The Little Giant

We had planned on getting a crib for my son once we moved into our new house, setting it up and having it ready for him when he got home from the hospital but since my son entered this world way too early, the crib was not even purchased let alone set up. Being as small as he was at birth it ended up not mattering anyhow; he spent the first month or so sleeping in his playpen (and he looked dwarfed in that even). In fact it he was almost a month old when we did finally get him a crib.

Ever since we bought the crib and set it up, the mattress was left at the highest setting. Today that all changed. My son has grown so much in the past eleven months that he would be able to climb out of the crib if he got it in his head to do so. Because of that, we had to move the mattress down today. We put the mattress right to the bottom setting so we will not have to move it again until we have to transform the crib into the next stage. He is still a bit on the small side but he is catching up quickly so when he goes to day care Monday, he should not be bullied around by any of the other babies.

Question: The last sentence above got me thinking about a somewhat silly thought. When does a baby cease to be a baby? All other age groups have clear markers as to when they progress into the successive group but I am unaware of the evolution out of the baby stage. I must admit I have never really given this much thought before but the question now seems relevant.

Beware the Fountain of Youth

For fourteen weeks I have been changing diapers and feeding my son without any incidents but my clean, dry record came to an end so early Saturday morning that I thought it was still Friday.

I took my son to the Jays game Friday night but he was not having any fun, nor was he allowing anyone around us to have any fun, so I ended up taking him home halfway through the fourth inning. For those who do not recall the game, Friday’s game was the one that stopped the Jays losing streak at nine games and was the first of two wins in a row. Anyhow, he was so tired when we got home he did not wake up so he went straight to bed. Unfortunately, a short time after I crawled into bed, he decided to wake.

At this point it was around midnight and I was extremely tired but I went to deal with the screaming kid. First order of business, changing his diaper, no big deal, I had changed countless diapers in my time at home that it is almost second nature. This morning was not going to be just a normal morning though. I took off his dirty diaper and reached for a clean one. That is when I heard a strange noise and when I looked down, I saw a yellowish stream projecting from my son. It took me some time to register the event but I finally did and threw a diaper on him and immediately gave myself a once over. To my sheer pleasure, there were no wet spots on my clothing; I escaped the attack unharmed.

Of all the times for this to happen, my son had to pick a time when I was in a zombie like state. I finished changing him, wiped down the change pad and put a sleeper on my son before heading downstairs to feed him. Finally, at two o’clock, I was able to crawl back into the warmth of my bed and sleep with my clean record shattered. I guess it was inevitable so I should just be glad I came out of the incident with a dry shirt.

This Really Happened

I guess the stupidity bug is going around these days. I have a funny story to share as well. This happened to my wife last week when she stopped in at Costco on her way home from work. This was a conversation overheard while standing in line waiting to pay for her items. My wife went in for one item but while heading to that item, she noticed a display of jumbo freezies and stopped to pick one up for me. She ended up grabbing a few other items but they are insignificant as the story relates to this box of freezies.

Unknown idiot 1: I almost bought a box of those freezies last year…

Unknown idiot 2: Uh huh.

Unknown idiot 1: but the box is too big to fit in my freezer.

Her concern of the box size is a valid concern as the box is about a foot and a half long, eight or nine inches wide and about half a foot deep. However, it is not necessary to put the whole damn box in the freezer; it is possible to take the freezies out of the box a few at a time based on the room in one’s freezer and keep the box in a cupboard somewhere else.

Almost…But Not Quite

The days of putting my son on the floor to play and leaving him to his own devices is over, he is now on the move. Until recently, he would thump around on his back, using his head for leverage, but now he is crawling…almost. He still uses his head a lot but now he rolls onto his stomach and quasi-crawls everywhere chasing the cat around.

I say quasi-crawl because my son does not use his knees at all when he moves. At times he uses his feet but never his knees. Occasionally he does get to his knees and we think he is about to crawl properly but then he just rocks. Instead, my son pulls himself forward using his arms as if his legs were not a part of him at all.

Before too much longer, I am sure he will figure out how to use his knees when he crawls and then he will definitely get into trouble. Until then, he is still able to move around and look for trouble. I have lost my freedom either way and have to make sure I keep an eye on my son to prevent him from getting into too much trouble.

Put Me In Coach...

Same Old Same

It seems I have been more focused on updating my sports blog lately but looking on this blog, it seems I have updated one week ago. Still, I felt I should write something here today anyhow.

