TMI Tuesday: Crawling

It wasn’t long ago when our son figured out how to sit up by himself from his stomach. It was one of those things that my wife and I caught him doing on the camera and soon thereafter he would sit up when he felt like it or, on occasion, when daddy asked him to do it. Heck, that is how I was able to see him do it and the smile that he gave me afterward is something I won’t forget. Since then I have been able to ask our son to sit up before picking him up. He’s actually pretty good about following directions when he wants to be cooperative.

It seems like just a short time ago when we were enjoying those moments which were soon followed by scooching across the floor and sitting up and lunging in a different direction to get what he wanted. That turned into a quasi-Army crawl which then became a half crawl with primarily propelled him backward. He has moved well past all of those stages and now the forward momentum is taking over. We are in trouble.

It started with a couple steps forward followed thereafter by three or four shuffles back. As the counterproductive kinks got worked out he began moving a little further each time. The toys on the other side of the room weren’t so far away after all. Once he could clear the room without stopping he started picking up the pace. This was particularly noticeable when he started catching the battery operated train and cars that he once just looked at as they rolled by.

Now there is a little more purpose with his crawling as he knows to move toward the hallway so he can see daddy walk through the side door when he gets home. He can also crawl to a toy, almost like he is stalking it at times, and reach up with one hand and grab it while still supporting himself. From there he reverts back to an old trick and sits up so he can play with his prey.

I guess this means it is time to really start thinking about the different safety locks and baby gates because he seems determined to move around the house by himself. It is that time already. I don’t know how we got this this point so fast but it is time to evaluate and see what needs to be done so we don’t hear cabinets slamming on fingers and our son sliding back down the stairs like dirty laundry on a wash board. Time for some DIY.

Where’s The Mail?

This year it seems like every lodge meeting is sneaking up on me. As I have documented in this blog, I used to have the routine of heading over to the lodge every Tuesday to check in and make sure that everything was taken care of. This was especially true the Tuesday before a stated meeting. No surprise, my schedule has changed and I now find myself trying to get the same amount of work done in about half the time (if I am lucky).

Last night I was finally able to make it back to Ardmore to catch up with the dedicated brothers in attendance and also to check the mail. Well, that was the plan. I was able to speak with many of the brothers in attendance but the mail was a different situation. As it had been some time since I last cleaned out the box, the post office decided to hold much of the mail behind the counter in a bin. This may not be a concern for some but that is simply not the case.

The only times that I have been able to get back to the main line have been in the evenings and occasionally on the weekends when we have something scheduled beyond a simple trip to the post office. Basically, the times that I am in the area I am either busy doing something else or it is long after the post office has closed. I guess there is going to have to be a special trip or detour to Ardmore in the very near future.

However, as is always the case, the best part of the night is seeing that the lodge is still active. We have had some bumps along the way this year at the lodge but it is great to see that everything and everyone is still moving in the right direction. The new brothers have really taken ownership of their masonic education and I continue to look forward to seeing them participate more and more as time goes on. Who knows, maybe there is a new secretary among them for when I am ready to hand things off (years down the road).

Things remain busy at lodge, work, and at home. While hectic at times (most of the time actually) I don’t think I would change a thing. Well, maybe longer hours at the post office but that is about it. Maybe, just maybe, things will calm down a bit over the next few months but I wouldn’t be surprised if the opposite were true. Regardless of what happens to the schedule, things will continue moving forward and that is really all that any of us can do.