Standing Man

I hope you enjoy this video of Jack pulling himself up to standing. He still wobbles quite a bit - we've been calling him the drunken sailor. In the past few days he has begun to pull up in the coffee table and sofa and scuttle along them like a crab. He is rather fearless and thinks nothing of letting go and trying to walk away which usually ends in a bumped head or a fall on the bottom. He's keeping us on our toes!

Friend of the FOE

The Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) was founded by a group of theatre owners in Seattle, WA in 1898. I had the pleasure of working for a few years at their first lodge, or aerie, which had been refurbished into a spectacular performance space by A Contemporary Theatre. Yesterday I benefited from one of the FOEs many contributions to society, Mother's Day (they were also early supporters of Social Security, and were responsible for the placement of many 10 commandment plaques in public places). The boys made me Dan's patented Moon Waffles - a perfect buttermilk waffle topped with a scoop of Turkey Hill vanilla bean ice cream, homemade bittersweet chocolate sauce, and fresh Market strawberries - and showered me with gifts. Jack took a nice long morning nap giving me time to read the entire Sunday New York Times and take a leisurely shower. After he woke up we spent the afternoon playing, or more accurately I chased him around the house and let him climb all over me. We made a nice dinner, enjoyed a tasty wine, put Jack to bed, and watched an hour of a movie. Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better first Mother's Day!

Safety Dance

Now that Jack can crawl the rush to child-proof the house has begun. It feels like a losing battle in this house. There are exposed wires, sharp heating grates, and stairs all of which are incredibly tantalizing to the boy. We have installed a gate at the top of the stairs - after the first go with a plastic pressure mounted version we finally upgraded to the much more expensive and sturdy hardware mounted version that took much longer to install than the 10 minutes suggested on the box. We have the outlet plugs and the cord covers, we have moved all of the breakable and heavy items off the lower kitchen shelves, and we have the cabinet locks though we haven't installed them yet. The house is nowhere close to child-proof and it takes a sharp eye and fast feet to keep him from harm. He is especially interested in the computer cord and the blue light on the DVR, any electronic equipment in general seems to call his name. To add to the fun, Jack has started to pull himself up to standing which introduces a whole new level of danger to the mix. He likes to climb the dining room furniture and pull himself up on the coffee table but he is still pretty unsteady on his feet, more like a drunken sailor really, and it is only a matter of time until he bumps his head. I thought it was exhausting before - I haven't been able to sit down while he is awake since he started crawling and by the look of things he definitely has walking on his mind!!