Getting into a good school

Its 20 minutes after 8 on a Monday night. I’m sitting in a parking lot of a church. A church that has a good preschool (not college, pre school) that we would like to get Thomas into. We toured it last week and it seemed like a good fit. Small class rooms, progressive curriculum, friendly staff, close to the house. We want what’s best for Thomas and the director’s warning that registration is a little out of hand didn’t completely deter us. “Last year we had a gentleman show up at 5pm the day before registration and he didn’t even get the class he wanted for his child.” We debated about getting up at 4am or even coming out in the middle of the night. Registration is at 7am, its supposed to get down to 40 degrees, but we want to give Thomas the best opportunity we can. We want to be good parents. Just for fun, I drove past here on the way home from work at 4:45. My stomach dropped when I saw a tent city already set up and at least 20 people milling about. All of the sudden, I’m not a good parent. So I trucked on home and Rebecca and I talked through our options and I made the decision to go out as soon as I could. So a quick dinner, bath and some reading for Thomas, I packed up a chair, blanket, ipad, a space heater and battery, thinking I’m prepared and thinking ahead. I arrived at around 7:45, pulled into a space reserved for restricted walkers (I feel bad, but I think I’ll be gone before its really needed. As I walked up, the preparedness of the other parents and vastness of the situation really hit me. Big propane heaters, tents, cots, coolers, tables, a fair dose of alcohol, music. It was quite a scene. I approached what I thought might be the end of a line of sorts and asked someone if I indeed had found the end. He stated, that there wasn’t really a line, but there was a sign up sheet at the front that they were hoping all would adhere to. So I moved up front found the list and found that I am number 43 on a list. The camp and cliques also had been established and I felt on the outside looking in on a private party. Everyone seems to know each other and my near crippling shyness immediately sets in. When I was a kid, my sister would make friends for me, but she’s not here and I’m comfortably off by myself. My being alone doesn’t bother me and it doesn’t seem to bother any of them, so we’re all good. I suppose if we’re lucky enough to get Thomas in here, these will be people that I will have to meet and talk to, but I’ll rely on Rebecca to establish those relationships. That’s why I married her.

So this is all insanely crazy and intolerably out of perspective and I hate that I’m a part of it. Its only preschool for goodness sake. I could probably drive off and come back later and no one would be the wiser, but my sense of fair play and my fear that if I leave I’ll lose my spot are keeping me here. I’m not even sitting in my car, so I can keep better tabs on what’s going on. I do see people making food runs and other nefarious activities. There’s also a guy playing dj with his Mercedes audio system. Its loud and bassey and he’s played a fair amount of music that probably doesn’t get a lot of airplay in a church parking lot.

Speaking of observations, I saw a gentleman walk up in slacks and a button down and immediately questioned his approach to this, both timing and attire wise. I saw him wander about not completely dissimilar to my approach. The good news is that he stopped by my little spot in leper-land and asked where I was on the list and thought that I had a decent shot, depending on how many parents before me have triplets. Turns out he is a member of the church and was getting a headcount for coffee and donuts in the morning (fellowship does exist). He stated that there are probably 55 to 60 spots, so no guarantee, but it was the most positive I’ve felt all evening. Its all very stressful. I don’t mind camping out at all, but I want it to work out. We’ll see. If anything else is worth talking bout, I’ll add to this. In the meantime, I’ll be watching soccer on my slingbox and trying to get my legs a little warmer than they currently are. Perhaps a few laps around the parking lot.

9:45 observations:
Observation #1: There’s not 42 other people here in my opinion. I’m suspicious that some folks have signed up and left. We’ll see how tomorrow morning plays out.
Observation #2: The main tent group, who also harbors the would-be dj, is playing poker and
enjoying adult beverages. It would probably be bad form to reenact Jesus’ turning over the gambling tables, but the thought and irony do seem appropriate here.
Observation #3: I’m going to be useless for the next couple days, I’m pretty sure of it.
Observation #4: There are at least 1 or 2 kids here. This may be because the parent doesn’t have another option, or they’re using them as a pawn to garner sympathy and favor. I guess I’ll call Rebecca to wake up Thomas and drag him out here.
Observation #5: Phone says its 49 degrees.

