A Walk in the Park

It Is To Laugh

thanks to Amy for shooting this...

it's starting

From: Pam Whitehouse

Date: July 16, 2009 11:33:53 AM MDT

Subject: it's starting

left him on the other side of the table on his play mat to go make a sandwich. this is what I found when I came back. he loves these cords!

ichat between me and Pam:

11:36:08 AM pazaam: he was just hanging out there, with his knees on the shelf there

11:36:12 AM slight: hahaha

11:36:24 AM pazaam: he unplugged my computer

11:36:39 AM pazaam: it was on the coffee table plugged in

11:36:52 AM pazaam: good thing these computers unplug easily or he'd have it on his head

11:36:55 AM slight: babyproofing

11:37:00 AM slight: wow

11:37:04 AM slight: hooray!!

11:37:27 AM pazaam: so says the man in denver

11:37:33 AM pazaam: ;-)

11:37:50 AM slight: i love it!!

11:38:49 AM pazaam: he's going to truck across the floor to see you when you get home

11:39:08 AM pazaam: omg he's coming right for me!

11:39:27 AM pazaam: seriously just army crawled back over the shelf toward my feet

11:39:58 AM pazaam: ok, off to feed

11:43:57 AM slight: he's a mover!!

7 - 7 - 7

Today marks 7 months since Malcolm got ejected from the womb.

From this:

to this:

Yeah, we hit the jackpot.

Touch

While Malcolm may very well be the World's Most Awesome Baby™, and while we have many days of awesomeness, not every day is fun-filled moments of golden rays of sunshine, magic unicorns and giant cupcakes. Some are plenty stressful. Last Wednesday was pretty much full-on fussy baby day. None of the usual suspects (tired, diaper, food) were really working to calm him. When it gets like this and you've tried everything and none of it has worked and he keeps crying, those cries turn into nails on chalkboard. And Pam's got a standing event on Wednesday nights, so I fly solo for 3 hours. I've got no problem flying solo with the kid; I've done it many times for more than 3 hours. But when it gets to be 3 hours of non-stop fussing... nails on chalkboard. And add into that the fact that he's a growing boy getting stronger and more active, it's not just dealing with his noise and the mental stress but physical stress, too. (He has gotten so squirmy lately it's ridiculous.) About the only thing that will soothe him is going outside to see what's happening. Of course, living in central Texas it's not comfortable to stay outside for any extended period of time.

So by the time Pam got home, I needed a break. Some me time, whatever you want to call it, because I was in one hell of a bad mood. And nothing makes a bad mood worse than to know that the cause of your bad mood is a helpless little baby who's only fussing because something is wrong and he can't tell you what it is and you've failed to figure it out. Woo-hoo, I'm already failing as a parent. Hooray me! Not really, but in the moment... it sucks.

I let Pam take over on Malcolm duty and went about cleaning out the cat box, taking out the trash, and throwing a pizza in the oven, all with one hand because the other was holding a freshly-opened beer. She jacks him up on the boob and he gets almost instantly content; some things only a mother can do.

Then it's time for bed and the goodnight routine. He gets a diaper change and his teeth/gums brushed, a change of clothes if he needs it. The current parent/DJ turns on some tunes and he gets a relaxing dance leaning on a shoulder. Then it's goodnight to the robots, the elephantes, the dragon, the John Deere tractor, the big blue marble, the relatives and Mommy and Daddy. Some nights we're both in there for this routine and sometimes it's just one of us. Pam, being the excellent mindreader that she is, made sure I came in to say goodnight.

They're slowly turning in the middle of the room to some Rockabye Baby. The lights are off but it's still twilight outside. She's got him on one shoulder and with her other arm pulls me in so we're a dancing family triangle and he's got us on both sides. She lets out a couple of long, deep breaths to help calm me down. She says things like, "Yes, you're a tired little boy" and "Mommy and Daddy love you so much" and such in a quiet, soothing voice.

He reaches out his arms to the side of her face and touches her forehead with his own. Then he turns and holds his arms out to me. I lean in and we touch foreheads. It's a brief touch, a second at most, but it might as well have been a lifetime. In an instant my bad mood is gone, the stress of the last 3 hours is gone, the stress of life is gone, and my body, mind, and soul are nothing but vessels overflowing with love, peace and happiness. He's given us little hugs before but nothing like this. Nothing. I don't need the golden rays of sunshine or the magic unicorns or the giant cupcakes when I have a connection like that with my boy.

Malcolm is Matt Dillon

Ok, enough already with the eating/food posts, I know. And at some point, these posts will end. But while it's fresh and new at least, we are currently cracking up at how much he talks while he eats. It is total nom-nom-nom-ville, and just like Matt Dillon's character in The Flamingo Kid.

"You in the Jungle, Baby"

Yesterday, we went to Hell and got Malcolm a new toy--a rainforest themed exersaucer. Tropical rainforest, Pam would like to point out, not temperate! We first went to an infant/kid resale shop to sell some stuff and see what they had. They had several exersaucers, but all looked beat up or worn to some degree. And though they would have been considerably cheaper than the one we bought, we just couldn't bring ourselves to get anything less than the best for Malcolm. We've talked about getting him used stuff, that it will be perfectly fine, etc. but for this, we just couldn't do it. There's plenty of waste in this society and world at large, and he does have some hand-me-down stuff, but looking at these, it was hard to tell if they all worked how they were supposed to.

So we went on to Hell and looked at what they had. There were really only 2 choices that seemed to be at least somewhat educational. But (spoiled kid alert) he already has 1 of those at Grandma's house. We were considering another one that was a little bit cheaper, and endorsed by a shopping mom: "She (her kid) loves it!" but its activities and theme seemed a bit disjointed. Also, its color scheme "offended our sensibilities." It was all red, purple, orange, and blue. If we're going to have to look and listen to this thing for the next year, then it's got to be easy on our eyes. So Evenflo Triple Fun ExerSaucer, welcome to your new home. And possible eventual destruction by Malcolm the Monster.

Last Night at Dinner

We met some friends at Trudy's North and Malcolm tried out a high chair/hi-chair/not-low-chair for the first time. He did ok for about 10 minutes.

But before too long he went into meltdown mode (adults sitting around a table are boring) and one of us had to keep taking him outside. It was ok though, because he found enlightenment.

Messiest Food Yet

Yogurt & Berries Pureé

Sorry for the lack of updates. I had a 2 1/2 week job come up but it's over now. Some new posts once the McGroach wedding weekend is over.

First Food