Getting Bipedalicious

Iron-On Winners

Thanks to everyone who voted. The top 3 vote-getters were:

B/W Radiohead

Little Lebowski Urban Achievers

Hall & Oates

Not far behind, and therefore getting put on the next blank shirt of his I come across, were:

Lone Star

Beer Chang

Abide

J.C. Penney catalog-type photos coming soon...

Randomness

A few random things...

Malcolm got over his ear infection pretty easily. We're grateful because that isn't always the case. Shout-out of thanks to Dr. Marty Molina for the help.

He now has 7 teeth that have poked thru--4 up top and 3 on the bottom. They often pop out in pairs so eyes are peeled (I hate that expression) for #8.

I'm sorry but I can't remember whom it was that bought us a subscription to Parenting magazine. Thanks for that. There's been some helpful articles in several issues.

But... there is something about it that really pisses me off.

The magazine isn't geared towards parents, it's written for mothers. There are pages about the baby's health and then the mom's health. Ones with baby toys and mommy toys. And more than one article about what to do when your husband doesn't do this or that (these often contain a "men... what are you gonna do" vibe). I understand that the way things have been it is generally the woman that is the primary caregiver to infants. When only 1 of us has breasts that produce milk, it's just going to happen that way. And beyond that, child-rearing has been for centuries seen as "woman's work." The man goes out and earns the living and the woman takes care of things back home. But that's all changing. In my circle of friends, there are quite a few dads, and all of them are pretty actively involved in raising their kids, even the infants. So yeah, maybe Parenting is just marketing to the people who will buy their magazine; there are Dad-centric websites but I haven't noticed any Dad mags. But I'm a parent too (damn it!) and if you're not going to have anything in your publication aimed at the dad, then you should call yourself Mothering.

Along those lines, I also realized I don't want to be called Mr. Mom because I take care of the boy when I'm not working. It's a demeaning term for an outdated (what's up 1980s?) way of thinking. I'm the Dad, ya see? Daddy-o, El Dadarino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

I know I posted it to Facebook, but if you missed it there, he's starting to stand up on his own and has taken a few steps on his own here and there. The first time he took a couple of steps on his own he knew he had done something special. He got very excited, yelling and shaking his fists with a big smile.

Finally, any tips on this problem would be greatly appreciated. Usually when one of us is home alone by ourself with the boy we'll use the restroom with the door open. He's not cut off from us and we can at least hear what he's doing. But now that he's getting all mobile, he's coming right up to the toilet while I'm standing there peeing. I try to block him out with my legs as best I can and still hit my target, but he's a wily one and now knows to try and outflank me. And he's reached down into the bowl once and wet his hands. Thankfully, the water at the time was pure. And I'd rather not sit if I don't have to.

Malcolm needs your votes!

We're making Malcolm some iron-on onesies. I found a few images on the interwebs but we currently only have 3 onesies. Check out the images and note your top choice in the comments. We'll take the top 3 and make Malcolm even more awesome this winter.

2 versions of the Radiohead bear to choose from. Pam likes the one with the eyes but I like the plain one.

It's the Reagle Beagle from Three's Company!

BoingBoing is an awesome blog I read.

Hall & Oates!!

One of Malcolm's favorite toys is a John Deere tractor.

Some Big Lebowski-themed ideas:

Beasties!

Malcolm likes elephants and we liked this beer in Thailand.

I'm not going to say anything because of the 1st rule.

No explanation needed.

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...

We had a good run

It took about 9 months and 3 weeks but a day I was dreading finally happened. Malcolm got sick.

An ear infection to be exact. Or ears infection because he's got it in both ears, the left being worse than the right. It's not good but it seems like it could be worse. As long as he's not lying down, he's pretty normal other than a runny nose. He's laughing and playing and crawling around and putting his hand in the cat's* water bowl, just like any other day. It's just when he lies down that it really seems to hurt. He's not taking his naps and hasn't been sleeping well or much at night. (This started yesterday, Saturday, morning.) That, coupled with Pam having a pretty bad allergy attack at the same time has not made for an awesome weekend. Meanwhile, I'm gearing up for the Austin City Limits festival and trying not to catch anything.

