| Update, Baby V. Cat |
The Wed. comic is now up. Don't miss Friday's conclusion to the storyline.
Baby Wright is starting to test his boundaries, it seems. He has taken to swatting at the cats. It started innocently enough as what appeared to be an attempt to pet the kitties many months ago. However, in his excitement, the petting became swats to the cats' heads. We directed him away from the cats, sometimes taking his hand and showing him the "correct" way to pet. However, he would just get excited and swat again. Our older female cat, Sweetie, loves any attention she gets, so she takes the abuse for a bit before running away. Our younger cat, Charlie, who is also known as Jerk Cat and Charlie Monster for his propensity to torment Sweetie, is a bit less tolerant of Baby. He kinda' looks at us as if to roll his eyes and say, "Hey, you do something with this kid, or I will."
Baby's swatting has now progressed to include pulling tails. To make matters worse, he knows he shouldn't be doing it. How do I know that he knows? Here's an example of what happens:
Baby runs to Charlie Cat with hands outstretched.
Daddy (from across the room): "No...."
Baby turns, looks at daddy, smiles, swats cat.
Daddy (still across the room) "No... (and then with as much enthusiasm as daddy can muster) hey, where's the ball? Ball? Ball? Where's the ball?"
Baby (not falling for the misdirection - daddy apparently didn't sell it enough) swats cat again. Cat's ears are pinned to his head as he swats back.
Daddy then bolts across the room to get Baby. Baby sees this, gets SUPER hyper (mouth open wide and smiling and laughing), and begins to swat cat faster and faster, in attempt to get in as many swats as possible before Daddy can reach him.
Well, Charlie ran out of patience today, grazing Baby's arm which required Mommy to break out the boo-boo kit. Still, Baby continued to go after both cats later in the evening. I'm fairly certain he is not intending to harm the cats. He is only 14 months old and an otherwise good baby. He seems to think they are playing a game of "Grab the Tail and Smack the Head (New, from Hasbro)".
I'm not sure what to do to resolve the issue. I don't want to overreact, especially when everything I've read says a baby his age doesn't understand consequences yet, so punishment has an adverse effect. Yet, we don't want him to torment the cats or to get hurt.
So, if any of you parents out there have any advice, feel free to email me or post a comment back.Labels: baby stuff, todd and penguin |
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| First words... |
While there may be some debate as to what Baby Wright's first word was (either da-da, ma-ma, or hello), all of those occurred during his first gibberish stages. The first word he is using with any regularity and understanding is 'ball.' Or more accurately, "Baawl" which he says in a raspy cute voice. Even cuter is how he almost asks, rather than says, "bawl?'
"Bawwl? bawwl?" he says over and over again. It is so cute!
My wife, er, I mean the Easter Bunny, got him a Winnie the Pooh ball for Easter. It was one of several items in his First Easter Basket. Immediately, he seized on it to the neglect of a stuffed bunny rabbit which I thought he would have hugged on. He is less interested in cute things than balls, it seems. He is very much a typical boy, whereas his dad was more of a teddy bear carrying quiet child.
The Pooh ball was his second. We bought him a larger blue ball which he already loved playing with. But Pooh was the first ball that was Baby-Sized! It fits perfect in his hands! So, it is little surprise that "bawl" would be his first word. He loves bouncing the ball on the floor and giggles and laughs excitedly each time it bounces. He also started copying me by holding the ball and tossing it up in the air and catching it! He can't throw it high (though he can throw pretty far) but he is able to catch it, which seems pretty impressive given that he is only 13 months old.
On Friday, I took him out into the front yard while Mommy was cleaning her car. That's when Baby Wright spotted a football across the street on the neighbor's lawn. "Bawl, bawl!" he said pointing. (Did I mention he can spot something he can't have from very very far away?) Immediately, he started running towards the road to cross the street and get the ball.I grabbed him and he started crying. He wanted the bawl!
I tried to distract him by bringing him inside and letting him see a new ball, my adult-sized regulation Official NBA basketball. He picked it up and started running around with it. He even threw and caught it a few times, which is very impressive given how heavy the ball is! Of course, he hadn't forgotten about the ball across the street. He started smacking the front door to try and open it, while crying out, "bawl? bawl?"
I actually considered going to my neighbor's house and asking him if he would bring his ball in so my kid doesn't see it, then taking Baby Wright outside and let him see that it was gone. My wife said I would sound pretty stupid doing that, though, so I didn't. Eventually, Baby Amnesia set in and he forgot it.
