Confessions of a 13-Month Old Father

I’ve had a busy couple of months and I haven’t been posting blogs to you like I once did. Things are changing for both of us, but mostly you are changing so rapidly that it catches me flat-footed at times. To be fair, more often, I parry, adapt & roll with the punches thrown off by your frenzied, kinetic embrace of life. At first, it was every little development that held me in awe, but now it is the sheer volume and rapidity of changes. There are so many, but to list just a few…

You suddenly understand your expressions impact others and you use them to manipulate and to charm. You cock your head and smile at your grandma, melting her into submission. Or, when asked to come, there’s a flash in your eyes that says, “Oh, yeah! Why don’t you come and get me?” and then you bolt fast as lightening away. You’ve befriended mischief and you don’t take 2 naps in the day anymore. You’re more social with other children and now throw tantrums when displeased with your mom or me. You’re taller and thinner and are finally starting to have a full head of platinum hair. You can crouch and keep your balance while standing on one foot and you respond verbally to sounds we make. I say, “da, da, da, da, da,” and you respond in like manner even matching the number of da’s.

You like tuna, vodka pasta, coque au vin, and salmon. You’re always hungry, always eating and you now prefer to hold your own bottle of milk. You also smack your head into table tops about 50 times a day. You must get a lot of headaches, but that doesn’t seem to phase you much. You sign words now, but only when their meanings grab your fancy and no amount of practice or repetition gets you to use signs that don’t interest you.

But other things haven’t changed and through some of these traits I begin to see the person you might become. You smile freely and often. You have an incredible amount of patience for a baby, an attention span that holds for 10 or 15 minutes when you’re focused. You still love music and dancing and playing with balls, whether throwing them or dribbling them with your feet (it amazes me you can do that so young). You are good-natured and are pleased to share your toys, food, and drink. You remain attached to your parents, as we do to you, and to Bella, despite her incessant grumbling about your rough attentions. You’re musical and are drawn to really big and noisy things (fire engines, busses, trucks, airplanes, elephants, etc.). I sense awe and joy in you and I hope to help you cultivate those traits as you grow.

Speaking of awe and of really big things, last weekend I went to San Francisco to share in the celebration of a great friend’s 40th birthday. Before attending the party, I hiked in Muir Woods with another great friend through an amazing redwood forest, where the trees had trunks so wide at the base that you could literally walk through them standing upright (many had split at their bases forming great tunnels). We then spent the afternoon walking along the beach to the sound of the roaring waves before retiring to a game of backgammon in a cozy bar with a roaring fire. Later we arrived at the party atop the tallest hilltop in Sausalito with a spectacular view of the Bay and of the Golden Gate Bridge all lit up as if just for us.

Some day soon we’ll take you to San Francisco to see this amazing place. But then there are so many places I want you to see. There’s London, Paris, Belgium, Venice, Amsterdam, Prague, Crete, Capri, Seattle, Big Sur and Big Bear, Yellowstone and Yosemite, the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, Southern Utah, the Pacific Ocean, Baja, the Mexican Riviera, and the Caribbean to name a few of the places I’ve been. And there are so many places that I have yet to see. It’s a great big world, but it is getting smaller and I say we give it go at trying to see them all…

Birds of a Feather

Just in time for Gramma Bird's visit last weekend, Olie has become obsessed with our fine-feathered friends. I first noticed this when reading one of Olie's favorite books, which features a multitude of farm animals. Usually the larger ones grab Olie's attention. But in the past week Olie has been bypassing, bright cock's combs, pink pig snouts, and soft woolly sheep, in an effort to spot all the small brown sparrows on each page.

Then on Sun, an unseasonally beautiful day, Mom and I took Olie to the park. Again, other children, slides, and swings held no interest. Olie kept running to the bushes squealing with delight as his keen eyes gleaned the birdies from amongst the branches. He repeated this during our walk later that evening, when we spotted a whole tree full of birds.

Mom and I also took Olie to the Central Park Zoo where he was delighted by penguins, puffins and Japanese Macaques - monkeys, apparently are another favorite.

Olie also continues to develop his musical side with the aid of Auntie Steph's piano. Now I catch him stamping his feet in time to the music whenever he plays it.

Folks, we have a boy!

Grampa Hand and Gramma Lisa visited this weekend, and gave Olie a belated b-day present: his first Beamer. A little ride-on version, it lacks none of the styling of the real thing. Olie hasn't quite gotten the hang of pushing it with his feet, but he did drag it around making all kinds of engine noises.

Also, our boy signed two more words this weekend. That's right, I said, SIGNED! Let me just leave you all in suspense for a moment to wax exotic on the fact that, after months of drilling Olie with various signs, he is FINALLY spontaneously signing words that interest him - words that we may have only signed a few times. Mom is thrilled and triumphant.

Ok, ok, so what are the words? "Motorcycle," no doubt inspired by Randal and Erik's Harleys which Olie witnessed over Thanksgiving, and "gorilla." The later happened as a result of a recent visit with Dad to the Museum of Nat. Hist. (Gorillas are opposite the elephants.) For once taking the innitiative to learn a sign (though he is very good about using the ones I teach him), Chad asked what the gorilla sign was. From then on, Olie lights up whenever Dad signs "gorilla" by beating his chest and grunting. An example of men relating, I guess.

Yes, folks, we have a boy.

Hippo Birdie Two Mooos

In honor of his thirteen-month birthday today, Olie added yet another animal sound to his growing repetoire: Moooo. But instead of blowing out the M sound to create "mooo," it's more like he's sucking it in. So it comes out "eMMM." But it's definitely in association with a cow. At this point when I read him his books, I don't even realize when I say, "What sounds does the .... makes?" So imagine my surprise when he followed "cow" with "eMMMMMMM." I repeated myself just to make sure. "eMMMMMM."

So to recap, Oliver's words are now: "light" (said for about 2 weeks and now only signs it), "milk" (signed), elephant noise, siren noise, "more" (signed), "meow," and "mooo." Are we noticing a pattern here? His buddy Bella actually says words like, "hi," "mama," "water," and "Elmo." But being a Scorpio I guess, Oliver feels that that just isn't creative enough.

********

T-giving picts