Dylan created his first game today.
I was feeding him a big ol' helping of rice cereal with some pears mixed in, and after just a few bites he was staring off to either side of the high chair as though disinterested. He'd even swing his eyes high overhead when switching his gaze from far right to far left, avoiding me all the while.
So I started to do the same.
Then I heard a little noise from him and I could tell he was getting a kick out of daddy looking around, as if it's what he was trying to get me to do all along, and finally I swung my face around to see his and he gave me a happy little smile. I held up a spoonful for his smiling face. He opened wide and took a big bite. We went through the little routine again and he took another big bite. Now, this wasn't one of those times when he smiles so big I can sneak the spoon into his mouth 'gotcha' style - he was distinctly smiling then opening wide. And wide like I'd never seen. Tongue out of the way and everything. Again and again. Look around; signal; eye contact; smile; bite. We were both having fun.
He invented a game and I figured out the rules.
We powered through that rice cereal until we had just a couple bites remaining. Then mommy walked in the house and all bets were off. Game Over. Fun while it lasted.
Until next time, d.
daddy
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
my boy is growing up
What a dramatic change this crawling is!
He suddenly has so much more control over his situation. His 'sphere of influence' is incalculably larger: Now he can travel to the toys, or across the living room to chew on the doormat (yuck!) if only given the chance. He can spin like a compass arrow on his belly, and he can clamber over waist-high obstacles.
There was a pillow resting atop a small nursing stool on the floor. Next thing you knew there was a Dylan resting atop said pillow!
It's wonderful to see so many changes. It makes my heart sing to see him sitting in his play area happily moving from one toy to the next, chewing on this one and rotating that one. And he's very close to figuring out (finally) how to roll from his tummy to his back. He'll have it down within the week I'm sure. Hopefully that'll mean we can take the roll-stabilizer out of his crib and he'll sleep even better.
Way to go, d.
Dad
He suddenly has so much more control over his situation. His 'sphere of influence' is incalculably larger: Now he can travel to the toys, or across the living room to chew on the doormat (yuck!) if only given the chance. He can spin like a compass arrow on his belly, and he can clamber over waist-high obstacles.
There was a pillow resting atop a small nursing stool on the floor. Next thing you knew there was a Dylan resting atop said pillow!
It's wonderful to see so many changes. It makes my heart sing to see him sitting in his play area happily moving from one toy to the next, chewing on this one and rotating that one. And he's very close to figuring out (finally) how to roll from his tummy to his back. He'll have it down within the week I'm sure. Hopefully that'll mean we can take the roll-stabilizer out of his crib and he'll sleep even better.
Way to go, d.
Dad
crawling
Dylan started crawling over the weekend. He was at a friend's house Thursday and spent some time on a shaggy carpet. Inspired, or perhaps just with better traction, he inched his way forward as far as a couple feet, propelling himself primarily with his toes.
Sunday we were at Lake Almaden watching mommy finish in the top 10 in the uber-competitive 30-34 age group of the 1500-entrant San Jose International Triathlon. Dylan repeatedly crawled the length of the picnic blanket for a chance to stick his tongue on the grass. He's a whole new animal.
Dad
Sunday we were at Lake Almaden watching mommy finish in the top 10 in the uber-competitive 30-34 age group of the 1500-entrant San Jose International Triathlon. Dylan repeatedly crawled the length of the picnic blanket for a chance to stick his tongue on the grass. He's a whole new animal.
Dad
El Paso's Passing
Dylan,
Since you were 4 weeks old - practically all your life - we've been going out for breakfast together Saturday mornings at a little Tex-Mex establishment called El Paso Cafe that's been a family favorite for three generations. I assumed that one day you'd trade in The Bottle for a Super Breakfast Burrito and we could bring your leftovers* home for mommy to eat when she finished her bicycle ride.
When we learned of a pending ownership change, we were encouraged to hear that at least for now the menu would remain.
We stopped in after our walk last week, as per our routine, only to learn from the "new guy" that they were no longer planning to open until 11:00am Saturday morning and were doing away with the breakfast menu(!!!). As if that weren't discouraging enough, the prices have also gone up noticeably and the salsa will never be the same without J.C. there to make it.
