I should sing" and I'll say "How about a song about Uncle Denny?" and she'll say "OK!" and sing something that goes like

I love Uncle Denny
He is the best uncle
and he calls me Uuuuma
and sometimes gives me cookies
He plays with me at his house
And then makes me laugh
That's why Uncle Denny is the best uncle

and then "OK, now what should I sing?" If you're a relative that is not Uncle Denny, don't be offended. I guarantee you that you've had a song sung about you at some point. I'm sure I've named every relative at least twice.

So today we were coming home from lunch at Pablo's ('cause it's Father's Day!), and Quinn asked "Dad, what song about princesses should I sing?" Quinn is now all about the Disney princesses: Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel and Belle. I suggested "OK, how about one about Belle", and Quinn was annoyed. "No, Dad, a song ABOUT somefin' about the princess!" Apparently, we needed some plot element, like "Cinderella makes a dress".

So I said "How about a song called Belle Has To Go Potty?" Quinn did not approve: "DAAAD! That is not a NICE song! That's a mean song! I want songs about NICE fings!"

Amy and I continued with more song suggestions.


  • Belle Has A Wet Diaper
  • Sleeping Beauty Has To Take A Nap
  • Ariel Is In The Sea And Makes Bubbles When She Toots
  • Jasmine Spills A Drink On The Magic Carpet
  • Sleeping Beauty Doesn't Want To Wake Up From Her Nap
  • Snow White Gets A Booger On Her Dress
  • Belle Makes Dinner And Starts A Fire
  • Cinderella Goes For A Walk In The Forest, But Then Steps In Bear Poop
  • Sleeping Beauty Has Sleep Apnea And Needs A Breathing Buddy
  • Belle Stubs Her Toe
  • Cinderella Visits The Prince In The Castle, But When She Gets There The Prince Is Out Shopping And She Is Locked Out And Then It Rains And She Gets All Wet

Quinn was surprisingly agreeable with her parents' antics. "NO, MOM! Anovver song!" She was enjoying the game.

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Birth control advertisements [Mar. 17th, 2006|06:44 pm]
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Last night, Quinn and I went to the library, while Mommy went home to sleep off her cold.

Quinn sat in a big overstuffed (for her) chair reading a really thick Arthur book. I read a bunch of Spider-Man comics. After a while, she said "Daddy! I need a Kleenex! Hurry, before my boogers fall!" I told her "I see a box of Kleenex up there at that desk, why don't you get one?" She scurried over to the desk.

While she ran to get the Kleenex, I noticed the teenage boy at a nearby table watching this scene with a mix of disgust and horror and amusement. I said "Makes ya want kids, huh?" He smiled sheepishly and shook his head.

Quinn came back and said "Daddy, I wiped my nooooose!" I said I was pleased, and then said "Hey, Quinn, what happened this morning when you took off your diap? Can you tell this guy here?"

She looked over and, sort of embarrassed, told the high school kid "I took my diap off and poops fell out." I was reassuring, "Yes, that was an accident, I know. What did I have to do?"

Quinn thought and remembered, "You had to get out of the shower and pick up all the poops on the floor!" I asked "And were there just a couple poops?", and Quinn's eyes got big when she said "No, there were a LOT!"

I looked at our new friend and said "Just remember us when you're thinking about birth control."
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Welcome Home (Vomitorium) [Feb. 24th, 2006|11:49 am]
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[music |Mozart, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusic", Little Einsteins playlist]

Last night was our second night of night-time washing of Quinn's bed. Quinn's been throwing up. Amy takes care of the cleanup, and I strip the bed and do the laundry. We went back to Dr. Mirza today and she said that Quinn's puking is caused by post-nasal drip from the leftovers of her cold, so Quinn got some extra-strength decongestant stuff that's so strong that she only gets ¼-teaspoon for a dose.

I really don't understand why builders put washer/dryer in the basement. I spend so many times running up & down the stairs with laundry. It just makes no sense. The washer/dryer should be off the bedroom.
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Quinn Lester: Air Defender [Jun. 22nd, 2005|11:09 am]
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Quinn should be involved in the defense of our country, spotting airplanes.

We'll be driving along and from the back seat I'll hear "I see an ah-pane!" I look and look and can't see it, and finally, there's a tiny black speck in the sky. It's a game to find it without crashing the car.

At first we might say "No, sweetie, I don't see an airplane," but now we know better. If she says there's an airplane, there's an airplane.
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A day at the races [Jun. 19th, 2005|08:49 pm]
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Boy, did we have a day today.

First, we went to the cemetery. Quinn knows that the cemetery is where we go to think about people that we miss, like Grandpa Coughlin. We haven't discussed death, or that there are people buried there, but she knows that sometimes people get sad when they think about people they miss.

Then, we headed up to Kenosha, to go to the dog track. Before we got there, though, we stopped at the Kenosha airport where we saw a bunch of planes up close.

Exciting things from the dog track:

* The tractor making the track smooth after each race.

* Quinn using the big toilet to make peeps(!)

* Up the escalator a lot

* Daddy winning $5.80 after having bet $15 total.

* Getting to pet one of the dogs that they have for adoption.

* And of course, the dogs running VERY fast after the bone.

THEN we came home and went swimming!

It was SUCH a big day.
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