Sat 6/27: News from the field…

I’m actually writing this post several hundred miles away from my son, so it might be a little different from the usual fare. I’m down in Maryland staying at my dad’s house in Annapolis for five days while I am attending the NECC conference in Washington, DC. Yesterday’s travel was a nightmare, but now that I am down here it is pretty relaxing.

It strikes me at times like these just how much of a life-altering experience becoming a parent is. Today I slept in until 8:00, took a shower at my own leisure, ate breakfast by myself, and am sitting down in peace and quiet writing this blog post — all things that are hardly ever part of my life any more. For someone who has always been pretty self-centered (and I don’t mean that in a disparaging way — it’s just true), becoming a father was a huge shift in perspective. I wouldn’t say I’ve fully adjusted even yet, but just having to put someone else’s needs before my own has been a big change.

Lately I’ve been really enjoying communicating with Ben. Even though he’s not really speaking much yet, I think I have gotten a lot better at interpreting his gestures and sounds, and he’s doing better at telling me what he wants. He will point to specific things on the table that he wants when he is having his meals. And when he is on the swing, he will put his hands on his lap belt to tell me that he is done. He always seems so pleased when I can correctly decipher his signals, and it is very gratifying for me too.

Tue 6/23: Fun at the playground…

Well, the good news is that we finally have Ben’s source of pain diagnosed: a left ear infection (plus the teething, and a nasty diaper rash — poor guy!) The bad news is that he’s still in for a few tough days while the antibiotic works to clear things up. On the lighter side, Ben and I went out in the car yesterday afternoon to check out the local library, since the Hotchkiss library is mothballed this summer for renovations. But the library is apparently closed on Mondays. Bummer! So we continued our expedition and went all the way to Canaan.

I spotted a playground tucked in behind the baseball field in town, so we went over to check it out. Although it’s not as fancy as the one in Millerton, it does have some toys that Ben seemed pretty excited about. He really liked the swings, which have a nice toddler-friendly seat on them. And he also liked to hang from the monkey bars (with my support — he’s not quite that strong yet!). But the biggest hit was the giant slide that they had there. It had about a flight of steps up to the top and then a long, undulating slide down to the ground. The steps have a narrow railing all the way up, so Ben could climb them very safely with me behind him. Then we would get up to the top and he would sit in my lap while we slid down to the bottom. Whee! Repeat that process another several times and you have a happy child. *whew*

Sun 6/21: The dish ran away with the spoon…

Enough talk of medical maladies for a while. More exciting developmental news! Thanks to some very patient training by Marcie (she has infinitely greater tolerance for mess than me), Ben has become a very competent spoon feeder. He can now eat a whole jar of yogurt by himself with a bowl and spoon with surprisingly little spill and waste. Occasionally he gives himself a pretty good yogurt mustache (or goatee), so I have to stand by with a second spoon to tidy things up a bit. But it’s pretty cool that Ben can feed himself with a fork and a spoon now!

Wed 6/17: *cough, cough*

Ben’s developed a nasty hacking cough over the past few days. It’s all part of the cold that he is suffering through right now. Marcie and I tend to shy away from rushing Ben to the doctor every time he starts to develop cold symptoms. We want to see if he can get over these little colds on his own. It probably means a little more discomfort for him in the short term, but I’d rather not see him on antibiotics all the time. Dr. Gray-Clarke said that we could give him some Benadryl for his cough, and that seems to have helped a bit. She said that it makes some children hyper, but we didn’t observe any unusual effects tonight.

Tue 6/16: Ouch, it hurts!

Gas to drive child back and forth to day care: $5.37
One week in day care: $225.00
Having another full week of freedom: priceless

It’s true, I love my son to pieces and he’s one of the best things to ever happen to me. But there are times, like the last two days, when it’s been really hard to like being around him much. Ben apparently decided to get all his big molars at the same time, which needless to say can lead to some pain and discomfort in the mouth region. He has been a screaming puddle of helplessness for several days now and it can be pretty soul-crushing at times. So when I discovered accidentally today that we had another week of full day care before the summer session started, it was as if a choir of angels broke forth in exultation and whatever it is they do with those big horn things. One might feel a little guilty foisting one’s cranky child off on other people but… hey… wait… no that’s crazy talk.

Fri 6/12: Fork-master!

Another big milestone for Ben — he has mastered the use of his fork. Ben can now pick up his fork, spear an object on his plate, and put it in his mouth! So far we have seen him eat pasta, French toast, and tofu on his own with a fork. He gets so pleased with himself when he can successfully do it and we usually give him a little round of applause. Next up: the spoon!

Thu 6/11: The doctor is in…

Yesterday was Ben’s 15-month checkup with Dr. Gray-Clarke, and everything went well. Here are Ben’s current vital statistics:

Head: 19.5″ (95%)
Length: 31.5″ (60%)
Weight: 24.5 lbs (70%)

So you can see he’s getting a little bigger, proportionally, than he was at 12 months. Everything else checked out pretty well. Dr. Gray-Clarke was impressed with all his physical skills (he is pretty advanced at this point), and not too concerned about his verbal skills. She said she would like to see six words at this age, and Ben has two or three. Just to be safe, we’re going to get Ben’s hearing checked as soon as the screening device at her office is fixed.

Hooray Ben!

Tue 6/9: Par-tay!

To commemorate the second anniversary of our ending the school year with a small child, we decided to throw a “We’re Not Going to the Faculty Party” party with several of our friends with small children. All told there were about a dozen of us adults and five or six rug rats. Despite the rainy weather, we had a good time inside and everyone, big and small, seemed to get along great. Some pictures:

Mon 6/8: A bicycle built for two…

Here’s some pictures from the maiden voyage of Ben’s baby bicycle seat:

Fri 6/5: It’s snot a problem…

Ben has acquired a new and useful talent: he can now blow his nose voluntarily when he is congested. This is very useful for his mom and dad, since he tends to be a fountain of snot in the mornings when he is sick, like he has been for the past few days. A few good blows from him tends to clean things out pretty quickly and easily. In the long run I think this will make him healthier since he will have less junk down in his lungs and in his ears to create post-secondary infections. Good work, Ben!