Volunteering Possibilities, Part II

We got our contact info for the next volunteer opportunity.

1. Elderhaven Adult Day Health Care Centers

I spoke to the Director, and she sounded far less optimistic that there would be something I could do while simultaneously keeping the boy out of trouble. She's particularly concerned that the old folks might trip over him. When the weather's nicer, she wants me to come by and see the facility, and maybe there's something we can do outside.

2. The Care Communities

3. Meals on Wheels

We'll be trying this one on Tuesday. I was hesitant about this because I wasn't sure about adding more time in the car to Thumper's schedule, and given that more than a couple of people at the nursing home weren't too keen on having him around, I wasn't too sure about bringing him into other people's homes when we deliver meals. But it's only an hour a week, so we're going to see how it goes. It encroaches on his morning nap, too, but maybe this is what will get his nap schedule to finally shift. I'm a little nervous. Social awkwardness, here we come! I'm looking forward to it, too, though.

4. Texas Baptist Children's Home

5. Austin Children's Museum

A Winter Wonderland

When I woke this morning, there were these strange growths depending from the bird feeder. They look familiar; I feel like I should know what they are, but they are such a strange sight 'round about these parts.




And even though Armageddon has apparently come to the region, and the roads are a certain death trap, young Thumper correctly answers the question, "Where's Mama?"

Volunteering Possibilities

Volunteering with an 18-month-old may be a tougher proposition than I expected. I contacted a local Volunteer Center and spoke with a Volunteer Coordinator, and she seemed quite optimistic that we could find something. Here are the ideas she had. So far, she's only given me contact info for the first one. I'll keep trying and see what we can come up with.

1. Elderhaven Adult Day Health Care Centers

I spoke to the Director, and she sounded far less optimistic that there would be something I could do while simultaneously keeping the boy out of trouble. She's particularly concerned that the old folks might trip over him. When the weather's nicer, she wants me to come by and see the facility, and maybe there's something we can do outside.

2. The Care Communities

3. Meals on Wheels

4. Texas Baptist Children's Home

5. Austin Children's Museum

Self-Improvement Project '08-'09: Six-Month Checkup

So it's been a little over six months since I decided to use my blog to make some changes to my life. It's seems like a good time to revisit those goals and see how I'm doing. I lost 13 pounds, but I've plateaued and haven't lost anything at all the past several weeks. In fact, I think it's safe to say that all or almost all of my weight loss occurred while I was following the precepts of the Weight Watchers Flex Plan. I don't think I'll go back to it, though, because it's clearly not a lifestyle change that I can maintain. I hated the counting and calculating all the time. I need to find other ways to apply principals of portion control to my diet. I've been focusing on caloric output since I dropped the Weight Watchers; now it's time for me to focus on caloric input, too.

Goal #1: Exercise for 45 minutes per day, three days or more per week.

This one's gone pretty well, I think. I've even upped it to four days or more per week, and I think I can truthfully say I meet this goal on a regular basis. Not every week, but most. I think this is a lifestyle change than I can actually maintain.

Goal #2: Drink two days per week or less.

Uh, well, that one I pretty much abandoned early on. I think I'm ready to revisit the alcohol issue. It's a large portion of my caloric input problem. I'm not sure what my new goal will be yet, though. The 2 days per week thing didn't work very well. Maybe I need to be more specific.

Goal #3: Watch TV for two hours or less per day.

Doing well on this one, I think. We've got an hours-long backlog of recorded Lost and 24 to catch up on, so we must be doing well. I have to admit, I've got an embarrassing Biggest Loser habit, though.

Goal #4: Finish one book every two weeks.

I think I've only achieved this goal once, excepting the Twilight series, which is just too fluffy to really count. But I'm happy with what I've done. I've definitely been reading much more, and that's the spirit of the goal, even if I haven't exactly lived up to the letter of the goal.

Goal #5: Stop being snarky about other people.

Again, I think this one's mostly a success. Aerie and I still sit and snark about some folks now and then, but some of the people I was snarky about are no longer in my life, which is a relief. I thought this might help me transform into a more positive person, but I think the changes in my political thought and my future volunteering and the like will do more for me in that regard. I may never be the kind and loving hippie I should be, but I can approach it if I try.

Embryo

I saw this on Living in a Girl's World, and it sounded like fun:

1. Put your MP3/Ipod player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer (questions below)
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS (option to put the name of artist in brackets next to it)
4. Tag at least 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the note from.