7:18am
Its all over. I sought refuge in the station wagon around 10:30. Nodded off occasionally, but not what you would call restful slumber. The parking lot security lights were not much help. At 4am it rained for about 10 minutes. At 5:30 the alarm went off. I extricated myself from the car and started milling about with the rest of the hopefuls. People started breaking down their campsites. The resurrection of the Occupy Wall Street movement lasted just one night, but we will fight on. The coffee and donuts showed up (no cake donuts, so what's the point really) around 6 and at 6:30 an ambitious mom took the list and got everyone cued up in their proper order. I felt perversely justified because there were 17 people behind me in line. The rumor flying through the line that there two sets of triplets did not appear to be good news. There were a few people who showed up fresh faced and well rested. Perhaps they will end up being smarter than the rest of us if they still get in. At 6:50, the door opened, and just like that it was over. In less than 5 minutes, I’d gotten to the front, dropped my application in the box and in my car. SEVERELY anti-climactic. Not so much as a ticket or any memento to justify this little play. So I stopped and got donuts for Thomas and Rebecca.

The End

Fears at 5:30 in the morning

I was awoken this morning by thunderstorms at the very early and rarely seen hour of 5:30 am. I know what you're thinking, there's a 5:30? I pride myself on rarley seeing anything on the southside of 7 and well up with significant pride that Thomas follows strong in my footsteps. Of all of my own dad's wonderful traits, rising early to get a good start on the day somehow was blocked in my DNA. Perhaps in future years and generations, scientists will conduct studies and come up with cures based on this significant break in heredity that I have experienced. Until then, don't schedule any early morning meetings with me.

Anywho, I couldn't get back to sleep and laying in the dark, my mind wandered to a subject that sometimes creeps into my head and I try to push out, because there are some things that may never happen, things that if did happen you can't control or both. Its one of those moments when you start thinking or overthinking scenarios and taking them to their worst cases. Maybe that's why I like to watch cartoons, it keeps out the voices. Enough set up and context I guess.

What I was thinking about was how happy and innocent Thomas is. I mean, he's exceedingly happy. Happy to play, happy to read, happy to explore, happy to be alive. He 's just uncontrollably enthusiastic. You can especially see it when he gets around other kids. We're in the middle of one of those big milestone moments in our lives and his. We're trying to figure out and find a mothers day out/preschool for Thomas, probably in the Fall. He's developing great, but still behind in some areas. So we have to find the right fit for him. He's basically spent his whole life in our presence and the idea of leaving him somewhere else, left to well meaning but potentially less dilligent people is daunting and obviously a concept that Rebecca doesn't relish. I've for the most part been ok with it, because I know Thomas needs to grow and become independent and some day be embarrassed to be within 5 feet of us. Such is life. It's not as severe as shoving a bird out of a nest to make it fly, but it's what has to happen.

The thought that I usually try not to imagine, but can and did get stuck in my head this morning was that first moment when someone takes his innocence away, when he isn't able to immediately bounce back and see the world through his optimistic eyes. My biggest concern is that inevitable moment when some other kid takes away his enthusiasm, is mean to him in some way. I hope that moment is minor, that he will have the inner strength to persevere and rise above. I hope I'm there to protect him, but I hope I'm not there to react or overreact. I don't want him to be picked on, or bullied, or made fun of, or ignored, or his friendship not reciprocated, ever. I don't think that's too much to ask, do you? Thomas is really such an amazing and awesome person and part of my life.

Well, anyway that kept me up for a while. To top that off, a morning sports show I listen to had a very tough segment that tied into my already awkward thoughts and mood. It's not a happy story, but there is a good message in it that reinforces the importance of the big picture, something that I always try to keep in mind, to somewhat limited success. I encourage you to click on the link and listen to the story, but it is a difficult story.

http://gordonkeith.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/2012-01-25-george-star.mp3

I apologize for kind of being heavy after such a long absence. But the thunderstorm and story got me thinking and I thought it best to write it all down. I hope all is well with whoever is out there. We're doing great.

Some Assembly Required - Epic Failure

Christmas Eve snuck up on me, only in that after a long evening of church, dinner and socializing, having settled into the idea of closing my eyes soon so that Santa could work his magic, I was presented with my first late evening parental experience with a cardboard box full of pieces of plastic and metal that in 34 simple steps, the use of a hammer, a screwdriver, a drill and a file (this one was not listed as a needed tool, but ended up being critical) would turn into something Thomas would treasure for at least as long as it ended up taking me, my father-in-law and my brother-in-law (also not listed in the needed tools section) to assemble.

