Parenthood: A semi-regular blog on being a Dad. Part X: Almost two!
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Once again, it has been far too long since I blogged about being a Dad. So here it goes...
Cosmo turns 2 years old in July. Since the last time I wrote in any detail about Cosmo, he has grown in so many ways it's hard to keep track. We took a road trip with him a few weeks back, and I decided to write down all of the word that he knows how to say, and the list ended up being over 130 words, and I am sure we missed some. This doesn't count the words he understands the meanings of, but doesn't actually verbalize. On the one week road trip, he learned at least another 20-30 (including: ocean, shell, crab, sea, moon, etc...), and since then he has been adding at least 2-10 new words to his vocabulary daily. It really is amazing to see how quick kids learn language. It's so clear we are hard-wired with the capacity to learn language.
He also has started to string more words together into phrases and proto-sentences, such as "get out car", "go get shoes", "bye-bye grandma", "me get down", etc. His memory is, as most toddlers, amazing. I'll point out something in a book just one time when reading his bedtime books, such as "coral", and he'll remember and repeat the word when he sees the same image days later. He also says words for images that appear on the next page before I flip to that page, indicating he remembers the page ordering of many books we read to him. The intellectual growth at this age really is astounding. I went away for a 3 day retreat this past weekend, and Cosmo seemed noticeably changed since when I left. He becomes more and more aware of the world around him, how to name things, and how things relate to each other. He can also count to 3, and seems to understand the concept of "two-ness" of items. He'll get his shoes and say "one shoe" as he grabs the first, and then "two shoe" with the second. His increasingly complex conceptualizations of his world are fun to watch!
One thing that we have aimed to do is raise Cosmo in a way that nurtures him as self-confident, loving, and compassionate as possible. Now that we are parents, we have been reflecting on our own childhoods, it's clear that certain negative and/or other neurotic parenting can leave lasting emotional scars on children that manifest in negative behavior patterns as adults. And while I am sure we'll make many mistakes, lose our tempers at times, etc. I am striving to learn from the mistakes of my own upbringing in the way I raise Cosmo (and soon the yet-to-be-named twin boys due this Fall, currently referred to as "Alpha" and "Beta").
I wouldn't trade being a father for anything in the world. It's tons of work, but so rewarding in ways that I can't even verbalize.
whir of my computers and sound of Comso playing upstairs
wow, it's been far to damn long since I blogged about Cosmo. Not even sure how many people read this blog.
Cosmo turned 1.5 a week or so ago, and is now fully in toddler mode. He can run around the house (he is upstairs clomping around as I type this), and his vocabulary seems to expand daily. His favorite word is still "car", but he also loves to say loads of other words, especially words that rhyme. He'll explore words that sound alike in a big babbling string such as "boat...coat...goat...boat...moat..." etc. (I don't think he has any idea what a moat is, but he seems to know it rhymes. He can also now string words together into simple proto-sentences such as "Cosmo go car". He only does this occasionally, not sure why.
He also started up ISR swimming lessons again after a 2 month hiatus due to a big outbreak of cryptosporidium that infected the pool. He has become a real pro at floating on his back to breathe, flipping over to swim to the edge, etc. We'll feel much more secure with him around water this Summer due to these classes. He was going every day (for a 10 min session), but now he had "graduated" to 3X a week. Eventually it will be just 1X a week.
I'll have some new videos of him swimming, etc. on here at some point. His latest pictures can be found here.
Cosmo doing an atonal modern piece of his own composition on his piano. At one point he tries to eat the piano, as well as does a short drum solo on the top.
Over a month after he took his first steps, Cosmo is now walking around the house. He started when I was away on my Vegas trip. I'll have video online soon...
Cosmo has been using new words more and more. His latest favorite is "car" which he says repeatedly anytime he sees a car, or plays with his toy cars. He also knows "truck" and seems very fascinated by big semi trucks.
We also started taking him to ISR swimming lessons, which will teach him to float on his back, swim to the edge of the pool, and grab onto the edge. Could be a real lifesaver. The class runs for only 10 minutes at a time (to avoid burn-out and/or frustration) every weekday, for 4-6 weeks total. Check out the ISR website and watch the videos. Pretty amazing what kids as young as 6 months can learn!
