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!!

I'm Jack Washburn and I Approved This Posting

It has happened at last, the boy is crawling. For awhile we wondered if he would ever actually crawl as he was incredibly adept at moving through the house by a curious combination of rolling and scooching on his stomach. But last week he finally put it all together and crawled. The timing couldn't have been better. My parents arrived for a visit about 2 days after the crawling began so Jack was able to show off his new skills to the most adoring audience a boy could ask for. Of course during the visit he didn't get a chance to practise that much as he was almost always happily perched in a grandparents' arms, being proudly pushed through town in the stroller, or sitting on a lap while swinging in the park. Now that the grandparents have left however, Jack is busy cruising around the house finding all the exposed wires, hard corners, and dangerous heater grates. Looks like we'll be spending the weekend baby-proofing what we can in the death-trap we call home.

The Poop

I never wanted to become one of those moms. You know the ones - you are enjoying a nice outing talking about the latest article in the Times when for no reason the mom at the table brings up her baby's latest accomplishment, poop. The conversation stops, smiles become strained, the whole grain mustard on your sandwich becomes totally unappetizing, the outing is over. While I haven't really become that mom I know that I'm on the verge. Strangly Jack's poops, their frequency, consistancy, color, have become big news in our house. When Dan comes home from work I quickly inform him about the day's poop before we even get into the real events of the day. So far we have managed to keep the poop talk confined to our house but it has come close to slipping out at times. I'll just have to remain vigilant. Of course, I think that this blog posting may have just turned me into one of those moms . . .

The New Noise

Jack has started making a new noise lately. It sounds to me like he is constantly shocked and surprised by what he is seeing. He especially likes to make this noise when he sees Otis. He has also started laughing whenever he sees Dan. I get a smile.

Baby Liberty

Dan's spring break was this last week so we decided to take our first family vacation and went to Philadelphia for two nights. I think both Dan and I were bracing for a somewhat difficult trip, but Jack was a real trooper. When we got home we agreed that we had traveled with Jack rather than in spite of him which felt great.

On our first day we hit the historic sites including the Liberty Bell. For dinner we walked to Chinatown and had an incredible dinner at a tiny hole-in-the-wall place. Everybody had to get up to let us through with the stroller, but we made it to a table in the back and chowed down on the most delicious homemade noodles. Jack happily ate his monkeys and squealed whenever the man in back slapped the noodles on the counter. The next day we walked to South Philly to the Italian Market, a collection of funky old shops along several blocks. I was in food heaven and splurged on homemade pastas, salami, stinky cheeses, spicy Sicilian olive oil, while Dan found coffee beans, candied orange peels, anchovies, and spices. For lunch we each had a cheese steak from a different shop, both were delicious! After a too brief nap we walked around town in the rain looking at the charming architecture of Society Hill and enjoying the shop windows of Antique Row. We found a bar that specialized in Belgian Beer and enjoyed some delicious beer and fantastic moules and frites.

Jack was great to travel with. He hung out in the stroller until he got bored with it and then hung out in the carrier. At the restaurants he played with Cheerios, his sippy cup, or his monkeys and tried to pull everything off the tables. He had a little trouble sleeping, he wouldn't nap at all, but that was the biggest problem. I'm sure that it will get harder to travel with him in the future but at the same time it will be nice to have him engage in what we are seeing. Until then we'll take all the little trips we can get.

The Boy Loves His Books

Jack gets a story or three read to him every night before bed and during the day I will read to him or show pictures in a magazine. He watches us read the paper every morning and especially enjoys tearing up and chewing on the advertising inserts. He loves his books, he's just not quite sure what to do with them yet!

Lets Get Physical

Jack and I have recently joined a mom and baby exercise class. It is actually more of a Moms exercising despite their babies class. The class is split into roughly 15 minute sections in which we either focus on one muscle group or walk/run around the track. The track walking serves two purposes, to pacify the babies who spend the entire one hour class in their strollers, and to keep the mom's heart rates up. The gym that offers this class, Universal, is pretty great. It is very relaxed and low-key, none of that typical meat market atmosphere. They also have great facilities for the kids. Despite all that I can't help but feel slightly silly as our little troupe parades around the track like ducks in a row. Jack puts up with this foolishness for only so long, the meltdown usually starts 10 minutes before the end of class right as we start to work on the area I am most interested in firming up - the abs. It is a good class. I get out of the house and sweat for an hour and Jack gets to see other babies and groove to the sweet sounds of the gym sound system.