When I was twelve, I rented Star Wars on VHS from the public library. It wasn't called Episode IV then, and I had never heard the words "A New Hope" like that before. But I remember seeing commercials for the 1995 remastered editions, and I wanted to check it out.
In retrospect, I think the most familiarity I had with Star Wars was from Muppet Babies. If you've never watched Muppet Babies, it's an animated take on the bit from The Muppets Take Manhattan when all the Muppets are shown as babies growing up in the same nursery. They go on imaginative adventures, and because it was a Jim Henson-George Lucas-Steven Spielberg creation, they tended to use movie clips from Lucasfilm properties. This is probably why the show has never been on DVD. My point though is that watching Star Wars for the first time contained an element of recognition, thanks to the Muppet Babies. I remember this most strongly the first time that the Millennium Falcon is on screen, thinking "oh, that's what that is." The only justification for this remembrance I think are the clips used in the Muppet Babies.
That sense of recognition pervaded my first time watching the movies, at least Star Wars. I somehow knew Darth Vader, and lightsabers, and Princess Leia's hairstyle without ever having seen the movies. I think this speaks to George Lucas' great collection of cultural detritus into one distilled version of Joseph Campbell's monomyth. From the start though, I was hooked.
Star Wars turned me into a nerd. I'd seen the odd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I was dimly aware of things like Dungeons and Dragons. My interest in video games goes back to about 1987, when my dad and I went to Sears(!) to buy an NES. However, I'd never encountered anything like Star Wars before. This was an entire universe that I immediately had to know more about. I was already drawing connections to other stories using Star Wars as a frame. My friend was heavily into playing Final Fantasy VI on the Super NES, and as he described the story, I remember fitting it into a Star Wars allegory in my head already.
I watched the next two movies on an old VHS tape recorded from television that my dad made, and was transfixed. The reveal that Darth Vader was Luke's father was information I picked up somewhere, but Yoda's announcement that "there is another" hit me hard. When I found out it was Leia, I was genuinely surprised.
This universe was where I wanted to be. I read technical manuals, novels, skipped studying for midterm exams because I was playing X-Wing on our 486 PC. It was the first time that an entire fantasy universe really hit me, and I could not consume enough Star Wars.
Over time, I'd show similar interest in Star Trek, and later Lord of the Rings, but Lucas was my gateway drug into world building and modern mythology. I remember having a countdown on my digital watch to Episode I, and having an embarrassing amount of giant plastic cups from Taco Bell. Star Wars got me interested in subcultures, and even though it's a more complicated love than it used to be, I'll still be in the theater on Thursday night for Episode VII.
The Parenting Adventures of Raptor-Dad and Raptor-Son
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Thursday, December 10, 2015
November Madness
So it's been a while since I've updated, not because of a lack of things happening but a deluge. Somehow, events always seem to pile up in November at school, although I'm not sure why that would be. In a three week period, I've been in charge of Haunted Ghost Tours on Halloween night, our annual fall formal dance, the Induction Ceremony for our chapter of the National Honor Society, endured Parent-Teacher Conference night, taken a group of students to Louisville to hear Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) speak, taken 32 students on a three-day overnight mock state government simulation, and somehow kept up teaching in my spare time. Not that I don't enjoy those activities, but the fact that they all cluster together to form the Voltron of Scheduling makes November hard.
Couple these professional problems with the issue of Raptor-Son's chronic ear infections. That's not really accurate; he hasn't had a series of them, just one continuous ear infection since September. He never really seemed to mind, except when you laid him on his back. Other than that, there wasn't really an indication there was anything wrong. He never lost his appetite, his sleep schedule was not noticeably changed, and he only rarely pulled on his ears. But every time we took him to the doctor, his ears were still infected. We went through four rounds of antibiotics: amoxicillin, augmentin, and one more oral antibiotic. After that was a series of three injections given over the course of a week, and nothing seemed to work. It was actually really eerie, like a glimpse into the past without any antibiotics, or more likely the future when all diseases have become resistant to the antibiotics in use. Given that no new commercial antibiotics have been developed in the last thirty years, the next few decades could be devastating.
For us anyway, finally the doctors recommended tubes for his ears. These tiny tubes were inserted into his ear cavity, and all the section to drain properly. In 95% of kids, this eliminates ear infections because it prevents fluid buildup. It's a very minor surgery that for us only took a literal 13 minutes between dropping him off at the anesthesiologist and picking him up again in recovery. He was pretty groggy, but within ten minutes was his normal bouncy self. He didn't nap the rest of that day, but that's not terribly out of the ordinary.
So that's been our Novemeber: busy at school, busy at home. Thanksgiving was great, we took him on the Cincinnati Turkey Trot 10k, where he rode on Raptor-Mom's back the whole time. He ate a lot at his grandmother's house, then he ate a lot at his other grandmother's house, then we took him home and he passed out. He slept for a while, woke up, fussed, barfed, pooped, and then passed out again. All told, he probably had the most American Thanksgiving ever.
Couple these professional problems with the issue of Raptor-Son's chronic ear infections. That's not really accurate; he hasn't had a series of them, just one continuous ear infection since September. He never really seemed to mind, except when you laid him on his back. Other than that, there wasn't really an indication there was anything wrong. He never lost his appetite, his sleep schedule was not noticeably changed, and he only rarely pulled on his ears. But every time we took him to the doctor, his ears were still infected. We went through four rounds of antibiotics: amoxicillin, augmentin, and one more oral antibiotic. After that was a series of three injections given over the course of a week, and nothing seemed to work. It was actually really eerie, like a glimpse into the past without any antibiotics, or more likely the future when all diseases have become resistant to the antibiotics in use. Given that no new commercial antibiotics have been developed in the last thirty years, the next few decades could be devastating.
For us anyway, finally the doctors recommended tubes for his ears. These tiny tubes were inserted into his ear cavity, and all the section to drain properly. In 95% of kids, this eliminates ear infections because it prevents fluid buildup. It's a very minor surgery that for us only took a literal 13 minutes between dropping him off at the anesthesiologist and picking him up again in recovery. He was pretty groggy, but within ten minutes was his normal bouncy self. He didn't nap the rest of that day, but that's not terribly out of the ordinary.
So that's been our Novemeber: busy at school, busy at home. Thanksgiving was great, we took him on the Cincinnati Turkey Trot 10k, where he rode on Raptor-Mom's back the whole time. He ate a lot at his grandmother's house, then he ate a lot at his other grandmother's house, then we took him home and he passed out. He slept for a while, woke up, fussed, barfed, pooped, and then passed out again. All told, he probably had the most American Thanksgiving ever.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Go Ask A.L.I.C.E.
The other day at school we did A.L.I.C.E. training. If you don't know what that stands for, you're either not a teacher, or you live in a civilized country. ALICE stands for:
- Alert
- Lockdown
- Inform
- Counter
- Evacuation
These are the steps you are instructed to go through if your school has an active shooter inside. The presentation was handled by a very nice county police officer, who did very well at his horrible job. His job is to train teachers what to do in the event one of their students decides to kill his (or her, I guess, but it's so much more likely to be his) classmates.
It's a frustrating day, not the least because it forces you to consider which of your students might be potential shooters, and if you've mistaken the quiet bookish kid for a depressed killer. It's frustrating to think of how our time might be spent not learning how to evade gunfire but how to more effectively engage students in critical thinking, or analyze the role of technology in their lives. Instead, we learn the best ways to evacuate a building in case of an active shooter; how to barricade the classroom door so a shooter can't easily enter; what objects in the classroom may be thrown at a shooter, and how to disrupt the aim of a student leveling his legally-purchased assault rifle at you. Every moment spent preparing for violence is a moment of learning lost.
It's frustrating because no other country in the developed world requires this. No other country allows its children to be gunned down in the name of freedom, a freedom fought for by the companies who sell it. Other industrialized countries fear guns as tools for violence; America fetishizes them. Nothing makes me want to emigrate more than the thought of the 14,000+ deaths by gun every year. I hate that it's hard to feel safe in my own country, when Japanese society went ballistic when total annual gun deaths reached 22.
I don't have a solution to a country in which there is statistically one gun for every person. I don't believe guns are necessary to protect freedom (Tunisia had the lowest gun ownership rate in the world and successfully ousted their actual dictator in 2011.) I don't believe that your right to have a hobby should be more important than the right of kindergarteners to be alive. I don't believe that violence would disappear without guns, but I do believe that I'd rather have a guy running at me with a knife than a gun.
For now, I guess I'll just take a class on how to throw textbooks at one of my students if he turns violent.
It's frustrating because no other country in the developed world requires this. No other country allows its children to be gunned down in the name of freedom, a freedom fought for by the companies who sell it. Other industrialized countries fear guns as tools for violence; America fetishizes them. Nothing makes me want to emigrate more than the thought of the 14,000+ deaths by gun every year. I hate that it's hard to feel safe in my own country, when Japanese society went ballistic when total annual gun deaths reached 22.
I don't have a solution to a country in which there is statistically one gun for every person. I don't believe guns are necessary to protect freedom (Tunisia had the lowest gun ownership rate in the world and successfully ousted their actual dictator in 2011.) I don't believe that your right to have a hobby should be more important than the right of kindergarteners to be alive. I don't believe that violence would disappear without guns, but I do believe that I'd rather have a guy running at me with a knife than a gun.
For now, I guess I'll just take a class on how to throw textbooks at one of my students if he turns violent.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Down with the Sickness
We blew past the six-month half-birthday celebration with nary a mention, mostly due to the chaos that being six months old seems to bring. Raptor-Son is sitting up on his own now, and can roll backward and forward. He has just started to eat solid foods, and once fell asleep on his own. With all of these new abilities has come the loss of sleeping through the night, but given that he's so much more alert and attentive now, it's an okay trade off.