After being able to stand on his own for about a week, and being able to haul ass with his little walker/scooter thing, he finally took his first real steps last Friday. He almost walked into a swimming pool, I grabbed him at the last second! (He loves water)
It's been about two weeks since I got an iPhone. I wanted to wait to post a review of it, to let some of the initial techogeeklust and "wow factor" wear off. I do admit I am a gadget geek. Many tech gadgets amuse and delight me for a short time, but the ones I am truly interested in are the ones that hold their appeal and usefulness over time. So far, I think the iPhone will be such a gadget, especially when Apple releases some updates and enhancements.
Overall, I *love* the iPhone. It is leaps and bounds better than my old Kyocera 7135 PalmOS-based phone. As a web/email access tool, it is overall stellar. As a phone it is pretty good too. Would I recommend getting one? Well, if you don't mind dropping $600 for a phone, and don't mind waiting for some of the bugs to be worked out, I'd say yeah, get one! It really feels like you are holding the future in your hands when using it!
--------------------------------------- What rocks about the iPhone ---------------------------------------
1) The screen! It has the most beautiful, crisp, and bright screen of any hand-held device (cell phone, PDA) I have ever used. (it is a 3.5-inch widescreen, running 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 160 dpi) Viewing emails, web pages, and videos on it is as enjoyable as such a small screen can be (of course I prefer a 21" desktop display, but that doesn't fit in my pocket!) The fact they used glass for the screen is a big plus too, as it doesn't scratch like plastic would, and it seems to hold up well. Also, while I was concerned about fingerprints and smudges from touching the screen, but you really don't notice unless in bright light. I can actually see myself watching a movie on the iPhone on a long flight.
2) The multi-touch interface. When I first saw the commercial for the iPhone, I thought "damn! the touch screen can't be that good can it?" But it really is. Unlike my old Palm-based devices, which often required me to pull out the stylus (which is easily lost), *everything* can be done on the iPhone via the touch-screen, and it works really well. Scrolling through emails, or web pages requires a mere flick of the finger. And the faster you flick, the faster it scrolls. Slow scrolling is as easy as just dragging my finger up or down. And the ""pinch" and "reverse-pinch" to zoom out/in is slick and very intuitive. Very cool!!
3) Web browsing. The version of Safari for the iPhone is overall very nice (with some caveats I list below). This is the first handheld device I have used that web browsing is actually enjoyable, especially when connected to a WiFi network. None of the crappy small WAP-based browsing of past PDAs. It allows display of real websites, in most of their glory, pictures, text formating, etc. (Abode Flash isn't supported yet, but on the way soon). The functionally is much like the desktop Safari, and eve supports multiple "tabs" (up to 8) is something that is a big plus (as I almost always have 15-20 tabs on my desktop browser as well, and any browser without them feels very restricting to me!) Of course reading an entire normal page of text on a website means some TINY text on the iPhone, but with the sharp screen it is often possible to read anyway, and for those sites it isn't, a quick double-tap on the frame or area I want to read results in the browser zooming into that area (most of the time, something this doesn't work as it should). Also the "pinch"/"reverse-pinch" works here as well for zooming out/in. Scrolling around on a zoomed page is easy as well. Oh, and I LOVE the auto-rotate screen feature in Safari, where turning the iPhone sideways results in the page smoothly rotating to landscape mode. For some pages this makes browser MUCH more enjoyable. For some news sites the vertical/portrait mode is better. It's seamless to switch back and forth as needed. I have long wanted a device I can carry around and quickly pull out to do a Google search, look up something on Wikipedia or IMDb, etc. And the iPhone fits that bill nearly perfectly. I have spent 3-4 hours a a time browsing the web from the phone, just to see how well it works, and while I prefer my desktop for serious browsing (and especially typing in data, such as for blogs, etc.), the web browsing experience on the iPhone is vastly superior to any other hand-held I have seen.