WHAT’S THE BEST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?
“A Pillow of Winds” - Pink Floyd, Meddle [I could think of a few things better, like a pillow of boobs, and I didn't even have to think that hard...]

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?
“It's Not Right (Simmons and Christopher Dub Mix)” - Dennis Christopher, Tekno 42

WHAT WILL OPRAH’S NEXT SHOW BE CALLED?
“Deception” - Blackalicious, Nia [I could see that...]

WHAT WILL OBAMA’S FIRST EXECUTIVE ORDER BE?
“Here It Comes” - Doves, Lost Souls ["Yeah, baby! Here it comes! It's that transparency in government stuff I've been talking about!"]

IF SOMEONE SAYS “FUCK YOU!” YOU SAY:
“Pig” - Seether, Disclaimer [appropriate enough]

IF YOU COULD SAY ONE THING TO THE PERSON YOU LOVE, IT WOULD BE?
“Might” - Modest Mouse, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About ["I might, and you might, but neither of us do, and neither of us will." That ain't very romantic...]

IF YOU COULD SAY ONE THING TO THE PERSON YOU HATE IT WOULD BE?
“This Is the Day” - The The [You know, it really pisses me off that I think of M&M's whenever I hear this now...]

WHAT WOULD YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY BE CALLED?
"The Shining (Minotaur Shock Mix)” - Badly Drawn Boy, Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 [Redrum! Redrum!]

WHAT IS LOVE?
“Detroit Rock City” - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, 20th Century Masters, The Mille [Well that just doesn't make any sense at all...]

WHAT IS HATE?
“It's Raining Men” - The Weather Girls [I'm not gay. I promise. At least, I'm pretty sure.]

WHAT IS YOUR BEST TRAIT?
“Quiet Houses” - Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes

WHAT IS YOUR WORST TRAIT?
“Jingle Bells” - Frank Sinatra

WHERE WILL YOU BE IN FIVE YEARS TIME?
“A Higher Place” - Royksopp, Melody AM [Oh crap, I'm going to be dead in five years...]

HOW DO YOUR FRIENDS DESCRIBE YOU?
“Supreme People” - Blackalicious, The Craft [Well, I seriously doubt anybody's calling me "supreme."]

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR YOU?
“Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast” - Pink Floyd, Atom Heart Mother [Sounds good. I wonder if Alan's got a diner in town...]

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR YOUR BEST FRIEND?
“1985” - Bowling for Soup [You know, I could almost see him shaking his ass on the hood of Whitesnake's car...]

WHAT DO YOU WISH YOUR LOVER WOULD WHISPER IN YOUR EAR?
“Notorious” - Duran Duran [No, no, no... This was supposed to come out "Gigantic" by the Pixies...]

WHAT WILL SAVE THE WORLD?
“Nives Remix” - Orlanda, Karma Lounge [Karma, baby!]

WHAT IS SEXY?
“Lesson 13” - Pimsleur, Spanish 01 [Actually, it ain't that sexy. Though I think Carlos might be hitting on Maria. I'm not sure; I don't really understand Spanish. I never made it past Lesson 2...]

WHAT IS FUNNY?
“The Salmon Dance” - The Chemical Brothers, We Are the Night [Actually, this is pretty funny...]

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST STRENGTH?
“Situation” - Rancid, Rancid

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WEAKNESS?
“Down to Earth” - Jem, Down to Earth

WHAT DO YOU DREAM ABOUT?
“Mainstream” - OutKast, ATLiens [Maybe I've had dreams like this. I don't know. I can't understand anything they're saying, but I do love it so...]

WHAT GIVES YOU NIGHTMARES?
“Lizard (Paul Oakenfold 2004 Remix)” - Mauro Picotto, Paul Oakenfold's Creamfields [I ain't scared of no lizards...]

WILL YOU EVER FIND ‘THE ONE’?
“Cowboy Coffee” - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, More Noise & Other Disturbances [If Cowboy Coffee is cheaper than Starbucks Coffee, then maybe it is the one...]

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
“Thank You” - Michael Franti & Spearhead, Stay Human [Actually, "Rock the Nation" makes me happier...]

WHAT MAKES YOU SAD?
“The Death and Resurrection Show” - Killing Joke, Killing Joke [I never heard of Killing Joke. How the hell did this get on my iPod?]

WHAT’S THE STUPIDEST THING IN THE WORLD?
“Ballroom Blitz” - The Misfits [that "All right, fellas, let's go!" thing IS kinda stupid...]

