Almost a milestone

-
The Kid and I were playing on the floor when she handed me a book that was in with the toys.  I started reading it and she stopped what she was doing to listen.  She's got this little noise she makes when she wants something, so I started reading again.  When I was finished, she stood up next to me, using my knee to balance and I handed her the book.

She let go.  She didn't fall and she stood there for what seemed to be a few minutes, although I'm sure it was just a few seconds. It was the first time she stood on her own without leaning on something or having furniture nearby to grab.  She was actually standing without help! 

Sure, it wasn't her first step but we missed a lot of her first so I get excited when we get to see the first of anything.  I'm sure she didn't understand why Gladys and I were staring at her until she sat down, then started yelling, "Good Job!" and hugging her.  But it was our first first and hopefully not our last. 

A few other observations after week four of fatherhood.
  1. I've changed plenty of diapers but these four weeks have reminded me just how toxic the rear end of a baby can be.  And drool is amazing at disabling electronics.
  2. For something so small, The Kid has an amazing shriek that rivals air horns.
  3. Baby heads are hurt when they are thrust full force at your nose.  And the baby always thinks beaning you is the funniest thing on earth.   
  4. There is no better feeling than a pair of little arms trying to wrap around your chest when it's time for bed.   

Popular posts from this blog

Marching for hope in our neighborhood

-
Image
The Kid and I walked our neighborhood this evening, but with a different purpose than usual. Many in our neighborhood gathered at Gesu Catholic Church to March for Hope . Roughly this time last year, a federal judge who lives a few streets over, was shot on his front porch in a botched robbery attempt. His physical recovery from the single bullet to the knee took the better part of a year and extensive rehabilitation, and his emotional recovery was sped by his church community and immediate neighbors. I don't know the judge, nor am I a member of his church Gesu Catholic. I'm not much of a protest guy either, I prefer to work behind the scenes. I read about the walk this morning , and almost forgot about it until Gladys started to do some work for a class she's taking. So we bundled up The Kid, and the two of us walked over to the church to support our neighborhood. When we walked into the church, I was struck immediately with the knowledge that this was not a protes
Read more

Yet another blog of parenting advice

-
Image
A friend whose wife is expecting their first child was asking me for advice today. He's going to be a new dad, so he was asking in general terms because until you're in it, you really don't know what to ask for. My knee-jerk reaction was to tell him to get rest. Lots of it, whenever you can from now until the kids are adults. Forget the idea of work/life balance too, because balance is a myth. Sometimes work will take priority, sometimes the kids will, and sometimes dad has to be a priority. If you're too concerned about hitting a false measure of balance, you're going to miss something. The End of the Beginning And that was it. That's all I could come up with until I got in the car and scarfed down one of the sugar cookies I bought for myself as a treat that I had no intention of sharing. Here's what I came up with. Avoid watching Caillou at all costs. For some reason, kids are absolutely mesmerized by him. No adult on that show holds the kid acc
Read more

But you're so young and athletic

-
Image
I fully expected to be writing a few humble brag posts on my social media channels by now of my athletic prowess, or at least tales of how I survived my first couple of organized classic cross country ski races. I’ve long thought about what it would be like to participate in the Noquemanon Ski Marathon , but living in a snow-desert like Detroit makes training tough. Since I’ve never done a race in my life on skis, I figured it would be a good idea to take on some shorter distances to see if this was something I would really enjoy doing. My training for the Krazy Klassic closer to home was fun. My walks with Barney were longer. So was my time on the yoga mat. When the race began, it was harder than I expected but I chalked that up to a lack of time on skis this year. Ultimately, I hit my goal, which was to finish the race. My 5k time was among the slowest that day , but I left the experience encouraged that my fitness was going in the right direction for the White Pine Stampede a few w
Read more