Sunday, February 28, 2010

Casey's life

Here's a few tidbits about Casey's life these days.
He has passed the 1 year mark, and his height and weight have progressed to the point where he is eligible to sit in a forward-facing car seat. He took his first road trip in his new seating configuration. As you all know, he LOVES rain. So, while it was raining, he was able to watch the rain out of windshield and sunroof. Hopefully, facing forward takes some of the boredom out of car trips for him. Although, one of the things I remember most from my young days was when I used to ride on the back of a VW Bug, facing backwards, staring out the rear window, pretending I was driving backwards. That's how I used to pass the time during car trips.
Apparently, Casey likes fountains. We took him Balboa Park, and he was mesmerized by the water fountains. He would just stare at them. And when we tried to hold his hand and lead him away from the fountains... He kept looking back , wanting to stay!
He has discovered piano, and unlike his daddy, he really digs it. Really, whats not to like... He hits white and black rectangles and they make noise. Hopefully he's have some musical ability like his uncle Ed.

Watch your form... back straight, wrists high... Ah, forget it, just bang them keys, champ!
Casey is pretty resourceful... and mischievous. Nai-Nai set up a blockade of chairs, to keep Casey from wandering into trouble. Well, before long, Casey found a way around the blockade, and decided to climb the stairs by himself. Part of me, was like, 'You go boy'... The other part of me was thinking, 'This is probably the exact reason Nai-Nai put up the blockade.' So, I followed him up the stairs, trailing behind him just to make sure he didnt fall backwards and land on his head. Nope, he negotiated the stairs just fine, and I was so proud of him! But, I didn't tell him that.. I don't think that kid needs encouragement to be mischievous...

Two views

We visited Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye this weekend. We were at the dining room table, having a nice family meal. As usual, Casey was the center of attention. But, this time, the attention wasn't necessarily good. Mommy finished feeding Casey his lunch, and the rest of us were eating a nice spread. Casey is strapped into his high chair, nibbling on some snacks, waiting for us. Suddenly, he starts grunting... we all watch him; his face is turning red.. We all know what this means. At this point, nothing is stopping him, he's grunting away, face is WAY red, HIS EYES ARE WATERING! We all stopped eating, and were just staring at him.
Thinking back on this, I can see it from both sides. From our side, we see a child taking a huge dump at the dinner table, right in the middle of a meal. From his perspective, it might look something like this. "You guys strapped me in the chair, it's not like I can get out, even if I wanted to. I'm done eating, but you guys make me stay here while you all eat. I gotta do my business... Its a natural thing to do. And you guys don't even have the decency to give me a little privacy. Rather, you all stop eating, stare at me and laugh out loud. That's kinda rude!"

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Torrance Trains

Having a child has opened my eyes to a plethora of activities that are offered.. often by your local city.. often for free... often really cool... This past weekend was a perfect example. The City of Torrance, in conjunction with Southern California Live Steamers offers free mini train rides at the local park. We didnt experience any of the issues typically associated with free public event (bunch of knuckle-heads, overcrowding, understaffing, disorganization, etc). The location was well maintained, well staffed and the event ran so smooth. The lines were organized, the wait times short, the natives were well behaved, and the attendants were knowledgeable and courteous.
Casey and his new buddy Jared caught a ride to the park in the Radio Flyer wagon. Them two pups rode in style... Drink holders, three-point harness safety belts, independant front suspension. They rode the rails twice, each time traveling a different track, touring Wilson Park and the surrounding area. Casey had such a good time, he forgot all about his afternoon nap... Until he got home and crashed at 4PM.. I had to wake him up at 7:45PM, so he didnt sleep all night. I'd say his activities made him one pooped puppy.

"Mr. Chauffeur, please take us to the park."


Mini trains, powered by real steam engines.


Casey riding the rails.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Babies vs Dogs

It's not uncommon for people to compare babies with dogs. You have to feed them, bathe them, clean up their messes, clean up their poop, groom them, etc. etc.  Well, tonight Casey decided to show me how similar they can be. 

There he was in the tub butt naked enjoying his bath.  He was all washed and clean and was enjoying some play time. Casey doesn't like to stand up much in the tub so instead he just squats.  He was playing and babbling and making other noises with his mouth. He also added farting to the musical. He started shivering so I decided to end the bath, pulled the plug and let the water drain out. He likes to watch the water swirl down the drain. Before removing him I usually turn on the shower head and rinse the tub under and around Casey.  I turned on the faucet and pulled the pin for the water to run to the shower head...Casey instantly stood up and moved to the end of the tub. I then looked up at him and smiled and then down at the tub..."Oh no, Casey you pooped in the tub" (said with concern and laughter). He just looked up at me with his innocent eyes.  I proceed to turn off the water and Casey decides to investigate and grabs some of his fresh pile with his hand. "NOOOOO!!"  I immediately grab some TP clean up his hand, then pick up the pile and dump it in the toilet.  As I rinsed out the remaining residue and cleaned up his hand I just giggled. What else is a mother to do when her child imitates a dog and takes a dump wherever he finds himself squatting.

