children
DAD, CAN PEOPLE FLY?
04/05/16 09:18 Filed in: children | developmental stages
Conor and I were lying in bed before school. “Dad, can any people fly without things to help them?” No, Conor, only birds can fly. All people need a machine to help them fly. “Like an airplane, helicopter, or a kite?” he quizzed. “That’s right, son,” I said, knowing I was letting him down. “Well, I want to fly,” he squeeked out. “Many, many people want to fly really bad. And that’s why two brothers named Orville and Wilber Wright invented the airplane.” I informed him.Then Conor stood up on the bed. “Dad, you stand over there.” And so I stood, bracing myself. And he jumped! “See dad, I can fly.” Conor always has to have the last word. And that’s when we got him dressed for school and stuffed him into his car seat. We drove. We didn’t fly.
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CONOR LEARNS TO STAND ON HIS OWN. GAME CHANGER.
Conor is apparently right on time, according to developmental stages when kids learn to stand. from six to 9 months, says Wondertime.go.com. According to Parenting.com, "It takes most babies about 1,000 hours of practice from the time they pull themselves upright to the time they can walk alone." So when I do the math, if Conor started practicing right now, 24 hours a day without sleeping, he will be walking in 40 days. But since child labor laws prevent such treatment, it'll still be sometime before Conor can walk. Whew!
To help a child prepare to walk, you can do the following;
1. Let the rascal walk in front of you while you hold his hands
2. Hold only one hand so he learns to feel what balancing is
3. when he can stand on his own, step away and call his name so he'll take a few steps on his own.
4. Arrange sturdy furniture that he can hold on to as he walks so he can do so without your help.
WWII MUSEUM IN NEW ORLEANS
The old lady in the elevator didn't think the WWII Museum was appropriate for a baby but we had fun. The museum focused on the invasion of Normandy and the war with Japan. We highly recommend the museum if you're a WWII buff but Conor was only good for about an hour of it before he got antsy and wanted to stand in the stroller instead of sit. Considering he's only 11 months old at this point, I'll consider that a victory. After he waived the white flag, we gracefully made our exit.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH A ONE-YEAR OLD
Ah, come on, Christmas shopping with a child? That's a recipe for disaster. Unless you just make a game out of it. Mom shopped while Conor and I amused ourselves. Tiny Elton John had a great time and the holiday shoppers got a kick out of us, too. It's great being a dad!
CONOR JUST ROCKED HIMSELF TO SLEEP ON HIS ROCKING HORSE
Conor was having the best time on his wooden rocking horse for about 20 minutes this morning. But after awhile, I saw that he would rest his chin on the horse's head, and when the rocking would slow down he'd sit up and get the horse to rocking again. At first, I thought he was resting and just enjoying the ride. Then I got closer when I saw that his posture wasn't right. I noticed his eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy. He was sleeping. I gently lifted him off the horse and took him to his crib where he curled up in a ball and continued to sleep. I tried to use my iPhone to record the event but as usual, it had run out of battery juice.
CONJUNCTIVITIS IS HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS
Got a call from daycare today saying to come pick up the boy. 15 months into his life and Conor gets pinkeye. It's medical name is conjunctivitis so I like pinkeye better. Sounds less…permanent. It's highly contagious and schools don't like it.
What exactly is conjunctivitis? It's a virus (or bacteria) that causes inflammation of the clear membrane that covers the white part of your eye.
How is it spread? Conjunctivitis is passed from one person to the next after the infected person rubs their eyes then touches another person or touches something that the next person then touches. That's really the only way you can spread pinkeye. It turns your eyes red for about 4 days and makes them really itchy. Like having sand in your eyes. It makes my eyes hurt just writing this. It usually goes away on its own but it's still important to see a doctor because there are side effects that can occur with untreated conjunctivitis and you don't want that to happen.
We took Conor to the doctor within 2 hours of the school notifying us. A common secondary condition that can occur with pinkeye is an ear infection. So the doctor checked Conor's ears and sure enough, he had an ear infection. So now we have a mild antibiotic for his ears and eye drops for his eyes. Giviing a baby eye drops is like telling an elephant to tiptoe through a petunia patch; it ain't gonna happen. The trick is to give him eye drops while his eyes are still closed in a horizontal position and when he opens his eyes, the liquid runs into the eyes and it feels good and you're a hero. Bam!
