Things I've Learned

I was thinking about my job as a parent so far, and it occurred to me that there are quite a few little things you pick up along the way. It's the sort of first-hand knowledge that is difficult to put in a book, or that might be too specific to your situation to really apply well across the board to all parents and children.

Call it parental evolution, child adaptation, whatever. Here's some stuff I've found out (not in any particular order).

1. When kids learn to talk, they move quickly from "mama" and "dada" to "I want." It's so cute at first, and then it becomes a demand. "I want juice" became a constant bell ringing during Caleb's waking hours for a few weeks there. I think the trick is to make sure that you don't give in to the "wants" but rather give them the things they want when they're NOT asking for them. That way they seem to start understanding that they don't get what they ask for, and they stop begging constantly. I'm sure this rule goes out the window as soon as he learns to open the fridge and pour some juice.
2. Speaking of food...we came up with a cool trick for snacks/desserts. There's a cereal called "Cookie Crisp" which has been around for decades. If anything can epitomize the sugary-kid-cereal selections, this might be it. However, a close look at the nutritional facts will show that there's not really that much sugar, and there are TONS of other vitamins and minerals in there. Compared to actual cookies, well...there IS no comparison. But you know what? Caleb thinks he's eating cookies (they do taste like cookies). So we give him a handful of those, he thinks he's eating this fabulous dessert and all the while he's eating something that's actually really good for him (especially compared to any candy or cookie).
3. Your kid grows as only your kid can do. That is, everything develops in time, according to your own child's timeline. Crawling and walking came VERY slowly for Caleb, and it became frustrating toward the end (he only started standing and walking around 15 1/2 months). Lots of kids hit that milestone at least 3 months earlier. Of course, Caleb had a FULL mouth of teeth (all of them) before his 1st birthday, and some kids don't get to that point until 18 months or so. And Caleb's hair doesn't grow very much, whereas many kids his age have already had 1, 2 or 3 haircuts by now. Caleb's vocabulary (spoken and sign language) is pretty well developed, and some kids at this point don't have but a couple of words or phrases. Point being, they're all different, and trying to compare one kid to another at this age is pretty pointless.
4. A mom who works full time can still be a good mom. There's obviously the standard (working dad, stay-at-home mom) and that's probably the ideal. We've sort of flipped it on it's head (work-at-home dad, working mom). It's no secret that some people have nothing good to say about our setup. People have their opinions, and you can't change that. However, there's more than one way to live life, and I'd like to think that we have a perhaps greater challenge than most. Our goal is simply to meet our higher challenge, and not worry if we do it exactly the way someone else says is "best." I'd say that the best part of our situation is that both parents are working, yet Caleb doesn't have to go to a daycare. In that regard, I think we are very fortunate, and Caleb will benefit from having a father that is more involved in his day-to-day life than a lot of fathers can be with their children.
5. Stuff is gonna get messy and dirty. We try to keep a clean house, but Caleb is always dragging out a toy in the hall, or pulling papers off a table and generally making a mess. And that's when he's not eating a meal. Rather than keeping things clean 24/7, I think it's more realistic to expect a certain amount of mess and make a commitment to cleaning on a regular basis. When it was just the 2 of us here, it was easy to just put things back where they go. If we tried that right now with Caleb, it would last about 10 seconds. Exhausting. Now that he's been playing in the yard, it's also becoming apparent that muddy shoes tracking through the house will be just around the corner. At least the boy is having fun!

That'll do it for now. I'm sure I'll think of other stuff.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

As you all are aware, this blog has experienced a shortage of posts lately. But the drought is over (for today) and we're back at 'cha.

So what did we fail to document these last 4 months?

1. The freakin' birthday!! Woo!
2. Crawling faster than the speed of sound
3. Standing up and grabbing everything that's not nailed down (and a few things that are)
4. New words
5. Sign language
6. Swimming
7. Walking (!!!!)

Ahh....where to start? Oh, nevermind, I appear to have this carefully numbered list that I just made, so we'll handle it that way.

1. The freakin' birthday!! Woo!


Yeah, Caleb turned the big numero uno on March 4th! Super good time. We had a big party with a NICE cake put together by my friend Morgan. Actually, there were two nice cakes...the main b-day cake and the baby cake (for Caleb to smash, destroy, obliterate, and partially consume). Lots of friends and family made the drive up, and the weather was pretty good, too, so we had a couple of yard games out and such.

2. Crawling faster than the speed of sound


It took the guy a while to get around to it, but once he started really crawling he picked up speed quickly. Sometimes he'll just have these little speed bursts and it catches you completely off guard. I ripped some major knee holes in a nice pair of jeans while crawling around after him during Jan/Feb/March, and now I just have calluses (shorts, warm weather). But no matter, it was worth it to kill the jeans just to be playing around with him.

3. Standing up and grabbing everything that's not nailed down (and a few things that are)

Eventually, he started noticing more and more stuff that wasn't on floor level, and just like any good baby/toddler, he just started pulling himself up on tables, couches, chairs, stools, Jingles, my desk...just grabbing and pulling everything he could get his hands on. Jingles didn't care for that so much, but he usually makes his mess and then crawls away. I clean it up, and he's back to stir it up again within minutes. We eventually figured out it was simpler to just clean up after naps and bedtime.

4. New words


In addition to "Jingles" and "mama" and "dada," he picked up "oooooohhh!!!" and "eeehhh?" and occasionally, we'll hear him say "Elmo." The best one is "Go Dawgs!" complete with fist pumping (yes, I totally taught him that one...it's never too early to start). The "Go Dawgs" is especially fun, because we also taught Jingles years ago to bark whenever we say "Go Dawgs" or do the fist pump motion. So now whenever he hears a dog bark or even sees another dog, he says "Go Dawgs!" and pumps his little fist in the air. Awesome.