So, sadly, although we were fortunate enough to be served last Saturday at 9:30-ish after our walk at Rancho a tradition seems to have reached its end.
Dad
*Remind me to teach you the value of leftovers.
Since you were 4 weeks old - practically all your life - we've been going out for breakfast together Saturday mornings at a little Tex-Mex establishment called El Paso Cafe that's been a family favorite for three generations. I assumed that one day you'd trade in The Bottle for a Super Breakfast Burrito and we could bring your leftovers* home for mommy to eat when she finished her bicycle ride.
When we learned of a pending ownership change, we were encouraged to hear that at least for now the menu would remain.
We stopped in after our walk last week, as per our routine, only to learn from the "new guy" that they were no longer planning to open until 11:00am Saturday morning and were doing away with the breakfast menu(!!!). As if that weren't discouraging enough, the prices have also gone up noticeably and the salsa will never be the same without J.C. there to make it.
So, sadly, although we were fortunate enough to be served last Saturday at 9:30-ish after our walk at Rancho a tradition seems to have reached its end.
Dad
*Remind me to teach you the value of leftovers.
Friday, June 23, 2006
nutrient smile
One a day, that's all I need.
Just one of those big, happy smiles - especially the kind with so much energy behind 'em that his arms wiggle and his legs shake - is enough to sustain me through an entire day of crying or fussiness or workday dylan-deprivation.
dad
Just one of those big, happy smiles - especially the kind with so much energy behind 'em that his arms wiggle and his legs shake - is enough to sustain me through an entire day of crying or fussiness or workday dylan-deprivation.
dad
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Summertime
Yesterday was the Summer solstice and with it came serious summer heat. Our neighbor Steve (the Hungarian retired electrician) measured a hundred degrees in the shade on his patio. While I'm sure it's been triple-digits at Uncle Chris' house for months, that's a damn hot day in The Bay.
It was still in the 80's when we decided to go for a walk through the neighborhood a little past 7:30. The sun was low in the sky and casting the most incredible lighting onto rose bushes along the way. We walked slowly and happily and didn't get very far. Dylan was in his Around Town Stroller (which I just now named), as opposed to his Carseat Stroller (too reclined for his taste these days), his Umbrella Stroller (freebie from Babies 'R' Us and never used), his BabyJogger (used, but never by Dylan), or The BOB (which has big wheels and rear shocks and has pulled the lion's share of stroller duty). The Around Town Stroller lets The Boy sit upright in a basket-like environment. He likes having the rails to hold onto while out cruising.
One thing C and I talked about on the walk was our need for another stroller. Honest.
A block from home D's focus was locked onto a pair of Lassie-dogs that were about to cross our path on the perpendicular. The owner was nice enough to stop the dogs and let Dylan stare in wild wonder. She then asked if we'd like them to come closer. I figured we'd see how close they got before he freaked, but the dogs walked up very calmly, stopping a few feet short of the stroller before eventually moving in close enough for him to reach. We managed to keep him from yanking out a handful of sable and white fur and he was absolutely tickled by the whole experience.
Someday I think we'll get a puppy.
dad
It was still in the 80's when we decided to go for a walk through the neighborhood a little past 7:30. The sun was low in the sky and casting the most incredible lighting onto rose bushes along the way. We walked slowly and happily and didn't get very far. Dylan was in his Around Town Stroller (which I just now named), as opposed to his Carseat Stroller (too reclined for his taste these days), his Umbrella Stroller (freebie from Babies 'R' Us and never used), his BabyJogger (used, but never by Dylan), or The BOB (which has big wheels and rear shocks and has pulled the lion's share of stroller duty). The Around Town Stroller lets The Boy sit upright in a basket-like environment. He likes having the rails to hold onto while out cruising.
One thing C and I talked about on the walk was our need for another stroller. Honest.