DON'T FENCE ME IN
A strange thing happened this evening after coming home. Conor was awfully fussy and kept wanting me to pluck him out of his high chair where his mom was having trouble feeding him. After I rescued him from his chair, he cried to be let down. But when I let him down he cried to be picked up again. It was very frustrating. I asked him what he wanted but of course, he can't really talk yet. He pointed towards the living room but I couldn't figure out what he was pointing at. So I put him down and offered him my hand hoping he might guide me to what he wanted. Sure enough, he took my hand and pulled me in the direction he wanted to go. At last, we ended up at the front door and he pointed to the door handle. He wanted out. When I opened the door, he smiled and walked to the door frame and stepped out into the rain. He looked pleased and wanted to walk down the stairs. I obliged him. When we finally got to the street Conor let my hand go and he looked around and smiled. He was happy.
Then it hit me, for the last 3 days we spent almost the whole day just sitting in my dad's front yard in San Benito, Texas, soaking up the sun and the fresh air. Conor was now cooped up in the cold Northeast and he wanted to feel the fresh air, even if it was raining. I let him stand there for a couple of minutes and then picked him up and gave him a big hug. I promised we'd take him out tomorrow. I then came back inside, ordered him a raincoat online and will wait on its arrival. There's no reason to keep a little boy trapped inside a house when he wants to enjoy the great outdoors. Even if it's raining or snowing. It's time to get the right gear so he's not fenced in.
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN TO A CHILD THAT WAS INURED IN A BOMBING THAT ITS OKAY TO GO BACK OUT AND PLAY
As I walked down Boylston Street today in Boston, I came to the site where the bombs went off during the Boston Marathon of 2013. And as tragic as that event was, something caught my eye that made me stop in my tracks as my knees began to weaken. An 8-year old boy in a wheelchair was sitting in front of the store that was still under repair from the bombing last week. This child was injured in the blast and his caretakers were reintroducing him back into society. He had two Trauma workers that were wearing Trauma logo'd jackets and were pointing to different places on the sidewalk. The little boy was listening but he seemed confused. It was heart wrenching to watch. I think of my own 18-month old son and how innocent he is. How would I ever begin to explain what happened in a way that he would ever be able to relax in a crowd ever again?
Those terrorists not only took the lives of citizens, and the legs from others. They also took the innocence from children who no longer get to grow up with the kind of naiveness that makes being a child so much fun. The scars you can see are bad enough. The scars we'll never see are even more sinister.
I didn't want to take the little kid's picture. I'm not that kind of a blogger or guy. I simply took a picture of ground zero as a reminder that the world we live in is, indeed, fragile. Yes, Bostonians are resilient and yes, life goes on. But the scars will last. And they are reminders that we must make an effort to live harmoniously. It's not a given. We have to make it. We have to create it. We have to feed it. And we have to guard it.
Like that little boy, Boston is a little less innocent than it was one week ago. And now, we have to get up, brush ourselves off, hug each other, and do what we can to see that love outsmarts hate.
PANCAKES HAVE NEVER BEEN SO MUCH FUN
Conor doesn’t like when I ignore him in the morning when making breakfast. But if I include him in the process, he’s happy as a clam in mud.
CONOR THINKS I HUNG THE MOON
There’s something special about a dad and his son that just seems to make the world make sense. I feel like all the stuff i learned once upon a time has a purpose again. And if my son doesn’t like that I’m always imparting bits of trivial knowledge into his brain, he doesn’t show it. In fact, he acts like he relishes it. He’s only two but I thought he might like to know that the moon is only 270,000 miles from Earth. And when i took a picture of it this weekend with a powerful Nikon lens, I pointed out the acne spots were really places where asteroids collided with the moon. He laughed and clapped. I never really thought of it that way but I decided it was funny and thought applause was in order. I mean it really must have been quite a sight to see two foreign bodies crash into each other 270,000 miles away. I mean, it’s not like anyone got hurt or anything. He was playing with the wheel of my bike this weekend and as it spun, I explained that once an object is in motion it will continue that motion until an opposite force makes it stop. He rubbed his finger along the rubber until it stopped. He laughed. I said, “exactly”. Then he realized he burned his finger on the spinning rubber and he lifted his finger for me to kiss and make better. I did as told and he smiled. I didn’t tell him of the phenomenon ‘placebo effect’ because that would ruin everything.
