Red rover

I missed the first roll-over.

I mean, it's not my fault... I had to go to work... this whole management thing takes up a disturbing amount of time. But I hadn't been gone more than 15 minutes or so when I got the call that our little buddy had rolled himself over. Not once. Not twice... not even three times... but 4.

Sadly there's no video of this... yet... but hopefully he'll replicate the feat soon. As I understand it, this is a significant milestone. I'm thinking I should start checking driving schools, maybe some pre-admissions at university... people keep telling me time flies by so quickly... can't get on that stuff soon enough.

What comes next after the roll? Dancing perhaps... Perhaps soon to get the old man a drink?

This week also featured the little doodlebug's first outing to Gatineau Park and the Fall colours... I'm sure he was quite enraptured with the incredible scenery as it lulled him quickly to sleep. There's one lookout that was really spectacular and we sat out there, looking towards the west and the sunset... very very peaceful. It was great perspective... just us, looking out over the undisturbed landscape. I hope we go there often, perhaps occasionally just the two of us, to pause and reflect on whatever's happening in our lives and talk about it.

Right, well, I'm on the 5am shift... I wonder... sleeping through the night seems like such a distant dream.

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly

I'm not sure if it's a parable, nursery rhyme, kids song or just something I've repressed from being in school in the 70's... but it went something like this. "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don't know why she swallowed that fly. Perhaps she'll die".

I'm now paranoid of this happening to little Smidget.

On the weekends, I get in the rotation of getting up in the middle of the night to tend to Smidget's needs... he generally gets up at 2:30am... roughly 90 minutes of feeding and small talk and then back to bed... and then he's up again around 5:30-6:00a. My wife, heroine that she is, does these middle-of-the-night duties during the week so that I'm somewhat rested for work. However, on the weekend, I'm in there... and we take turns. If I do the 2:30a the first night, I'll do the 5:30a the next night/morning.

Yeah yeah, I'm getting back to the fly thing.

So today, I was up at 5:40a with Smidget. He ate, we chatted, we reviewed the episode of the West Wing that we typically watch while eating. He dozes off and I try to do a few things... those of you that know me know that 6:30am Steve is a challenge in terms of functioning. This morning, while he was dozing in the bouncy chair (see earlier post), a fly kept landing on his head, face, nose etc.. and I would try to shoo it away without disturbing him. It occurred to me... what if this fly flew into his open mouth while I was downstairs putting in laundry or if I was in the bathroom? What if this was while he was sleeping and a fly just flew into the mouth??

The person that wrote that song seemed oddly detached and introspective. Sorta like 'gee, a fly, death could be pending'. I can't be so detached.

On a hike in Gatineau Park today I casually mentioned this to a friend. They didn't seem overly concerned... in fact, I think the quote was 'ah well, good protein'.

I'd bet the average fly is about the size of his little windpipe right now.

I wonder if I can set the video baby monitor (which also makes a sound if there's movement) to detect a fly?

One day he'll have to deal with love

One day... hopefully many many years from now... little smidget (I guess I shouldn't call him that when he's 16) will start getting interested in sex and love. One day he will fall in love. Some time after that, he'll fall in love again... and perhaps again and again. Perhaps one day he'll come to me in anguish to try and figure out why he keeps getting hurt by the opposite (or same, I'm not going to judge) sex. For the purposes of these stories, I'll use male/female relationships.

How will I explain to him that he might fall in love several times before he finds the right person at the right time and in the right circumstances. Notice I didn't say 'the one'. The 'one' is the person that meets those three criteria at once. It may or may not be the first person you fall in love with. If it happens for him as it did for me, the first person he falls in love with might not end up being 'the one'. It could be wonderful and feel like it's the perfect thing but circumstances might not work out. A good friend of mine once wisely said that people come into your life for a reason, a season, or the rest of your life.