Thanks for keeping things interesting Casey!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Birthday week continued

Casey's cousins Chantal and Elena sent him a birthday package consisting of tons of videos. I'd say somewhere on the order of 20+ VHS and DVD videos came in a big UPS box. We helped Casey open the box and he did the rest. He reached in the box, and pulled each and every video out... one by one.. and threw/ dropped them on the living room floor. Near the end, they began to pile up around the perimeter of the box. So, he took advantage, and climbed on the pile to gain better access to the remainder of the videos still in the box. When he couldn't see any more videos to dump out, he tilted the box and attempted to climb inside, just to be SURE that he didn't miss any.
So much entertainment, and we haven't even began to watch the videos yet!
Thanks Tally and Goo!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Super Bowl Week

You know how the Super Bowl is more than just a game? There is a week (or 2) of celebration and hype leading up to the big game. Well, for us, this time of year isnt so much Super Bowl week, as it is Casey's birthday celebration week. He didnt just have a birthDAY, he had a week's worth of parties, gift-openings and playdates, culminating in a birthday blowout party at his grandma's house.

A special thanks goes out to everyone who braved the weather and traffic and made the effort to help Casey celebrate his 1st birthday.

The party was great; he got lots of cool gifts, spent time with lots of relatives, got his picture taken a lot, and ... ATE CHOCOLATE CAKE. His mommy baked him his own birthday cake, and in honor of his birthday, Casey got carte blanche to goto town with his cake.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Faceplant!

I spend a nice leisurely Sunday morning with my son. We set out for a walk to the mailbox. It turned into a meandering stroll. I set him on the ground, and let him lead the way. Lets just say he hasnt learned the concept about shortest distance between two points.... It was more like an ever-changing non-directional walk toward whatever caught his attention. Its an informal, inexact survey, but I would say his favorite distraction was trees. He often wandered towards trees. We stopped to examine quite a few trees. But here is the problem. These trees are planted in soil, separated from the asphalt road by a 6" tall curb. A six inch tall obstacle is a little much to overcome for a little guy who is only 20-something inches tall himself. Being so self-sufficent, when Casey was confronted with a curb, he just crawled up it, and continued to crawl to the tree. But this put him at ground level as he played with the trees. Now, picture for a second what dogs do when they see trees.. Pee on it... More precisely, pee on the tree.. right at ground level.. or slightly above, in which case the pee drips to.... ground level. For some reason, this thought popped into my head as I was watching my little guy paw at the tree bark and comb thru the dirt at the base of the trees.

After taking frequent breaks to examine the trees, we continued on to the mailbox. Right across the driveway from the mailboxes is a small pond with a waterfall. Casey is attracted by the sound of the waterfall, and begins to meander that way. Mail in hand, I follow slightly behind him, and let him venture whatever direction he wants to go. He heads straight for the water... and would have walked right on in, if I didn't grab him at the last possible instant! He was enthralled with the water, the sound, the reflection, the shimmer... I sat him on a tree branch that extended over the water.. and gently rocked the branch as he sat and stared at the water.

After a while, we started to head home. There was some vehicle traffic, so I picked him up and carried him about half way home. Then, I put him down.. and he headed back in the direction we just came from.. I listened, and could hear the water... Evidently, so could he, cause that little guy was walking with a purpose! By now, our adventure was about 1 hour old, so I picked him up and carried him the rest of the way to the garage. Once there, I put him down... and he promptly walked back outside. I let him venture out on his own... keeping a watchful eye on him from about 10-20' behind. He located a curb, successfully navigated his way over the curb onto the grassy area. This grassy area isnt exactly level, but it's close.. At least to me. To him, it might have felt as steep as a black diamond ski run.. But he attempted to walk down the slope...

Then he fell... face first.. on the concrete curb, and onto the asphalt roadway. There he lay, flat on his back, arms spread out. I ran over to him and scooped him into my arms.. And examined his nose.. It was scraped, and drew blood. I could see lateral abrasions, where he scraped his little nose against the curb as he fell.

But the tough guy was FINE! Just a little superficial scrape.