WHAT DO PEOPLE LOVE ABOUT YOU?
“Woo Hah” - Busta Rhymes ["Throw your hands up in the air; don't ever disrespect. I got you all in check."]

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
“Embryo” - Pink Floyd, Works [Well, OK, but my mother might think at first glance that Aerie's pregnant...]

Cranky

I am enjoying a week of horrible, debilitating back pain. I can barely move. It's great. Perhaps not coincidentally, Thumper's going through a whiny, clingy period where he wants to be picked up and carried around a lot.

Hoisting him into and out of the car seat and laying him down in his crib are the worst. He's beginning to imitate the sounds I make. Would anybody like to buy me one of these? I'd appreciate it. And yesterday's afternoon of climbing, crawling, ducking, sliding, swinging, and yes, more hoisting at Zilker Park didn't improve things much, so would anybody like to come over and play with the boy while I sit as still as possible and moan and read a decreasingly pleasurable series of books?

You know, it's funny, but it turns out that pain does NOT actually increase my levels of patience and tolerance. So more yelling this week. I'm sorry, Thumper. If you do your best stop touching that, stop stealing that, stop throwing that, stop jumping on that, and stop loudly demanding that, I'll do my best to stop yelling those curse words at you.

I Don't Think He Can Pronounce Hussein, Though

I seriously did not teach him this. To the best of my knowledge, Aerie did not teach him this.

The boy says, "Ooooooooooh, Bama!" He's been saying it for months, since before the election. Sometimes he'll repeat it if we've been talking about Obama, but often he says it without context, with no Obama references in conversation or on TV. Out of nowhere, he just says, "Ooooooooooh, Bama!"

Mungo has convinced herself that she taught him to say, "Oh, bummer!" in her heavy South Boston accent. She tells people the story of us being in the car, and her saying, "Oh, bummer!" about some such or other, and him repeating it. But I was in the car. And I remember quite clearly telling her that he'd been saying "Obama," and that I wasn't sure where he picked it up. Probably from the TV (pronounced "TB" in Thumperish). And she said, "It sounds like he's saying 'Oh, bummer!'"

But it ain't "Oh, bummer." It's "Obama." I've never made a big deal about it with him. I've never pointed out Obama on TV and made him say it. As far as I knew, it was just a word he picked out of the ether without having any clue what that word signified.

Until today.

While we were waiting for our car to be serviced, he was getting restless. We played in the playroom, and he was bored with that. We'd wandered around and flirted with the staff, and he was bored with that. He was busying himself climbing into and out of and into again one of the waiting room chairs. I handed him a special inauguration insert from the local paper. I pointed to the picture on the front and asked him, "Who's that?"

"Obama!"

I'm telling you, that boy's a genius.

And that's all I have to say about the inauguration. I could say that I recorded Obama's speech, thinking that I'd show it to Thumper some day. What day, I don't know. But someday. I could talk about getting chills. And getting choked up. And wanting to think this was a new beginning, a new day. But I can't say it right. And it's all been said already. And I don't want to talk about the doubt that comes right behind the hope. So instead, I'll just say it like the boy does:

Obama!

Lazy Bloggin'

Bangin' on the Bongos Like a Chimpanzee:









The Bike:

Thumper's cousins got him a trike for Christmas. Last Christmas, when he was 4 months old. We decided to try it out yesterday. It's a really cool trike. He's still got some growing into it to do, though.

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

I scared a child, and it made me walk around the rest of the night with a dopey grin on my face. I like scaring children.

A group of five kids, ages ranging from probably 8 to probably 12, were sitting close to courtside without apparent adult accompaniment. All five were standing in the aisle as close to the court as they could get. And they weren't moving on. We give you the benefit of the doubt. We let you have a minute. You set up camp, though, and action must be taken!

So I walked down and asked them to return to their seats. They did. As soon as I walked back up, they were in the aisle again. I walked down and told them to return to their seats. They did. As soon as I walked back up, they were in the aisle again. I walked down and told them to return to their seats. They did.

By the time I walked back up, another usher had come over from another position to work that section. I told him about the kids, and as I was pointing them out to him (his eyesight wasn't that great), the oldest kid turned and looked up at me. She saw me pointing at them and discussing them with the other usher. He still wasn't sure who I was talking about, so I smiled and waved at her, and she tentatively waved back.

"There, you see her waving? That's them. Just keep an eye on them. They've been standing in the aisle."

The next time her younger siblings jumped up into the aisle, she wrangled them back into their seats. Then she ran up the stairs to where the other usher and I were standing and said, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"That's OK," I said.

