Someone actually sent my wife this "great link" to a kids activity website.

Wow! I know its tough sometimes to find things to do with your kid, but you are really scraping the bottom of the barrel when you have to resort to a site like this. How could anyone think that cutting out 1988 WordPerfect clip art would hold any child's attention? And does gluing a printed heart on to a Kleenex box really constitute a craft?

And the amateurish design of the site....it took almost 10 click just to get to the first terrible craft (but thank goodness they had the animals arranged by habitat!)

Although I will give them credit, I was looking for a good coloring book of Jesus turning water into wine.

Broke Back Bath

Funny story, I was at the doctor getting results from a liver MRI, and as expected, everything was fine. But then my doctor said, "did you know you broke your spine?"
Wha?!?!
FLASHBACK: Last summer, I was putting Nathaniel in the bath, both my legs slipped from under me, still clutching Nate, I flew in the air and landed on my ass. I hear something pop and I was in excruciating pain, but I was more concerned with Nathaniel, who was fine and thought it was hilarious that is dad was lying in the tub, holding him above the water.

I knew I hurt my back, but I did not know that I had a compression fracture.

So when I say I break my back taking care of my kids, its not just an expression.

Squirrels: 1 Dad: 0

Nathaniel and I were at the Garfield tot lot in Prospect Park today, enjoying the unusually warm February day. I noticed a few squirrels sniffing around people's strollers, and I shooed them away. I even moved our stroller away from the benches and trees, thinking it would take a pretty ballsy squirrel to venture halfway in the tot lot for some cheerios.
Apparently Brooklyn squirrels are ballsy.

When we were leaving, I noticed the snack trap was missing from our bag. I looked into the woods and saw and there was a squirrel, pulling out cheerios one by one from our snack trap. My rage was tempered by Nathaniel's joy at watching the rodent eat his pilfered snacks.

Bell House Rocks, kind of...

We took Nate to "Bell House Rocks" this Saturday. The rock club in Gowanus wants to use their space "for a place that kids (and parents) can get their ya-yas out without freezing off their hiney butts."

It is 10 bucks per walking human, but they let us in for 20 for the three uo us, seeing as they thought Nate couldn't walk much. They couldn't have been more wrong. After a bit of anxiety for the first 10 minutes, Nate was running pell mell, at a parent-exhausting pace. This usually wouldn't be a problem, but Bell House poses a few dilemmas for toddlers.

One, there was a jumpy castle, which is great for young children, but toddlers are definitely too small for it yet are drawn to it like a moth to flame. And with the larger children bouncing out of it like ball in a pachinko machine, it posed a definite hazard for Nate.

Two, the space is bi-level. Now, 3 steps do not seem like much, but for a boy who can climb up steps with ease, but has a complete inability to climb down steps, or even realize they are there, it is a disaster waiting to happen.

That said, the band was fun and the juice boxes were free. Perhaps when Nathaniel is a bit older we'll come back, but until then, I going to have to pass on "Bell House Gives Dad agita."

The road to hell is paved with good intentions...

Safety locks on the cabinets, drawer locks on the, duh, drawers, outlet plugs, infant gate, taped down wires, and padded every sharp corner in the apartment. I tried to make our entire home a safe little universe for Nate. Unfortunately in every room there is a virtual supernova. The radiator!





We have cast iron baseboards, and to go with the rest of the half-A construction, they are completely uncovered. For the last year, I have been troubled as to what to do. Last winter, I learned that these radiators get blazing hot. Fortunately, Nathaniel wasn't crawling yet. All summer and fall I researched radiator covers. They ranged from hideous to ridiculously expensive, many hideous AND ridiculously expensive.

I came up with a DIY solution, a stylish looking gate to deter curious little hands. I don't have much (or any) cabinetry experience, but I do think they turned out OK.

Maybe a bit rough, but I think they have a certain Scandinavian charm. And it would keep Nate away from our medieval heating system. I was feeling pretty good about myself.






Until last week, the coldest day of the year. Juliet called me at work, Nate burned his arm on the radiator! Fortunately, the burn wasn't too severe.

But how did he get past my Swedish radiator barricade?

Apparently Nathaniel dropped a toy between my radiator guard and the radiator, he reached down. This might not have happened if there was no guard. It makes me nauseous thinking about it.

I have since covered the radiator with an aluminum screen, to prevent toys and tiny hands. We'll see...

MetroTot Mix

Nate's Favorite Songs (at least the ones that don't drive me nuts!)

Aimee Mann Little Tornado
Bob McAllister Rock Song
Pizzicato Five Baby Love Child
The Rolling Stones She's A Rainbow
Yo La Tengo Speeding Motorcycle
Feist 1, 2, 3, 4 (Counting to Four) (Sesame Street)
REM Furry Happy Monsters
Leslie Szarvas H.R. Pufnstuf
The White Stripes We're Going To Be Friends
Baby Rock Radiohead No Surprises
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Puff The Magic Dragon

Nate's Snowy Day

I took Nate out to experience snow for the first time this weekend (last time it snowed we we're all sick to go out.)

When I was little I loved the snow, everything from the crunch under your feet, to the cold stinging sensation of making a snowball with your bare hands, to the woolen taste of frozen breath condensation on your scarf.

I'm not sure what I expected Nathaniel's reaction to be, but I thought it would be closer to a Jack Ezra Keats-like enthusiasm, rather than the nonplussed, 1000 yard stare I got when he stepped on frozen tundra for the first time.

Cold Feet

With the snow coming, we got winter boots for Nathaniel. We picked out some very nice boots from Land's End. Very cute, warm and affordable. I even spoke with a customer rep to make sure the size would be OK, they assured me it would be.

We got the boots this week and they look great, but they are useless. Try as I might, I can't get Nate's feet in them. They might even fit, if he could step into them, but getting shoes on a toddler is like trying to tread a needle, and the tread is a squirming python. And these boots had a pretty big opening, but it was to no avail, they weren't getting on his big dogs.

So it looks like Nate's first step on snow will be in sneakers.

Why can't they make kids shoes like ski boots, whith a hinge at the heel and you step in through the back? Million dollar idea right there.

Learning Curve

Nathaniel is speaking a lot for a 16 month old. He says fairly clearly mommy, daddy, cheese, yellow, blue, green, bear, cheerio and banana. He he says new words every day.

But I am finding that I am learning new words everyday, in that I am understanding his speach even if it seems like a foreign language to everyone else but his parents.

Fortunately he is learning English faster than I am leaning Nathanielese.

ba- pacifier
ba- box
ga- cat
la- lion
nana- banana
ahgi- aligator
na (with hand pointing up)- plane
ha (with hand pointing up)- hat
papa- pasta
mameal- oatmeal
tow- toast

Nate showing off his new "ha"

Toddling Along

I just watched a cute animated film by Jeff Scher called "You Won't Remember This Either." He wanted to capture his son's toddling and his "never-ending battle with gravity."

Its sweet. Even though Nathaniel has been "toddling" for 3 months, I still can't help but smile every time he waddles the apartment with such excitement. I am going to miss it when he develops his grown-up gait.

http://scher.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/you-wont-remember-this-either/

Nate's Early Toddling