Dear Ethan, year 0, month 10

Posted on Tue 10/03/06 in Fatherhood

(click the above image to enlarge)

Dear Ethan,

As I am sitting down at the computer, I am listening to you protest your having to take a nap. You are probably standing up in your crib with tears pouring down your face. But, I guess this is the hard part of parenting. I cannot come in and pick you up. That would mean that YOU dictate when naptime is over, when we both know that mom dictates when naptime is over — and it’s not over till you get at least 20 minutes of shut-eye. Oh… there ya go… you’ve stopped crying now and are beginning to slip into la la land.

This type of protest is part of your personality — a personality which has been becoming more pronounced this month. You posess some fabulous traits… and some which we are working on refining a bit. You are a complete ham for the camera. At Mina’s birthday party, Uncle Dave couldn’t stop taking pictures of you because of your constant flirting with the lens. You prefer to hold a bottle and eat with your hands (when the food allows). You’ll push a spoon away if it is something you can grab (like mashed potatoes). You aren’t around little kids too often, so you are sometimes uneasy about playing with them. Mom started you at Gymboree so you can be around some other rugrats. You seem to enjoy the classes, and mom says you like to kiss the girls at any chance.

The other day, mom wasn’t feeling good so she sent us out to the Gymboree open gym time. THAT was an experience. The room is packed with toys and mats and things to climb all over, and everything is padded. I was the only dude there — and about 20 moms. Kids were bouncing off the walls, crawling, walking, crying, pulling hair, stuffing whatever they could in their mouths, drooling, laughing, screaming, etc.

All my love,
Dad