With the change of seasons has come our first illness though. I think we did pretty good, he's been in daycare for six weeks without a problem. I attribute this to the fact that he's around two teachers all day long, and both of us probably carry every antibody known at this point. However, the Daycare Bug got him at some point in late September, and he woke up covered in his own mucus, which is a big change from his normal procedure of waking up covered in his own saliva. He also got a nasty cough which I thought might be croup. It sounded awful, although it never seemed to bother him.
He picked up the cough on a Saturday, and was scheduled to go in for his normal check up on Monday anyway, so we waited it out. By Monday, it was already better, but I was glad we were taking him in. A pediatrician I didn't know checked him out, pronounced him Awesome, and let us know he had a minor ear infection. I'm mostly curious how people are supposed to know their babies have ear infections; Raptor-Son never did any of the outward signs, like messing with his ear or being fussy in general. He never raised a temperature above 99.4, and appeared pretty much healthy. At any rate, she prescribed a jar of Amoxicillin and off we went.
The process of giving him that was terrible too, but has gotten much better. He mostly dribbles it out of his mouth, so I think when they prescribe 5 ml, they are planning on 4 of it running down his chin. He's much better now; that was 8 days ago. Now he likes to sit in his playpen, mess with his toys while sitting up, and chew on his fingers to help the tiny tooth coming in on his lower gums. It's a full day.
With the change of seasons has come our first illness though. I think we did pretty good, he's been in daycare for six weeks without a problem. I attribute this to the fact that he's around two teachers all day long, and both of us probably carry every antibody known at this point. However, the Daycare Bug got him at some point in late September, and he woke up covered in his own mucus, which is a big change from his normal procedure of waking up covered in his own saliva. He also got a nasty cough which I thought might be croup. It sounded awful, although it never seemed to bother him.
He picked up the cough on a Saturday, and was scheduled to go in for his normal check up on Monday anyway, so we waited it out. By Monday, it was already better, but I was glad we were taking him in. A pediatrician I didn't know checked him out, pronounced him Awesome, and let us know he had a minor ear infection. I'm mostly curious how people are supposed to know their babies have ear infections; Raptor-Son never did any of the outward signs, like messing with his ear or being fussy in general. He never raised a temperature above 99.4, and appeared pretty much healthy. At any rate, she prescribed a jar of Amoxicillin and off we went.
The process of giving him that was terrible too, but has gotten much better. He mostly dribbles it out of his mouth, so I think when they prescribe 5 ml, they are planning on 4 of it running down his chin. He's much better now; that was 8 days ago. Now he likes to sit in his playpen, mess with his toys while sitting up, and chew on his fingers to help the tiny tooth coming in on his lower gums. It's a full day.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Letters from the Frontlines
It's been three days since Raptor-Son decided that his crib was for chumps. Since Saturday, he has come to the conclusion that only nerds sleep through the night, and has thus stopped. He was doing well in general, and we had stopped swaddling him a few days before. We switched instead to a (sigh) Zipadee-Zip, because he was too long for his sleep sacks. It's super cute, and he mostly likes it because he can't get his arms out and hit himself in the face. This was the key obstacle to his slumber when outside his sleep sack, so we figured it was the perfect solution.
And for two days, it was. He slept all the way through the night, just long enough to lull us into a false sense of security. Then, Sunday night, he would have none of that. Now, he nurses to sleep, then we put him in his crib. This was the standard procedure before, and he seemed happy. He'd wake up about 6-7 hours later, well-rested and hungry.
Now though, he sleeps about 30-45 minutes. Then, he grunts himself awake, and fusses until we get him. Or he'll roll over to his belly, crawl up to the side of his crib, and hit his head on the bars. Either way, crying ensues until he is retrieved, cuddled, and fed. Then the cycle begins anew. His desire for constant love and attention would be charming if it wasn't 2 A.M., and in its third day.
Raptor-Mom has the worst of it, since she's the food source. I try to change diapers as needed, but obviously feeding him is out of my wheelhouse. It's much harder on her, especially with being a full-time teacher as well. She's doing an amazing job of it though, and deserves as much credit and praise for his general wonderfulness as I can give.
And for two days, it was. He slept all the way through the night, just long enough to lull us into a false sense of security. Then, Sunday night, he would have none of that. Now, he nurses to sleep, then we put him in his crib. This was the standard procedure before, and he seemed happy. He'd wake up about 6-7 hours later, well-rested and hungry.
Now though, he sleeps about 30-45 minutes. Then, he grunts himself awake, and fusses until we get him. Or he'll roll over to his belly, crawl up to the side of his crib, and hit his head on the bars. Either way, crying ensues until he is retrieved, cuddled, and fed. Then the cycle begins anew. His desire for constant love and attention would be charming if it wasn't 2 A.M., and in its third day.
Raptor-Mom has the worst of it, since she's the food source. I try to change diapers as needed, but obviously feeding him is out of my wheelhouse. It's much harder on her, especially with being a full-time teacher as well. She's doing an amazing job of it though, and deserves as much credit and praise for his general wonderfulness as I can give.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
The First Day of School
This week was our first week at school. We're both teachers so we got to spend the summer playing with Raptor-Son, but now it's back to work. It was also my least productive summer ever; I usually try to work on planning new things for next school year, but this year I've barely started, even though I've got an entirely new class. Woooooooo!
The system is that I drop the Wee Man off in the mornings around 7, and then Raptor-Mom picks up around 3, for a total of 8 hours. I used to go into work about 6:15, so I miss my morning preparation period, but this is working out well so far. He also seems to like it; every day when I drop him off, he smiles really big when he sees his teacher, and holds his arms out, so I think he's happy there. On Monday he was crying when he got picked up, but hopefully that's just an adjustment thing, because ever since then he's been either playing or sleeping when we get him.
We track his progress on an app called Tadpoles, which gives us (literally) up-to-the-minute reports on his diaper activities, sleeping, eating, and playing. It's the ultimate form of 21st-century parenting, and one more thing to obsessively check during the day whenever I have a free minute between classes.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad to be back to work. This summer was a great time, and I'll have a bigger post about traveling with an infant in the next few weeks, but I like the structure of the school year better. It helps that I feel very much at home where I work currently, and I'm almost always excited to teach. Teaching is usually pitched as an ideal job for parents, but in reality I think it's very much the opposite. Yes, the summer was great, but the hours are essentially infinite during the school year: there's always something more I could be doing, planning, grading, revising, etc. It's work that very much follows you home at night, instead of staying safely at the office. Also the pay is terrible, and sometimes presidential candidates want to eliminate teacher lounges to keep you from complaining.
I'm still glad to be back, and glad we got to have a long summer with our new little guy.
5-Month Eyebrow Update: still nothing.
The system is that I drop the Wee Man off in the mornings around 7, and then Raptor-Mom picks up around 3, for a total of 8 hours. I used to go into work about 6:15, so I miss my morning preparation period, but this is working out well so far. He also seems to like it; every day when I drop him off, he smiles really big when he sees his teacher, and holds his arms out, so I think he's happy there. On Monday he was crying when he got picked up, but hopefully that's just an adjustment thing, because ever since then he's been either playing or sleeping when we get him.
We track his progress on an app called Tadpoles, which gives us (literally) up-to-the-minute reports on his diaper activities, sleeping, eating, and playing. It's the ultimate form of 21st-century parenting, and one more thing to obsessively check during the day whenever I have a free minute between classes.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad to be back to work. This summer was a great time, and I'll have a bigger post about traveling with an infant in the next few weeks, but I like the structure of the school year better. It helps that I feel very much at home where I work currently, and I'm almost always excited to teach. Teaching is usually pitched as an ideal job for parents, but in reality I think it's very much the opposite. Yes, the summer was great, but the hours are essentially infinite during the school year: there's always something more I could be doing, planning, grading, revising, etc. It's work that very much follows you home at night, instead of staying safely at the office. Also the pay is terrible, and sometimes presidential candidates want to eliminate teacher lounges to keep you from complaining.
I'm still glad to be back, and glad we got to have a long summer with our new little guy.
5-Month Eyebrow Update: still nothing.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
4 Month Check-In
Originally this was going to be a larger post about traveling with an infant, but that will have to wait. Consider this a teaser for that post then.
We just passed our four-month mark, a time that usually is a major sleep regression. Raptor-Son for the last week or so though has been knocking out 7 hour stretches. He wakes up hungry, then passes out for another couple hours until about 7:30 most mornings. He'll spend an hour or so awake, then take another nap, at which point his cycle repeats.
He's getting more playful too, and has begun to use his sense of taste analytically. Combined with his new ability to grab, this means any object in reach is about to become very damp. Sophie, his teething giraffe, is currently his favorite. He can grab her in lots of places, and she's very chew-able. He's recently started snatching glasses off people (me) and pulling beards (mine.) New tricks!
His Four Month Checkup went fine, he's still enormous. 89% for weight, 95% for height, and he's moved into 6-9 Month clothing. The shots went okay, he still hates being put down on the table, so as soon as we picked him up after the shots he stopped crying. He's a trooper.
We just passed our four-month mark, a time that usually is a major sleep regression. Raptor-Son for the last week or so though has been knocking out 7 hour stretches. He wakes up hungry, then passes out for another couple hours until about 7:30 most mornings. He'll spend an hour or so awake, then take another nap, at which point his cycle repeats.