"About before. When we were standing."

"You don't have to apologize."

"It's my brothers. I won't let them do it again."

"We just need to keep the aisles clear."

"OK, we will."

"Thanks!"

And for the rest of the half, she always knew exactly where I was. She kept an eye on me. And on her brothers. I moved from section to section, trying to look like I was supervising. But whenever I looked back in their direction, she had her eye on me. And whenever her brothers jumped up to dance in the aisles during timeouts trying to get the cameraman to put them on the scoreboard video screen, she always had them sitting nicely in their seats by the time the action resumed.

She was waiting for me to bring the hammer down.

And it made me glad.

'Nough Said

Start 'Em Young

When Aerie and I first moved to Austin, my mother advised her to "take a class in Texas History. It explains a lot." And it does. Texas was a sovereign nation, you know. That's why we don't care what the rest of you think.

Since Thumper's a native Texan, I thought I should indoctrinate him early in the history and culture of God's Favorite State in God's Favorite Nation, so today we went to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Since cheapness counts, I'm not proud to say this trip cost us $8.50, including meter parking. Not our most frugal afternoon foray, but it was for the good of his Texan soul.


"Where's the star, Thumper? Where's the star? Go get the star!"

Moments after that photo was taken, he tripped and sprawled out flat. Two women walking by gasped and asked him if he was OK. The man they were with said, "Aw, he's OK. He does it all the time. You can tell by that scab on his chin."

Surprisingly, a history museum wasn't the best choice for a 17-month-old. It was dark and somber, and sparsely populated on a Wednesday afternoon. Plus, they don't allow photography in the exhibit areas, which is kind of a buzz kill when you're hanging out with a photogenic toddler. So we decided to hoof it over to the Capitol and play on the grounds instead.



It took awhile to get him to move on from watching the landscapers. "Doo Nie?" he asked over and over again. That's Thumperish for "What are they doing?" "They're trimming bushes," I said. "Booses. Doo Nie?" "They're trimming bushes." "Booses. Doo Nie?"



The cannon was almost as interesting as the landscapers. Almost.



There were lots of folks in matching green t-shirts that said "I Support" some damn thing or other. So I explained to him how the legislature was currently in session and that a lot of the people on the grounds were there to demonstrate, protest, or lobby their legislators. He headed right up the steps to see about addressing the legislature himself.



Lobbying is hard work, so we sat down in the grass for awhile and had a snack.



Which attracted a few squirrels. They must have been Democrats, always looking for handouts. Ha! Just kidding. They were actually registered independent.



He pointed at the dome and said, "Ball." I said, "Capitol." "Ball." "Capitol." "Ball." Just then a young man walked by, overheard, and said, "Well, it does sort of look like a ball. Ball!" And Thumper said, "Capew!" That's my boy: always the contrarian.

Weekend in Review

What a weekend. The entire family, even the Florida branch, got together to celebrate the birthday of the Matriarch Formerly Known as Purelight. The last time we all got together, there were sixteen of us. There were eighteen this time. We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge and had Birthday Dinner at Riverwalk Cafe at another giant resort right across the street.

It was great seeing the whole family and meeting or getting to know better some of the new additions. I think I missed some good conversations because of chasing Thumper around, but as Mom said in her birthday night speech, we're all connected not just to her but to each other. Renewed contact keeps those connections live, and I'm glad we (almost) all made it. Thanks badkitty812, Pirate71, and all you other non-commenting family lurkers, and even *gasp* non-blog-reading family members. It was good reconnecting.

And now of course, returning to my narrow focus: this Thumper kid amazes me. I fret and worry about things like the long drives to and from, and the sleeping in the hotel room, and the missing of naps, the staying up late, etc. etc., and he handles it all with grace, charm, humor, and patience. He loved nearly every minute in the pool, in the lobby, in the hallways, playing with his cousins, his aunts and uncles, his grandparents, perfect strangers, the guy vacuuming the lobby in the morning.



We made him skip a nap the day of the drive to the resort so that he'd sleep most of the 3 1/2 hours, but he only slept one hour and spent the rest of the time playing and chatting and singing. He did the same on the drive home again. I can't figure out how we got so lucky with this kid. Part of me wants to take credit, saying that it's because we did the right thing having a stay-at-home parent for him and giving him a solid schedule that makes him secure enough to be able to deviate from it now and again. But really, I think we're just lucky. Sometimes I get weird, paranoid twinges when I think about how wonderful he is, and I think of parents of children murdered or killed by horrible diseases. They always say what a joy the child was, what a spark, how he brought light into the world. And I think he's too perfect, he can't last, I'll lose him. What can I say, I've got a dark side. The kid is unbelievable in a way I can't believe I deserve.

