The life and times of an irrational father. One man, multiple personalities.
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The Case of the Missing Fingers

February 25th, 2010 | Posted by Joe in Tyler | video - (11 Comments)

Picture of Tyler and his missing fingers

You see that picture up there? Didja look at his hand? Yeah, keep reading.

There are a number of blogs that I “follow,” or, subscribe to. Most mornings, I visit an online application called Google Reader. It works similar to an email program. When I open it up, it lists all the blogs that I subscribe to, along with the number of unread or updated posts since my last visit. Recently, needled in the nest of thirty or so unread posts was a new post by one of my favorite bloggers. In it, Natui (an anagram of her blog name of Not Afraid To Use It) touches on vaccines. It served as a gentle reminder that we will be starting Tyler’s vaccinations when he turns two.

JUST FOUR MONTHS FROM NOW!

How in the heck has it already been almost two years?! We wake up, we go through our daily routines, we go to sleep. And then, one day, something happens that causes time to smack you in the back of your head. Natui’s vaccine post was the catalyst that caused me to stop and really take stock of how much has taken place and how far we’ve come as a family. I know it’s cliche to say, but time really does fly.

Tyler is learning at a pace that truly astounds me. A couple days ago, at dinner, Sarah couldn’t finish her “take the edge off” drink, so she poured what was left into my glass – effectively turning my “take the edge off” drink into a “Joe’s about to get a slight buzz” drink.

After a moment of processing, Tyler pointed at the glass and said, “Dump.”

We confirmed that, yes, mommy just dumped her drink into daddy’s glass, and followed by explaining “empty” and “full” to Tyler. He grasped it with the two glasses, pointing back and forth while saying “eppy,” and “full”, but struggled a bit when we involved our dinner plates.

But you don’t care about that, right? You want to know about a couple fingers, doncha?

A few weeks ago, I was struck with amazement (and guilt, if I’m being completely honest) at Tyler’s ability to learn. We were reading a book, and the particular page being read had some flowers in the background.

“Onnnnnne, doooooo, freeee,” Tyler said as he pointed to each of the three flowers.

Outwardly: “Yes, Tyler, there are three flowers.” Pointing to each one, I confirmed his count. ” One, two, three.

Inwardly: When the *blaap* did he learn this?!

Although I was proud and amazed at this surprising development, I felt quite a bit of guilt over the matter. See, not only did I not know Tyler could count to three, but I also had absolutely nothing to do with teaching him how to do so. It never even crossed my mind! How can I sit here and hold the belief that I’m a great good dad, and yet have no knowledge of my son’s ability to count to three?! I know, I know. Sarah’s home with Tyler all day, teaching him, playing with him, being a great mom. I get that, but this was just one of those moments that smacked me right in the face.

But wait, it gets better. Tyler could actually count to ten. TEN! Sure, he sometimes skips the numbers 7 and 8, but still, ten. By the way, did you get it yet? Missing digits? Digits… fingers? The Case of the Missing Fingers. Har har har. Well, it’s not as funny when I have to explain it to you folks. Yes, the picture above is a fake. I spent about five minutes to get the pose, and about twenty in Photoshop Elements to get the effect.

Take a couple minutes out of your busy day and watch an adorable video of Tyler counting to ten, sans seven and eight, of course.

Oh, and guess what else? I learned, later that day, that Tyler can actually count to thirteen.

A smattering of videos

February 7th, 2010 | Posted by Joe in Tyler | video - (5 Comments)

Delilah and the laser pointer:

Having some fun in Tyler’s Safari Tent:

Tyler sings a couple songs to me:

Tyler tries to say Flippy Floppies! I love this one! He’s on a boat and…

Tyler’s happy face and surprised face (previously posted):

A video smorgasbord

October 5th, 2009 | Posted by Joe in Tyler | video - (4 Comments)

My camcorder is experiencing some communication errors with my computer due to old age. I suspect I’ll be in the market for a newer (digital) model sooner than later as a result. I managed to come up with a very roundabout way to get video off the tape and onto the computer for editing that is very sketchy, at best, but workable for the time being.

So, if you’re the sort that doesn’t mind watching videos of other people’s kids, feast your eyes on these gems. I’m going to link to the videos that I’ve posted to YouTube and I’m going to embed the couple of them that I have classified as “must see videos”.

First, the ones you must check out:

Tyler is a big fan of watching football. This is the only thing he’s allowed to watch on TV.

Tyler has recently started using “yeah” and “no” to answer questions. The way he says “no” is adorable, so we exploit it here.

The rest of the videos:

2009-07-19 – Tyler helps feed Delilah: We have Tyler grab Delilah’s dish every morning and evening so he can help feed her.

2009-09-15 – Tyler rides his horse: Tyler’s riding on his annoying rocking horse. He falls off it. He demonstrates his smarts…. you know, Tyler stuff.

2009-09-15 – Tyler shows a touchdown (embedded above): It’s football season, and Tyler loves to watch the games. Here, he shows you the touchdown signal and says “Dowwwwww”. Plus, he shows his shoes.