He's getting more playful too, and has begun to use his sense of taste analytically. Combined with his new ability to grab, this means any object in reach is about to become very damp. Sophie, his teething giraffe, is currently his favorite. He can grab her in lots of places, and she's very chew-able. He's recently started snatching glasses off people (me) and pulling beards (mine.) New tricks!
His Four Month Checkup went fine, he's still enormous. 89% for weight, 95% for height, and he's moved into 6-9 Month clothing. The shots went okay, he still hates being put down on the table, so as soon as we picked him up after the shots he stopped crying. He's a trooper.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
6 Simple Games to Play with Infants
Since he won't be eligible for a Pokemon Trainer License until 2025, Raptor-Son and I are working on a good curriculum of games that he can play. At four months, your options are relatively limited, but I thought I would share some of the games he seems to like the most. I'm reasonably sure these are developmentally appropriate and safe to play. Raptor-Son hasn't complained yet.
1. The Bouncer
Raptor-Son has a complicated relationship with his bouncer seat. He'll sit in it for about ten minutes with a resigned look on his face, and then slowly start to break down until we rescue him. He begins with some standards grunts, moves on to a little yelling, and then starts crying with his lower lip out if no one has saved him from its polyester clutches. However, if you bounce and play with him in there, he's much happier. He loves it if you bounce him, and then as he's coming back up, you get your face in real close to his and smile in a giant way. He also likes it if you play with his feet and in general distract him from the fact that he's in his bouncer at all.
2. Making Faces
Classic. He's at the age where he has started to like people making faces at him, and although he hasn't started to imitate them yet, it's still fun to watch his goofy open-mouth smile. Any funny face is good, and he particularly likes if you shake your head and let your tongue roll around. Ideally, you also start about eight inches away, and then rapidly move your face in toward his. This is how we got him to giggle for his first time.
3. Tickling
Another classic. I don't think he's strictly speaking ticklish yet, but he nonetheless likes it when you tickle on his chest and arms. For maximum effect, combine with Faces and The Bouncer.
4. Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Plums
So this is a thing I never thought was weird, but it turns out only my family does it. Raptor-Son is a huge fan of it, so please steal it if it works for you. Put the baby on his back, and hold one foot in each of your hands. The basic idea is to touch his feet together three times, each time bringing them closer to his nose. On each almost-touch, you say "Peaches," until the fourth one when you say "Plums!" and then bring his feet back down. I don't know why those fruits, and not "One, Two, Three, Four" or something, but there we are. He loves this one.
5. Tuck In
This one I discovered on my own when I needed to make the bed while keeping track of him. It requires some supervision, but he likes it a lot. Prop your pillows up at the top of the bed, and then place him sitting up in between them. Then I pull the sheet up, then the quilt. Then I go to the bottom of the bed, and take the bottom of the quilt, and bring it up and then down quickly to make a wave. The wave will blow air on him, and he giggles and laughs. This lets you entertain him, but also make the bed.
6. Baby Elevator
I debated including this one, because it's more of a fun thing for me and less for him. I just hold his torso, and lift him up over my head. It's a good workout for me if you do some repetitions, although it seems more like he tolerates it, rather than having fun. He always stops crying, and looks around. He also planks his legs out usually, so it's good Tummy Time exercise for him too.
Hopefully these will keep your own infant's fussing to a minimum!
1. The Bouncer
Raptor-Son has a complicated relationship with his bouncer seat. He'll sit in it for about ten minutes with a resigned look on his face, and then slowly start to break down until we rescue him. He begins with some standards grunts, moves on to a little yelling, and then starts crying with his lower lip out if no one has saved him from its polyester clutches. However, if you bounce and play with him in there, he's much happier. He loves it if you bounce him, and then as he's coming back up, you get your face in real close to his and smile in a giant way. He also likes it if you play with his feet and in general distract him from the fact that he's in his bouncer at all.
2. Making Faces
Classic. He's at the age where he has started to like people making faces at him, and although he hasn't started to imitate them yet, it's still fun to watch his goofy open-mouth smile. Any funny face is good, and he particularly likes if you shake your head and let your tongue roll around. Ideally, you also start about eight inches away, and then rapidly move your face in toward his. This is how we got him to giggle for his first time.
3. Tickling
Another classic. I don't think he's strictly speaking ticklish yet, but he nonetheless likes it when you tickle on his chest and arms. For maximum effect, combine with Faces and The Bouncer.
4. Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Plums
So this is a thing I never thought was weird, but it turns out only my family does it. Raptor-Son is a huge fan of it, so please steal it if it works for you. Put the baby on his back, and hold one foot in each of your hands. The basic idea is to touch his feet together three times, each time bringing them closer to his nose. On each almost-touch, you say "Peaches," until the fourth one when you say "Plums!" and then bring his feet back down. I don't know why those fruits, and not "One, Two, Three, Four" or something, but there we are. He loves this one.
5. Tuck In
This one I discovered on my own when I needed to make the bed while keeping track of him. It requires some supervision, but he likes it a lot. Prop your pillows up at the top of the bed, and then place him sitting up in between them. Then I pull the sheet up, then the quilt. Then I go to the bottom of the bed, and take the bottom of the quilt, and bring it up and then down quickly to make a wave. The wave will blow air on him, and he giggles and laughs. This lets you entertain him, but also make the bed.
6. Baby Elevator
I debated including this one, because it's more of a fun thing for me and less for him. I just hold his torso, and lift him up over my head. It's a good workout for me if you do some repetitions, although it seems more like he tolerates it, rather than having fun. He always stops crying, and looks around. He also planks his legs out usually, so it's good Tummy Time exercise for him too.
Hopefully these will keep your own infant's fussing to a minimum!
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
The Contrabulous BS Detector of Professor Carl Sagan
I recently ran across this article linked somewhere, and I thought it was interesting. It's something I've tried to do for years in the classroom, and I'm looking forward to (hopefully) raising a strong critical thinker at home. The main thrust of the article is to talk to your child and ask questions, which seems pretty straightforward. Hopefully Raptor-Son will be able to wade through the BS that will be everywhere in his life.
On the home front, I'm pretty sure we're just starting the Fourth Month Sleep Regression, given that he hasn't really slept in two days. Where he was reliable hitting 6-7 hours a night for a while now, last night he fussed from 8-10 pm in his bassinet, then I took him downstairs and rocked him for an hour so Raptor-Mom could sleep. He woke up at 12am, 2am, 4am, and 6am, lying on his back with his feet in the air grunting like he used to do. I've been doing a little reading on it, and it seems pretty universally terrible to experience, but a necessary milestone for development, so I'm glad he's on track.
We also got a deep freeze for the 365 ounces of stored milk that we are keeping, an amount that only increases during the summer. This means I got the freezer back for kitchen use, so I spent most of yesterday afternoon cooking for some reason. Highlights include chocolate-covered banana chips, cookie dough fudge, and a no-bake Nutella cheesecake. On the less sugary side, for dinner I made Cauliflower Manchurian for the first time, with a quinoa pilaf. Cooking for me is a stress reliever and an activity I've enjoyed since college, and I handle it primarily at our house. My grandfather (who lent his middle name for one of Raptor-Son's) was the same way, and I like that Raptor-Son will grow up in a house with a dad who cooks. Maybe he'll use his BS Detector on society's gender roles.
Oh, and I'm super excited that Raptor-Son will grow up in an America in which everyone can get married.
On the home front, I'm pretty sure we're just starting the Fourth Month Sleep Regression, given that he hasn't really slept in two days. Where he was reliable hitting 6-7 hours a night for a while now, last night he fussed from 8-10 pm in his bassinet, then I took him downstairs and rocked him for an hour so Raptor-Mom could sleep. He woke up at 12am, 2am, 4am, and 6am, lying on his back with his feet in the air grunting like he used to do. I've been doing a little reading on it, and it seems pretty universally terrible to experience, but a necessary milestone for development, so I'm glad he's on track.
We also got a deep freeze for the 365 ounces of stored milk that we are keeping, an amount that only increases during the summer. This means I got the freezer back for kitchen use, so I spent most of yesterday afternoon cooking for some reason. Highlights include chocolate-covered banana chips, cookie dough fudge, and a no-bake Nutella cheesecake. On the less sugary side, for dinner I made Cauliflower Manchurian for the first time, with a quinoa pilaf. Cooking for me is a stress reliever and an activity I've enjoyed since college, and I handle it primarily at our house. My grandfather (who lent his middle name for one of Raptor-Son's) was the same way, and I like that Raptor-Son will grow up in a house with a dad who cooks. Maybe he'll use his BS Detector on society's gender roles.
Oh, and I'm super excited that Raptor-Son will grow up in an America in which everyone can get married.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Father's Day and the Fourth Trimester
There's a bit of a stretch between updates here, as I was out of town grading thousands of AP U.S. History tests, and then working a week-long day camp based on Medieval Europe. Both of those activities were (I promise) much more fun than they sound.
Yesterday was my first Father's Day, and it was a good one. Homemade waffles for breakfast, a lazy day with Raptor-Son, and a cookout at the in-law's house. My friends also sent around some congratulatory texts, since several of us are on our first or second Father's Day, and the addition of a new holiday should be celebrated. Raptor-Mom got me an awesome duffel bag for camping that I can't wait to try out later this Fall.
We've also crossed over the border from a newborn to a full infant, and not a tiny one either. Raptor-Son is tipping the (literal) scales at more than 15 pounds, meaning I'm going to have to start working out if I want to keep lifting him. Finishing the first three months puts him out of what I've heard called The Fourth Trimester, when babies are really kind of just fetuses still. They don't do a lot, don't like being awake, eat as much as possible, etc. Raptor-Son's always been surprisingly expressive, but I've definitely noticed a difference in him over the last couple of weeks.
