Posts Tagged Development
Clear the Runway
Posted by Proud Dad in Baby on Board on September 9, 2010
LTD has now become a 10th level master of the stairs. He scurries up and down them like a forest creature of myth. However, ever since he first learned to go up and down the stairs he does a little ritual that he has not dropped as his skills advance. In the beginning of his vertical journey, he learned to go up the stairs long before he learned how to go down them. But one day, all on his own, he figured out how to get on his belly and go down the scary stairs. Soon he was going up and down without incident. What is the ritual you ask? When approaching stairs going down LTD will start five to ten feet away from the steps get on his belly and slowly begin backing up to the stairs. The only thing missing is the beeping sound big trucks make when they back up. I have no idea why the little guy feels he needs so much runway but I applaud his safety first attitude.
Honk if You Have my Nose
Posted by Proud Dad in Baby on Board on September 6, 2010
About a month ago The Mommy taught LTD a few facial features eyes, mouth, nose. Lately, we have added chin, cheeks and even moved down the body to the elbow. However, the nose remains LTD’s favorite because unlike the other parts the nose involves an action (well, the eye’s action is him poking me in the eye, so we won’t select that one for special mention). When LTD hears the word nose he first grabs his with thumb and finger as you utter the only thing one can utter in that situation, honk-honk. Next, he frees his own schnoz from bondage and locks on to his next target. He grabs my nose and then, again, I have to say honk-honk. I of course have to remind friends and family that if he grabs their noses they need to honk. Heaven help us all if they don’t. The funny thing about his nose grabbing is that if we are reading a book and the word nose comes up or he points to something and it’s a nose (really a animal’s snout) and I say nose he immediately grabs his nose. Thankfully, he lets go pretty quick so we feel no need to curb this behavior. It’s also way better than him lifting up my shirt and sticking his finger in my belly button.
Gulliver’s Travels
Posted by Proud Dad in Baby on Board on August 31, 2010
Last night The Mommy and I went to find some pajamas for the boy to wear and whenever we do that I always encourage her to put him in the awesome superhero pjs. She said, I don’t think you are going to like how this is about to go. She reluctantly put the little guy into the sweet superhero pjs and they so didn’t fit at all. I know what you’re thinking, what’s my point? My point is I can remember that it seemed like just the other day that the awesome superhero pajamas were way too big for him. LTD has become like one of those toys you put in water and watch grow 50 times in seconds. It is crazy to me that I can literally watch him grow before my very own eyes. In a way I feel like a magician or gardener. I guess the reason I’m going on like this is because he was really swimming in those pajamas and now the thought that they are too tight blows my mind. However, all is now clear, my only course of action is to stop feeding him.
Put Me in the Zoo
Posted by Proud Dad in Baby on Board on August 17, 2010
So we have one of those, my son is a genius things on our hands. Even though he isn’t even a year and half old yet, he is capable of reciting Shakespeare. Okay, that is not true even a little bit. However, he is still wicked smart and knows his animals. If you approach LTD and ask him what a cow says, he will answer with the only acceptable answer to that question, Moo. And yes, I know what you’re thinking, it is the cutest thing ever. The only small problem is that the little guy doesn’t open his mouth to form his lips into the o shape, so his moo is pretty muffled, but still awesome. In fact, his moo is so in grained in his system that if you read a book to him and there is a cow in it, he will moo. You don’t even what to know what happens if he sees a cow in real life, the cute police come and it takes forever to fill out the paperwork. 
LTD’s vocabulary isn’t limited to bovines. If you ask him what sound a bear makes, he of course growls. The Mommy and I have had his growl analyzed and the scientists feel it is in fact funnier than his moo. Sometimes I even get scared when I hear his growl because I fear a bear is actually on the loose. He is currently working on his quack, which is getting stronger everyday and his oink, which needs a lot of work. The only challenge left is that I don’t know what noise a rhinoceros makes.
Quiet Riot
Posted by Proud Dad in Baby on Board on August 12, 2010
I believe most people at one time or another have enjoyed the Quiet Riot hit song, Bang Your Head, however some more than others have taken the song’s message to heart. Somehow LTD found a copy of the album Metal Health and has used it as the inspiration for his latest pattern of behavior. That’s right true believers, he has started to hit his head against everything and anything. He does this when he is very frustrated and sometimes hits his noggin hard. He also does this when he is being silly and hits his melon less hard.
At first, it was all quite alarming, but now we just try and get him to stop. The Mommy ran the melon mashing by her peeps and they told her that it is fairly common in boys. One of the moms from the mom group shared that their doctor told them her son did it all the time and after he hit so hard he almost concussed himself, he learned it wasn’t such a good idea to do it anymore. Hopefully, it won’t take knocking himself out for LTD to learn to stop banging his head, but at the end of the day all we can do is try and stop him quickly and hope he grows out of it. I imagine it would be pretty embarrassing if he head butt’s his date at the Spring formal.
Yoga Anyone?