2009-09-15 – Tyler talks and other stuff: Tyler tells you what sounds certain animals make. He plays with his toy dog. He plays with Delilah’s toys. Etc.

2009-09-24 – Tyler wants more: When Tyler wants more food, he’s not afraid to tell you, and you BETTER HURRY and get him the food he wants.

2009-09-24 – Tyler’s Melmo, Ah-ah, and Ouch: Tyler talks about his two favorite toys and shows his ouch.

2009-09-29 – Tyler says No and brushes his teeth (embedded above): Tyler’s brushing his teeth and saying “no” in the cutest way possible. This is also the first time he ever said “Maybe”.

To see all my YouTube videos, head on over here: http://videos.irrationaldad.com

The Face of Crazy

July 6th, 2009 | Posted by Joe in adorable | photos | video - (5 Comments)

This almost could have been a Wordless Wednesday post, but I’ve got stuff to say about it. The earliest known photographic evidence of Tyler making what I have began to call his "crazy face" was on May 18th, 2009. At first it began as an exaggerated smile. Over the last six weeks, this look has evolved. He now scrunches his nose, squeezes his eyes shut, throws his head back, sticks his lower jaw out and says "EEEEEEEEE." Not a high pitched squeal though. It sounds more as if he is trying to make a difficult number two (but he isn’t actually doing this). I don’t get it, but I laugh every time he does it.











And to finish it all off… here’s a video I shot of Tyler just yesterday:

Daddy’s Gonna Get It (ear updates)

June 11th, 2009 | Posted by Joe in crying | surgery | trouble | Tyler | video - (5 Comments)

Tyler’s ear surgery was yesterday at 6:45a. I won’t detail the conversation Sarah and I had regarding the audacity of an outpatient surgery center being open before eight in the morning, but we sure weren’t saying nice things about needing to get up and around WITH A BABY so early. 

We got there just a few minutes early. The receptionist had to keep her distance because she was pregnant and the smell of coffee makes her puke. To reward ourselves for getting up and around so early, Sarah and I treated ourselves to some Starbucks (read: insanely overpriced normal coffee with a million calories). With the coffee cups sitting on the counter, the receptionist took off like she owed us money. Very shortly after, we were called into the pre-op area. I wish I had brought my camera, because Tyler looked freakin’ adorable in his hospital gown. Without an ounce of shyness (or respect for other people’s space) Tyler crawled into the room next to ours – where there was another couple with a baby waiting for the same procedure – and started playing with toys that were not his.

We met the anesthesiologist (my WPM dropped to around 2 while trying to type that word), who explained to us that they would be putting a mask on Tyler so that he would breathe in some type of gas mixture. He would quickly fall asleep and would not need any IVs. A very nice nurse came to take Tyler away at 7:30. We went back to the waiting room and tried to pass the time by reading a book (Sarah) and getting caught up on work emails (me). Sarah read two pages and I sent 3 emails when the doctor came out to tell us that they were done and that Tyler was in recovery, in the process of waking up.

”Done? Already?”

”Yes,” the doctor said. He continued to tell us that his left ear looked good and that his right ear had a lot of “goop” in it. They cleaned both ears out before putting the tubes in. He also told us that Tyler took to the anesthesia very well. I can’t say I fully understand what that means or why he told us, but I couldn’t help but to be proud. Tyler, if you ever read this, good job on your gas induced loss of consciousness; we couldn’t be prouder of the fact that the gas did exactly what it was supposed to do to you. In the doctor’s defense, he did clarify a bit by saying that he was just looking around (i.e. not being a hell-spawn child who thrashes around and fights off the gas mask) and then closed his eyes when they put the mask over his mouth.

A few minutes later, we were called back to see Tyler in the recovery room. Sarah didn’t even have to ask which room it was because she could hear his cries. It took me a couple extra seconds to single his cry out from the other – very few – noises in the hall. Sarah cuddled him up and breastfed him. Poor Tyler had little muscle control and couldn’t lift his head up. I’ve read online that babies tend to be fussy and grumpy after coming out of anesthesia, and Tyler was no exception. I suspect that it has less to do with pain and confusion, and more to do with being really upset that his brain couldn’t make his muscles operate correctly. The little guy’s head just kept flopping backwards and Sarah had to use her hands to pick it back up.

By 8:15, we were on our way home. Tyler stopped crying as soon as the car started moving. He cried for just a bit longer when we got home. I had to get into the office to start work (I decided to work from home this day). Sarah fed Tyler breakfast and very shortly thereafter he was in a fantastic mood. He was a little wobbly on his feet for a bit, but quickly got that under control. Here’s a video of him later that afternoon.

Everything I read says that it’ll be "like having a brand new baby" and, while I can’t completely agree with that statement, there certainly is a level of truth to it. Today, Tyler is walking exponentially better than he was just yesterday. He’s walking in circles, room to room, and even trying to make an attempt at running. He has been in a great mood as well. He’s generally a very happy baby, so it’s hard for me to gauge if there’s a difference.