At night, he's been sleeping between 6 and 7 hours in a row, relatively peacefully. This has been going on about week now, and the first time he did it I jumped out of bed at about 5 AM, convinced something horrible had happened. He'd been waking up at 3, eating, and going back to sleep, but now he hadn't woken us up with his grunting and leg kicks. I checked on him, and he was fine, so I went back to bed, but it was scary. Apparently there's just no good way for him to sleep; either he wakes us up and we don't get any sleep, or he doesn't wake us up and I jump up terrified when I realize it.
He's been doing great in the mornings especially. He likes to wake up and eat immediately, and will then usually cuddle right in with one of us in bed. It's awesome having the summers "off" if for no other reason than hanging out with him. He's also started vocalizing a lot, mostly "coooo's" and "awoooo's" but it's a good start. He still doesn't like to sit in his bouncer seat for very long, and he still has trouble from about 5 PM until he gets to sleep. If you catch him in a really good mood, he will coo back and forth with Raptor-Mom, which is a lot of fun to watch but I haven't been able to record it yet.
Raptor-Son's getting bigger, and starting to look like a little boy instead of an infant. The fourth trimester has been a time of great learning and fun, and while I'm trying to enjoy the moments as they happen, I can't help but get excited as he keeps growing and exploring.
Yesterday was my first Father's Day, and it was a good one. Homemade waffles for breakfast, a lazy day with Raptor-Son, and a cookout at the in-law's house. My friends also sent around some congratulatory texts, since several of us are on our first or second Father's Day, and the addition of a new holiday should be celebrated. Raptor-Mom got me an awesome duffel bag for camping that I can't wait to try out later this Fall.
We've also crossed over the border from a newborn to a full infant, and not a tiny one either. Raptor-Son is tipping the (literal) scales at more than 15 pounds, meaning I'm going to have to start working out if I want to keep lifting him. Finishing the first three months puts him out of what I've heard called The Fourth Trimester, when babies are really kind of just fetuses still. They don't do a lot, don't like being awake, eat as much as possible, etc. Raptor-Son's always been surprisingly expressive, but I've definitely noticed a difference in him over the last couple of weeks.
At night, he's been sleeping between 6 and 7 hours in a row, relatively peacefully. This has been going on about week now, and the first time he did it I jumped out of bed at about 5 AM, convinced something horrible had happened. He'd been waking up at 3, eating, and going back to sleep, but now he hadn't woken us up with his grunting and leg kicks. I checked on him, and he was fine, so I went back to bed, but it was scary. Apparently there's just no good way for him to sleep; either he wakes us up and we don't get any sleep, or he doesn't wake us up and I jump up terrified when I realize it.
He's been doing great in the mornings especially. He likes to wake up and eat immediately, and will then usually cuddle right in with one of us in bed. It's awesome having the summers "off" if for no other reason than hanging out with him. He's also started vocalizing a lot, mostly "coooo's" and "awoooo's" but it's a good start. He still doesn't like to sit in his bouncer seat for very long, and he still has trouble from about 5 PM until he gets to sleep. If you catch him in a really good mood, he will coo back and forth with Raptor-Mom, which is a lot of fun to watch but I haven't been able to record it yet.
Raptor-Son's getting bigger, and starting to look like a little boy instead of an infant. The fourth trimester has been a time of great learning and fun, and while I'm trying to enjoy the moments as they happen, I can't help but get excited as he keeps growing and exploring.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Raptor-Dad Thoughts: Jurassic World
The other night, like seemingly everyone else in the universe, I got to see Jurassic World. In brief, I thought it was excellent. I haven't watched Colin Trevorrow's other movie, Safety Not Guaranteed, but it's clear that he has a deep affection for the original. Many of the sequences mirrored the original Jurassic Park, including several CG shots that seemed to just recreate the first movie. The movie is fun throughout, even if it felt a little disjointed, as if there were two different ideas for scripts that got jammed into one movie. More on this later.
HERE BE SPOILERS
One of the biggest issues I've seen discussed is the nature of the film's product placement. On the one hand, a movie this large will definitely have corporate sponsors who demand their merchandise get shown in a positive light. Product placement may just be a fact of life in 21st-century film making. While Age of Ultron had Dr. Bruce Banner listening to Beats by Dre in a close-up shot, Jurassic World's most egregious use of placement had Bryce Dallas Howard's character parking her Mercedes lovingly at an angle that Don Draper could have designed. The Mercedes featured in the film never break down, and despite driving around a tropical nature preserve are remarkably mud-free. On the other hand, the film goes out of its way to lampshade this very feature, with one character sarcastically suggesting a "Tostinosaurus" as the next attraction. While this joke might have worked in a film that didn't prominently feature Mercedes, Starbucks, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant (and Jimmy Buffett himself!) Pandora, etc., here I thought it rang flat. It's a great bit, but it's hypocritical to make fun of product placement while happily cashing checks from Ben and Jerry's. It doesn't count as satire if you point out how terrible the thing you are doing is, then do it anyway.
Speaking of problems, it was pretty clear this was a movie that was in production for a long time. A fourth Jurassic Park movie was being discussed as early as 2004, and I'm betting elements from that script wound up in Jurassic World in 2015. While again pointing out that I thought the movie totally worked and had a great time throughout, the script suffers from the same key problem that X-Men 3 had: it's got two interesting ideas for a movie and can't decide. In one plot, a clearly villainous Vincent D'Onofrio (slimmed down from his stellar portrayal of Kingpin in Netflix's Daredevil earlier this year) has hatched a quiet plot to sell raptors to the military. The other plot is the creation of the Indominus Rex genetic hybrid, and it's expanding list of dinosaur superpowers. Each of these could have warranted its own film, but here they are mushed together into a complicated knot.
This plot knot is ultimately undone in a way that again reminded me of Age of Ultron. Ultron is defeated by a better version of himself, and here the I. Rex is defeated by a dinosaur-Avengers team-up of Blue the last surviving velociraptor, the original tyrannosaur from Jurassic Park, and a surprise finisher from the aquatic Mosasaurus. In other words, the thing that defeated the ultimate Hubris of Man was just throwing better Hubris at it. It's like Dr. Frankenstein creating an even stronger, faster Monster to defeat the original. It's an interesting idea, but it's hard to get behind thematically.
The theme of the franchise is honed to a sharp edge here, if that theme is the corruption of money. Throughout the four films, any character mostly interested in money has bad things happen to him or her. Gennaro the lawyer from Jurassic Park mentions making a fortune on the animals; he's later eaten on a toilet. In The Lost World, the entire team that wants to move the dinosaurs to San Diego is eaten or killed. In Jurassic Park III, Dr. Grant and his grad student are enticed by money to visit Isla Sorna, nearly costing both of them their lives. All the mercenaries are killed in that movie. Here, the quest for money leads to the creation of the I. Rex, indirectly killing the new CEO of InGen and directly killing a number of others. Hoskins, the military man planning to sell raptors to the Army is predictably dispatched by a raptor. Pursuit of money is punished violently in the world of Jurassic Park.
It's that theme that stood out the most profoundly as representative of current movie trends. The film itself is easily read as a metaphor for the post-Avengers Hollywood in which everything is bigger, bolder, flashier, more expensive, and more explosive. My favorite image of the movie was something Colin Trevorrow said he had in mind as an anchor for the entire film. It's the older teenager texting on his phone, with his back to the glass while a Tyrannosaurus Rex walks by behind him. As someone who works with teenagers, it's so perfect, and the movie in general seems to simultaneously criticize the desire for novelty while feeding into it by giving us a dinosaurs capable of crashing helicopters and eating Great White Sharks. In consuming the literal Jaws, Jurassic World asserts its dominance while simultaneously critiquing us for pushing it to this point. I'm not sure if it counts as satire for the same reason as the product placement issue, but it makes for an interesting meta-commentary.
After five paragraphs of pseudo-complaining (again, I loved the movie!) I should say something nice about it. I think my favorite thing was that the film was almost entirely self-contained. It builds on the legacy of the first three movies (especially the first) but it also stands by itself. Save for one short scene with Dr. Wu that sets up a sequel movie, there's no link to a larger universe. There's no Jurassic Park Cinematic Universe in the works to cross over with King Kong or the monsters from Pacific Rim. Nothing in this movie was inexplicable if you haven't seen twelve other movies, and that was refreshing. I'm a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it was nice to not think halfway through the movie "Oh, I bet that will really pay off in 2017." Here, everything you need to have fun is present in two hours.
Would I Take Raptor-Son to See It:
The violence is simultaneously sanitized and graphic, in that most awful things happen off-screen. There are a few scenes of flirting between main characters, but in general I think the movie is geared for younger kids to have a fun time with dinosaurs. It'll be a while before he's old enough to watch it, but I'm looking forward to it.
HERE BE SPOILERS
One of the biggest issues I've seen discussed is the nature of the film's product placement. On the one hand, a movie this large will definitely have corporate sponsors who demand their merchandise get shown in a positive light. Product placement may just be a fact of life in 21st-century film making. While Age of Ultron had Dr. Bruce Banner listening to Beats by Dre in a close-up shot, Jurassic World's most egregious use of placement had Bryce Dallas Howard's character parking her Mercedes lovingly at an angle that Don Draper could have designed. The Mercedes featured in the film never break down, and despite driving around a tropical nature preserve are remarkably mud-free. On the other hand, the film goes out of its way to lampshade this very feature, with one character sarcastically suggesting a "Tostinosaurus" as the next attraction. While this joke might have worked in a film that didn't prominently feature Mercedes, Starbucks, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant (and Jimmy Buffett himself!) Pandora, etc., here I thought it rang flat. It's a great bit, but it's hypocritical to make fun of product placement while happily cashing checks from Ben and Jerry's. It doesn't count as satire if you point out how terrible the thing you are doing is, then do it anyway.