Posted by Proud Dad in Baby on Board on August 9, 2010
A while ago, I mentioned one of LTD’s new tricks, which was to sit and spin on the living room floor. Well, he has added another arrow to his quiver of tricks. Lately, he has been performing the yoga position known as Downward Facing Dog or just Downward Dog if you are in a hurry to say yoga poses. Seeing him in this new position is even funnier than watching his sit and spin. When he is upside down you can get on the floor and wave at him through his legs. While watching the little guy you get the impression that he thinks he invented looking at the world upside down. He has never failed to smile when you steal a glimpse at him through the arch created by his legs.
I will add that perhaps the funniest thing about LTD’s Downward Dog was the whole process of watching him discover it and then watching him as he decided to use it. He will just be cruising around and then stop for no particular reason and pop into the pose. He is very close to spinning while in Downward Dog, which should also be funny to see. As long as he doesn’t make himself sick because I don’t know what happens to the world when a baby heaves upside down.
Now, Where Should I Put This?
Posted by Proud Dad in Baby on Board on July 15, 2010
LTD has developed two approaches to objects he finds around the house. The first approach is called, ‘whatever’. This technique is put into practice when the little guy is carrying something with him on his travels and then simply drops it behind in his wake. All things considered his leave behind behavior isn’t too big a deal, just another to pick up at the end of the day. However, his second new behavior can be both funny and irksome. LTD has started putting things inside of other things. I know what you’re thinking no big deal right. Sure, when he puts his Fisher-Price Little People inside of the stacking cups it is very cute. How do you feel when he moves past toys to the car keys? I need a map and flashlight to figure out where stuff is; of course the best place to start is usually in my shoe. Thankfully, he doesn’t have access to the bathroom or I’m sure he would fulfill the baby cliché of putting my cell phone in the toilet. For now, I shall assume it is all harmless curiosity on his part and continue to try to keep my belongings out of his reach. Yeah, good luck with that.
Walker, But No Texas Ranger
We interrupt Product Review Wednesday for two very important reasons. One, Beyond the Car Seat is going on a much needed vacation and will resume after the Independence Day holiday. Secondly, something amazing has happened. Something that has been in the making for about a month now, but the other day it finally happened. LTD walked. For a long time now he has been cruising and as I watched him I observed that he had all the basic components of walking down he just couldn’t put it all together. However, the other day I was sitting on the couch and LTD was cruising towards the end of the couch. I looked over and the little guy had let go of the edge and walked three feet before falling on his butt. I was shocked and said out loud, did you just walk, did 
that just happen? I panicked and thought about grabbing the camera but realized I would never be able to capture the image by myself, so instead I called The Mommy to fill her in and share my excitement.
At first he would walk between the couch and the coffee table, but now if given a straight away can walk for a nice length before toppling over like a businessman after St. Patrick’s Day happy hour. I won’t lie to you and say the kid is in anyway graceful. In fact he has mastered the full on Frankenstein effect. The good news is that he pretty much falls on his bum and the villagers have stopped chasing him around with torches. Recently, I watched him get up, stand and walk from the middle of the room without the aid of something to lean on. Over the course of the last 15 months, the daily routine sometimes make me forget I am a first time father and raising a human is an amazing experience. Seeing LTD walk for the first time made me realize that The Mommy and me are doing okay at this parenting thing.
Product Review – Poly-Vi-Sol Vitamins
Posted by Proud Dad in Product Review on June 23, 2010
At our one year check up our pediatrician told us the time was now right to switch from Tri-Vi-Sol to Poly-Vi-Sol vitamins. Thankfully, LTD still doesn’t mind the taste and sucks it down without incident. These new drops have nine vitamins to supplement anything he isn’t getting from his diet. While he eats a lot of fruits and vegetables you never what he is lacking at any given meal. But, like the Tri-Vi-Sol the main reason to take the vitamins is for the vitamin D since the little guy is not in the sun that much. The Mommy orders the stuff from Diapers.com, but it takes a long time to go through a bottle. The only challenging part is remembering to give them to him every morning with breakfast.
No, The Other Thing I’m Pointing At
Posted by Proud Dad in Baby on Board on May 27, 2010
My buddy John has two boys under the age of four and once I asked him how he was doing. He went down the list of usual things from the fact that he hasn’t slept in three years to the total amount of jumping that goes on in his home. One thing he mentioned has come to pass in our own life with LTD. He said one frustrating development occurred when his boys were to young to talk but old enough to know what they wanted. They manifested their desires through pointing and screaming. Well, call John a modern day Nostradamus because he predicted the future. For some time now LTD has been pointing at things and making his ‘ehnn’ sounds. It’s no big deal when we are outside due to the fact that he points at everything from the sidewalk to the sky and while I did promise him the moon I can’t really hand him the sky. However, when we are at home and he sits in his high chair during supper his pointing can get complicated. The guessing games and picking up objects through trial and error isn’t really fun. Yet, unless he can actually talk and the whole thing is a prank on his part, The Mommy and me will have no choice but to continue to hand him his milk only to have it batted away because it turns out he wanted my house keys.