But of course, we're probably stunting his vocabulary development because we've been teaching him...

5. Sign language

....well, sort of. I think some of the words and phrases he's learning are legitimate sign language, but the rest are just hand gestures we've taught him to get him to tell us what's going on. He can gesture for drink/thirsty, hungry, sleepy, hello/goodbye, "Go Dawgs," please, thank you, go for a walk and a couple of other things.

Oh, and yeah, we've taught him to point his finger in the air (symbol for "d" I think) when we're changing his diaper or going upstairs to change his diaper (or really, he does it anytime he hears us say "diaper" or if we physically check it out). Lately, he has actually started making the sign right when he's getting ready to load the diaper up. So at least that shows some potential for future potty training, if he already knows when he's getting ready to poop. Yeah, I said poop. It's a baby blog.

6. Swimming

So with the beginning of summer and the opening of our neighborhood pool, we've taken a few trips down there to test the waters out. For the most part, he starts off hating it. He has a hand gesture for "all done" that he uses when he's finished eating or drinking, but he's started doing it whenever we do anything he doesn't like (like serving him broccoli...he just puts his hands up as soon as he sees it). So we're walking down there and he's in the stroller (he loves going for walks) and as soon as we go in the gate and he sees what's happening, he just puts his hands up.

Once we get him in and start playing, he seems to be okay with it, but it's fairly short-lived for right now.

I will add this, though...we went to the pool with Abby and Andy and Caleb's BFF Liam this weekend, and he did great! He was playing laughing, giggling, just having a great time! We must have been in the pool for nearly 2 hours and he wasn't really ready to go quite yet when we finally left. This definitely bodes well for next week, when we take the annual Jolly family trip to St. Simons Island.

7. Walking (!!!!)


This is really a completely recent development. He's taken a few steps in the past month or so, but never much more than that. He'll walk his push car thing all over the house, and walk along tables and couches, and walk with us holding his hands. When it comes to independent steps though, he's been more than hesitant about it. However, again with this recent weekend, he started walking back and forth in our foyer while the Garlands were here (after we got back from the pool, and also dinner). Yesterday we tried it some more, and he really seems to be taking to it well right now. Perfect timing, too....his 15 month Dr. checkup is this Friday, and they like to have toddlers walking by 15 months (although many kids learn it around the time they're 1 year - 12 months). So really good timing there.

That should do it for now. As always, pictures are on Facebook, so get on it (oh, and you'll have to friend my wife, since she handles the pics most of the time).

Liam's 1st Birthday Party

One good turn deserves another...this is just some random video footage from Liam's 1st birthday party. Not much to see, but there's some good shots of Liam with the bubbles and the two kids playing together.

Daddy Daycare - Day at the Races

Okay, so I got a video uploaded rather quickly. Life's full of surprises!

Crawling and Standing!

Well the little man is moving around these days. It seemed like he would never get off his butt and move, but what a difference a couple of weeks can make.

Most of the babies we know that are his age have been crawling and standing up for months. Of course, it's not really fair to compare one kid to another since they are all unique. But he was about 2-3 months behind on everything (except teeth...he's got a bunch of those). So now at least I feel better that he's progressing!

Speaking of teeth, Caleb L-O-V-E-S to eat. Loves it. He gets all freaked out and starts slinging his arms around nervously and babbling when we bring the food out and put him in his high chair. It's very cute, but it can be nerve wracking as well when you don't quite have the food ready yet and he'll start getting really upset. We've found ways to work around that (obviously it helps to just get the food ready and THEN go get him in his chair).

Bananas are a big deal around here. Hilary and I each have a banana every day for the most part, and now Caleb loves those, too. We just let him eat straight from the banana. Problem is, he usually takes these enormous bites and then starts gagging and spitting pieces back up. Doesn't seem to bother him, though.

Talking is one area he seems to be ready to move into. He can already more or less say "Jingles" whenever he sees Jingles come into the room. He really likes Jingles and they play alright together, but Jingles gets cautious around him (because sometimes Caleb loves on her a little too much, pulling on her hair and ears and all that). He also can say "mama" and "dada" but I'm not sure he really understands those to be our names yet. He seems to know "banana," too. In general, he can mimic us when we say a word, but only with Jingles and bananas does he seem to connect the dots.

Regardless, if you ask us, he still hasn't said his "1st word." Yeah, I know, he basically is talking, but until he clearly says one of those words we're not counting it. If he points to the object and says it clearly (not mumbled or strained) then that'll be it. How's that for setting the bar high?

With all the talking and crawling around it's getting harder to get work done as well as I used to do. He's not "needy," but he really enjoys interactive playtime much more than playing alone, and he's not afraid to inform us when it's time to get involved.

I'm going to start loading some videos in here sooner or later. For all my video expertise, I am pretty lazy about handling my own home videos. I just never have the time, or if I do have time, I have other things on the to-do list and I just never get around to it. So expect some videos soon!

Also, Caleb's 1st birthday is coming up in less than a month! March 4th is the big day. We're having a party for him and inviting family and close friends (sorry if you didn't make the list). So now the big thing is going to be getting all the supplies and plans in order.

Add to all that the fact that Hilary will be taking a temporary position in the Newnan SSA office in 2 weeks (lasting for about 30 days) and you have a very hectic month coming up. Should be fun!