Summer Preparations

Every once in a while there is an event that comes up during an unexpected time. While there are the unfortunately common times when a masonic funeral service must be arranged within a few days, there are also other, much more pleasant, events for which we must prepare. There have been way too many of the former but, thankfully, I have been able to focus on the latter this week as I did my best to assist with a district picnic scheduled for this weekend.

The casual family gathering was announced in June and we started the many conversations about some of the details that needed to be addressed by the announced date in August but it had been at least a month since any formative conversations had been started regarding the planning. That was until this week when I received a reminder about one of the things with which I was hoping to assist. Actually, the more accurate term would be coordinate.

While it was a bit of a rush to get everything ordered and confirmed, the t-shirts are currently in process and will be ready by the end of the week. Usually I am a little hesitant to make such a claim on a rush order but I know that my cousin will get it done, will get it done right, and will give us a tremendous price at the same time. After all, he has never faltered in the past and I have many brothers and clients that can attest to that fact as well.

Of course, trying to coordinate my own schedule is a completely different matter altogether. I continue to look forward to these kinds of events when I can bring my family and enjoy the time we all spend together. At the same time, there is little flexibility in our calendar and there have been numerous changes as of late that have put many commitments into question. I guess it may be time to pull out the gauge and, once again, measure my days.

It will certainly be interesting as the fall descends upon us and the calendar, once again, begins to fill with various commitments whether they be personal, family, work, lodge, or a myriad of other things. But, for now, it is time to continue preparing for what is my busy season but also my time to enjoy the constant rhythm of work flowing from the office to the lodge to home and beyond. It may be a little odd but keeping busy as the weather slowly cools is what relaxes me.

TMI Tuesday: Milk Please!

In addition to chugging, he can also put the ball in the cup too... 

There are moments when my son tilts his head back and his sippy cup almost vertical when I want to poke a hole in the bottom and see how fast he can really guzzle his milk. This has been his routine ever since we got him off of formula a few months back. Basically, in addition to being much friendlier to our bank account, our son seems to enjoy whole milk much more than the rancid smelling concoction that we used to have to mix before every meal.

He has gotten pretty good at drinking too. Among his various techniques, in addition to the milk pounding mentioned above, he has many one handed and no hand ways that he enjoys drinking. He also does the same thing with the sippy cups full of water that we keep on a side table in the family room for whenever he gets thirsty.

However, there are moments when his overzealous chugging can be more problematic as it can put him off balance at times. This usually isn’t a big deal as, for the most part, he is either sitting or holding onto something while standing and drinking but there are times when he puts himself in a precarious position. Those moments include when he lets go of his support (usually leading to his legs buckling), he tries to emphatically drink while I am holding him (I almost have to hug him to keep him from bending backward), and when he is a little too quick throwing his head back (he usually ends up laying on his back when this happens).

Fortunately, these moments are more amusing than anything and we usually hear him giggling when they happen. The only exception being when I am holding him as there have been a few times when I have been startled or he has been startled or both. That usually leads to a look of “what the heck just happened” or “what are you doing daddy? I’m trying to drink here!” Sometimes some pointed baby babble follows. 

But, as time goes on and he continues to grow faster than we anticipated, he keeps getting better at these rudimentary tasks. Thankfully, he is a quick learner and many of the instances mentioned above only happened a handful of times, all with slight variations mind you. Soon these moments will be a thing of the past but I will still wonder how fast he can shotgun his sippy cup (I’m pretty sure a milk bong will work too).

Monday Morning Puking and Crying

It was an interesting way to start the week as I was fortunate to join my wife for our son’s six month at the pediatrician’s office down the street. We did our best to schedule the appointment early enough so that this would be a possibility and, up until Friday afternoon last week, this was seeming more like an impossibility… thankfully an important meeting got moved without me having to say anything. So, with everything working out logistically, instead of arriving at the office around ten until nine, we were walking into the waiting room watching our son turning his head back and forth trying to take everything in.

Now, I have to be honest about what I feel as we walk into these appointments (beyond the feelings of frustration when they take way too long). I have mixed emotions about going to these appointments. On the one hand I want to support my wife and be there for my son while on the other, selfish hand, I can’t stand seeing my baby boy crying in pain.

While I wouldn’t say that he is happy to be there, he has at least gotten to the point where he tolerates going to see the doctor and he is actually pretty happy and smiling at everyone until one of two things happens... being naked or getting shots. He wasn’t even phased when he threw up on me taking him to the scale or throwing up on my wife as she was bringing him back to the examination room. He is an equal opportunity chucker.

Even with the spewing, it was fun watching my wife’s when the doctor confirmed that he was only half a pound away from 20 and well on his way to being taller than mommy. He is a big boy but, more importantly, he is a healthy baby and one that surprised the doctor by what he is already able to do. While there are a few areas where he is not really excelling in (not really behind either), the doctor was surprised at how advanced his hand eye coordination had become as well as his ability to self sooth.

All of that pretty much went to pot once the vaccine and needles came out. In addition to the nasty taste in him mouth he also left the appointment with two sore legs. But now he is all ready for day care although I don’t think that my wife and I are fully ready for that change as of yet. However, I will say that this time around he calmed down much faster and the tears stopped by the time we walked back around to the front desk. Needless to say, it was a tiring morning for all of us and afterward my wife and son went back home while I made some phone calls on my way to the office.