Now that the dust has settled on the baseball season and I’m [mostly] emotionally recovered from Clayton Kershaw’s spectacular NLCS meltdown and the thrill of seeing the “emotionless” Cardinals lose the World Series Boston Red Sox win their first World Series at Fenway in 95 years, I’ve been able to reflect on what turned out to be a very special season of baseball for me.

It’s true that even before Madelyn was born, I was planning her Dodger fandom, and we started her at a very early age with her first baseball game in seats that will spoil her for the rest of her life. But I think this was the season where we solidified the Dodger Blue blood in Madelyn’s veins — Tommy Lasorda would be proud.

The season started out, though, the same as any other. Like every year before this one (but especially this one with the enormous expectations of the new Dodger ownership), I started the spring with high hopes for season. I signed up for my two fantasy baseball leagues, got excited every night to watch the games on TV, and showed my usual childlike jubilee at the mere sound of Vin Scully’s signature time for Dodger baseball!”

It was less than two weeks after Opening Day that my first lasting memory from the season occurred, and it wasn’t a pretty one. I remember being extremely amped up after Greinke was injured in the brawl with the Padres — I read a ton of articles, got vocal on Facebook, and watched whatever clips of news and opinions about the mound-charging that I could. And while this incident was the not the sole reason for the Dodgers’ historic spring collapse, it seemed to be the catalyst for mine.

By the end of May, I was in full avoidance mode. I don’t think I’ve followed baseball less in my adult life than I did between May and June of 2013. You practically could not pay me to watch a baseball game it seemed. And while the Dodgers’ 23-30 record on June 1st certainly contributed to my lack of interest, it wasn’t the only reason for it. I mean, I’m used to having low expectations so I can deal with regular mediocrity and losing — I’m a lifelong Dodgers fan! This year I think it was just life getting in my way. Between both my job and my daughter requiring more and more attention, I just found myself not able to make the time to watch the game, set my fantasy lineup, or even read the box score the following morning. To top it all off, Alison and I were in the midst of House Watch 2013, dealing with selling our condo, looking for a new place, buying it, moving in, and getting the kitchen remodeled. Not a lot of room for baseball there unfortunately.

Even as the Dodgers surged after the All Star break with the emergence of Yasiel Puig and a string of wins that literally turned around their season, I couldn’t summon my usual level of excitement and interest. It was like “Oh cool, they’re winning now. Isn’t that nice?” Of course, it probably didn’t help that we didn’t get to attend hardly any games during the first half of the season. With everything that was going on, we just couldn’t find the time to make it out to the stadium. Until we finally did.

We were lucky enough to get invited to go to a string of two or three games between August and September, and having just settled into our new house, we finally were really able to make the time — and it was just in time. Of course, we would bring Madelyn along with us, but after our experiences with her last season at the games, I always figured we’d be lucky to make it to the seventh-inning stretch with her. Except things were different this year. She was…really into it. Like, really into it.

Madelyn introduces Lovey to baseball!

She rarely got fussy, and as long as she always had some peanuts or Cracker Jack (or strawberries or raisins or apple sauce or ice cream or…) she stayed engaged in the game. I mean, she actually watched the game and pointed when something interesting went down and looked at me or Poppa as if to say “what just happened?” She’s a baseball fan! It took me right back to my youth when I would ask my dad or my grandpa something so I could learn about the game. Every time M’s face lit up I wanted to explain to her what a balk was, when you might try a hit-and-run, or why they can’t just pitch Kershaw every single day.

Madelyn is thinking, “Come on guys! Enough with the pictures. I’m trying to watch the game!”

We’ve taught her well! This kid knows how to enjoy the ballpark experience.

Poppa explains the intricacies of the game.

But we didn’t even have to physically be at Chavez Ravine for her excitement to kick in. There were some nights when she would sit quietly next to me on the couch, with her head on my lap, and watch three or four innings of the game with me without moving or getting distracted. Anytime a baseball game [of any kind with any team] was on TV at home or in a restaurant, she would eagerly point at the screen and pronounce “Poppa!” as if her beloved Poppa was the starting pitcher that night. (Usually, of course, she learned that he was actually there in his brother’s front row seats and could be seen on TV.)