It’s a brief time that my son is a little boy thinking that his dad hung the moon. I’m going to milk it for everything it’s worth. - See more at: http://dadsdecoded.com/blog/index_files/archive-oct-2013.html#sthash.csgaEp8K.dpuf
I THINK I SEE THE LION DAD
20/10/13 21:10
Conor and I went to the Franklin Zoo in Boston today. We had a great time together, exploring every inch of the park. He was scared of the leopard as it paced around in it’s enclosure. We were super close. And he was also scared of the gorilla when it looked over and started staring at us. He said, “Daddy, Conor scared. Let’s go.” And so we did.
There was this really cool lion exhibit where it looks as though a safari jeep has crashed through the 3 inch glass and is now resting in the lion’s den. Conor loved it. Here he is looking for the lion. Pretty serious.
LOLLIPOPS!
15/01/14 22:40
Conor is a picky eater but there's some foods that he particularly loves that just aren't kids' foods. Here's a lollipop lamb chop that he will fight tooth and nail to get. The other is artichokes. Other than that, he just likes hot dogs and mac and cheese. Ha!
THAT'S MY LUNCH
21/03/14 22:22
I get concerned when the teachers tell Val and I that Conor didn't eat any of his lunch. That doesn't sound like my son! So I checked his hot dogs and discovered they were 97% fat free. That's the problem right there! Now he goes to school with Fenway Franks and I steam them instead of grill them. He eats them like candy all over again. Whew, that's my boy.
YIKES, MY BABY'S REGRESSING
12/04/14 22:10 Filed in: child development | boys
Conor keeps teetering between wanting to be a baby and in the next sentence, “I’m a big boy.” He wants to be held and 5 minutes later he doesn’t even want a hug. He’s not exactly sure what he wants these days.
Here’s an interesting article from my trusty website; babycenter.com entitled, ‘Why Regression Happens.’
"Learning new skills is often "two steps forward, one step back." Regression is common in 2-year-olds partly because there are just so many new skills to juggle. They're also vulnerable to stresses that make them want to go back to familiar territory (diapers instead of that new potty) because it's more comforting. Be patient with little setbacks and remember that they're not permanent.
Well, that's good to know because I thought I may have done something wrong or dropped him on his head. I always like hearing that everybody's in the same boat as me. For better or worse, at least we're all doing well or we're all miserable. I just like the company.
UPSET ABOUT HIS UPSET STOMACH
Conor is two and a half years old and tonight is the first time I've ever seen him get an upset stomach and lose his cookies. He started off by telling me, 'Daddy, tummy.' No other explanation than that. I rubbed it and thought he was just showing me how far it sticks out because it is rather round. He waited about five minutes and said again, "Daddy, tummy." I think I heard some gas but what's new there? So I rubbed his tummy and asked him if it felt okay. He said, "no'. So I sat on the bed with him and we talked about Curious George and how Curious George likes to visit the chocolate factory. Then Conor put his little hand up to his mouth and said, "Daddy, my mouth!" and his eyes looked so scared. I figured it out immediately. I grabbed a towel and he was still looking scared. I told him that it was okay to let whatever was inside come right out of his mouth and that it would be okay. He did! And it went everywhere. Of course he started crying and his mom had grabbed him by the time he threw up and poor thing was covered in hotdogs and milk. She was a real trooper and took him downstairs for a bath.
I still remember how scared I was when I was a little boy and I had to throw up. I thought I was going to die. Seriously. It was the worst feeling I had ever felt. To be able to breathe again after that was quite a surprise. Conor threw up two more times that night and there was major cleanup necessary. We took his temperature and he was normal. The next morning he was completely fine and we returned to normalcy…whatever that is!
CONOR IS READY FOR HOOPS
15/04/14 21:40 Filed in: sports | child development
At the beginning of the year, we joined the YMCA as a family. We started swimming lessons and soccer lessons. And this is where Conor was introduced to basketball as he'd walk to soccer class. He seemed especially connected to this so we stopped in the other day (during a birthday party at the Y) and he got to watch and even shoot a few baskets. I'm making a note to myself to get him a basketball hoop for the backyard as summer approaches.