The torture device in question is a Cozy Coupe, a nice little 4 wheel push car, no motor or any moving parts, save for the wheels. And not just any cozy coupe, but the 30th anniversary edition, which means they've had 30 years to get assembly down to a science. To keep things simple, there are no words in the instructions, its all pictures, letters and arrows. Issues #1 was the precise fit (or lack there of) of the pieces. A simple axle through a wheel proved to be a mix between an optical illusion and a defiance of the laws of physics. Some quick file adjustments got us over that hump. Issue #2 was all me. To secure the wheels to the axles requires the use of a metal cap and a hammer. Initially, not wanting to brave the sub freezing temperature in my Homer Simpson pajamas, I attempted to apply the cap to the axle delicately in the living room. This approved both inadequate to attach the cap and excessively loud enough to wake Thomas. So I was forced to brave the cold each time I needed to hammer (6 trips in all). As I was distracted, frustrated and flustered by 5 other people watching my exploits, I managed to apply a cap to an axle without sticking the plastic hubcap on first. An irreversible oversight that has left a blemish on the Cozy Coupe. Basically it looks like Thomas is riding around with a spare tire. Theoretically we can dremmel that cap off. Part of me wants his car to be perfect, part of me wants the reminder of my first attempt.

So Christmas morning went very well. As my dad is recovering from his surgery, they were stuck in Cincinnati rather than making the trek to my sister's in Virginia. Although judging by the weather, that may ultimately have been a blessing. To help my parents get a little Christmas excitement, we brought a laptop into the gift room and used Skype to let my parents watch Thomas enter the room and open his presents. I'm happy to say that he went right to the Coups and really enjoyed it. And he was not overwhelmed by the toy store that lay before him. He took the time to check out each present and enjoyed himself all day. He seems to be impervious to being spoiled so far, but now I have to figure out how to build another room onto the house for all of his stuff. Pledges have been made all around that next year there will be restraint, but that's a long way off and by then, he'll start knowing what he wants. And his birthday is a week away...

Twas the Week Before Christmas...

It really twas...Christmas day is 6 days away and we have a spoilage alert! Thomas is about to get bombarded with gifts from grandparents that will be beyond his comprehension or ability to fully enjoy before he outgrows them. I have been as stern and disapproving as I can be. Lots of harrumphs and eye rolls but nothing seems to work. I'm afraid that my beautiful wife is also complicit in this act of treachery. Alas, I've seen the home videos of her childhood and its written that we are doomed to repeat what we have experienced. So I will stand back and watch as Thomas spends as much time playing with ribbon and wrapping paper as what was inside them.


I will provide an update of the festivities later this week. In the meantime, I wanted to touch on a couple of things that are less humorous, but have been on my mind. The first concerns Thomas' grandfather, my dad. Let me just spoil the ending and let the reader know that this has a very happy ending, but over Thanksgiving we learned that my dad had prostate cancer. It was very sobering and scary for all of us. Fortunately prostate cancer is the kind of cancer that you want to get, if there is such a thing. My dad and his doctor were on top of things and caught it early. They went in last week and removed the cancer cells and everything looks really good.

The month that I was aware of the challenge my dad faced and the possibility that things could have turned out much worse were obviously scary. Not only for me as his son, but it brought to mind how important and impactful both of my grandfathers were on me and the possibility of Thomas missing out on spending time and learning from my dad was not a prospect I wanted to deal with. Thomas already has a natural connection with both of his grandfathers. Goes right to them and truly knows them to be something more than the large number of people that fawn over him (he is not want for attention). I am thankful that things turned out ok, because Thomas has to learn the tradition of making waffles from scratch on a random Sunday morning from my dad. Not only because its a memory I treasure, but also because my dad does the recipe from memory and by the time I get up these days, the waffles are already done. So someone needs to get that recipe for me. Best waffles in the world.