Speaking of problems, it was pretty clear this was a movie that was in production for a long time. A fourth Jurassic Park movie was being discussed as early as 2004, and I'm betting elements from that script wound up in Jurassic World in 2015. While again pointing out that I thought the movie totally worked and had a great time throughout, the script suffers from the same key problem that X-Men 3 had: it's got two interesting ideas for a movie and can't decide. In one plot, a clearly villainous Vincent D'Onofrio (slimmed down from his stellar portrayal of Kingpin in Netflix's Daredevil earlier this year) has hatched a quiet plot to sell raptors to the military. The other plot is the creation of the Indominus Rex genetic hybrid, and it's expanding list of dinosaur superpowers. Each of these could have warranted its own film, but here they are mushed together into a complicated knot.
This plot knot is ultimately undone in a way that again reminded me of Age of Ultron. Ultron is defeated by a better version of himself, and here the I. Rex is defeated by a dinosaur-Avengers team-up of Blue the last surviving velociraptor, the original tyrannosaur from Jurassic Park, and a surprise finisher from the aquatic Mosasaurus. In other words, the thing that defeated the ultimate Hubris of Man was just throwing better Hubris at it. It's like Dr. Frankenstein creating an even stronger, faster Monster to defeat the original. It's an interesting idea, but it's hard to get behind thematically.
The theme of the franchise is honed to a sharp edge here, if that theme is the corruption of money. Throughout the four films, any character mostly interested in money has bad things happen to him or her. Gennaro the lawyer from Jurassic Park mentions making a fortune on the animals; he's later eaten on a toilet. In The Lost World, the entire team that wants to move the dinosaurs to San Diego is eaten or killed. In Jurassic Park III, Dr. Grant and his grad student are enticed by money to visit Isla Sorna, nearly costing both of them their lives. All the mercenaries are killed in that movie. Here, the quest for money leads to the creation of the I. Rex, indirectly killing the new CEO of InGen and directly killing a number of others. Hoskins, the military man planning to sell raptors to the Army is predictably dispatched by a raptor. Pursuit of money is punished violently in the world of Jurassic Park.
It's that theme that stood out the most profoundly as representative of current movie trends. The film itself is easily read as a metaphor for the post-Avengers Hollywood in which everything is bigger, bolder, flashier, more expensive, and more explosive. My favorite image of the movie was something Colin Trevorrow said he had in mind as an anchor for the entire film. It's the older teenager texting on his phone, with his back to the glass while a Tyrannosaurus Rex walks by behind him. As someone who works with teenagers, it's so perfect, and the movie in general seems to simultaneously criticize the desire for novelty while feeding into it by giving us a dinosaurs capable of crashing helicopters and eating Great White Sharks. In consuming the literal Jaws, Jurassic World asserts its dominance while simultaneously critiquing us for pushing it to this point. I'm not sure if it counts as satire for the same reason as the product placement issue, but it makes for an interesting meta-commentary.
After five paragraphs of pseudo-complaining (again, I loved the movie!) I should say something nice about it. I think my favorite thing was that the film was almost entirely self-contained. It builds on the legacy of the first three movies (especially the first) but it also stands by itself. Save for one short scene with Dr. Wu that sets up a sequel movie, there's no link to a larger universe. There's no Jurassic Park Cinematic Universe in the works to cross over with King Kong or the monsters from Pacific Rim. Nothing in this movie was inexplicable if you haven't seen twelve other movies, and that was refreshing. I'm a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it was nice to not think halfway through the movie "Oh, I bet that will really pay off in 2017." Here, everything you need to have fun is present in two hours.
Would I Take Raptor-Son to See It:
The violence is simultaneously sanitized and graphic, in that most awful things happen off-screen. There are a few scenes of flirting between main characters, but in general I think the movie is geared for younger kids to have a fun time with dinosaurs. It'll be a while before he's old enough to watch it, but I'm looking forward to it.
Monday, June 1, 2015
On Children
The other day, I ran across a poem by Lebanese-American author Kahlil Gibran on Reddit (ugh.) It was shortly after the whole business with Josh Duggar occurred, and while I don't want to get into that situation (it's gross) here, the poem itself stuck with me as a great reflection of what I'd like my attitudes on being a father to be. I'll quote it here in full.
I like the poem a great deal for its insistence that our children are not clones to be designed, but people to be nurtured. As a teacher, that's a philosophical concept I think about often, and I work hard to avoid creating smaller versions of myself. As a teacher of politics, it's especially important I think to avoid simply passing on your thoughts, because as Gibran notes, they have their own thoughts already.
I didn't want to reproduce to create another version of myself. While I hope that Raptor-Son will carry on the values I want to display for him like compassion, generosity, acceptance, and love, if I force him to believe in those things it immediately invalidates them.
The line "You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you" also speaks to me, as I would be happiest to find one day that Raptor-Son is a person worthy of emulation, and that he has grown up to be someone that others (and myself) can look to as an example of virtue.
Anyway, it's a good poem, you should check it out.
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
I like the poem a great deal for its insistence that our children are not clones to be designed, but people to be nurtured. As a teacher, that's a philosophical concept I think about often, and I work hard to avoid creating smaller versions of myself. As a teacher of politics, it's especially important I think to avoid simply passing on your thoughts, because as Gibran notes, they have their own thoughts already.
I didn't want to reproduce to create another version of myself. While I hope that Raptor-Son will carry on the values I want to display for him like compassion, generosity, acceptance, and love, if I force him to believe in those things it immediately invalidates them.
The line "You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you" also speaks to me, as I would be happiest to find one day that Raptor-Son is a person worthy of emulation, and that he has grown up to be someone that others (and myself) can look to as an example of virtue.
Anyway, it's a good poem, you should check it out.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Flying Solo - Day Three
Today was our last day on our own, since Raptor-Mom is here for the weekend now. We had a good day today, especially without any shots to take! It was pretty quiet, and a good last day of Raptor-Dad/Son time.
It was pretty quiet other than a quick trip out for coffee with one of my former students, who said Raptor-Son was "basically perfect," which I agree with. He fussed a little on the way to and from the coffee place, but I think he was dreaming because he let out one of his dream wails on the way there. By the time we got to the coffee place and back home, he was asleep in his car seat both times.
The biggest event of the day was a poopsplosion that took his bouncing seat and wardrobe out of commission for the rest of the day. We had just gotten back from coffee, and he was still asleep, so I put him in his bouncing seat and proceeded to get some lunch ready for me. I had just gotten everything done and ready, when I went to get him out of the bouncer, I realized his whole right side was covered in poop, which had escaped his (disposable) diaper, traveled out of his onesie, and wound up basically everywhere on the right side of his body and the bouncer seat. So then we had to take a break, climb out of the bouncer, get all his clothes off, wash up with about 10 disposable wipes, and get back to some semblance of respectability. Not a huge deal, but definitely the highlight of the day.
The rest went smoothly, although we did have an afternoon bath in the sink after the poopsplosion. All in all it was a good week and a great confidence boost to learn I can look after a newborn. No major incidents occurred, no frantic phone calls took place, and no wacky misunderstandings resulted in hijinks or hilarity. I was happy to do my part for the fathers of America to show we aren't just lovable doofuses who can't figure out how to put a bottle of milk in warm water or change a diaper. While American males hardly have a representation problem, it is always nice to play against stereotype.
It was pretty quiet other than a quick trip out for coffee with one of my former students, who said Raptor-Son was "basically perfect," which I agree with. He fussed a little on the way to and from the coffee place, but I think he was dreaming because he let out one of his dream wails on the way there. By the time we got to the coffee place and back home, he was asleep in his car seat both times.
The biggest event of the day was a poopsplosion that took his bouncing seat and wardrobe out of commission for the rest of the day. We had just gotten back from coffee, and he was still asleep, so I put him in his bouncing seat and proceeded to get some lunch ready for me. I had just gotten everything done and ready, when I went to get him out of the bouncer, I realized his whole right side was covered in poop, which had escaped his (disposable) diaper, traveled out of his onesie, and wound up basically everywhere on the right side of his body and the bouncer seat. So then we had to take a break, climb out of the bouncer, get all his clothes off, wash up with about 10 disposable wipes, and get back to some semblance of respectability. Not a huge deal, but definitely the highlight of the day.
The rest went smoothly, although we did have an afternoon bath in the sink after the poopsplosion. All in all it was a good week and a great confidence boost to learn I can look after a newborn. No major incidents occurred, no frantic phone calls took place, and no wacky misunderstandings resulted in hijinks or hilarity. I was happy to do my part for the fathers of America to show we aren't just lovable doofuses who can't figure out how to put a bottle of milk in warm water or change a diaper. While American males hardly have a representation problem, it is always nice to play against stereotype.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Flying Solo - Day Two
Another day for Raptor-Dad and Raptor-Son to be on our own, and again we did great. It's funny too, that people heap praise on me for being a dad that can handle an infant, yet for doing the exact same things, Raptor-Mom gets no credit. Our society seems to have fully internalized the sitcom dad who is riddled with incompetence and barely functions.
Our day started pretty normally, with an early feeding and a long nap. I loaded him up with an extra ounce of milk, because we had our two-month pediatrician appointment this morning, one that included four immunization shots. The Wee Man did a great job riding in the car and in his Moby, and basically slept from the time we left until the doctor came into our room.