A block from home D's focus was locked onto a pair of Lassie-dogs that were about to cross our path on the perpendicular. The owner was nice enough to stop the dogs and let Dylan stare in wild wonder. She then asked if we'd like them to come closer. I figured we'd see how close they got before he freaked, but the dogs walked up very calmly, stopping a few feet short of the stroller before eventually moving in close enough for him to reach. We managed to keep him from yanking out a handful of sable and white fur and he was absolutely tickled by the whole experience.
Someday I think we'll get a puppy.
dad
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Sitter
Dylan had his first real babysitter yesterday. Kenda works in the daycare at Cheryl's gym, so she and Dylan knew each other already but this was his first in-home experience.
She arrived in time to see him go down for a nap and got to enjoy his smiling face when he woke up 90 minutes later, then she played with him for a while before taking him outside for a little walk in the sunshine (with his hat on, of course).
Not too monumental, really. I mean, he took it in stride and probably didn't give it two thoughts, but Mom sure enjoyed spending a couple of hours on a weekday afternoon getting to some things that aren't easily done while conveying a wiggling nineteen pound appendage with a mind of it's own and an undeveloped sense of empathy.
dad
She arrived in time to see him go down for a nap and got to enjoy his smiling face when he woke up 90 minutes later, then she played with him for a while before taking him outside for a little walk in the sunshine (with his hat on, of course).
Not too monumental, really. I mean, he took it in stride and probably didn't give it two thoughts, but Mom sure enjoyed spending a couple of hours on a weekday afternoon getting to some things that aren't easily done while conveying a wiggling nineteen pound appendage with a mind of it's own and an undeveloped sense of empathy.
dad
Monday, June 19, 2006
a happy father's day
Yesterday was my first official Father's Day! Dylan woke me up by scrambling far enough over mom to whack me in the face a few times, then we hung around in bed for a while playing with the boy. He's definitely a morning person.
Later in the morning we all went for a run at Rancho where we passed by an old co-worker of mine. He hollered out "How are you, Erik?" and I gave him a 'thumbs-up' as we left him in the rear-view. Then I asked myself: "Are you kidding? I'm running with my wife and my son on Father's Day. I'm fantastic!!"
We hung out for a while with Kevin and the twins. They played in the pool, and Dylan got his first experience in water more than 3" deep, but only after he'd hung around with me for awhile swinging in the hammock and eating cheerios. It was another one of those times I don't ever want to forget. Mom took some pictures with the disposable, we'll see how they turn out. We all went out for lunch together (thanks again Kevin!) and Dylan spent a long peaceful stretch sitting on my lap on the back patio.
When we got home D and I each took a nap, and Cheryl let us both sleep well past the time we were due to leave for dinner, where we spent a very nice evening eating ribs and potato salad with the semi-extended family, and got to see the slideshow of Uncle Marc and Aunt Lisa's honeymoon in Greece.
It's good to be a Dad.
dad
Later in the morning we all went for a run at Rancho where we passed by an old co-worker of mine. He hollered out "How are you, Erik?" and I gave him a 'thumbs-up' as we left him in the rear-view. Then I asked myself: "Are you kidding? I'm running with my wife and my son on Father's Day. I'm fantastic!!"
We hung out for a while with Kevin and the twins. They played in the pool, and Dylan got his first experience in water more than 3" deep, but only after he'd hung around with me for awhile swinging in the hammock and eating cheerios. It was another one of those times I don't ever want to forget. Mom took some pictures with the disposable, we'll see how they turn out. We all went out for lunch together (thanks again Kevin!) and Dylan spent a long peaceful stretch sitting on my lap on the back patio.
When we got home D and I each took a nap, and Cheryl let us both sleep well past the time we were due to leave for dinner, where we spent a very nice evening eating ribs and potato salad with the semi-extended family, and got to see the slideshow of Uncle Marc and Aunt Lisa's honeymoon in Greece.