For dinner she insisted I sit next to her at the table and watch the game, but is there anything better than cuddling on the couch to watch?

There’s Poppa!

And so, I have to thank my daughter for bringing baseball back to me, even though I only lost it for a brief moment in time — she reinvigorated my love for the game. And while the Dodgers winning and making it to the playoffs didn’t hurt this resurgence either, I credit Madelyn’s love for the “Dodders” and her enthusiastic cries of “Go bwew!” for bringing me all the way back. In fact, my interest reached such levels that when we decided that Alison and Madelyn would tag along with me on my business trip to San Francisco, I couldn’t resist getting us tickets to the Giants-Dodgers game and braving AT&T park with my girls. Sure enough, like the true fan that she is, Madelyn made it through all nine innings and then some, as they practically had to kick us out of the place.

Once again Madelyn is trying to watch the action while we are busy trying to capture the moment.

So of course now I can’t wait until next season when she’s a little older and maybe I actually can explain to her the difference between a force out and a tag, or why we shouldn’t/should/shouldn’t bunt in a certain spot, or why you always hustle to first. At the very least, I hope she has the same excitement as I did as a kid when she finds out she gets to go to the game — and maybe I will match her excitement too and make sure not to let it fade ever again. As Madelyn would say, “Go Dodders!”

Two of Madelyn’s favorite things in the whole world put together: “Ditty and Dodders!”

You may have noticed that Born Friedman has been sort of quiet for a while. This is mainly because we’ve been *super* busy with selling our house, buying a new one, and getting ready for the move. Well, tonight is our last night in our Simi Valley place and tomorrow night we go to sleep in our new house across town in Newbury Park (or Thousand Oaks, depending on who you ask).

I’ve been pretty good about not getting too emotional with everything so far, but it’s kind of all hitting me now. I’ve been in this house nine years, so there are a lot of memories here — especially in the last five years with Alison (and Princeton), and even more so in the past two with Madelyn.

So while I don’t have time to write a whole long post to give a proper tribute to what has been a great place to live for nearly a third of my life, I thought I’d at least end our run here on Country Club Drive with a retrospective list of past posts featuring our Wood Ranch palace prominently…and this is just in the past two-and-a-half years!

Princeton’s Welcome Home Bath

Alison Decides on Nursery Room Paint Colors

Bryan Adds Storage Units to Garage

Madelyn’s Nursery in Detail

All of Madelyn’s “Monthiversaries” in the Original Nursery

Happy New Year 2012 from Madelyn’s Nursery

Chanukah at the House

Princeton and Madelyn Bond All Over the House

Bryan Makes Valentine’s Dinner

Passover Seder at the House

Mother’s Day at the House and Pool

Madelyn Stands All Over the House

Mommy Kills a Spider in Madelyn’s Room

Madelyn Watches Sesame Street

Madelyn’s First Birthday Party at the Park

We List the House for Sale

She sure was a good house…

Madelyn is getting a bit of a reputation as a party girl. The minute she hears music – any music – she smiles and starts to dance. She’s been doing this virtually since the day she could stand up. It is really a thrilling sight to see. First of all, it is perhaps the cutest thing ever, but it also really gets my parental pride meter going. M’s not even two yet and I’m already thinking Juilliard – like Center Stage-style.

Seriously though, what’s cool about this, to me, is that it seems like Madelyn really is into dancing – or at least really into music. I think she must really love music if every time she hears it she gets all happy and breaks out her moves. I mean this is a kid who likes the Sesame Street theme song (the modern hip-hop-like version at least) more than Sesame Street itself. In her early dance days, we’d just loop the opening of Sesame Street and she’d dance around the living room.

Sometimes we’ll put on Black Eyed Peas or Lady Gaga in our bedroom and she’ll dance away in front of the mirror with no regard for furniture or walls (or Princeton) and she just totally gets lost in it. I truly can’t wait to see how she evolves as a dancer and if it’s something she takes on as she gets older. You never know what your kid is really going to be into, so I’m wondering if this is our first glimpse of something.

