Our Baby Size Life!

Archive for February, 2009

Whew! These days, we are crazy busy, I will have a couple post coming up soon about Sam’s birthday party and his first few days at day care. Yeah, Melissa and I are a little freaked out about that, more on that parental anxiety to come…  So for now, I hope you all don’t mind another comic post! Let’s keep the story going and see how Sam and Elmo are getting along… Catch up with part 1 here.

All is not peaceful in Sammy’s baby life!  It seems there are some who would claim his title as “The Don” of the family with a cold grip of terror and intimidation…

Today is his BIG day folks!  Sam’ was born exactly one year ago today at 12:34 pm, a lunch time baby! I remember every detail like it was yesterday.  All the excitement and nervousness and general feeling that our lives were about to change forever was coming to fruition on this exact day, during these exact moments, only one year ago.

From my perspective on Sam’s birth, I recall that feeling of anticipated yet welcome anxiety comparable to being on a roller coaster, but not just any roller coaster… THE roller coaster.  The one everyone has been talking about.  The most dangerous, death defying ride in the world, and after all the hype and rave reviews, when the excitement level is at it’s peak and people are clamoring and fighting to get in line… You’re there , sitting in the front car, being slowly pulled up that first big climb.  Pulled into the unavoidable plunge that awaits beyond.  You know what’s coming.

You know it’s going to be scary, but you know it’s going to be fun.

So, you just accept it and grip that harness a little tighter as you crest the peak and see the horizon reach out far below you, and then… nothing.  Everything slows down, maybe even stops: you’re stuck in a place between moments.  On the brink of the upcoming chaos, everything seems so clear, your future,  your past, and then, just when you come to that realization… EVERYTHING COMES RUSHING BACK AND YOUR FLYING DOWN THAT SLOPE! Thrilling and frightening rolled into one, your pulled along without any ability to control what’s happening.  You put your head down against the crushing speed as it presses you down into your seat, your stomach lifts into your throat. You feel as if you can no longer hold on, that you will simply fly off the tracks, only to finally lift your head and see…

Little hands and little feet.

A hairy little head peeking from between the fold of his mothers caressing arms.

Then his first cries flood into your numbed ears and you hear him.

Even though you just met, you know you’ll do anything to keep him safe, fed, warm, and loved. Anything. It’s a feeling of such selflessness that runs head first into any other feeling you may have had.  The cars, the movies, the gadgets, things that formerly seemed important and necessary, are suddenly cast aside.  There is a greater purpose to living than buying a great house or working to get the next promotion. You now have someone who completely depends on you, who needs you to be there. It’s an incredible responsibility to be sure, but you are more than up to it.  I was living before, but it seemed like life started over again for me at that moment, a second birth if you will.  The birth of a Father.

If you don’t have kids, this may sound over the top, or even drastic.  But I can only relay how I felt and how Sam’s birth affected me.  Other parents may not feel the same as well, and that’s OK.  It’s an intensely personal experience that I felt the need to share, if not to record, lest that feeling wane in the many years ahead… which I hope will never happen.

All I can say is that this is probably the best way I communicate my emotions on that day, as a new father, one year ago… and I wasn’t even giving birth!  Melissa, I’m sure, felt all this an more as she was actually bringing a life into this world.  Something I’ll never experience.  But having felt, and lived through that moment, being, well let’s be honest, a spectator to the miracle that was unfolding, I can honestly say that maybe that’s a good thing.  I don’t think I could have handled it otherwise!  Melissa is an unbelievable person that I am blessed to have in my life… and now she’s given me a second being to love just as much.

She’s the best, bar none, and I’ll  love her forever for it.  Even though it’s Sam’s birthday, she’s given me the gift.  From now on, on every February 20th, I’ll relive what is the best day of my life over and over…

How do you top that?

While you may not remember this day Sam, your parents will, forever.

Happy Birthday Samuel,

Love Mom & Dad

This past weekend, we, ahem, well Sam was invited to his friend Maxime’s 1st birthday party! But since Sam’s legs are too short to hit the gas pedal, we drove him there and got invited in too. Which is good, cause I would’ve hated waiting, and freezing in the car for a few hours while Sammy-boy parties it up with the lady-babies inside.  Last time that happened, the cops showed up, someone flushed some powder and everything got out of hand!  So, it was nice to get inside and see our Sam in action around other babies.  It’s an interesting thing to see, because we are with Sam most of the time, and he’s alone, so he plays and acts accordingly.  Then, at these parties, you plop your little pamper packer in with a couple other chubby offsprings, and you can see things you wouldn’t have thought a possibility only a couple hours ago.

Case in point: sharing. Yeah, that’s a tough one for two kiddies to master, but Maxime just turned one, and Sam will be this week.  I’m thinking it’s a little early to start pushing the concept of sharing on them, but after what I saw at that party, it might be a good thing to “slide” it in there on a daily basis.  Now it’s not like Sam tore every toy away from Maxime and tried to use his head as a step-ladder… He did that last time they played It’s funny, and a little odd, to see your “sweet” kid smack the toys out of his playmate and proceed to push him over to get to the top of the toy pile.  This time around, Sam was more into the “I want your toy” mentality, grabbing whatever Maxime had to keep as his own… for three seconds before discarding it.