It's good to be a Dad.
dad
Friday, June 16, 2006
still frames
Dylan,
I'm sure that when you're an adult you'll have an entirely different perspective on what constitutes a "normal" amount of pictures of one's childhood. For mom and i, we're happy to be able to look back at a few dozen images of our grade school years, after they've been dug out of drawers, closets, scrap-books and shoe boxes across the country. When you're in our shoes you'll probably be looking back at dozens available for each month, or even each week. Maybe it won't seem like a big deal to you, since you'll have had such convenient access to some-odd thousands of digital pictures of yourself on the ubiquitous home computer.
If at some point when you're poring over the plenitudinous volumes of your life's captured moments you should feel the need for an explanation as to the relative dearth of images of yourself aged 6-8 months, well, the camera's busted. We're working on it.
dad
I'm sure that when you're an adult you'll have an entirely different perspective on what constitutes a "normal" amount of pictures of one's childhood. For mom and i, we're happy to be able to look back at a few dozen images of our grade school years, after they've been dug out of drawers, closets, scrap-books and shoe boxes across the country. When you're in our shoes you'll probably be looking back at dozens available for each month, or even each week. Maybe it won't seem like a big deal to you, since you'll have had such convenient access to some-odd thousands of digital pictures of yourself on the ubiquitous home computer.
If at some point when you're poring over the plenitudinous volumes of your life's captured moments you should feel the need for an explanation as to the relative dearth of images of yourself aged 6-8 months, well, the camera's busted. We're working on it.
dad
cheerios
We put a few cheerios on Dylan's high-chair tray last night while he was eating his "solid" foods. He was attracted to them and had a fine time batting them around and trying to pick them up with his raking grasp. His occassional success owed as much or more to having drool-covered hands as to his fine-motor skills. He managed to feed himself a couple of O's (which he happily munched) but he has yet to catch on to the useful sequence of
1. hand to mouth
2. relax grip
3. insert food
Instead, he tries to fish the toasted whole grain goodness from a closed fist with his tongue.
He was happy enough with eating them last night, I guess I'll find out today how the rest of his system liked 'em.
dad
1. hand to mouth
2. relax grip
3. insert food
Instead, he tries to fish the toasted whole grain goodness from a closed fist with his tongue.
He was happy enough with eating them last night, I guess I'll find out today how the rest of his system liked 'em.
dad
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
paper, or plastic?
Dylan has a new appreciation for paper. Maybe it was the perfume ad he recently wormed out of some magazine and went to work on, but I think it goes back farther than that.
At first I thought it was books. Any time you try to read a book to him he'd rather rate it's slobberproofness. Perfectly normal, you must be thinking, for a kid his age to stick everything in his mouth. Sure, nothing special. Except that now he's developed a preference. A taste if you will, for paper products of just about any kind. He'll pass-up all sorts of plastics and various textiles until he finds a CD cover, a magazine, or important-looking document. He'll motor from room to room in his saucer-mobile angling for mischief of the recyclable variety. For anybody who may have sent us a gift and didn't receive a Thank-You in the mail, I'm pretty sure I found the last scrap of it stuck to Dylan's jagged little tooth just the other day.
At first I thought it was books. Any time you try to read a book to him he'd rather rate it's slobberproofness. Perfectly normal, you must be thinking, for a kid his age to stick everything in his mouth. Sure, nothing special. Except that now he's developed a preference. A taste if you will, for paper products of just about any kind. He'll pass-up all sorts of plastics and various textiles until he finds a CD cover, a magazine, or important-looking document. He'll motor from room to room in his saucer-mobile angling for mischief of the recyclable variety. For anybody who may have sent us a gift and didn't receive a Thank-You in the mail, I'm pretty sure I found the last scrap of it stuck to Dylan's jagged little tooth just the other day.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
The things I'll forget
big d-
I was thinking last night while I was putting you back to sleep that this was something I wanted to remember forever.
You were having trouble sleeping because your nose was stuffy. When I picked you up from your crib you quickly curled up, buried your face and went back to sleep. It was special to me because you were so comfortable and so peaceful so quickly. It was a moment to dwell in. As much as I wanted to stay in that moment all night, being your safe haven, I knew I could not. I recognized that each moment would be replaced by the next, and all I could do was hope to remember them as long as possible.