The real fun has been at the two weddings where she was the flower girl. The pre-show was her walking down the aisle – twice! – without any issues. But the main event was her completely captivating the dance floor as she gets the party going with her awesome moves.

As you can see, she clearly has a choreography that is all her own. In fact everyone has started calling what she does “The Madelyn” since she, of course, invented it. Here’s a quick tutorial:

How To Do “The Madelyn”

Below are all the moves you’ll need to successfully perform “The Madelyn” at parties. Start out by doing them in order, then you’re free to alternate between each at will. You’ll really impress your friends at parties and if you do it right, you’ll be in the center of the dance floor with all eyes on you.

1) “The Bounce” – Start by putting your arms out about 45 degrees and doing a slight knee bend, bouncing ever so slightly to the beat. It also helps if you flail your arms randomly at times. Make sure to look up while doing this since, of course, everybody is taller than you.

2) “The Sway” – Next, you have to transition into the side-to-side sway. This is a very exaggerated sway though – you have to be sure to actually lift your left leg and tilt right, then slowly switch, placing your left leg down again, lifting the right leg, and tilting left. Repeat this motion while making a very wide-eyed face and smiling big.

3) “The Spin” – At random moments during the dance, stop what your doing and spin in a circle one or two times before continuing. This is ballerina style, except keep your arms kind of half down and half out as if you can’t really decide. It also helps if you almost lose your balance here but then don’t.

4) “The Jump” – This is an exaggerated version of the bounce and only happens very infrequently during the dance. It is usually aided by holding the arms of somebody much taller than you and then hopping up and down uncontrollably. This is the one move that usually ends up completely off-beat from the music as a result of the sheer excitement you get from performing it.

5) “The Applause” – When you decide you’re done, make sure to give yourself a healthy round of applause at the end. In fact, random clapping in the middle of any of the above four steps is also encouraged.

Madelyn hopes to see you out on the dance floor sometime soon!

Two months before Madelyn was born, I wrote a post about installing overhead storage into our garage, and I quoted on of my absolute favorite George Carlin routines about “a place for your stuff.” There is that one last part that I separated out because it didn’t apply to that post but I still found it quite funny. Well, this part is very relevant to me now:

…That’s what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get…more stuff! Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore.

-George Carlin

That’s right. It’s time for us to “get a bigger house” because there’s “no room for our stuff anymore.”

Yep, we’re house hunting. I’m sure everybody reading this will have some advice to share or a story about their experience. My first experience buying a house was buying the place I’m currently in. I was 22, had no debt, very few expenses, no family to support, a pretty good job, and an inheritance I could use for a down payment. Seemed like a good time to buy. In 2004…

I remember the process, but my parents helped me along quite a bit, and I didn’t have a lot to think about with respect to neighborhood, floor plan, square footage, kitchen size, number of bathrooms, closet space. It was to be my bachelor pad. I was just concerned about where my TV would go and if there was room for the movie posters I wanted to put on the walls. The place I found was great — two master bedrooms (so I could easily rent one out to a roommate and offset some of the mortgage), a place for my TV and my bachelor-ready leather couch, and plenty of wall space for movie posters galore. Many poker games were enjoyed in that space, and I didn’t care about the gold-brass door handles and faucet fixtures, or the ugly-tiled wet bar, or the fluorescent kitchen lighting. Everything was fine with me. I was a homeowner at last.

Fast forward to three years later. Bachelor pad becomes married couple’s house. Roommate moves out. Movie posters come down. Cost Plus artwork goes up. Leather couch goes away. New couch replaces it. Second bedroom becomes office. Bathrooms are decorated. Laminate floors are installed. Dog moves in. Master bathroom is remodeled. We repurposed the bachelor pad into a proper family living space. Well, Alison did. I just followed orders.

Fast forward three more years. Office becomes nursery. Extra storage added in garage. Baby moves in. Kitchen is remodeled. TV is sold. New TV is mounted on wall. New couch again. Anything we could do to increase space for Madelyn and us and to make things easier and more comfortable, we’ve pretty much done.