4) Google Maps: I have been a total fanboy of Google maps every since it first came out. It just keeps getting better and more full-featured. The custom interface Apple did for Google maps on the iPhone is overall really well done. If you haven't already seen the "Calamari" ad for the iPhone, it shows exactly how easy, powerful and just damn cool Google maps is:
5) YouTube: Ok, this is TOTALLY frivolous and time-wasting, but the fact I can watch some of the zillions of YouTube videos on my phone is pretty cool. Makes for great demos for friends, and good for killing time when stuck waiting someplace. There are something like 10,000 videos that have converted to the H.264 format required for video on the iPhone, but supposedly the entire library will be available by Fall. Another bonus, when viewing YouTube videos on a WiFi connection, the video quality is GREAT. Over the slower EDGE cellular network video quality is reduced, but still watch-able.
6) SOME of the phone features: While some features are annoying and/or missing, some of the others are really slick. Visual voicemail for one, which let's you quickly view all of the voicemails you have, almost like a list of emails, and listen to whichever one you want, in any order. Very cool, and something I suspect many phones will offer as a standard feature someday. The ease of switching between two calls, and even merging two calls into a 3-way conference call is very slick.
7) WiFi support. If you are in range of an open WiFi (802.11b/g) network, it's easy as pie to join it and surf the web, email, etc. at high speeds. Connecting to a WEP or WPA protected network is a few more steps, but is very annoying with my older Linksys 802.11b wireless access point, which the iPhone sometimes forgets the WEP string (a 27 digit hexadecimal number which is a royal pain to re-type in)
8) Email: While the email client isn't perfect, it works, and does what I need it to do: Access my work SSL-IMAP email. Once my 200+ emails downloaded (which took a while), scrolling through them is a breeze with the touch screen. I wish it had batch delete, and the speed could use some improvement, but overall the email client is nice.
------------------------------------------ What sucks about the iPhone: ------------------------------------------
1) Bugs: There are still some bugs that are likely due to Apple rushing to get the iPhone to market. Many of them are minor annoyances, but things like Safari crashing (which happens somewhat frequently, and can lead to lost data if you are entering data into a web-form) are frustrating. I have also had the iPhone hang completely three times so far, requiring a hard-reset (no data was lost fortunately). Also, syncing between iCal and the iPhone calendar is still flaky. The biggest annoyance was when I accidentally called someone at 2am and the phone wouldn't let me hang up before it rang about 4 times! I have only had this happen once though. I am willing to bet Apple will be releasing an update to fix some of the bugs in the next few weeks/months. A good list of know bugs/issues can be seen here: http://www.applehound.com/node/104
2) No iChat/IM!!!!!! ARGH! Why didn't they include iChat? The text message (SMS) interface looks like iChat, but I want the real thing, to be able to keep in contact with co-workers while I am away from my office. There is a web-based IM client that works OK (http://www.beejive.com/) but it doesn't alert you to incoming IMs, and only works if you are running the browser. Rumor has it iChat is coming soon, and I hope this is the case.
3) Virtual keyboard: Well, it doesn't really suck, but it isn't all that great. I have gotten a lot faster since I started, and the auto-correct feature works pretty well, but overall I don't think anyone is going to be typing as fast on the iPhone as they can after practice on a Blackberry or Treo. Still, the fact the keyboard can change depending on context, as well as rotate 90 degrees to landscape mode (in Safari only) helps make up for the fact it is harder to type on.
4) A few usability issues: Accidentally dialing someone from the "Recent Calls" list is WAY to easy. Just click on their name. Some might consider this a feature (to make it easy to dial quickly), but I have found myself dialing people I didn't mean too far too often. I'd prefer if they required a double-click for dialing, or a confirmation box (which can be disabled for those who don't want it). Another one is if you launch a web-page from an email, there is no direct way to go back to the email, without first going to the main screen ("dock") and then to email again. This is pretty minor though.
5) EDGE. I only get around 80-120 Kbs via EDGE, whereas 3G can do upwards of 600-800 Kbs with peaks up to 2400 Kbs (from what I read). However, I also read that 3G network coverage isn't nearly as widespread as EDGE is. I'm no cellular protocol expert, I just know I want as fast as I can get. =8^)
6) NO COPY-N-PASTE!!! Why the hell didn't they offer some sort of text copy-paste function?! This is very annoying. I always was using copy-paste on my Palm-based phone to save time. I am guessing (hoping!) they offer this as a feature in an upgrade sometime soon.
