Static (Baby) Cling

This last week has been kind of rough. Aidan is still teething, this time on the top...as I mentioned in my post awhile ago, I really empathise with him, but mother of God is he cranky. Like, super DMV cranky. To compliment this, he is becoming very clingy. He really wants to have either myself or his mother with him as much as possible. While this is cute, it is incredibly tiring. When we put him down, he whines until we get out of grabbing range, and then he plays like a good boy until we come back or he gets bored. But when we're IN grabbing range....well, he is constantly trying to climb us. He's figuring out that he can pull himself up on things, and he wants to stand constantly. Again, this is really incredibly tiring. It's a good thing he looks so cute doing it, or I would have gone insane.

Another new trick he has is what I like to call "The Fish Flop Diaper Devil." He's always been pretty good about letting us change him, but lately he wants nothing to do with it. As soon as his diaper is off, he's trying to roll away, into some form of mortal peril or other. It's like wrestling a weeble wobble... he just keeps squirming and rolling, naked little but flopping across the carpet. Usually he's trying to get at my video game controllers so he can wrap the cords around his neck and scare the holy hell out of me. It probably takes 3 times as long to change him now as it used to due to all his flailing.

I just can't WAIT until he can walk, meaning he can actually run from me when I try to change him. Oh, what fun we'll have as I chase his pantless butt around the house.

A Tough Nut to Crack

Well, I did it. I scared the hell out of my son for the first time this week. Not on purpose, of course. I'm kind of surprised, because I didn't realize kids that young knew what fear was, especially when he's been brought up in a very happy home full of unicorns and puppies and endless supplies of zwiebeck. Zwieback. Whatever. Anyway, here's the deal.

I was playing with him on Sunday, holding him up while he bounced on his little legs, babbling about whatever happened to be in his little baby head. I initially thought it was a discourse on medical advancements since the industrial revolution, but it was actually a sonnet about his love for the cats. So he's there, babbling and bouncing, and I'm laughing along with him, the perfect picture of Norman Rockwell bliss. Then all of a sudden, he pulls a Randy Saveage and atomic knee-drops me in the jewels.

I let out a howl that would have made John Kerry proud, and my face must have contorted into something resembling an un-anesthtesised Satan getting a catheter. Aidan immedietly started crying and got all red-faced, looking at me like I had horns growing out of my head and a tongue of fire. I felt horrible-- his mommy wanted to take him, but I insisted that I wanted to hold him and tell him it was ok. It was wierd-- even though I had scared him, he still wanted to hug me and snuggle for comfort. I guess that's the power of the parent-- no matter what the cause, children can always find comfort there, which in itself is comforting because it means a) I didn't scar him for life, and b) I actually am a decent father.

Another new development on the food front-- Aidan discovered last night that, like the cats, he rather enjoys tuna fish. Again, it's astounding to me to see the similarities between myself and him, because as a young child I too liked tuna fish. Then again, maybe all babies do-- I'm kind of flying blind here. The only part he didn't like was when he got a bit of celery; then he choked it up and spit it on to the carpet, looking slightly betrayed.

Can't blame him there.... again, amazing similarity to me.

Cutest. Baby. Ever.

First, let me appologise for not posting last week-- I was really, really sick, and barely managed to drag myself from couch to bed. That being said, I'll make up for it by giving you an extra long slice of Aidan-y goodness this week.

Well, Aidan is becoming increasingly mobile, which is both cool and frigtening. It's frightening because I know that it means soon I'll spend 90% of my time chasing him all over creation, trying to prtect him from everyday hazards like sharp corners, annoyed cats, and falling meteorites. He's so close to crawling that it's actually frustrating him... which is funny, because I though t he was too young to understand the concept of frustration. He'll get himself up on his knees, rock a little bit, and fall over, then roll side to side in an effort to find somethign to grab so he can say "No, man, it's cool, I MEANT to do this."

Second, he's turning into a little Castro. By far his favorite toy is his orange drumstick, which he carries as many places as he can and waves about relentlessly. But lately, his waving it about has progressed from random flailing to something akin to marshalling ttroops. He'll pick it up, look at one of us, and then start conducting with it, loudly spouting his gibberish all the while. I saw him do it to one of the cats too, and let me tell you-- there is nothing funnier than a baby pointing a drumstick at a sleeping cat and yelling "TI-TI!! (kitty)" at it. The cats would beg to differ, as they've now been caught once or twice by his stray hands and given good squeezes. So now when they hear him squeal or yell, they usually streak out of the area for fear of being gummed uninvited. Can't blame them, really, although I think he ends up on the short side of the stick...because after all, if he suceeds, he gets nothign more than a mouthful of fur.

Third, we were at a wedding this weekend, of one of my Constant Readers (by the way, it was beautiful, congrats Em and Joe!) with Aidan in tow. He was a little charmer...he definitly had his A-game on, and you would have though he was strolling down the red carpet courting the paparazzi. I apologize to you, Em and Joe-- you're going to have more pictures of him in your album than you are of anyone else, because everytime someone new picked him up the photographer was right there, snapping pictures of his little smiling face. It's pretty awesome having a son who's so comfortable socially, especially at an age when many babies are coming into the prime of thier "stranger fears" era. He even managed to help one of the other guests get served wine when the bar was supposed to be closed (I know, I don't follow that logic either, but hey-- why ask when there's free booze on the line?).

Mental note to self-- holding cute babies helps make alcohol magically appear. Useful trivia, that.

Holy Crap, I Learned Something!

Watching kids learn is interesting. And frustrating. And humerous. You relaly want them to suceed, but when they fail it's usually pretty spectacular and it's hard to supress a chuckle. This week, Aidan learned how to play the "radio" on his toy car. All he has to do is push a button, but up to this point, he hasn't really understood the concept. Not the concept of "I push this, and it makes music", but the concept of "push", in general. He can grab like a champ, make no mistake-- just ask the cats. But pushing seems foriegn to him, like it's not natural to open one's hand to complete an action. But finally, through trial and eerror, he manages to push his button and change the music. That's the frustrating part... I wanted to help him, but when you try to open his hand and move his arm he pulls it back with a slightly angry "Dad, quit being a tool and let me do it" look.

Here's the funny part-- he is DEFINITLY my kid. First off, because he REALLY likes the music. He bounces up and down on his seat, screeching like a 14 year old in the front row of a Backstreet Boys concert and grinning his gummy, one-toothed grin. I frequently do the same thing listening to music on the way to work, which I'm sure makes the other road warriors nervous. Second, he cannot listen to a song all the way through before getting bored and changing it unless he REALLY likes it, and I display interest. If I don't, he reaches down and changes it again, and looks at me...it's like a miniature version of the game/torture I play with my friends. I seriously doubt anyone who's really into music that hangs out with me has ever heard a full song, all the way through....becuase I'm always saying, "Hey, like that? Yes? No? I don't care, listen to THIS, it's even better!" Mmmmm, ADD. Making life interesting for compulsives everywhere. I wonder if babies grow out of that, or if it's a charachter trait he has in particular. It's kind of hard to tell waht he does that's inherent charachter and what is a developmental stage. Hell, I think my wife would say the same thing about me at THIS age. Let's hear it for the easily distracted!

OOOOH! There are Pringles on my desk. SWEET!

What was I saying? Ummm...doesn't matter, I guess. Wanna go ride bikes?