Now intersperse throughout those six years many conversations that start with Alison saying something like “when are we going to move to a bigger place?” and me answering “I don’t know. Sometime.” It was mostly about not having the equity or the cash to upgrade yet, but it was partially about me avoiding change.

Well, the time has come. After the careful consideration I always take before big changes like this, I gave Alison the good news. We can move to a bigger place. Now is the right time for us. Let’s do it. And so we are. But it feels very bittersweet to me. I love this place. Like I said, it was first bachelor pad, my first married-couple house, and my first family home. Princeton came home to this house. We decorated my daughter’s nursery here. Madelyn’s first night away from the hospital was here.

But nine years and three incarnations later, here we are. Listing our house. Selling it. Looking for a new one. A new one! It’s crazy for me to think about. I seriously can barely get my head around it.

We’re still here though. For now. While we look. And the market is tricky, especially in this area. So we’ve been looking at about one house per day, and most of them are solid nos. But I know we’ll find one. In our price range. In a great area. With a nice big kitchen. And space for Madelyn to play. And an office. And a place for my TV.

…with room for our stuff.

20s Party in the Bachelor Pad! Notice the Rocky poster and the DVD shelf.

20s Party in the Bachelor Pad! Leather couch and more movie posters.

Bathroom Remodel! Wife moves in, so things have to get nicer.

Bathroom Remodel! Remove the soffit, raise the ceiling, add new lighting. Simple.

Bathroom Remodel! Things get worse before they get better.

Bathroom Remodel! Brand new raised counters, completely redone cabinets. Much better.

Readying for baby! Time to reorganize everything…

Getting the Nursery Ready! Gotta rearrange the room and pick a paint color!

Painting the Nursery! Pink and yellow. Yes, but *which* pink and *which* yellow?

Nursery is Ready! Madelyn can move in!

Kitchen Remodel! Let’s gut it first!

Kitchen Remodel! New cabinets. Thanks Ikea®! (Sort of.)

Kitchen Remodel! New granite countertops too! (That sink was an ordeal, but doesn’t it look nice?)

And now we’re on the market! She sure was a good house…

Happy 2^nd Birthday! No, we haven’t entered a time warp or powered on our flux capacitor. We really are celebrating a second birthday. Born Friedman is two years old today. Crazy, right?! It seems like just yesterday I was laboring through the wee hours of the morning to bring it into the online world. It’s only two and it’s already been through a makeover. Oh, how these blogs grow up so fast.

I think the best part of having started this blog almost a whole eight months before becoming parents is the ability to go back and read just how clueless we were before Madelyn came into our lives for good. Sure, we were scraping the bottom of barrel for anything to write about at the time where we now have tons of tantalizing toddler tales to share. But it was more therapy and less content during that pregnant preparation period. I mean, who can forget my scintillating story of the ever popular fruit-to-embryo comparison? Or Alison’s joyful jaunt through Old Navy as she shopped for maternity clothes and pondered the gender of the baby? And of course, the stunning reveal when we finally found out we were on Team Pink! Then there was Princeton’s pictorial portrayal of his last trip as an only child and mama’s colorful recounting of the baby’s room renovation from office to nursery. And, of course, there were the final two posts, one from mom and one from dad, just days before Madelyn’s arrival would change Born Friedman forever.

…

Wait, you don’t remember those epic posts?!?

…

Yeah, I didn’t either. That’s because Madelyn’s arrival changed everything forever. I barely remember life without her!

Sure, Alison and I (and Princeton) have our place on the blog, but it’s undeniably Madelyn’s now. I look at it as our gift to her. Something she will read, examine, enjoy, and be embarrassed by later in life. And, at least until there’s another child born Friedman, she’ll be the star of this tiny little corner of the Internet.

It’s been almost six months since Madelyn’s first birthday, which means we’re just over six months until (OMG I can’t believe it!) her second. But I’ll use today, the second birthday of Born Friedman, to reflect on those early months of its life, before Madelyn, when the posts weren’t as compelling, as comical, or as cute.