7) No way to replace the battery. When the battery starts to crap out, it'll take sending the phone in for replacement. That sucks. I hear it will cost $85 as well. OUCH! I'd bet 3rd parties will start offering cheaper replacements, but you still have to wait to get the phone back in the mail (having another GSM phone around to swap out your iPhone SIM card would be handy for this).
8) Development is locked down: Other than web-based/AJAX apps (which there already are some good ones (such as MockDock, BeeJive, etc.), there is currently no way for non-Apple developers to write and deploy applications for the iPhone. Coming from my PalmOS phone, which I had dozens of freeware and shareware applications and hacks on, this is pretty annoying. I know Apple doesn't want to run the risk of phone stability issues with 3rd party apps, but let US decide if we want to run that risk Apple! I want 3rd party apps. If Apple doesn't offer them, hackers will figure out a way to allow them (they already have hacked into the iPhone and allowed adding ringtones, as well as getting SSH shell access, which means the sky may soon be the limit in terms of iPhone hacks!!)
Parenthood: A semi-regular blog on being a Dad. Part IX: One year!
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Howlin' Wolf - Ain't Goin' Down That Dirt Road - The Chess Box, Disc 3, 1963 - 1973
Cosmo turned one this last weekend, on 7/14/07.
Hard to believe it has been one year! Just a quick update, been rather busy this Summer.
We did a 1.5 family week road trip in June, which was a first for Cosmo. We camped 2 nights on the Washington coast (Kalaloch beach, which is really beautiful) Cosmo took to camping quite well, and other than trying to eat everything he could pick up ((dirt, plants, sand) he had a great time exploring the beach and forest. We then spend the next 3 days in Seattle, visting the IKEA there to get cabinets for Katherine's (Pauline's sis) kitchen. From there we drove to Pullman, WA where we spent 4 days helping Katherine remodel her kitchen (wiring, plumping, gas piping, etc.) It was hard work but fun! We took Cosmo swimming to try and escape the 100F temps.
We had a pool party on Cosmo's b-day, attended by many friends and family, and everyone had a great time swimming in the two pools we have setup (small kiddie pool and 15' bigger pool) I'll have pictures online soon.
As far as development changes, Cosmo has started stringing babble together to sound like sentences. He also has started saying a few words on a regular basis. His first word we could clearly recognize was "book". He loves books, and we read him books every night. He also says "gong" (but it sounds more like "Guuuh!") which is in reference to this brass gong windchime we have in the family room, which he loves to ring at least 10X a day. He will point (a fairly new behavior) and say "GUUH! GUUUH!!" meaning he wants to go ring the gong.
He also is getting much better at standing up leaning against anything and everything. He stands up in his crib all the time now, but when he is tired he can't get back down and will cry out until we come sit him back down (this can be repeated 2-5 times some nights). He can also take steps if we hold his hands, so we expect he'll be walking sometime in the next few months. He prefers to be standing as much as possible, and this means we have to keep a close eye on him (as he tips over chairs, etc.)
Parenthood: A semi-regular blog on being a Dad. Part VIII: My how time flies
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Groove Salad: a nicely chilled plate of ambient beats and grooves. [SomaFM]
Ok, ok. I admit, I am a TOTAL BLOG SLACKER yet again. I know, it's been over 3+ months since my last real post. Sue me. I've been busy. =8^)
Wow. How things change every day/week/month. Cosmo is now nearly 11 months old. He is up to around 27 lbs, and very tall. He gets mistaken for a 1.5-2 year old. He wears 18-24 month clothes. He is off the charts in height, head size, and around 95% for weight: He's a big boy!
Since my last post he has been developing in what seem like quantum leaps. One day he just figures something out and starts doing it, even if he showed little ability the day before. Other things are slower incremental steps.
He started "crawling" about 2 months back. More like a "gimpy wounded WWI trench crawl" where he uses his arms to drag his limp legs behind him. He gets around still, and has gotten pretty quick to get across the room when he wants to. Of course he is most rapidly drawn to new things he hasn't seen before, and has a penchant for things that are dangerous (electrical cords, heavy objects that can fall on him, etc.) so we have to keep an increasingly vigilant eye out for him. In the past 2-3 weeks he has started to lift up on to his knees and rock around a bunch, looking rather silly and a tad obscene, but still doesn't crawl on his knees. He still just drags his legs behind him, sometimes using them to push off, but not much really.
