step one

I know it's been a few days since I last posted, but it's been quite eventful. We're talking first meltdown, new words and yes, indeed, Kai's first steps.

He now says mama deliberately, although he seems to have forgotten my name. Oh well.

Anyways, yesterday he took several steps on his own, with our help as you can see in the video. Today, he took about five steps on his own. We still have to help him stand up, but the leg coordination is there.

Welcome to the mobile age...

mirror image

Erin brought Kai into our bedroom this morning while I was still asleep, and as she held him on her hip in front of the mirror, he said looked at her in the mirror and said "mama." My eyes popped open. I was awake now.

In the past few weeks his ability to mimic our words has grown by leaps and bounds. So far, he has said the words Daddy, Isaac, mama, turtle, bird, banana, no, ball, and a bunch of other words that we can't decipher.

This weekend we had lunch at Grandpa Bill's house in Debary. Bill and Janet grilled steaks and Kai was cracking up over their shih-tzu, Boo-Boo, who has more energy than a nuclear reactor. Boo-boo was playing with a soccer ball and Kai was just cracking up. When Bill & Janet get their internet connection up and running I'll be able to retrieve the video and post it up here.

I also helped Janet get over a year's worth of photos off of her camera onto their computer. Some of her photos took me back to when Kai was born, and those magical first minutes. It was inspiring to see how far we've come since then.

49 minutes

Well, it's no Leadville 100, but Erin, Kai and I completed the Track Shack 30-year Anniversary 5k today, in record time! We crossed the finish line at approximately 49 minutes. I say approximately because we did not wear those fancy chips on our shoes that record our times, so we had to use the digital timers posted at the end of the course.

In the foggy cloud of sleepiness this early morning, I managed to forget to bring Kai's pacifier to the race. He was fussing a bit before the race, which had me worried, but he chilled out once we started moving. I did the first two miles with him on my back and Erin setting a quickening pace, and she carried him for the last leg of the race. It's amazing how heavy that pack is getting with him in it...

Click on the photos for a larger version or to access more photos from the race. Au revoir!

born to run

Best wishes to one of my closest friends of 15 years, Ryan Allred is participating in the Leadville 100, a 100-mile (yes, one hundred mile) marathon that will last up to 30 hours as he treks at minimum elevations of 9200 feet above sea level, and as high as 12,600 feet above sea level. It's hard to imagine, but yes it is a non-stop race, and Ryan's goal is to simply finish in under 30 hours.

Kind of makes the 5k Erin, Kai and I are doing tomorrow look pretty wimpy. Photos and race results from both us will be up after the weekend.

transportation

Never, ever buy a car when you're in need of a car. It's kind of like going grocery shopping when you're hungry. It's just like the old adage, when you're a hammer everything looks like a nail.

This weekend Erin and I bought a car. We really need to have two reliable cars, and her trusty 12-year old Honda was just not cutting it. Plus, my trusty 12-year old Acura was in the shop for some major, but relatively reasonable repairs needed to keep it roadworthy. So with the deposit I got from a web design project that I'm working on, we went and purchased a 2001 Honda Accord. A very safe, very reliable car that is big enough for our needs while still being very fuel efficient. In our haste, we didn't notice that the vehicle had a weird headlight problem, or that it was missing a trunk bed liner. The trunk issue has since been corrected, but the headlights still need to be fixed.

To the dealer's credit, they are promising to fix everything at no cost to us. It's just a matter of my time. But had I not been in a rush, I could've inspected the car more closely. At any rate, when my car is out of the shop, we will be have two solid cars for our family.

Kai stood on his own yesterday for nearly 90 seconds, while he played with his brother's cell phone. When he finally dropped the phone, he sat down on his butt to pick it up, but he didn't stand anymore. That's what we've noticed, that if he doesn't realize he's free-standing, then he can stand. But the second he realizes it, he drops down on his butt. It's just like a kid learning to ride a bicycle. They're fine until they realize no one is holding them up.

We are participating in a 5k walk/run this Sunday. I will be hoofing it with Kai on my back, just like I did in January, although Kai is now substantially heavier. Erin may even walk it with me. I'll be aiming to beat the 52 minute mark for walking the 5k. Wish us luck.

fuss week

We're shaking things up. We have instituted several new policies around here that are part of Kai's acsension into toddlerhood. First off, and the most difficult, we have begun to ween him off his bottle and onto sippy cups. We're on day four of the transition, and it has been challenging. But according to his doctor, Kai must be off of the bottle by fifteen months, so we might as well do it now. We're also cutting back on the amount of formula he gets with each bottle, and are mixing in unsweetened soy milk with the formula. Erin and I watched a three year old boy on Supernanny that was still hooked on the bottle, so we're glad we're doing it now before he can talk back.

That being said, he definitely prefers the bottle over the cup.

We are also eliminating Kai's TV time. Kai does enjoy watching Baby Einstein videos, and truth be told, they're quite mesmerizing. And yet we know that we don't want to raise yet-another TV-addicted child. There's enough of those already.

On top of that Kai has six teeth that are slowly coming in. In adult terms, it would be like having a severe toothache while quitting drinking and smoking while the power's out and the car's broken down. Imagine how frustrating that might be, and that's probably close to how Kai feels.

The TV transition has been much less challenging. Today we experienced Kai's first meltdown when he didn't want to take a morning nap. He was kicking and screaming and making quite the spectacle of himself. Luckily Erin and I have been preparing for this so we weren't completely shocked. That's not to say that we knew what to do or that we were able to stop the meltdown before it got out of control, but at least we weren't surprised. Next we work on our response...