The other thing that has me bothered/thinking these days is my little brother in the big brother/little brother program. He just turned 16 and he has reached a point in his life that is truly a crossroads. He's making some really bad choices that will have far reaching consequences. For the first time in our relationship, I am finding myself acting like a parent more than a friend. Unfortunately, I can see in his eyes some of the same "you don't understand or I don't want to talk about this" look that I know I would have had at that age. He's still just a kid and I know he just wants to ignore bad things in the hopes they'll just go away or resolve themselves. The choices he has made, I've warned him against and tried to show him the opportunities and alternatives that are there for him if he wants them. There's really not much more I think I could have done, but I can't help but feel I'm failing a bit. Thomas could easily be him, sitting across from me, not wanting to look me in the eye. In just 2 years, I've seen my little brother change dramatically. In some ways, he's exactly the same, but in others obviously not. He's grown alot. Thomas, too, has grown so much. I worry about the choices that Thomas will one day be faced with and if I can properly prepare him to minimize the mistakes that he will inevitably make. Why do people sign up for this stuff?

Short Stories of laziness

So, I was supposed to post a video of Thomas climbing the stairs last week and I was supposed to post a new blog entry this week. Well, I didn't get around to last week and here it is this week and Thomas didn't do diddley for me to write about (actually he was awesome, is growing and took a bunch of steps, but go with me here, I'm laying out an excuse), so I'm forced to cover for him by posting, not one, not two, but three big time videos. I will have a very stern conversation with Thomas about his responsibility in regards to this blog. I'm pretty sure that will tide everyone over for a little while. I'll be back soon. Thomas says hey.

Thomas climbing stairs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GdsEtvow98


Thomas playing with Tyler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxK29m1yaSE

Thomas walking with balloon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfvkOOd8E_w

An Obsession and a Movie Review

Couple days behind this week. I'm blaming the travel days and the tryptophan. We are up in Virginia with my extended family and Thomas' cousins. Mom and son are both a little under the weather. We think this is Thomas' first real cold and he's actually fairing a little better than mom. His nose is running and he's sneezing and coughing, but he's still non-stop. Part of his non-stoppedness (made up word that I just copyrighted, so please send me royalties every time you use it) is his new found obsession and the first real grey hair inducer that he has presented his parents; stairs.


Thomas absolutely loves going up stairs, whether it is one step to get in out of the living room at MeAnn and Pop's or a full set of stairs (which are also at MeAnn's and here at the beach). We've got them blocked off with a gate, but he goes for them every chance he gets and it is just the most awesome thing to him. Maniacal laughter and, at times, reckless speed up the stairs. He's also working on down, but that is too much for me, so I end up hovering about 5 inches from him. We've got a video of him climbing that I will post here.


And the movie review. We drove to Shreveport last week and for the first time, used a DVD to pacify/entertain (Pacytain, copyrighted!) Thomas. The movie chosen, and basically Thomas' first movie to watch ever was the Muppet Movie. Thomas asked me to submit this review on his behalf. I am but a ghost writer, so the opinions and views of Thomas do not necessarily represent those of the site.


"Hi everyone and welcome to Thomas' Back Seat Movie Review. Today I'm reviewing the film 'The Muppet Movie'. A harrowing tale of good and evil. From my research, I've learned that this movie was released over 30 years ago, or 15 Thomas' ago (Get it? Because I'm almost 2 and so 15 of me would be 30! Huh? Huh? Never mind, its my first joke, they're bound to get better once I learn some more words). 30 years, wow! Can you imagine how big iPads must have been back then? I was really looking forward to this movie, because I'm huge follower of Elmo and my understanding is that some of the characters in this movie are Elmo's kin. So, did I laugh? Well yeah, I laughed my head off, but to be honest, I laughed my head off at the Geico commercial with the little piggie, and some times when my mom says 'in a moment', so the bar isn't that high.


Overall, I found the muppets to be colorful and they moved on the screen alot. I really like that. Give me random movements and lots of action and I'm pretty much in. The plot was charming, but I found the number of cameos to be excessive and honestly I didn't really recognize most of them. Eventually I got distracted by the lights of the passing cars, so I don't really know how it ended, but I'm pretty sure since it was a movie about the muppets wanting to make a movie, things must have turned out ok. I give it 3 out of a possible 4 pacifiers. Until next time, here's burping at you."


So there you go, Thomas is a tough but honest critic. Since we're talking movies, Thomas was kind enough to pose for two shots, the first as Harry Potter and the second as Harry Potty. Get it? Huh? Is this thing on?