For now.
While I have no goals for my son other than being the Cutest Baby Ever and successful at whatever he does, I do find it kinda' neat that he has shown such dexterity with the ball. We play catch with Mommy almost every night with one of the balls, tossing it across the room or to each other. He loves retrieving it, though sometimes he will try to run past us (especially when he was the Nerf football - I'm telling you, he has Barry Sanders-like instincts, immediately knowing how to hold a football!).
He also has a small plastic yellow ball (which fits in his hand like a baby-sized hard plastic baseball) which he tosses around. He actually brings his arm back before throwing it and gets some good distance (for a baby, anyway). Of course, he has also put these skills to use during dinner time by throwing his Cheerios container at Mommy (which he also gets pretty good distance on).
The only odd thing I noticed is that he seems to use his left hand exclusively when throwing the ball. Perhaps he will be left handed. While I prefer basketball over baseball, I imagine being a left handed pitcher might be a cool deal.
I'm also thrilled that he has picked up an interest in music. He loves music, dances when it is on, and attempts to play on a toy he has. I bought him another musical piano toy tonight, which plays several tunes, lights up, and counts. He LOVED IT! HE was bopping up and and down, then started marching back and forth to the music! Yes, marching! Must be something he picked up at daycare?
Ok, I'm sure you all (except my family and some friends and maybe mothers who read this) are sick of hearing about Baby Wright by now. To all the single men in my readership, please accept my apologies for all the cute stuff. But it coulda' been worse. I could have posted stories about my cats.
Oh yeah, a new Todd and Penguin went up last night.Labels: baby stuff, cats |
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| Baby's first *&#!@ Easter |
When you have a baby, you’re obligated to photograph and/or video record every FIRST. The first time your baby eats, first holidays, first birthdays, first poo (I'm sure SOMEONE takes a picture of that!) etc… This weekend Baby Wright got to experience his first Easter. Cameras and videocameras were at the ready. My wife bought him an Easter basket and filled it with some non-candy items including a set of Winnie the Pooh pacifiers (big with the raver set), a Winnie the Pooh ball and a stuffed bunny toy. Given his love for the Giant Blue Ball that mommy got him a few weeks ago, which he walks around the house lifting over his head like a giant globe, you can guess which item he went straight forward. His eyes lit up and a huge grin spread across his face as he grabbed the ball. And my wife was catching every moment for digital posterity as I attempted to get a good photo. Pictures and video which will forever be reminders of Baby's first Easter.
Of course, taking a picture of a baby is easier said than done. Sure, they’ll pose, making the cutest or funniest faces you’ve ever seen. Faces that would make GREAT pictures… if the sound of a camera snapping a pic didn't cause their eyes to squeeze shut and their faces to contort like zombies.
So, after I got everything situated just right, for the all important Official Easter Shot, the psychotic cats decide to walk by, as if to say, "LOOK AT OUR GLORIOUS ASSES, MARVEL AT THEM, PHOTOGRAPH THEM FOR POSTERITY! HERE, LET'S SHOVE THEM IN FRONT OF THE BABY!" Frustrated, I did what I always do when I get annoyed. I vented.
“F’ing cats!” I said. Of course, I didn’t say “F” but the actual word, which is now forever digitized in the form of Baby Wright’s First Easter Video! My wife was NOT happy. She gave me that look she gives when I do something she cannot possibly comprehend I just did. As if to ask herself, WHO DID I MARRY?!
I mimed a quick, ‘I’m sorry’ and couldn’t help but laugh a bit. I couldn’t believe I screwed up the Easter video. Me laughing was not the right response, of course, which only made me laugh harder.
I managed to stifled the laughter long enough to set up for a shot, when Psycho Orange Cat decided to start a fight with the other Psycho Cat. “F’ing cat!” I said, AGAIN. Woops.