All in all, all of this change has added up to a fuss-filled week with Kai. But he's adapting to it like a champ.

a special evening

I looked him straight in the eye. He returned my stare, fearless. After about two seconds, he lunged at me, his arms going for either side of my neck.

My son was tired. He hugged me and put his head on my chest. It was awesome.

At any rate, since I now have confirmation that my parents know of this blog, I must say this: please consider letting this made-up idea of disrespect go, and please consider letting go of the idea that you should have had a say in my marriage. I truly believe that if you let these things go, we can begin anew and forge a real, lasting relationship.

I got an evening alone with Kai tonight, as Erin went to Landmark Education Special Evening tonight with one of her best friends who is currently registering for the Landmark Forum. When she told me she wanted to go, I was reminded of what a great experience the Landmark Forum and the Advanced Course was for me and Erin, and how much it continues to enrich our lives together.

So for Kai and daddy night, I grilled some brown-mustard rubbed chicken breasts, with grilled broccoli and lentils. Kai already loves my grilled chicken, so it was no suprise that he ate almost an entire chicken breast. What was endearing is how much he loved my broccoli. I love grilled broccoli, and I knew he liked it, but he was actively picking my broccoli over the chicken tonight. Somebody call the Guiness Book of World Records, and George Bush Senior. He didn't care for the lentils as much, which I can understand as they are an acquired taste. But my boy definitely likes my broccoli.

It truly was a special evening for all of us...

check please

Kai had his 12-month checkup today with Dr. Franz, and he is officially 23.15 pounds and 31 inches tall. Erin pointed out that he has grown 13 inches and 15 pounds since he was born. That's over a foot in height. It literally happened under our noses.

One thing we had to ask the doctor about was Kai's severe dermal reaction to mosquito bites. His bites swell up a lot and turn red, and then turn hard and sometimes scab over. While he doesn't seem to mind, they definitely don't look healthy. Interestingly enough, Dr. Franz said that that happens all the time, and to just rub a freshly cut raw onion on any insect bite. I had never heard of this homemade remedy, and we are definitely going to try that out.

And best of all, the doctor told me that rocking him to sleep for his daytimes naps is absolutely fine, as long as he doesn't start wanting it for his nighttime sleep, which he hasn't done yet. That means I can still take naps with him in the morning for a while. So I've got that going for me, which is nice...

it's a celebration!

The weather held out. After pouring nearly every afternoon leading up to today, the weather finally relented and let us have a wonderful pool party for Kai's first birthday celebration.

Click here for photos of Kai's first birthday party.

We had a great time. I grilled my soon-to-be-famous burgers and hot dogs and Kai got a ton of presents. Erin and I are committed to Kai not eating any added or artificial sugars. So instead of a traditional Publix cake, Erin found a recipe for a carrot cake that used whole wheat flour, apple juice and raisins to create the cake, instead of refined sugars and bleached flour. I maintain that avoiding any refined, added sugars in food is the best course of action, that course of action does not necessarily produce the best baked goods.

The cake was not the hit of the party. Kai liked it, though.

At any rate, we all had a great time. Thanks to everyone who showed up and shared our special occassion with us. Much love to you all.

party time

Kai's first birthday party is upon us. While his birthday was officially Thursday morning, we are celebrating in style today (Sunday). Both sets of Erin's parents are coming over, and none of my still-refusing-to-accept-reality parents are coming over. We are expecting up to 20 people tomorrow — and I'm cooking for all of them.

And, on a serious note, if you are one of my parents and you are reading this, Erin, Kai and I would all like you to be part of our family. All that we ask is that you accept us as exactly as we are, and exactly as we are not. I'm sorry for all of the frustration and anger that has come up between us, and I'm willing to let the past be the past. You haven't seen Kai since mid-March. Please, realize that it's no longer about you and us — Kai deserves to know my side of the family, too.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming — photos will be up soon after the party.

birthday happenings

Erin gave Kai his first birthday gift early this morning, a Sesame Street pop-out toy that has Ernie or Elmo sing a song when the baby hits one of the huge buttons on it. Kai loves it. After Erin left for work, we took a nice little morning nap together. I love napping with Kai — when he falls asleep in my arms I get an amazing sense of serenity and peace.

It's raining out today, so I'll probably just take him to the Y and let him play whilst I work out. I think for lunch I'll treat him to some of his favorite food (chicken) and give him another present. Sounds like a solid plan to me.

525,600 minutes

Well, we've made it. Kai is now officially one whole year old. A quick check of his vitals has his weighing in at 25 pounds and standing around 30 inches tall. He currently has two full teeth, and four more have just broken the skin and are rapidly growing.

We have a small pool party planned for this Sunday at our house. We're expecting around 20 people, including a few babies and kids. Kai will probably receive a small mountain of gifts, too.

Kai's speech repetoire is growing. He mimicks what we say all the time now. I've had to start watching what I say around him. We can't even say the word "milk" near him, he definitely knows that one. And he definitely signs for milk and airplane now, although he does the airplane sign for anything that's up in the air, like a bird or a water fountain. But hey, it's progress.

It's hard to believe it's already been a year. I know it's cliche, but the time really has flown by. And yet I don't feel like I missed anything. Trying to stay present throughout this past year has been a challenge, but it's been very rewarding. Thank you all, dear readers, for keeping up with us throughout this year. Tell your friends about us, because there's a lot more to come.