The pediatrician was very impressed with how curious he is, and with his considerable size. He is in the 89th percentile for weight, and 95th for height at 25 inches long! He topped out over 14 lbs. also, although he still had his diaper on at the time. The pediatrician had him in his diaper lying down on the table for a while, and he started to fuss just before the nurse came in to give him his injections. He cried while she stuck him three times, and gave him one orally, but as soon as she was done and I picked him up, he instantly stopped crying and slept the whole way home. He wasn't bothered by his heel stick when we were at the hospital either, so I think he's just super hardcore like that.
The rest of the day he did okay, although he wasn't crazy about eating later that afternoon. He napped a lot, and didn't fuss too badly. The pediatrician said there might be a fever too, but if anything he was cool a few fractions of a degree. Overall, we had a pretty good day, considering the three vaccines. We were both kind of dreading it, but I was very proud with how reasonably cool he was. Hopefully all his medical things will be this easy to handle.
I have a work trip coming up next week, so we only have one more day to hang out together!
Our day started pretty normally, with an early feeding and a long nap. I loaded him up with an extra ounce of milk, because we had our two-month pediatrician appointment this morning, one that included four immunization shots. The Wee Man did a great job riding in the car and in his Moby, and basically slept from the time we left until the doctor came into our room.
The pediatrician was very impressed with how curious he is, and with his considerable size. He is in the 89th percentile for weight, and 95th for height at 25 inches long! He topped out over 14 lbs. also, although he still had his diaper on at the time. The pediatrician had him in his diaper lying down on the table for a while, and he started to fuss just before the nurse came in to give him his injections. He cried while she stuck him three times, and gave him one orally, but as soon as she was done and I picked him up, he instantly stopped crying and slept the whole way home. He wasn't bothered by his heel stick when we were at the hospital either, so I think he's just super hardcore like that.
The rest of the day he did okay, although he wasn't crazy about eating later that afternoon. He napped a lot, and didn't fuss too badly. The pediatrician said there might be a fever too, but if anything he was cool a few fractions of a degree. Overall, we had a pretty good day, considering the three vaccines. We were both kind of dreading it, but I was very proud with how reasonably cool he was. Hopefully all his medical things will be this easy to handle.
I have a work trip coming up next week, so we only have one more day to hang out together!
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Flying Solo - Day One
So in defiance of social and cultural expectations, Raptor-Son and I spent a whole day by ourselves, from six in the morning until three in the afternoon. Raptor-Mom's maternity leave ended yesterday, so she had to go back to work. For my thoughts on (the lack of) maternity leave in the United States, I will refer you to John Oliver's segment:
At any rate, we spend a full nine hours on our own and did fine. With judicious use of our Moby Wrap, Raptor-Son spent a good chunk of the day asleep. He alternated between sleeping and getting woken up to eat, and right before his mom got home, he got a bath for that just-washed baby shine.
He ate a respectable 5 ounces of pumped breast milk throughout the day, 2 ounces for breakfast, 2 for lunch, and another in the early afternoon because he was a little grumbley. I had a crock-pot set up in the kitchen full of water, and whenever he was hungry I threw a bottle in to warm it up a bit. We were both concerned about eating, since now that he's on a bottle it's possible to overfeed him. Give him too much milk, and he'll get used to a higher amount than his mom can produce regularly. Of course, giving him too little is also problematic. Considering that his mom produced more than 10 ounces yesterday, adequate supply seems to be low on our priority list.
He slept roughly the night before, feeding basically from 2 A.M. until 5, so he was very sleepy all day. With a few breaks to play during the day, he spent most of it curled up on my chest asleep while I watched Netflix. Not such a bad day really.
At any rate, we spend a full nine hours on our own and did fine. With judicious use of our Moby Wrap, Raptor-Son spent a good chunk of the day asleep. He alternated between sleeping and getting woken up to eat, and right before his mom got home, he got a bath for that just-washed baby shine.
He ate a respectable 5 ounces of pumped breast milk throughout the day, 2 ounces for breakfast, 2 for lunch, and another in the early afternoon because he was a little grumbley. I had a crock-pot set up in the kitchen full of water, and whenever he was hungry I threw a bottle in to warm it up a bit. We were both concerned about eating, since now that he's on a bottle it's possible to overfeed him. Give him too much milk, and he'll get used to a higher amount than his mom can produce regularly. Of course, giving him too little is also problematic. Considering that his mom produced more than 10 ounces yesterday, adequate supply seems to be low on our priority list.
He slept roughly the night before, feeding basically from 2 A.M. until 5, so he was very sleepy all day. With a few breaks to play during the day, he spent most of it curled up on my chest asleep while I watched Netflix. Not such a bad day really.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
On the Grumpiness of Man
It's been a rough couple of weeks, at least during the day. Not bad, per se, but many new adjustments to make. At night, Raptor-Son is sleeping pretty regularly in two four-hour stretches, usually from 9pm-1am, and 2am-6am. Anything beyond 6:30 or so (sunrise,) will usually result in him throwing his legs up in the air, and grunting softly to himself until someone comes to change or feed him. He's a weirdo.
During the day though, for the last two weeks, he's just been struggling really bad. He's still great at eating, and probably over 13 lbs. now. At his month checkup, he was in the 92% for height, and 90% for weight. So he's giant.
That great size means he loves to eat, or loving to eat has given him great size. At any rate, he's super happy when he's eating and not much beyond that. He just gets cranky really quickly, unless he's in exactly one position: he likes to sit up high on your shoulder, so your collarbone is jammed into his stomach and his head is unsupported. Once he's there, he quiets down almost immediately. Unfortunately, this position is awkward and uncomfortable for the person holding him, but he doesn't seem to mind much.
On the plus side, he is learning to smile regularly, and when he is distracted from his woes, is a very happy baby.
During the day though, for the last two weeks, he's just been struggling really bad. He's still great at eating, and probably over 13 lbs. now. At his month checkup, he was in the 92% for height, and 90% for weight. So he's giant.
That great size means he loves to eat, or loving to eat has given him great size. At any rate, he's super happy when he's eating and not much beyond that. He just gets cranky really quickly, unless he's in exactly one position: he likes to sit up high on your shoulder, so your collarbone is jammed into his stomach and his head is unsupported. Once he's there, he quiets down almost immediately. Unfortunately, this position is awkward and uncomfortable for the person holding him, but he doesn't seem to mind much.
On the plus side, he is learning to smile regularly, and when he is distracted from his woes, is a very happy baby.
Monday, May 4, 2015
10K's and Free Comic Book Day
This past weekend was a busy one, on Saturday at least. That morning was the Cincinnati Flying Pig 10K race, a precursor to the much-larger Flying Pig Marathon the next morning. For the last three years, I've run a Half Marathon, but with a five-week-old this year, it didn't seem prudent. The race started at 8:00am, and Raptor-Son came out with Raptor-Mom to cheer me on, which was great. The elusive Raptor-Grandparents were there as well, watching their first race ever.
The race itself went fine, I'm to the point where I can run a comfortable 10:30 mile at least 3 times in a row without problem. An extra 3 times one day doesn't go too badly, and there was the promise of a carb-heavy breakfast to follow. It was also awesome to have Raptor-Son out there in his Babiator sunglasses. He wasn't exactly cheering, but he at least wasn't fussing too much.
He's almost through the 4-6 week stretch that seems rough for a lot of babies. Lately, if he isn't actively eating or sleeping, he's usually fussing. He throws his arms out to punch the air in tiny fury, and grunts and complains a lot. I think he's realizing that he can't go back to the womb, which is a hard transition for anybody really. He'll be six weeks old tomorrow, so hopefully that will pass soon.
After the race (and a shower,) I hit up Comic Book World for Free Comic Book Day. It's a great holiday to celebrate a medium, and the store was packed. Out front, they had a dude who was swallowing swords, which was pretty cool.
I grabbed the All New All Different Avengers, since I'm still on an Ultron high. The other three I haven't looked at yet, but all three had dinosaurs of some sort on the cover. I actually purchased a trade paperback of the Infinity Gauntlet, a favorite story that I've only read digitally. Although their prices are higher than Amazon, I do like that they exist and have forever. I remember as a kid going to CBW to buy pogs, of all things. I can't wait until I can take Raptor-Son there; hopefully he's a Marvel guy, although if he likes DC more, that will be okay too.
The race itself went fine, I'm to the point where I can run a comfortable 10:30 mile at least 3 times in a row without problem. An extra 3 times one day doesn't go too badly, and there was the promise of a carb-heavy breakfast to follow. It was also awesome to have Raptor-Son out there in his Babiator sunglasses. He wasn't exactly cheering, but he at least wasn't fussing too much.
 |
| The starting line for the 10k |
He's almost through the 4-6 week stretch that seems rough for a lot of babies. Lately, if he isn't actively eating or sleeping, he's usually fussing. He throws his arms out to punch the air in tiny fury, and grunts and complains a lot. I think he's realizing that he can't go back to the womb, which is a hard transition for anybody really. He'll be six weeks old tomorrow, so hopefully that will pass soon.