Oh well, at least the kid will have a nice REAL memory of Easter and not some sanitized, washed down version. He'll also have a video to see what daddy looked like before mommy beat him about the head with a video camera.Labels: baby stuff, clueless dad |
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| The phone |
A new Todd and Penguin today. If you're wondering what commercial Penguin is talking about, you can check it out here. Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I could draw a Taking Up Space comic, which is a shame, because I spent several hours on Friday plotting the future of that comic. I was really psyched to get to it, but Todd and Penguin comes first, so long as it has the most readers. If you missed the most recent TUS, it touched on a rather popular (ie, overdone) news topic. Sorry that I missed TWO updates last week. Balancing work and family life has been difficult of late. I know it's a sucky thing to keep telling people hey, 'sorry I couldn't update.' Sucky and unprofessional. But right now Baby Wright is going through his Needy Stage and is much more demanding of our time than he has been in the past. Balancing the comic and home life is difficult when you aren't doing this professionally. Particularly when people expect professionalism from you. And I am a workaholic who always tries to bring professionalism to everything I do, however, when this is not the job that pays the bills, it's got to be the first thing set aside when obligations come up. My goal is to have this be my main career, then I can afford to devote the proper amount of time to do it 7 days a week. I'm not complaining about family time, though. I enjoy watching Baby Wright learn new things. On Valentines Day he stood up by himself for the first time. Now (at 11 months old) he is starting to walk around the house! He started with a few steps at a time, then he would fall back on his but. Within a week or so, he began taking 4, then 8 steps. Now, he is taking as many as 20 steps before falling down. However, he is determined, and pops right back up! Crawling is still his preferred method of travel, though, if he is in a hurry. Sometimes, he will start to stand, then decide instead to do a crab crawl, with his hands outstretched and his but in the air. It's a funny site. Most funny though, is something which began last weekend. My dad called and I handed the phone to Baby Wright to see his reaction. He smiled, seemingly recognizing grandpa's voice. He didn't talk back or anything, he just kinda' looked at the phone. Then when I hung up, he wanted the phone back. I handed it to him, and he lifted it to the side of his face (though it was upside down) and he began talking into it! Well, blabbing, as he doesn't speak words yet. My wife and I were laughing so hard. And of course, he smiled. He knows when he's made you laugh, and will try to repeat whatever he did. I realized he was a little comedian when he was about 6 months old or so and my wife and I were shopping and he was in his car seat inside the shopping cart. He made a weird face which we'd never seen before and my wife started cracking up. He immediately did it again and again. Eventually, I took the phone away so he wouldn't poke himself with the antenna stub (or call China). Then he picked up his remote (we gave him his own remote - without batteries- so he can be like daddy) and he put the remote up to his face like it was a phone and began talking into it! Then, during the week, he would simply hold his hand up to his face pretending he had a phone (or a remote!) and say "bab babababa." Here's a pic. And before anyone thinks I let my son walk around like Mr. McMessyFace, I don't. His face and clothes are not usually that messy. I swear, your honor! He'd just finished eating when my dad called and it was close to bath time. However, he IS normally holding a sock, or some other item. He likes to walk around while holding two items (one in each hand) whenever possible. Socks are a favorite for either hands or mouth. Give him two socks and he'll be content for an hour.  Labels: baby stuff, taking up space, todd and penguin |
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| NO! |
Raising your first child, there are many 'firsts' you look forward to. Their first awareness of you, their first real smile, their first gurgling noises, first attempts at words, first time they turn over, crawl, stand, walk, and others I can only imagine at this early stage.
Then there are firsts you don't look forward to.
For the first time since I became a dad I had to use discipline.
Baby Wright is 10 months old and though I have no knowledge of other kids at this age, people say he is a good boy. Of course, I can't imagine a child not being good this young. I would think acting out would not come until later, either as they test their freedom or as a parent, you start screwing up. We've not reached either point, (I don't think).
However, while playing today, Baby smacked me in the face - repeatedly. I laughed it off at first because a) he had this big goofy grin on his face as he clumsily struck me and b) I knew he was probably playing some form of the "got your nose" or the "bonk your nose" game he plays with my mother-in-law. (mental note: tell Nana no more bonking faces games).
I'm sure he thinks he is playing, having fun and interacting with me. After he hit me, he was watching me with a smile on his face and wide, trusting eyes. Part of me wondered if he was in fact testing me, or simply watching my reaction because so much of what we do is a cause and effect relationship, where he will do something and I will make a goofy face or noise or somehow react to what he does. His intent was probably innocent, but I couldn't help but wonder if this is the point where he begins to test boundaries?
My wife said, "tell him 'no'"
So, I said, "no" in a deeper than normal dad voice, but not in any way as terrifying as I can be, say, when yelling at a certain giant runaway dog to stop running as I chase him through my neighborhood.
"No."
He did it again. I repeated "No" and he saw I was serious.
Instantly, my son's face changed.
His happy, playful countenance was replaced with a look of confusion. His eyes wide, looking unbelievably at me, and starting to water. Then his lower lip trembled, he turned downward as if ashamed, and began to cry. I tried to hug him but he wanted mommy.
It broke my heart.
