Holiday Weekend

The July 4th weekend started out eventful. On July 3rd, PJ celebrated his 5 month birthday by rolling from stomach to back. He caught on pretty fast, and figured out that if he rolled continously in one direction, he could be mobile, and find lots of interesting stuff to get into.

On the 4th, PJ stayed away from the madness that is the beach scene. Instead, he went to Wilson Park, where he enjoyed festivities including live bands, food court and lots and lots of people. In the evening, Pj went to bed.. and we nervously waited for the fireworks to start. The City of Torrance puts on a HUGE fireworks show each 4th at Wilson Park, which is right down the street. At 9PM sharp, the fireworks start, and we watched PJ on the baby monitor... He slept thru the whole thing! Back in May, there was a 4.7 earthquake who's epicenter was a few miles away.. Pj slept thru that whole episode too. I'm kinda wondering exactly what can disturb this kid when he sleeps.

Pix at the City of Torrance 4th of July celebration.

5 Month Birthday and a Milestone

July 3rd marked Casey's 5 month birthday. He decided to start it out with a solution to a drooly dilemma that he has had since early June. He started the morning by rolling from his belly to his back.

Back in June he learned to roll from his back to his belly. (see previous post http://wangxuexian.blogspot.com/2009/06/pitch-yaw-and-roll.html ) Once he got on his belly he would play and hold his head up high. Unfortunately, when his head got heavy it would drop down suddenly....basically, he would face plant into his play mat. He would start sucking on his hands or the mat itself and the crying would begin. By the time we would get to him there would be a nice puddle of drool....mind you a puddle of drool only takes seconds to create.

Along with this new milestone he also learned that when he was on his belly and his head got heavy he could actually turn it to the side and rest his head on the mat...no more faceplants...even when he got tired.

Below is a video of Casey's wonderful rolling skills. Way to go Casey!!!



Of course now he is mobile and it hasn't taken him long at all to figure out that if he keeps rolling to the same side he can get anywhere in the living room....unless he gets stuck....

Time to baby proof!!!

Solids?

Between 4 and 6 months is the standard time most infants start eating solids. Usually this means Rice cereal then gradually introducing pureed vegetables and fruits. Well, Tia Natal had other ideas.

On our last two visits to Avo and Avao's house Tia Natal decided to introduce Casey to some of the sweeter things in life...chocolate and ice cream. Now, I didn't see Casey try his first, small, piece of chocolate but I knew something was up when I came into the room and both Tia Natal and Avao were giggling up a storm. According to my sister and mom Casey repeatedly and rapidly pushed his tongue in and out of his mouth...a sign that he really liked the chocolate!

On another visit Tia Natal fed Casey some chocolate syrup and ice cream. This time I caught it all on video. Tia Natal tried to wipe away the evidence but the chocolate stains on his onesie are lasting proof of her corruption attempts.

At one point I tried to get Casey's attention but he only had eyes for the spoon holding his second serving.

Looks like Casey's a chocolate lover like mommy!

Free Reign

Casey is about 4.5 months old.. That means, I've been a father for... 4.5 months. and I got some thoughts about this experience. Wanna hear em?

All I gotta say is that being a newborn is a pretty good deal.. Kid, you dont know how good you have it. Enjoy it now, because at some point, it all gets taken away...

Check it out Casey: Right now, we all encourage you to burp. You get cheered and congratulated when you burp; the louder, the better. I cant burp in public, I get an earful about "thats inappropriate." Anytime you get stomach pains, we encourage you to fart. We even do 'fart-exercises' with your legs. Exactly when was the last time someone encouraged me to fart?

And Casey, the things you do to us..
Casey- You spit up on us. Think about it, when is the last time someone threw up on any of you? A bar in college? Some random drunk idiot at a club? And what was your response? Dirty look, choice words, or bar fight? Yet, Casey regurgatates his meal on me, and I calmly take a burp rag and wipe it up.
Casey- You slobber on us. Again, when is the last time you had someone slobber on any of you? Some drunken-fest makeout session back in college? At very least, thats probably the last time you kissed that person.
Casey- You pee and poop on us. I ask... When is the last time.... ah, nevermind. If your answer is something other than 'NEVER' I dont wanna know. Thats some kinky sexual deviance there.