He has also started to really love to stand up while leaning or holding on for support. He can stand holding onto the "baby playpen" we keep him penned up in while not watching him closely. He holds onto the edge and stands, sometimes a bit wobbly, for up to 5 minutes at a time. Occasionally he just lets go, and then has an odd look as he slowly falls over backwards into the arms of either Pauline or me. He also just stood up onto his knees for the first time tonight in the bathtub. He seemed very proud of this and squealed with delight.
He looks more and more like a toddler and less like a baby every day. He is super alert to any new noises, sights, objects, etc. Unlike 3 months ago he has increased "object memory" where we can show him an object and then hide it behind something and he'll go looking for it. He is obsessed with necklaces and earrings, and Pauline often has to remove hers once he sees them as he persistently tries to grab them.
He also loves mouths and teeth, and constantly wants to feel our teeth and lips. He knows mouths are for food and feeding, and now tries to feed us when he is eating. This has caused him to become bored with him eating like he used to, so feeding time (especially lunch) can be a very involved process where we have to let him pretend to feed us with a spoon while we sneak food into his open mouth while he thinks he is feeding us. this was hilarious for about 5 minutes. Now it is just time consuming! He used to eat about anything, and now he is getting more fussy and selective. He gets bored much easier, and wants to make food a game, and explore its properties. The first time he ate spaghetti noodles was funny, he whipped them around like a bullwhip and then slurped them down noisily (as is the tradition in Asia, so he would fit in well there).
He has started to form some "proto-words" that sound somewhat like "da-da" and "ma-ma". He won't repeat words for us hardly ever, but he does love to imitate when we purse our lips and use our finger to flap them up and down making the well-known "bub-bub-bub-bup" sound. It was almost like a form of joke communication a few days ago, where I would do it, he would imitate me, and then we'd just laugh out loud. It still slays me when he does it. Yes, I am easily amused. =8^)
I'd expect that he'll be walking in another 2 months, maybe sooner. He may skip the real crawl (on his knees) altogether. We'll see. (I didn't walk till I was 18 months old)
Overall he is a very happy little dude, and a joy to be around. He has filled our lives with so much happiness and fun, as well as a ton of work. It's all worth it though. I really love him more than I every thought I could. I can't wait to see him develop and grow more, and someday to be able to talk with him, read him stories that he can understand, and teach him about this big, crazy, amazing world we live in. Right now his universe is so small and isolated. I remember thinking how small I thought my world was when I was 3-4 years old. It's gonna be fun to re-experience what it is like to see the world through the eyes of a child. Somewhat like an LSD trip, all the time. ("Wow, have you ever really looked at your hands??" LOL)
Parenthood: A semi-regular blog on being a Dad. Part VII: Changes nearly every day
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Songs: Ohia - Didn't It Rain - Didn't It Rain
Ok, I am a total blog slacker, it's true. It's been months since my last update (other than videos I posted).
Cosmo is now 7 1/2 months old. Since my last update, he has grown to nearly 23 lbs, now has three teeth showing, and is just beginning to make an effort to try and crawl some. He still doesn't like "tummy time" much, but he can put up with it for 5 minutes at time now before he gets frustrated and starts to whine/cry.
It really is amazing how quickly babies develop and change nearly every day. He gets more and more aware and curious of his surroundings all the time. He can clearly make out moving objects a distance, such as when he sits by the front window of the house and looks out at the three kittens playing across the street (at least 50 feet away). He is fascinated by movement of all kinds, as well as patterns, colors, etc.
He has also gotten a lot more dexterous with his hands and fingers. He learned to turn on his mobile using his foot at around 3 months of age, and in the past week he has learned to do so with his hands as well, much to his delight. He has been waking earlier these days (5:30 - 6am) but often lays in his crib, playing with toys, turning on and off his mobile, and generally having a good time. I usually change his diaper around 7am, and then Pauline (on weekdays) or me (on weekend) feed him around 8:30-9am.
Cosmo had his first tooth break through his lower gums on 1/14/07, his 6 month birthday to the day. And he just had a second one break through two days ago. This has increased his "drooliness" by a fair amount, and he relieves the pain by chewing vigorously on anything he can stuff into his mouth.
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