So I wonder about the things that I'll forget. Will I remember your baby smile after it becomes the smile of a little boy, or a man? Will I remember how intently you chewed on your rubby ducky even after you've crashed your first bicycle, or your first car?
As wonderful as these memories continue to be, and with the knowledge that they will unfortunately diminish over time, I find comfort in the anticipation that their replacements will be worthy of their clarity, and wonderful in new and unexpected ways.
dad
I was thinking last night while I was putting you back to sleep that this was something I wanted to remember forever.
You were having trouble sleeping because your nose was stuffy. When I picked you up from your crib you quickly curled up, buried your face and went back to sleep. It was special to me because you were so comfortable and so peaceful so quickly. It was a moment to dwell in. As much as I wanted to stay in that moment all night, being your safe haven, I knew I could not. I recognized that each moment would be replaced by the next, and all I could do was hope to remember them as long as possible.
So I wonder about the things that I'll forget. Will I remember your baby smile after it becomes the smile of a little boy, or a man? Will I remember how intently you chewed on your rubby ducky even after you've crashed your first bicycle, or your first car?
As wonderful as these memories continue to be, and with the knowledge that they will unfortunately diminish over time, I find comfort in the anticipation that their replacements will be worthy of their clarity, and wonderful in new and unexpected ways.
dad
Friday, June 09, 2006
sleeping well
Dylan,
Thanks for being a good sleeper. It makes all the difference in the world!
Things got sketchy there for a bit, between four and six months or thereabouts, but you've settled back in nicely. I put you down for bed at about 8:35 every night (I think the back to back episodes of That 70's Show have something to do with the consistent timing) and you settle down in just minutes. You're getting very good at putting yourself to sleep, too. I usually just try to calm you down, then put you in your crib (with the roll-stabilizer still) and tell you to "put yourself to sleep", and you do.
We often hear you thumping your feet on the mattress around 11 or 11:30, but you go back to sleep on your own. Then we hear you again in the morning somewhere between 6:30 and 8:30, sometimes talking to yourself but always rolled onto your tummy, and you always have a smile for whoever eventually goes in to change your diaper and let some light into your room to signal the new day.
dad
Thanks for being a good sleeper. It makes all the difference in the world!
Things got sketchy there for a bit, between four and six months or thereabouts, but you've settled back in nicely. I put you down for bed at about 8:35 every night (I think the back to back episodes of That 70's Show have something to do with the consistent timing) and you settle down in just minutes. You're getting very good at putting yourself to sleep, too. I usually just try to calm you down, then put you in your crib (with the roll-stabilizer still) and tell you to "put yourself to sleep", and you do.
We often hear you thumping your feet on the mattress around 11 or 11:30, but you go back to sleep on your own. Then we hear you again in the morning somewhere between 6:30 and 8:30, sometimes talking to yourself but always rolled onto your tummy, and you always have a smile for whoever eventually goes in to change your diaper and let some light into your room to signal the new day.
dad
first tooth
It's not exactly new. It showed up a coupla weeks ago amidst a very runny nose, a lot of interrupted sleep, and some uncharacteristic cries.
It's little. And jagged. Surprisingly so on both counts. It's also really cute, though most visible when he's crying. It's the left-lower front tooth and it looks like it'll be joined next by it's neighbor to help even things out a bit. He's very diligent with his various chew-toys, which I think is in all our best interests.
dad
It's little. And jagged. Surprisingly so on both counts. It's also really cute, though most visible when he's crying. It's the left-lower front tooth and it looks like it'll be joined next by it's neighbor to help even things out a bit. He's very diligent with his various chew-toys, which I think is in all our best interests.
dad
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
The eyes have it
Wallis took this when Dylan was playing with the twins while mom and I were out for a run with Kevin.
-dad
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
7 months tomorrow
Big D turns 7 mos old tomorrow. Everybody tells you that it happens quickly, too quickly. That they grow up fast and then they're gone. Maybe it's something to do with the amount of road that's left in front of us, but for right now 'quickly' is fun.
dad
dad
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