Immediately, I kind of chuckled at his boldness: me boy’s got a pair eh!?! But then I realized that I, being a parent of said emboldened child, must now act on this situation and set it right.  This is when the parents learn as well.  Because we are no longer the bystanders, looking down on two kids aggressively dominating the toy population, laughing and commenting on how funny and cute they are in their little battles.  We are now responsible for Sam’s behavior in social situations as well, not just in the privacy of our homes. Sheeesh! Parenting indeed! Get off your ass Dad and tell Sam to share and be nice!

Overall, the party was great fun and Sam was a good boy, despite my exaggerated view of his playpen encounters.  Maxime had his birthday cake all to himself, and he was hesitant at first to get messy and dig in; but eventually, once he tasted the icing and cake, he smeared himself good.  We all had a good laugh watching him to that, the other mothers in the room reminiscing about their own kids doing them same.  Next up, he unwrapped his gifts while I held Sam in my arms.  Sam wasn’t interested in the presents, he was now effectively six feet higher up than usual… Which brought him closer to the balloons hanging from the ceiling!  Sam’s a big fan of balloons.  He swats and smacks and twhacks them all while giggling along.  I wonder if he’ll still love them if he pops one?

We left shortly after, and Sam was sleeping in his car seat thirty seconds into the ride home. Played hard he had, poop he know was.  This Saturday, it will be Sam’s turn as he will turn 1 on February 20th! We can wait, it’ll be  a fun party with Sam hopefully getting very messy with his cake… which will be in the same theme as the party.  I won’t tell you what that theme is now, but suffice to say, it’s a theme he loves.  Speaking of his party, I’d better get going on some of the planning!  Thanks for reading, have a good week everybody!

Sam loves water and he especially loves his bath!  We keep things mixed up for Sam. It keeps things interesting for him… and for us by varying our routine on a nightly basis. And that is an important tip folks: vary the routine, don’t break it.  Babies love their routines and it keeps life manageable for the parents.  Fighting it will just make things worse, I know, I tried. So, find ways of varying the steps you go through enough to keep you sane, and your kid won’t be lost in his daily habits. Preaching done, on with the post.

So, some nights we give him his shower and others it’s a full-on bath, complete with bubbles! Now, babies are curious by nature and tend to discover things by looking, touching and then tasting.  The first time we put bubbles in his bath, he went right to the tasting! Down went his hand in a big scooping motion, and up it came with his fingers full of the sticky little bubbles.  A moments hesitation on my part in wiping the suds away and it was too late, they were gone!  Swallowed by the sparsely toothed maw, they never had a chance. Sam made a face and never tried to intentionally eat them again.

We’ve given him a bunch of baths with bubbles since then and I just don’t know why I hadn’t thought of doing something like this to Sammy before.  Bubble hair! Let the games begin! Man it’s fun to being goofy parents!  We can have this kind of fun and he’s too young to know any better! I think he liked having his head soaked in suds.  Check it out in the gallery below.  It starts off with a little dab of suds… then the bubble monster strikes! Is there a baby under there?!?!

Chat’ya soon folks!

A couple weekends ago, I needed to drop into work on the weekend for a reconnaissance mission of sorts.  I also needed Melissa to be there because she has a particular talent for interior decorating.  This was the same day that Melissa and her sister were baking those freakin’ good chicken pot pies, so the sister tagged along as well.  Just to make things a little more coincidental, my brother-in-law, the sister’s boyfriend, was at work that day doing some overtime with some of my co-worker friends from out of town.  Great! The whole gang would be together and Sammy would get to meet the people I work with… most of them who read this blog!

Or so we thought!  Turns out that by the time we got dressed, got out the door and arrived at my work… they were already gone!  We were a little disappointed that Sam wouldn’t be meeting anybody, but then again, the whole floor was empty…  Which means, for a mischievous little runt like myself, that opportunities are abound for some Sammy-made sabotage!

Off we went exploring the floor and facilities. We also stopped by at the desks of my co-workers, both the nice ones and the bastards, to see what we could see…

Last weekend, Melissa and I wanted to take advantage of the mild weather and get Sammy-boy some fresh air.  We’ve been going out for walks on week nights, but it’s usually dark and a bit colder than during the day, so we can’t stay out long.  On Sunday, the weather was perfect for a little sleigh ride with Sam.  A quick hop and skip away was Melissa’s parents house and their huge backyard.  Grandpa Papitou had snow-blown a bunch of paths through the snow in their yard last week, and he invited us over to pull Sam through them on a sleigh.  It sounded like a great idea, and it was!

Here’s a little gallery of the fun we had. Sam loved being pulled and pushed around the yard.  The whole time his eyes wide looking at the trees and birds and, of course, his family that were with him.  As you’ll see in the pics, Melissa hopped in with Sam to start off the fun, and yes, I had to pull both of them around the yard! Whew! I think Sam put on some weight! A little while later, the sun was setting and made for a gorgeous atmosphere of calm in the yard.  Only the birds singing and the crisp crackling of the snow beneath our feet could be heard throughout the yard. Good, peaceful times!

Here are the pics, enjoy, and if you get a chance, get outside and enjoy some nice winter weather… if the weather’s crap, then stay in and watch a movie or three!