I had the misfortune (or fortune) to arrive at the wrong time of life for three women. My first love, a long-distance relationship that for many months felt like it was the one I'd always been looking for. There was intensity, magical feelings and that certainty of it being right that loves brings. Sadly, while she could sustain those types of feelings for a time, it wasn't the right time in her life for such a relationship and it ended very badly, since when you're not in that place... it's a difficult thing to communicate, especially for a young person, and miscommunication abound. It took us a couple of years of not talking, a couple more years of uncertain long-distance wondering, and a few years of sporadic communication before we could finally reach a peaceful level where we can appreciate what we had and allow ourselves to be enriched by it.

Sadly, this was not the first time this would happen... and this is where I'll have to figure out how to advise my stellar son how to deal when another situation similar to the first crops up. Another situation came up... this time I was a bit older but the relationship was with someone (like the first) at the age of 22. I learned, the hard way, that this is a very bad time to get involved with someone if you're thinking long-term. Women are changing at this age and often don't know what they want. Men are often too dense or driven by other things to realize this.


So love abounded again and was phenomenal for a time but again, the circumstances caught up and this was another 'season' relationship. Could've been right, but the time in life wasn't. More complicated this time... an even worse break-up and caused a stress disorder. I'll hopefully never have to relay these types of consequences to him when he reads these engaging stories but it's important all the same to know that even though it could feel like love, love going bad is equally bad as the love was good.

It happened again... another 'season', this time a bit shorter (oddly, still in the 22-23yr range) but the 'L' word came into play before things went downhill with someone else who didn't know what she wanted.

The bright side, and this is the bright spark that you give to someone who's gone through the trials of love... when you find the right person, at the right time of life, and with the right circumstances... it makes life truly worth living. For then, you see, you create a real 'life' and solid unshakeable love.

Then you start to worry about how you'll guide your offspring through the truly horrible exeriences they'll go through before they find that great combo. But are those experiences, in the end, really horrible. Sure they are... but they're also part of the fabric of your life, that make you who you are. Each experience with love, and loss, eventually make you better equipped to be 'real' with your perfect person.

Now, the sex question... hmm... I hope his first experience doesn't involve the advance billing that I got of "our first time will be horrible, but then it gets better".

Or maybe he'll just get a dog.

Ubu the Wonder Dog

It recently dawned on me that my last post may have left people with the impression that I was about to commit some heinous felony or snap and go on some sort of banshee rampage.

All is fine now.

That was a pretty rough weekend and then oddly enough, starting on the Monday, a pattern emerged which involved at least 5 hours consecutive sleep from 8:30-2:00am'ish. This continued more or less for the past week. Now, how long little munchkin sleeps after that is still random... maybe 2 or 3 more hours, it all depends.

This post is largely to give kudos to my staggeringly wonderful dog. We weren't sure how she'd handle a new addition in this house, having defined the space as 'you serve me' quite well. I knew she'd be good with a baby... I mean, she's a lab and all.. but I've seen her with babies before and she has a natural, gentle instinct for them. She's been extremely supportive and un-demanding when it's clear the baby needs attention. Of course, she could be doing this to invoke guilt... and it often results in that, but we appreciate it all the same.


Yesterday early morning (oh, say 3am) little Z started to stir. He's got the occasional habit of making a few noises but then goes right back to sleep. So my wife waits a minute and listens to determine if he's really awake or just stirring. I guess he was stirring sufficiently that Ubu got up from her bed, walked over to Julie's side of the bed, and shakes her hed so that her ears flap. This technique, often used to let us know it was time to attend to her needs (mostly food) wakes us up. Julie got up and went to Zach's room... Ubu watched her go, and then turned and settled back into bed. It was absolutely hilarious... or at least I picture it being hilarious, I was dead asleep.

Most of the time, she finds him mildly interesting but still continues on her business. She's cooperative during joint walks and gives him a little lick now and again. This, I believe, is also good... how else is he going to build up immunities and avoid allergies unless exposed to various elements?

Kudos to the Ubu... she's a good big sister.