Today, we remembered, or actually got reminded via the virtual mistress known as Facebook, that we have a doctor friend with a family practice. A couple of phone calls and a drive out 2222 for verification that it was indeed an ear infection and we got a prescription for some meds. Fingers are crossed that it will work because Malcolm's girlfriend, Talia, is on her 3rd set of antibiotics and nothing has worked. She's getting herself chiropractically adjusted tomorrow and hopefully that will do the trick for her.

The worst thing is when he's crying and you know it's because he's in pain and there isn't anything you can do to easily relieve it. Trying to suck the snot out of his stopped-up nose with one of these helps but is so not fun for the little guy. Seriously, the sound of him yelling and the tears running down his face is damn near the worst thing ever. Sometimes when he's coming down from a big cry and I'm holding his feverish little body, it makes me sadder than anything else. Sadder than breaking up with someone, sadder than watching Shadowlands, sadder than a death in the family. Of course, I realize that this pain is temporary and for that I am grateful, but still, it isn't temporary enough.

In other developmental, uh, developments, Malcolm's got 4 teeth coming in up top. He's talking plenty lots of "ma-ma-ma-ma" and "ba-ba-ba-ba." I'm patiently waiting for a little "da-da-da-da" action. He likes getting chased around the house. Anything he's not supposed to get into, he likes getting into.

And generally, plenty of contagious laughter, with his mouth open wide and his hands slapping at whatever is within reach and his eyes full of spark and sparkle.... I got to tell you, nothing has made me appreciate life more than hanging with The Boy. And I've seen things, been places, met people, experienced this, that, and the other... plenty of things that have made me happy... but nothing like him. He's good people.

*Yes, I said "the" cat. Most of you probably know but the Boots was killed back at the beginning of the month. She got attacked by a dog over Labor Day weekend. Surprisingly, of the 2 cats, she let the boy paw at her more than Freeway, who generally runs from Malcolm whenever he gets close. The Boots would actually come up around the boy sometimes, like she wanted to lose a clump of fur (he's not so good with the petting yet). She could be a moody thing and we made her fat because we thought she was pregnant, but... she was family.

Guess It's a Good Thing I Don't Party Like I Used To

Or: Don't Have An Emergency

It's been a while

I've been out on the road a bunch this summer and know I need to write a post. In the meantime, because he's like crack for the eyes, here's some pictures I took yesterday. And if that wasn't enough for you, here's the page that shows all the Malcolm pics on flickr. Try not to o.d. And if you just can't wait, here's one that Jason took over Labor Day weekend.

Firsts

This past Thursday Malcolm took 2 unassisted steps. He was leaning on his grandma then took his hand away from her and made 2 small steps forward, before promptly falling down. He's been pulling himself up and standing next to things for a couple of weeks. And with this has come his desire to walk. He holds onto our fingers and laughs as we go around the house. Sometimes he even kicks a ball as he walks. Now, ever since Thursday he wants to walk a lot more, and his speed has definitely increased. Nothing on his own since then. It was probably more fluke than anything, but hey, it happened!

We've also been trying to get him to wave bye-bye whenever somebody leaves. There's been a couple of semi-waves--a shake of the arm with a closed fist at the end--but that's about it. This evening, Pam did a video chat with her sister, Amy. As the adults waved and said, "Buh-bye," Malcolm decided he wanted in on that action, too. We all watched as he said, "Buh-buh," and made a very definite wave. After a round of applause and near-standing ovation, and as Amy kept waving from 1750 miles away, he did it again. A wave and a "buh-buh." And then again.

Now, as he sits and eats his dinner (summer squash and yukon gold potatoes, cheddar cheese, honeydew melon), or at least what he isn't smearing all over his face, he's saying it again.

Current awesome factor: 9.9

A Walk in the Park

It Is To Laugh

thanks to Amy for shooting this...