Casey- You do all this to me, and I dont even get mad at you. And then you smile, and I melt. I'm glad you are too young to understand this right now, but you got all the leverage... you got free reign to do whatever you please, all you gotta do is smile, and I'm putty in your hands.

To sum this up, life at 4.5 months rocks. You get get to slobber, throw up, pee and poop on people, and they dont get mad. You are encouraged to burp and fart. You get free reign to do all this! Dude, what more is there to life? Forget "I wanna be a toys-r-us kid". Its more like, "I wanna be a 4.5 month old kid"!

Common Theme

Here are some photos from the past weekend. See if you can figure out a common theme.. I'll give you a hint; the theme I'm thinking ISNT slobber. But, Casey does have some talent in that area. Check out the photo where he is controlling a column of slobber that reaching his belly. I know, 'cause I was directly underneath him!

So, did you get the theme? Father's Day! Happy Father's Day Ye-Ye. I hope you enjoyed your son and grandson visiting for the weekend!

Big Boy Bath

Casey has started getting his baths in the full size tub. He seems to like it, his favorite part is splashing daddy. He has figured out how to splash water by kicking his legs in the water. He has nailed me pretty good a few times. I cant wait to teach him to make bubbles in the bath... Ah, its the simple things in life...
More recent developments include rolling over, ( see last post). However, he hasnt figured out how to get from his stomach to his back. So, right now, its a one way deal. He can roll from back to stomach... he hangs out in the new position for awhile, head held high...., then he's over it, and cries until we rescue him and roll him back...
We managed to capture a few precious moments on the camera. Check em out...

"Huh? How did I just do that?"

Head held high!
Slobber! Gravity works; when I get in this position, my slobber drips down.
Hi, I'm Albert Xue Xian Einstein
Portrait after big boy bath.

Pitch, Yaw and Roll

Here we go again. Casey has achieved another milestone. And surprise, this one has nothing to do with bodily emissions. In consideration of this blog’s diverse audience, I will start with a quick physics/engineering tutorial for you non-engineers out there.
There are 3 axis’, typically referred to as X,Y,Z. Stand up, look straight down at the ground. Draw a line from your feet straight in front of you, that is the y-axis. Now, draw another line, from your feet to your left or right, that is the x-axis. The z-axis is pretty much a line from your feet straight up thru your head.
You can rotate about (flip over) any of these lines. Depending on which axis you flip over, there is a different term to describe the motion. Rotate about the x-axis and its called pitch. Just think summersault, or front flip… Rotate about the z-axis and its called yaw. Picture a break dancer spinning on his back. Lastly, rotate about the y-axis and its called roll. If you take a log, and place it on top of a hill and it rolls down the hill, that’s roll…
Now back to Casey. One day last week, we put him on his play mat. As always, we just laid him down on his back. A short time later, in response to some light crying we go see him: he’s on all fours, facing downward! So, I proceed with a detailed scene inspection. There is a large puddle of drool directly under his mouth, clearing indication he’s been in that position for some time, and that he hasn’t moved much. He had a look in his eyes that said, “oh S*&9, what did I do now? Everything is upside down” Imagine if we suddenly found ourselves hung from our feet; everything we are used to seeing would be backasswards. So, we rescue him, turn him over and ask him to repeat the feat. Alas, that was it for one day.
A day or two later, I was watching him play on his mat. He started getting squirrely, so I grabbed the video camera and aimed it at him. After a couple of unsuccessful/ aborted attempts, (not enough momentum, unintended deceleration due to contact with canopy support, and various other reasons such as stopping to fart) he finally rolls onto all fours. This time his head is held up high, checking out the new world orientation. I asked him for a high-five, but he politely declined my request, explaining that his hand was occupied supporting him, and couldn’t be used to high-five daddy. If you watch his facial expressions, they say, "what the ... everythings upside down.. whoa, I did it.... WOW, I really did do it! COOL!"
So we have 2 axis left. My estimate is that the next one Casey will conquer will be pitch. Most likely this will occur around the time we enroll him in a toddler gymnastics class, where they will hopefully teach him to do summersaults and eventually front tucks. If he ever wants daddy to teach him how to TRY a standing back tuck, and land on his face I’ll be glad to explain, but not demonstrate. As for yaw, about the only way Casey is going to do this is if Uncle Jack (Switch) decides to come out of retirement and teach him break dancing.