Nothing new is really happening here. We had to take my son to Buffalo again on the weekend to see the Bandits play their first playoff game. My son was not too co-operative during the first half of the game so my wife had to watch the game from the concourse. She came back during halftime and was able to stay for the rest of the game. We got to pass my son off to some fellow season ticket holders, who have three children of their own, so we could actually enjoy some of the game.

Saturday we were able to get out and enjoy the warm weather. Did some work around the house. I cut down an ugly dead tree (I figured it was okay since we will be planting another tree to replace it later this summer) and was able to rake the backyard. Next step is to get some grass seed and fertilizer in hopes to eliminate the ugly brown patch this summer.

That is about all that is going on here. Hopefully, I will have some more interesting things to share soon.

Great Success!

My son’s first road trip was a great success. For the most part, he seemed to enjoy himself and did not give us much trouble. Friday night during the game he did cry a bit when the Bandits scored and everyone was cheering but he settled himself with the rest of the crowd. By the fourth quarter of the game though, my son was likely getting tired and would not settle so my wife had to take him to a quiet sanctuary. Luckily, she could still see most of the action from her new vantage point so she did not miss much (not that she would have anyhow, the Bandits didn’t play well).

After the game, we drove to Rochester for the night. My son woke while we put his sleeper on and cried for about an hour after before falling back to sleep. That was the only real trouble we had with him and it was our own fault. Once he fell back asleep, he did not bother us until the next morning.

Saturday started off as a lazy day for us, after all there is not much to do in Rochester. We went for breakfast and then took our time getting the day started (lucky for us checkout wasn’t until noon). After lunch, we ventured out to find something to do to waste the day away until the lacrosse game. We took a wrong turn so we missed the zoo but we did stumble across a baseball game. The Minnesota Twins AAA baseball team plays out of Rochester and just happened to be playing that day. My son let us enjoy the game as he slept through several innings. A great way to waste the day in my opinion!

My son was equally as good at the lacrosse game that night as he slept through a quarter. The game was even worse than the Friday night affair so we left early to start our 3+ hour cruise…sorry that is something else, it was a 3+ hour drive. Halfway between Rochester and Buffalo we stopped at a service centre and coincidentally ran into Jay Dee, who was returning from a day trip to Syracuse. My son really enjoyed that chance encounter though as he was all giggles. The rest of the drive was uneventful and my son eventually slept the night away.

Our First Solo Outing

To continue from my previous post, I realized that yesterday was a first for me; until yesterday I had not been ‘on the town’ alone with baby Alan for any length of time. Sure, I had been out of the house on several occasions but for the most part, I was without Alan, with Alan and my wife, or I went to a relative’s house where I could pass of the baby and relax. However, yesterday I was on my own with Alan in the big city.

The journey started with a short drive into Toronto for lunch and eventually ended when the Blue Jays beat the Royals 7-4. After lunch, there was about one and a half hours to waste until I met up with my sister for the game and a slight break from the baby. I ended up sticking around work and bugging all the condemned souls suffering in cubical hell. Much to my surprise, it was a rather pleasant visit but then again my bosses were not there and I was able to dodge the worst of the bunch (unfortunately some others were missing so I may need to return with Alan).

Alan didn’t seem to mind being tossed around like a beach ball from person to person and he seemed to particularly like the ‘cool kids’. He was quite the happy baby for the entire day, even late into the ball game when he should have been sleeping. It seems the nap he took while walking from the office to the dome (excuse me, the Rogers Centre) helped prevent him from getting cranky at the game. Since this outing was such a success, I should not be so nervous prior to the next big outing we partake in and as soon as the weather warms up, we will hopefully go on more outings.

Another First for My Son

As every child grows, they will inevitably experience many firsts ranging from evolutionary firsts like a first tooth to character firsts like a first smile to calendar firsts like first Easter to first activities like the first trip to the zoo. Being a little better than nine months old, my son has already experienced many firsts. He has been smiling for several months, giggling almost as long; he has already been to his first MLB game, his first NLL game (albeit an exhibition game), his first OHL game and his first MSL (Major Series Lacrosse) game. My son has gone through his first Christmas and his first Easter (see picture) and many other first calendar events. He has even been to the Toronto Zoo once already. He has yet to join us to a Buffalo Bandits game though.

Through the majority of the National Lacrosse League season, we have been lucky enough to have a babysitter to look after my son while we made the long drive to Buffalo for Bandits games. Our luck has finally run out for this weekend though since we decided to stay in the US for an extra day and we will have to bring my son with us. This trip will be my son’s first trip south of the border and his first real road trip.