One Small Step

Week 2 of the new and improved blog. Feeling fine. So I spent a fair amount of this last week considering what I could/should write about. I've got a goodly amount of ideas, but I wonder what is noteworthy and interesting vs. pedestrian and common among all parents. Alot of life now is about making those personal sacrifices that I frankly have a hard time making. As Thomas becomes more mobile and curious and independent, he becomes more time consuming and challenging and exposed to dangers. Whereas before when Thomas would just sit there and we were worried that he was breathing and growing and all that good stuff. Now, he is moving and exploring and into everything he can, so if he's awake, we have to be vigilant and basically on guard duty.

A leash seems alot more plausible and acceptable than it would have before (he is dressed like a dog above, so why not). I guess we won't resort to that, but I'm not entirely ruling it out. So there feels like very little downtime exists for either of us and I know I'm getting more sleep than when there were feedings in the middle of the night, but I still feel really tired. I think Rebecca does too, but you know, its my blog, so we're going to focus on how tough it is on the dad.

So, anyway, the focus of today's blog is this exclusive, never before seen footage of Thomas walking! He's been toying with the idea for several weeks now, but I think we're really getting close and here is the proof. Please enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL0pB_DW6c4

A New Year's resolution

They are an utter waste of time...unless you start one in the middle of November instead of January 1st. I've missed writing this blog, but much like my homework that I used to ignore, once you let it start slipping, the pile just becomes so unwieldy, its easier to hide from it than to try and tackle. So I've made a promise to myself to try to get back into the groove on this. I'm not going to tell anybody though, so maybe you'll find it and maybe you won't. Of course, if you haven't found it, then you didn't read that last sentence, so I'm only talking to the ones that did find it. Shame on the rest of you for not continually checking the blog while I ignored it. See, now its your fault and I feel better about myself.

Oh yeah, we're here about Thomas. Thomas is less than 2 months from his second birthday. So what has he been up to? Well he's about 19 pounds and about 30 inches long. He presents a challenge for mom and the clothing industry, because he is long and thin, which I guess is un-baby like, but it is dad like, so I'm cool with it.

Achievements. Let's list them:

• He's really, really good at repeating words. This video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZiP0nbeFYc is just the beginning. Please ignore the fact that we keep our child in a cage outside with a dangerous animal. Its just easier to keep our house clean this way. I will post another to show his vocabulary. He's also good at pointing at things you ask him to point out. he knows how to brush mommy's hair and pretend to feed Elmo the way he gets fed.
• He's standing. He can pop up and for the most part just hang out without any assistance.
• He can bench press 10 pounds. It doesn't sound like much, but we're really concentrating on form right now.
• He's not walking yet, but he can if you hold one hand. He crawls, really, really fast and wants to be able to walk that fast. So when he can't, he abandons the walk for four legs. He also bear crawls and he's started moving on his knees without his hands, kinda scooting.
• He can open drawers and cabinets and has his eyes on door knobs. Which is really awesome for us.
• He ate part of a crayon today. This is actually quite huge. Because of all of the tubes and such that he had to have down his throat, Thomas has an aversion to textures and still can't handle solid food without gagging. The crayon was the biggest and most solid thing he's eaten. It was yellow.
• He knows right from wrong. He doesn't really care, but he does know. There are certain things that Thomas likes to grab or places he likes to go. If we catch him and say no. He crawls away as fast as he can and laughs his head off. Its quite maniacal.
• He just continues to laugh and be happy as can be. The only times he ever cries is if he gets stuck with a needle, he doesn't want to go to bed, or he misses his mommy. Thomas has really become attached to mommy and he misses her, if she's not around.

So that's a quick synopsis of where we are. I will add more, hopefully once a week is the plan. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thomas showing off his skills

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD0cw8nBVhA

New Pics

I noticed the other day that all of the pictures to the left are from the first 6 months of Thomas' life. So I thought it best to add another slide show. We're a semi-camera happy family, so I started to load up pics backwards from the hospital story backwards. 900+ photos later, I was able to get back to October 30th. That's 4 months if you're wondering. Some day we'll look back and wish we'd done a better job of documenting Thomas' formative years and he'll look back completely stunned at all the things we put him through for the sake of a photo.