October 2013
HOW TO RECOGNIZE MILESTONES IN YOUR CHILD'S DEVELOPMENT
23/10/13 21:03
BabyCenter is great at sending Valerie and I weekly milestones that give us a benchmark for where Conor should be in his development. Today, this arrived in my mailbox and it's right on; Every day, your preschooler's brain is discovering new concepts that are soon reflected in his fast-growing vocabulary. Words like "over there," "on top of," "over," and "under" are a big leap forward because they show he understands how things relate to one another in space. You can reinforce this understanding by using simple directionals when you talk to him: "Where do birds live? Up in the sky! Where do bugs live? Under the ground." I really love this feature. If interested in tracking your child's developmental milestones, visit here; BabyCenter.
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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.
NIH STOPS THERAPY DOGS FROM HELPING CHILDREN
17/10/13 21:19
Keeping therapy dogs from visiting children during the government shutdown is totally not necessary. I used to be a therapy dog volunteer and would take my dog to visit kids in the hospital, juvenile homes and senior citizen homes. It was all volunteer work and the government had nothing to do with it.
The excuse the government gives is that this particular community of service dogs has to see government veterinarians. Well, these dogs don’t have to see vets every day. Only if its time for shots or the dog needs medical help. Otherwise, these dogs are perfectly able to visit sick children in the hospital.
I think the government is trying to shut everything down so that we see how much the American people need them. But I see it as just the opposite. I see how much we rely on them and should change the system so that they don’t have so many touch points in our lives so that whichever government party is in the White House, they can’t tell the rest of us Americans what we can and can’t do. And who is suffering right now? The children. And that makes me frustrated and sad.
READ CNN ARTICLE HERE. - See more at: http://dadsdecoded.com/blog/index_files/archive-oct-2013.html#sthash.csgaEp8K.dpuf
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
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 GOES TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. AGAIN.
Today, it got a little breezy in the back when Conor was admitted to Children’s hospital because of a super painful stomach cramp.
I got a call from Conor’s daycare that he had been crying for an hour, holding his stomach and saying that it hurt. They had tried to call once and now was trying again. I jumped in the car and headed to pick him up. Only two days before, he had the same issue and we took him to the hospital to get checked out. But because he was no longer in pain, they decided to just watch and see.
Today, we headed straight to Children’s Hospital and had him checked again. This time, thoroughly. It started with x-rays which he hated but it wasn’t painful. It was just a scary looking room with a big machine that looked like a monster. They really need to get in there and paint that room to look like something fun. It wouldn’t be hard at all. Then, they sent us all upstairs so he could have an ultrasound. He was so over that x-ray room that he wasn’t pleased to have to lie down and have jelly rubbed on his tummy so they could slide that plastic paddle around on his tummy. So he cried crocodile tears even though the procedure was painless.
Eventually, they decided he may just be really constipated so they gave him an enema to make him poo. He cried some more but was so tired from the other two experiences that he was resigned to let the nurse do her thing and he just laid on the pillow and cried. Valerie and I felt bad for him but we had seen him in pain when his stomach would cramp up so this didn’t seem like such a difficult decision. And now we are pretty sure he’ll be okay.
CONOR HAS AN ODD REQUEST OF HIS DOCTOR
10/10/13 21:36
After five hours of poking and prodding at Children’s Hospital, arguably the best hospital for children in the world, the doctor gave Conor a little package of graham crackers and an apple juice to fill his hungry little tummy. Whereby Conor, at 2-years old looked up at the doctor and said, “I want some hummus, please.” The doctor doubled over in laughter and said in all the years she’d been treating children, she’d never heard such a request. She apologized for not having any hummus then left as laughter echoed down the hall. It was a good ending to a long day at the hospital. Conor was okay after all and his extreme stomach ache was simply due to an extreme case of constipation. Ouch.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR 2-YEAR OLD SON
09/10/13 21:53
Happy birthday to our 2-year old, Conor. It has been an amazing journey so far. It’s funny how I look at pictures of him from when he was 6 months and realize how different he looks. To me, seeing him every day of his life, he looks the very same. How can that be? This morning, he awoke to three presents waiting downstairs for him. When we wished him a happy birthday, he broke into song and sung happy birthday to himself. It was hilarious. This is the balance bike that I blogged about two years ago when Conor was just born and now that he’s two, we’re going to see if this way of learning to ride without pedals actually works. - See more at: http://dadsdecoded.com/blog/index_files/archive-oct-2013.html#sthash.csgaEp8K.dpuf