Warning: Sports Content
To end the season, the Bandits are playing a home and home series with the division leading Rochester Knighthawks. This weekend is set up to be a very exciting one too. If the Bandits are able to sweep the weekend series then they will tie Rochester for the division lead and due to the better head-to-head record, they will assume first place in the East division. To add to this excitement, the season points leader could be decided in these two games as John Tavares of Buffalo and John Grant Jr. of Rochester are tied for league lead with 97 points. (Dan Dawson of the Arizona Sting has 95 points and could surpass both Tavares and Grant for the lead). Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this weekend is John Tavares’ quest to be the NLL’s all-time goal leader. Tavares need six goals to tie the record and seven to surpass Gary Gait who currently has 596 career goals.

I am a little concerned at how my son will be at the lacrosse games though since he has not faired well at recent sporting events. In December, at the Toronto Rock exhibition game in Oshawa, my son cried from the second quarter on and more recently, in February at an OHL game again in Oshawa, my son cried throughout the first two periods causing me to leave prematurely. It is possible that he just didn’t like the new arena in Oshawa, the GM Centre (or should I say the mini ACC) but I am sure it was the loud noise that he did not like. This weekend we will be prepared though. We will have something to cover my son’s ears with, whether it is actual ear plugs, tufts of cotton, or just ear muffs, we will do what we can to minimize the noise for him.

I will be taking my son to the Toronto Blue Jays game tonight so hopefully he enjoys it and doesn’t cry through the entire game. Baseball, especially in Toronto, does not compare to the noise of lacrosse or even hockey so he should be okay with the noise level. There is a lot of room to walk around if things get out of control so hopefully I can enjoy the game too. It will be a long day for us; we will be heading downtown for lunch with the Canyon Creek Club (some people from work) and a visit with others. With luck, things go well this week and my next post (sometime next week) will tell of a great first road trip for my son.

I’m Going Slightly Mad

I'm one card short of a full deck
I'm not quite the shilling
One wave short of a shipwreck
I'm not my usual top billing
I'm coming down with a fever
I'm really out to sea
This kettle is boiling over
I think I'm a banana tree

I did not think it was possible for me to get stir crazy but I am afraid it has started to happen. At the halfway mark of my absence from work, I have begun to go mad. Do not go jumping to conclusions (Yes, yes, it's horrible…this idea….) I do not miss work at all, especially with the occasional reminders Stinky T leaves on her blog about the wonderful office atmosphere and the various characters the company employs. In fact quite the opposite, I am starting to dread the day I have to return to work.

There is roughly two months until that dreadful day but the inevitable doom is starting to creep into my mind like the approaching storm clouds outside. This feeling was first realized Saturday when I had to meet my wife in Oakville en route to Buffalo for a lacrosse game. You see, my wife was working in the morning so I decided it would be a good idea to meet somewhere west of Toronto and instead of driving somewhere to meet her I decided to take the GO train. Two months of not having to use the train is all it took for me to forget the pains of public transportation. Let me just say I have more fun going to the dentist. It was after (I guess at some point during) the train ride that I came to the sad realization that in eight short weeks I will be taking the train twice every day to travel to and from work. The seed of dread planted itself in my mind and is now starting to grow.

I have really enjoyed my first two months away from work and have found enough to keep me occupied but recently there seems to be more time for me to do nothing. My routine changed somewhat and Alan is sleeping longer when he actually falls asleep so as a result, I have more free time. I guess this free time is also a result of my getting into a rhythm with the baby and the housework thereby reducing my wasted time. A couple days ago, I found my PS2 under a thick coat of dust and even though it was mistreated and ignored for several months, after a little dusting, the PS2 forgot its mistreatment and started without a hitch. I may have found something to occupy my free time and I hope it does not object to the abuse it will soon be suffering. The next two months may not be so boring after all. Six weeks from now I will likely be complaining that we time at home is almost up. Until then, I shall make the best of things here.

I'm knitting with only one needle
Unraveling fast its true
I'm driving only three wheels these days
But my dear how about you
I'm going slightly mad
I'm going slightly mad
It finally happened
It finally happened - oh yes
It finally happened
I'm slightly mad
Just very slightly mad
And there you have it

* Highlighted paragraphs are lyrics from Queen’s ‘I’m Going Slightly Mad’