And lastly, I have to just mention this: I went to bed before 10 o'clock last night. I know, that makes me officially an old fart, but it was a tiring weekend. So I was about as dead asleep as I could be when Aerie decided to come to bed around 11:30. I woke to her cuddled up against me, softly kissing me. She whispered, "I need you to come listen to something." So I dragged myself back up to consciousness and tried to pay attention. She told me that when she turned off the living room light, an alarm went off. She couldn't figure out what it was. It sounded sort of like the UPS on the computer, but not quite, and she was afraid the house was going to burn down. We went out to the living room. She turned the light off, and sure enough, there was a strange sound. I staggered back toward the bedroom.

"It's the puzzle," I said.

Gummas and Gumpa got Thumper a Melissa & Doug Vehicles Sound Puzzle for Christmas. A sensor (apparently a light sensor) knows when a piece is placed, and it makes a sound. The cruise ship piece was askew, and when Aerie turned off the light, it fired off the ship's foghorn, convincing Aerie that danger was imminent.

When she came back to bed, she was giggling hysterically. She apologized for waking me. And then she made it worth my while.

Oh, Bad, Bad, Daddy

He was sitting in the jogging stroller, trying to figure out how to work the seat belt. He was happy. I thought, "I'll just check my email, then get him ready for his nap." So I check my email. And I tweet about the boy: "Back from a jog, and the boy is currently trying like hell to strap himself back into the stroller. That he tried like hell to get out of."

Then I turned around to see him standing up in the stroller. It slowly tipped back, and down he went, face first. He jumped right up. As I went to him, he clearly, calmly said, "God dammip."

Then he started crying. And I saw the blood.



I'm pretty sure this springy thing on the brake handle is what did the deed.



Yep, I'd say that was definitely it.



So, yeah. I'm going for Father of the Year. While my son played on something he shouldn't, I tweeted about him playing on it. And when he hurt himself, I took pictures of it for my blog. I've marred his perfect little face forever. Chicks dig scars, though, right?

Let's just tell Aerie he fell at the playground today, shall we? Thanks; I owe you one.

Greatly Enjoying My Keyword Activity

My favorites:

attitudes to househusbands
domesticated househusband
i love harley so much that i cant bare to be without him right now
strong women househusband sexuality
gender restructuring househusband
gay househusband
female head of household househusband
how fast does the earth spin

The Color Fuschia

There's a fly in the house. Watching Thumper try to track it as it flew was fairly amusing. But then he spent several minutes waving and saying, "Hi! Hi, pie! Hi! Hi!" when it landed and "Bye! Bye bye! Bye, pie!" when it took off again. God, I love that kid.

So anyway, I told Aerie I would have to blog about how sexist she is. She said I'd have to include her "in my defense" point, though.

Yesterday, Thumper and I went to Austin Baby!, which is the hippiest of stores in the hippiest of Austin neighborhoods. It makes me feel a little funny inside. I mean, not only am I a man invading a nurturing and supportive maternity/breastfeeding outpost, but I'm driving in from the suburbs to do it. I don't feel warmly welcomed there, at least not until I make it clear I'm there to spend hundreds of dollars on cloth diapers. Again.

But I went back instead of shopping online for one reason: they buy used cloth diapers. Seriously. I didn't know this last time I went there, when we upgraded from Bum Genius to Fuzzi Bunz.

Can I just mention here that Fuzzi Bunz kick Bum Genius's ass? We bought Bum Genius One-Size thinking it would keep us from having to upsize as the boy grew. Nice idea, but the velcro stopped sticking and the gussets stretched out. The Fuzzi Bunz snaps have not torn out, the gussets haven't stretched. If you're comparison shopping, Fuzzi Bunz definitely wins because of their durability.

Anyway, Austin Baby! told me they'd buy back the used Bum Genius. Even with stains. Even with stretched out gussets. Even with velcro that wouldn't stick. I think we got $4 each for them. Talk about genius! I guess there are much more skillful and committed parents out there who buy the used diapers and replace the worn-out bits. More power to them, but I ain't that guy. It takes me an hour to thread the needle on the sewing machine.

I was going to buy 24 of the Medium Fuzzi Bunz at the time because that's how many Bum Genius we'd had, but they only had enough in stock for 20 if I excluded the pink ones. I felt guilty about it, but 20 instead of 24 saved us money, too, and you'll notice that I did not in the beginning make any claim of not being sexist myself. And in my defense, I did keep the lavender ones.