After the race (and a shower,) I hit up Comic Book World for Free Comic Book Day. It's a great holiday to celebrate a medium, and the store was packed. Out front, they had a dude who was swallowing swords, which was pretty cool.
 |
| I neglected to take a picture, but this is the store. |
I grabbed the All New All Different Avengers, since I'm still on an Ultron high. The other three I haven't looked at yet, but all three had dinosaurs of some sort on the cover. I actually purchased a trade paperback of the Infinity Gauntlet, a favorite story that I've only read digitally. Although their prices are higher than Amazon, I do like that they exist and have forever. I remember as a kid going to CBW to buy pogs, of all things. I can't wait until I can take Raptor-Son there; hopefully he's a Marvel guy, although if he likes DC more, that will be okay too.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Raptor-Dad Thoughts: Age of Ultron
Along with seemingly everyone else everywhere ever, I got to watch The Avengers: Age of Ultron. I'm a big Marvel Cinematic Universe fan (to the point I can say "Marvel Cinematic Universe" out loud and not feel ridiculous) so this was a bit of an event for me. Spoilers below, so if you haven't seen it, come back later.
As far as movie reviews go, other reviewers have adequately covered things like the directing (good,) the writing (excellent,) the pacing (uh, brisk,) and the overall quality: pretty good, if maybe not as high quality as the first Avengers movie. It suffers from the fact that we've seen these characters before, so the surprise and wonder is a little gone. It moves quickly, and shines the most when the characters are sitting around talking.
It is, I think, the more Joss Whedon-y of the two movies, with a dysfunctional group of characters that need to come together to overcome a great adversity, crack wise, and tell black humor jokes right before heroically winning against all odds. That's not a knock, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is in my Top 5 TV Shows Ever, and Raptor-Son's real name may or may not be shared with a crew-member of Serenity.
The movie kept referencing World War Two, which was interesting. Tony Stark references "peace in our time" when arguing that Ultron was necessary to protect the Earth. Chamberlain's words were intended to calm a British public concerned with Hitler's land grab in Czechoslovakia, and Stark's are intended to convince Banner to assist him. Ultron also quotes this line right before he attacks Avenger's Tower for the first time. Later, the ship that Ulysses Klaue works from is named the Churchill, who was the Prime Minister after Chamberlain stepped down. Both suggest a war that wasn't sought by the British, but that the British people were willing to fight and win. Similarly, the Avengers fight Ultron even though they aren't looking for a war. I'm not sure if there is something deeper going on than that, but it was an interesting parallel.
The biggest theme that the movie draws from (and that Stark dismisses outright) is the Man vs. Nature theme of Frankenstein or Jurassic Park. In those movies, and most Romantic works, Man creates something unnatural that then destroys him. Frankenstein's Monster kills because of its isolation, and John Hammond's theme park doesn't work out. Frankenstein is an obvious parallel here for Stark (and a more reluctant Banner,) but with a new wrinkle. Where I think the movie departs from the traditional narrative in a story like this is in the solution to the man-made problem.
In this case, the solution to Ultron as a problem is in Ultron's "offspring" Vision. An android with purple skin, the ability to fly and change densities, Vision immediately becomes a heavyweight on the team. He's ("it's"?) also able to wield Mjolnir, a great sign of worthiness. Vision is thus what Ultron is meant to be, and here Whedon seems to be saying that if your Creation becomes a Monster, the solution is more Creations. More tyrannosaurs will solve the problem that one tyrannosaur represents. This is an interesting twist, and oddly hopeful. Usually the message of Romanticism is that Man needs to return to Nature, and stop building giant robots, but here, Vision represents a sort of technocratic victory over nature. Indeed, Vision gets to destroy the final copy of Ultron with the Mind Gem, again suggesting that when Man's scientific overreach overreaches, it's possible to power through and win through Even More Science. Fascinating.
Would I Take Raptor-Son to See It:
In this section, I'll think about whether or not it's appropriate for my son. Since he's not quite six weeks old, I'll be passing on this one. In a few years though, I hope he loses his mind while appreciating the fact that spectacles like this exist for him.
In conclusion, the Hulkbuster Armor is super dope.
As far as movie reviews go, other reviewers have adequately covered things like the directing (good,) the writing (excellent,) the pacing (uh, brisk,) and the overall quality: pretty good, if maybe not as high quality as the first Avengers movie. It suffers from the fact that we've seen these characters before, so the surprise and wonder is a little gone. It moves quickly, and shines the most when the characters are sitting around talking.
It is, I think, the more Joss Whedon-y of the two movies, with a dysfunctional group of characters that need to come together to overcome a great adversity, crack wise, and tell black humor jokes right before heroically winning against all odds. That's not a knock, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is in my Top 5 TV Shows Ever, and Raptor-Son's real name may or may not be shared with a crew-member of Serenity.
The movie kept referencing World War Two, which was interesting. Tony Stark references "peace in our time" when arguing that Ultron was necessary to protect the Earth. Chamberlain's words were intended to calm a British public concerned with Hitler's land grab in Czechoslovakia, and Stark's are intended to convince Banner to assist him. Ultron also quotes this line right before he attacks Avenger's Tower for the first time. Later, the ship that Ulysses Klaue works from is named the Churchill, who was the Prime Minister after Chamberlain stepped down. Both suggest a war that wasn't sought by the British, but that the British people were willing to fight and win. Similarly, the Avengers fight Ultron even though they aren't looking for a war. I'm not sure if there is something deeper going on than that, but it was an interesting parallel.
The biggest theme that the movie draws from (and that Stark dismisses outright) is the Man vs. Nature theme of Frankenstein or Jurassic Park. In those movies, and most Romantic works, Man creates something unnatural that then destroys him. Frankenstein's Monster kills because of its isolation, and John Hammond's theme park doesn't work out. Frankenstein is an obvious parallel here for Stark (and a more reluctant Banner,) but with a new wrinkle. Where I think the movie departs from the traditional narrative in a story like this is in the solution to the man-made problem.
In this case, the solution to Ultron as a problem is in Ultron's "offspring" Vision. An android with purple skin, the ability to fly and change densities, Vision immediately becomes a heavyweight on the team. He's ("it's"?) also able to wield Mjolnir, a great sign of worthiness. Vision is thus what Ultron is meant to be, and here Whedon seems to be saying that if your Creation becomes a Monster, the solution is more Creations. More tyrannosaurs will solve the problem that one tyrannosaur represents. This is an interesting twist, and oddly hopeful. Usually the message of Romanticism is that Man needs to return to Nature, and stop building giant robots, but here, Vision represents a sort of technocratic victory over nature. Indeed, Vision gets to destroy the final copy of Ultron with the Mind Gem, again suggesting that when Man's scientific overreach overreaches, it's possible to power through and win through Even More Science. Fascinating.
Would I Take Raptor-Son to See It:
In this section, I'll think about whether or not it's appropriate for my son. Since he's not quite six weeks old, I'll be passing on this one. In a few years though, I hope he loses his mind while appreciating the fact that spectacles like this exist for him.
In conclusion, the Hulkbuster Armor is super dope.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
The 5 S's; or How We Got Six Hours of Sleep In a Row Once
All things considered, Raptor-Son is a pretty chill baby. He mostly sleeps whenever he can, and for the first month, anytime he fussed or cried at all the solution was always feeding. He doesn't seem to mind sitting in a dirty diaper for hours, and if anything cries more when we change him. At about four weeks though, he started getting himself all worked up with no cause. He would cry and yell, and when we tried to feed him, he would just get angrier. He waves his little fists around when he's angry, which means we have to keep his nails trimmed carefully or it's like living with a tiny Wolverine.
Enter Dr. Harvey Karp. While we had until that point prided ourselves on being The Best Parents Ever, but when Raptor-Son hit that 4-week mark we had more trouble calming him. Before he was born, we purchased The Happiest Baby on the Block, and intended to read it for several months and never got around to it. Several of our friends swear by it, so we decided instead to watch the short video version, which was extremely helpful.
In short, Karp's plan follows what he calls the "5 S's System" to calm down a newborn. Since they can't naturally calm themselves, they need to have their living conditions in utero replicated for the first 12 weeks or so, or what Karp calls "the Fourth Trimester." The S's are:
Enter Dr. Harvey Karp. While we had until that point prided ourselves on being The Best Parents Ever, but when Raptor-Son hit that 4-week mark we had more trouble calming him. Before he was born, we purchased The Happiest Baby on the Block, and intended to read it for several months and never got around to it. Several of our friends swear by it, so we decided instead to watch the short video version, which was extremely helpful.
In short, Karp's plan follows what he calls the "5 S's System" to calm down a newborn. Since they can't naturally calm themselves, they need to have their living conditions in utero replicated for the first 12 weeks or so, or what Karp calls "the Fourth Trimester." The S's are:
- Swaddle - we use a Halo Sleep Swaddler to strap down Raptor-Son's arms at night, without hurting his legs. Swaddling with a blanket can result in hip dysplasia, which is bad. We had avoided swaddling because it seems mean to restrain him like that, but his arms freak him out when he remembers he has them. So we wrapped him up.
- Side/stomach position - Turning him on his side usually calms him down pretty quickly. He doesn't like to be on his stomach, but his side is okay. I've heard that keeping them on their back gives them the sensation of falling constantly, which would make it hard to fall asleep.
- Shushing - This looks hilarious. You shush not to tell them to be quiet, but to simulate the sounds they are familiar with in the womb. But to do it effectively, you have to be louder than they are crying, so to an outside observer, you have to shush your baby super loudly, and it looks like you are just yelling at them to be quiet. This takes a minute or so, but is usually the thing that actually calms Raptor-Son down.
- Swaying - This part I'm glad we had a video for. Dr. Karp sometimes refers to this as "jiggling," which doesn't start with an "S," so I guess he changed it. The basic point is to bounce, or gently jiggle your baby to replicate motion in the womb. Raptor-Son loves this in general; his favorite place (other than being held or in his Moby Wrap) is to be bouncing on his mom's yoga ball. Calms him right down.
