November 9, 2006

We’ve been pushing Hayes to learn his name. Ok, perhaps pushing ain’t exactly right. We don’t really push him to do anything — except behave, which normally fails. Anyway, a few weeks ago he got it. When asked his name he’d say, “Name: Hayes” Well, that’s how’d I’d write what he says. He doesn’t know what a colon is, so, well…

It was about that same time that we coined a new name for Hayes. You may remember he was HBomb for a while. Now he’s stunt baby.

Name: Hayes.

Occupation: Stunt Baby.

Yup, that’s him. And he’s earned it. It began at our friends’ place in Maine. With two year old twins, they’ve got a child safe downstairs, so we kinda let Hayes do his thing. They also have tricycle type things. Maybe they’re child safe. They’re certainly not Hayes safe. Not when I caught him trying to stand on the seat. I scolded him, and that was that.

So I thought.

Next thing I know he’s demanding, “Dada! Help!” from another room. I run in. Hayes is in a crib. In a crib. WTF? I scan the room. Next to the crib, the tricycle. He had used the tricycle to vault into the crib. I took him out. He did it gain, right in front of me. Tricycle seat > grab onto crib rail > pull himself over the edge > land on head > roll to his feet in crib.

Stunt baby.

Last week he took it to a whole new level. He got his first stunt related injury. He was sitting on the arm of the couch. I told him to get off. He does. Next thing I know, he’s falling backwards in slow motion (I’m not sure how he does slow motion), twisting a half gainer as he goes. His hands go out to brace himself for impact, but he underestimates and his hand can’t stop his entire force. He hits the ground.

Smack!

Pause.

“Waaaaaaaaa!”

Bloody nose.

Think he’d learn? You don’t know stunt baby. He was laughing within minutes. As soon as the nose stopped bleeding, he was at it again. We’re in trouble. Big trouble.

September 5, 2006

Is it just me, or did this summer FLY by? I mean, it was faster than a running toddler, yes? I have to admit, I am — perhaps for the first time ever — disappointed that summer is over. Well, I know, it’s not officially over, but by indication of traffic on the morning commute and the LD holiday in the rearview, I’m calling it done.

Jen had a good description, she called it a “practice summer.” And I couldn’t agree more. We just didn’t get as much summer out of it as we usually do. It could just be the reality of having a child, but I really do think it was more practice for next summer — we can do better, have a fun filled summer, and still have a kid.

I also chalk much of it up to the weather. It was either raining, or hot. I swear, there was month of rain. And rain is oh-so-much fun with a toddler who likes to run. Good thing, at least, that we moved to the big house instead of being stuck in the little condo in Boston. Wow, wow… wow, now that would have been awful.

Anyway, don’t get me wrong, there were some highlights:

1. Our trip to Martha’s Vineyard (without Hayes, however)
2. Going to Maine to visit the twins
3. A surprise visit from my college roommate his wife and twins
4. Going to my cousin’s and Hayes’ pony ride (and my GTO ride)
5. Our first anual Sagalyn holiday
6. Kayaking with my brother and sister and their significant others in Vermont
7. Going to to see Little Miss Sunshine this weekend (yes, a movie — we only saw three this summer)

So, it wasn’t without bright spots. Just lots of not so bright spots. Not much bad, really. Just kind of “meh.” Oh well. I was, after all, a practice summer. Now onto practice fall. I’m looking forward to apple picking and folliage.

June 7, 2006

April 24, 2006

Probably the biggest impedement to Hayes’ overall safety is our stairs and doors. He can’t get enough of them. The biggest problem is that he’s figure out how to open doors to get to the stairs. It used to be just pinched fingers in the door as he slammed them shut. Now, with this door opening epiphany, we have to deal with him possibly tumbling down the stairs.

Here’s how it normally plays out. Hayes is in the kitchen, which, along with the family room (better known these days as Hayes’ toy room) can be closed off from the rest of the house. We close it off. He runs around, pulls the pots and pans and other stuff out of the cabinets, plays with his toys and makes a lot of noise.

Yesterday, this scenario changed. He opened the door and headed for the stairs. I intercepted him before he could start the climbing… but now the rules have changed. We’ve got to figure out how to how to keep him away from the stair, and our kinda ornate banister is not condusive to gating. Oh well… our last bit of Hayes roaming control has been breeched. Let the games begin.

November 21, 2005

We thought that perhaps Hayes fever might have slowed him down. You know, taken the spring out of his step. Set him back on the walking a bit. Nope.

Instead, on Friday, H started to walk with renewed vigor. On Saturday, more walking. By Sunday, half of his locomotion was walking. Today, even more.

What’s a proud father to do? Well, post the video (which is HUGE so you may have to wait a bit for it to load!) of course! Please disregard the grainy, bigfoot sighting film like quality, it’s all you can expect from a not-really-a-video-camera digital.

October 26, 2005

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted — I’ve actually missed HBomb’s 9 month post. Not to worry, there’s nothing wrong here, we’ve just been swept up in house hunting stuff. We made an offer, had an inspection and ran screaming. Yup, the amount we can pay for a house doesn’t go too far these days. Even when you’re looking 45 miles from Boston. Worst housing market ever.

And BTW, anyone read the housing info porn in Wired this month? Where it said the average price of a house these days is $138,601 for a 3BR 2BA 2,330 sq. ft. home? Yup, you can’t find that ANYWHERE in New England. NO WHERE. Anyone else want to kick me in the balls where we’re at it?

But back to H, ‘cause, after all, that’s what this is all about. He’s doing great! He’s having tons of fun tearing around the house and grabbing anything not on a nano scale to stick in his mouth (this includes dirt I can barely see and crumbs I didn’t notice until he was chewing on them). His newest acheivement is standing on this own.

It’s both scary and funny to watch. He pulls himself up on something, lets go, teeters for a few seconds and falls. For him it’s all a mind game. I know this because he stands just fine — straight up and down and sturdy — until he realizes he’s standing, then the balance thing gets to him and on his butt he goes. Standing for him is kinda like that cartoon cliche where the coyote ends up stopping in mid air about three feet off the side of the cliff. You know, then he looks down, realizes he’s in mid air, holds up a sign and falls. That’s standing for Hayes. Except he can’t write or spell, so there’s no sign. There’s just falling.

We figure he’s going to be an early walker. He’s already let go of a chair once and taken a step, only to land on his head. Yup, totally mobile kid is in the works. Just in time for Haloween. We’re scared.