Especially since I know he didn't mean to "hit" me.
So, this is what it feels like to be the "bad guy" the "wait 'til your father gets home" guy. I must say, it sucks. At the same time, I know it had to be done, because we don't want him to hit others (even if his intent is to play) so we had to say "no".
My wife saw how shaken up I was and said I'm going to be a pushover. She has far more experience dealing with kids, and I'm sure she will know all the right things to do. Me, on the other hand, who knows? I'd like to think I know the right things to do. I am pretty strict in my mindset of what can and can't be done. But I also fancy myself as pretty open minded and laid back, someone who would be a cool dad. However, any number of cool dads have jerky kids who grow up to disrespect not only cool dad but any authority and life in general.
God, to think that everything I do now, good or bad, could affect him his whole life -- that's a lot to live up to.
When people find out I have a baby or run into us while we're out, if they are parents, nearly every one of them says the same thing -- they grow up so fast and they break your heart.
I never really thought much about it. I figure, once my son (and any other kids I have) grow up and become independent, I'll just have more time to go back to pursuing my artistic endeavors. But in recent weeks, as he is growing and able to do more things with me, such as play hide and seek as I crawl around and chase him, I am starting to see how much I will miss these things once they pass.
A part of me is sad that the all-trusting bond between my son and I was broken for the first time. I imagine it only gets harder the more you have to say "no".Labels: baby stuff, discipline |
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| It's all car seats and baby gates |
Random thoughts...
on poisonous products:
When the hell did EVERY baby product become deadly? I've been told I'm an overprotective father, and just when I start to take some advice and just relax, the news cycle is full of stories of deadly toxins in common baby products out to destroy babies.
on car seats:
Speaking of babies, I had to install a car seat this weekend, since Baby Wright (at nine months) has already outgrown his first seat. Kid is tall! Must be all those toxins.
I'm not sure who installed the first car seat, my wife must've found some guy more mechanically inclined than myself, which could've been Richard Simmons for all I know. So, I set out to install this monstrosity (sucker is big) into the car, figuring it can't be THAT difficult.
Then I read the instruction manual.
I like to think I'm a fairly intelligent guy. My job as a reporter oftentimes immerses me into complex issues that I have little experience or knowledge of, which I have to quickly get up to speed on in order to explain the issues to readers. If I had to write a story on how to install a car seat, I don't think I could. Not unless it's a photo essay of me jumping up and down on the thing while cursing.
I'm not sure WHO the instruction manual is written for (guys with engineering degrees? rocket scientists? ) but it certainly didn't make any sense to me.
Oh, I tried to figure it out. I even managed to get some straps connected to The Anchors. However, the car seat was still pretty loose. I considered just grabbing some duct tape and bungie cords, but since it's The Baby, I actually have to Do Things The Right Way. I can usually figure things like this out by looking at them for a while. When that invariably fails, I look for someone who actually Knows What They're Doing.
Luckily, my boss was working on the weekend, and I was able to ask him for assistance. Having installed many a car seats, he was able to do this one with relative ease. He certainly didn't refer to the thing as a Mother F-word-er... Seventeen times.
This weekend I have another Baby Project. I have to install a baby fence/gate in the house to keep him from going into the kitchen and eating either the cats' food or poop from their litter box.
Man, I remember a time when I could actually do what I wanted on the weekend! I could draw comics, relax, watch some TV. Not anymore though... Somehow, my time has ceased to be my own.
Let this serve as a lesson to all you people out there (teens and adults alike) not to have sex. Remember, sex leads to car seats and baby gates.
I say if some of these morality police-types want to stop unmarried people from having sex, they ought to just create a public service announcement with some miserable guy trying to to put baby stuff together. Underneath, could be some text, reading, "Remember when you were able to watch the game? Parenthood - it's all car seats and baby fences."
I could almost see the lines forming for vasectomies.Labels: baby stuff, baby stuff. clueless dad |
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Name: Blogger Dad
Home: Florida, United States
About Me: I was a reporter at a Florida newspaper, where I covered city politics and draw editorial comics. Now, I'm a Blogger Dad (click the link for my webpage - the blog on the bottom is for Todd and Penguin) in search of a job and attempting to write a book or four.
I'm also a cartoonist, how most of you know me, who draws Todd and Penguin, Taking Up Space and the occasional other titles, featured on KeenSpot.com.
I'm married (sorry, all you ladies interested in overweight guys who spend too much time drawing) and have a one year old son and two cats. Three of the above mentioned poop way too much!
See my profile...
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