- Sucking - This one we haven't had to deal with yet, but it's basically using a pacifier. We've been reluctant to do this for a variety of reasons, but have them at the ready just in case.
So far, the first 4 S's have been sufficient to sooth Raptor-Son. The first night we tried the system, he slept for four hours in a row, then another three after eating. That was the most sleep we'd had since the week before he was born. Two nights ago, he set a new record of 6 hours, which was amazing. Last night, he did a good stretch of 4 hours, then decided that he would just be awake from 3 until 5 A.M. Not appreciated, but he seemed content.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Our First Big Adventure
This weekend, all the Raptors took a little trip to Louisville KY, about 90 minutes away. Raptor-Son rode with his mom in the backseat, and I drove us down. We were going to attend a short class about how to better wear baby wraps, and then eat lunch at the Blue Dog Bakery, where Raptor-Son's aunt works.
The drive down was fine, with a little rain and not much traffic. After initial fussing subsided, Raptor-Son passed out and slept the entire ride down. We listened to the podcast Wits, which I recommend. It's a weird mixture of music, sketch comedy, improv, and is generally hilarious.
We arrived at The Diaper Fairy Cottage for a class on wearing babies in wraps. It was a little independent store in an old Louisville house with an upstairs of small classrooms. There wound up being about 10 moms and me in the class, which was all about different styles and techniques to use when wearing your baby around. Since Raptor-Son loves being wrapped up and carried, it was useful to see new ways to do it. I also got to wear him for the first time ever, and it was pretty okay. He gets really warm in there, which he seems to like, but is less comfortable for me.
It was another opportunity to play the role of progressive, involved dad as well. Seeing as I was the only male who wasn't actually being carried in something, it furthered the point that parenthood in the US is really motherhood, and still dads are assumed to leave much of the childcare behind at work.
After the class, we went to the Blue Dog Bakery, a little fancy brunch place. They have a farm outside the city where they raise their own pigs, so I tried a grilled sandwich with chicken and Serrano ham, which was excellent.
We hit a little traffic on the way home, but overall the trip was a success. Raptor-Son only fussed a little at the very end, when he'd been in his car seat for two hours and was ready for some eats. The only major snag we hit was bringing only four diapers, when we know about his tricks.
Figuring that a clean diaper would be nice to ride home in, we changed him in the car right before we headed out. We forgot about his insistence that a clean diaper is meant to be filled, and almost immediately we could hear the sounds of something horrible happening in his diaper. With no clean diapers, we headed north with a baby who had just filled his pants. He slept almost the whole way.
The drive down was fine, with a little rain and not much traffic. After initial fussing subsided, Raptor-Son passed out and slept the entire ride down. We listened to the podcast Wits, which I recommend. It's a weird mixture of music, sketch comedy, improv, and is generally hilarious.
We arrived at The Diaper Fairy Cottage for a class on wearing babies in wraps. It was a little independent store in an old Louisville house with an upstairs of small classrooms. There wound up being about 10 moms and me in the class, which was all about different styles and techniques to use when wearing your baby around. Since Raptor-Son loves being wrapped up and carried, it was useful to see new ways to do it. I also got to wear him for the first time ever, and it was pretty okay. He gets really warm in there, which he seems to like, but is less comfortable for me.
It was another opportunity to play the role of progressive, involved dad as well. Seeing as I was the only male who wasn't actually being carried in something, it furthered the point that parenthood in the US is really motherhood, and still dads are assumed to leave much of the childcare behind at work.
After the class, we went to the Blue Dog Bakery, a little fancy brunch place. They have a farm outside the city where they raise their own pigs, so I tried a grilled sandwich with chicken and Serrano ham, which was excellent.
We hit a little traffic on the way home, but overall the trip was a success. Raptor-Son only fussed a little at the very end, when he'd been in his car seat for two hours and was ready for some eats. The only major snag we hit was bringing only four diapers, when we know about his tricks.
Figuring that a clean diaper would be nice to ride home in, we changed him in the car right before we headed out. We forgot about his insistence that a clean diaper is meant to be filled, and almost immediately we could hear the sounds of something horrible happening in his diaper. With no clean diapers, we headed north with a baby who had just filled his pants. He slept almost the whole way.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Vengeance Pooping
So the name of the blog comes from a thing that apparently happens 10,000 times per child: changing a dirty diaper. I don't think anybody looks forward to this part of having a kid, but I wasn't necessarily dreading it. Before Raptor-Son got here, I was mostly just blanking on the whole concept, knowing that it would inevitably happen but not really knowing what to expect or do.
The first time that we had to change a diaper in the hospital, Raptor-Mom and I had to call the nurses' station and ask for assistance. I could hear them laughing over the intercom, but what else could we do? We had to learn about diapers somehow.
Since then, the mystique of changing a diaper has evaporated, leaving behind a fairly mundane life process. It's still kind of gross to be wiping someone else's butt, but he makes funny faces while I'm cleaning him up, and it isn't so bad.
Until he learned to Vengeance Poop.
So one of his favorite tricks is to get on the changing table, get us to take his diaper off, and get a new one ready. While the old one is off, and the new one is just underneath him, he'll let fly. Usually pee, but a few times with a full-on blast from his behind. So now we have to take that new diaper off, clean it, and put it in the laundry. Then he gets a second new diaper. He thinks this is hilarious, and while he isn't big enough to really laugh yet, it's clear he knows what he's doing.
Two days ago, I was going through this process with him. I had his sleep-and-play off, changed his diaper, then put his clothes back on. Then, I realized I had forgotten to put the waterproof cover over his diaper. I take off his sleep-and-play, and get ready to put the cover on, but by now he has peed in the new diaper. So now we take that diaper off, and I'm back where I was ten minutes ago. New diaper, waterproof cover, refasten the onesie snaps, all while he's crying. As soon as I've got his clothes buttoned up again, he calms down.
Now, his crying has switched to a quiet glare at me for this inconvenient intrusion into a situation that he had well in hand. I guess some babies really hate being in wet diapers; Raptor-Son seems perfectly content, and really only fusses when he's removed from those diapers. Having done it twice in rapid succession now, he's good and worked up. That's when he locks eyes with me, eyes that have all the rage and contempt that a three-week old heart can carry, and lets loose with a diaper-filling deluge that is audible over the ceiling fan. I know that this is my punishment for what I've done to him.
It doesn't bode well for his teenage years.
The first time that we had to change a diaper in the hospital, Raptor-Mom and I had to call the nurses' station and ask for assistance. I could hear them laughing over the intercom, but what else could we do? We had to learn about diapers somehow.
Since then, the mystique of changing a diaper has evaporated, leaving behind a fairly mundane life process. It's still kind of gross to be wiping someone else's butt, but he makes funny faces while I'm cleaning him up, and it isn't so bad.
Until he learned to Vengeance Poop.
So one of his favorite tricks is to get on the changing table, get us to take his diaper off, and get a new one ready. While the old one is off, and the new one is just underneath him, he'll let fly. Usually pee, but a few times with a full-on blast from his behind. So now we have to take that new diaper off, clean it, and put it in the laundry. Then he gets a second new diaper. He thinks this is hilarious, and while he isn't big enough to really laugh yet, it's clear he knows what he's doing.
Two days ago, I was going through this process with him. I had his sleep-and-play off, changed his diaper, then put his clothes back on. Then, I realized I had forgotten to put the waterproof cover over his diaper. I take off his sleep-and-play, and get ready to put the cover on, but by now he has peed in the new diaper. So now we take that diaper off, and I'm back where I was ten minutes ago. New diaper, waterproof cover, refasten the onesie snaps, all while he's crying. As soon as I've got his clothes buttoned up again, he calms down.
Now, his crying has switched to a quiet glare at me for this inconvenient intrusion into a situation that he had well in hand. I guess some babies really hate being in wet diapers; Raptor-Son seems perfectly content, and really only fusses when he's removed from those diapers. Having done it twice in rapid succession now, he's good and worked up. That's when he locks eyes with me, eyes that have all the rage and contempt that a three-week old heart can carry, and lets loose with a diaper-filling deluge that is audible over the ceiling fan. I know that this is my punishment for what I've done to him.
It doesn't bode well for his teenage years.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Hi, everybody!
Welcome to Nerdy Diapers, a journey through parenting based on my own experiences.
Who am I? You can call me Raptor-Dad, and I'm the proud parent of Raptor-Son, who is about four weeks old right now. I'm 30 years old, and a high school social studies teacher who enjoys movies, television, comic books, and gaming. I like reading history and non-fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and [Marvel] comic books. One of the areas I'd like to cross into with this blog is the realm of popular culture, and its impact and influence on Raptor-Son.
I'm also far from an expert on parenting. This isn't a blog that will solve all your problems, or answer your questions. It might leave you more confused than when you got here. What I'd like to do is to document my own journey through being a parent in the 21st century, using this space as a journal more than anything else.
Hope to see you out there with us.
Who am I? You can call me Raptor-Dad, and I'm the proud parent of Raptor-Son, who is about four weeks old right now. I'm 30 years old, and a high school social studies teacher who enjoys movies, television, comic books, and gaming. I like reading history and non-fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and [Marvel] comic books. One of the areas I'd like to cross into with this blog is the realm of popular culture, and its impact and influence on Raptor-Son.
I'm also far from an expert on parenting. This isn't a blog that will solve all your problems, or answer your questions. It might leave you more confused than when you got here. What I'd like to do is to document my own journey through being a parent in the 21st century, using this space as a journal more than anything else.
Hope to see you out there with us.
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