So when Thumper outgrew his Medium Fuzzi Bunz, I washed and packed them all up, put him in a disposable, and drove him to Hippie Central. And they bought them back! At $6 each! The new Large Fuzzi Bunz were $16.95 when bought in a lot larger than a dozen, so that $6 is a 35% discount. And no shipping costs. Since cheapness counts, it was definitely worth being a stranger in a strange land.

But how does this make Aerie sexist? The store only had 11 Large Fuzzi Bunz in stock. I wanted 20. All but one of the 11 were solid colors, with the 11th having a fuchsia floral print, which I rejected on moral grounds. There were 3 Bubble Gum, 1 Baby Pink, 1 Lavender, and the rest were Red, Sage, Butter, and White. I briefly considered rejecting the Bubble Gum and Baby Pink for not being "boy colors," but I reasoned that it would be annoying enough to get through the week with 10 diapers, let alone only 6. Plus I didn't want the lady behind the counter thinking I was a stereotypical sexist homophobe who's oppressively locking his child into prescribed gender roles and who's afraid he'll turn his boy gay if he sticks a pink diaper on his ass. Plus, they mostly don't show outside of clothes, especially when he's wearing a onesie. So I took them all.

When Aerie got home from work, she saw the diapers sitting in the laundry room waiting to be washed before wearing. She made me promise not to put the pink ones on him when we're out in public. Then she reconsidered and asked me to take the Bubble Gum and Baby Pink ones back. Then she reconsidered and added the Lavender, too. Because they're not boy colors. Can you believe that? We'll have to use more disposables this way for them to remain unused so I can trade them for different colors out of the new stock next week. So there you go. She's sexist. AND an anti-environmentalist.

In her defense, she insisted I mention that she hates pink, even for herself. She wore only black for a large portion of her adolescence. And admittedly, the Bubble Gum is pretty ugly. It's a lot closer to fuchsia than it looks in the picture. And while we did have Lavenders in the Mediums, she always disliked them. Too close to pink, I guess.

The Holidays Have Taught Him the True Meaning of the Word...

He asks me this several dozen times a day now:

Ah, January 1st

Thumper thought he'd start the new year by getting all of those firsts behind him. He peed. He pooped. He puked. He was awake at 7:00, playing patty-cake with his feet and soaked through the sheets, despite the 2 hemp liners in his diaper. After a satisfying breakfast of Kix, milk, banana and CODGE CHEEZ, we played quietly in the front room with his awesome wooden train from GUMMAS and GUMPA so as not to disturb DEDDY, who was still taking a NAP. Then, Thumper grew still, his face serious. POOP! he announced and proceeded to take care of business. Afterwards, when I suggested we go change his diaper, he countered with the recommendation that we watch POP POP and tried to saddle himself up on the computer chair. Doing so must have put a bit too much pressure on his tummy and out came the milk and CODGE CHEEZ, through both the mouth and the nose, of course. No matter, though. We cleaned it all up and did the laundry. If you have a small one and don't own a battery powered BOOGIE sucker, I highly recommend getting one.

This year, I resolve to floss more. We'll see how that goes. Resolutions? Let's face it. It doesn't matter what day of the year it is. If you make a promise to change when you're not ready to change, it ain't gonna happen. How many years did I resolve to lose weight? Oh, like every year for the last 10 years. I'd make some progress, but then stop trying and just gain it back. January 1 holds no special voodoo. It was some November day in 2007 that I was ready to commit to that promise. And 13 months later, I've dropped 37 pounds and am wearing a size I haven't been able to fit in for a decade. I still have a ways to go and I did fall off the wagon a bit during the holidays. I will get back on the right path, but not because it's a new year. Because I'm ready.

I do love New Year's Day, though. While it's not a resolution, for some reason, January 1 always seems to get me into cleaning up things and getting back on track. Thumper helped inspire me this morning. With the UCKY laundry to do and new clothes to put away, it seemed like the right time to pack away garments that don't fit him and get his room organized. He was quite cooperative most of the morning.

After our morning nap and lunch, Thumper was very enthusiastic about a bike ride with MOMMA and DEDDY which included a stop at the park to play for a spell. This was helpful in getting me back on track with exercising regularly, which has fallen a bit by the wayside recently. And it was fun. I struggle with making time to have fun. So, thank you Thumper for helping me get back on track.

Oh, and did I mention I flossed last night?