It’s been a few years since i last baby proofed the house, and now it seems, its time for it again.  It never fails, that the one thing that your forget to make safe, is the one thing that they will hurt them self or go for, over and over again.  Here is my list of necessary things to be baby proofed, again.

Covers on all the outlets – babies like to stick things there all the time, toys, fingers, sometimes they try to eat it

Latches on any drawers and cabinets with dangerous, or stuff in there that you don’t want the kids to get into

R ubber or plastic edges on sharp corners- a light bump on a sharp corner is an instant black eye or lump

Secure Unstable things to walls, so they don’t fall on the baby when they pull or climb on them, like- bookshelves, standing lamps, mirrors etc

Gates on the stairs- because a baby falling down the stairs in not good for anyone

For me, the hardest thing that you have to do to keep the baby safe, is keeping all of the tiny little things off the floor.  Especially when you have a toddler that plays with barbies and all their little stuff…

The boy is nine months old now, and I can tell… he’ll be walking soon.  He is learning some good tricks from his big sis, like how to climb up on things by stacking things up to get higher.  Soon he will learn that the higher you get… the harder you will fall.  We have had a few good falls, no blood… but still good falls.  I can tell that this boy is going to be tough… little tank.

We have his nine month appt  in a few days and am looking forward to seeing just how big he has really gotten.  He is in 12-18 month clothes size 4-5 shoes, eating solid foods (tiny bits) loves meat!  And wears the same size diapers and the girl! (Yes the girl is still in diapers… working on it)  The boy is huge and really mobile and determined to be big.  Totally opposite of Marley who is all girly girl, this guy is all boy… but a super mama’s boy.  Man, he loves his mama. Its super cute to see… but boy oh boy….

Marley, who is just turning two and half acts way to old for her own good.  She literally knows everything that is going on.  Her vocabulary is amazing, and there is nothing that she cant say.  It’s really fun to have a full on conversation with a 2 1/2 yr old little girl, I spend most of the day laughing and amazed at what comes out of her mouth.  I know I’m some deep shit when she gets older, because this girl has a mind of her own.  Dresses every day, high heels, hair done.  The girl even gets pedicures with her mom a few times a month.

Tonight she said to me

“Dad, my toes are bad!  I going to get my toes done with mom”

You are?

“I getting purple sparkle toes and fingers too! I am, I am!”

We recently made the switch to solid foods.  Well, not really solid… mush.  I am really starting to miss the days of a strict boob milk diet.  Not too many poops and the smell was bearable.  Now, with the addition of formula and baby food, the poo flood gates have opened and I have found myself in a non stop diaper changing haze.  I mean it’s nuts man.  It doesn’t stop.  Back to back to back do do’s.  And to make it worse, I still have yet to get the girl potty trained… but it’s just been so damn nice outside, I don’t want to spend the entire week inside.  But, I guess that’s my fault though.  Sorry mama, looks like we might have to wait until you take your next vacation to tackle the potty training thing.

Just kidding, I got this under control… I hope.

Now that summer is really here, I am sure that we’ll be getting down to the local watering hole (pool) a lot more often.  And that means I will have to be on my A game when it comes to watching the kid in the pool.  I cant stress how important I think that is to know how to swim.  It’s one of those things that you just need to know how to do… because if you cant swim, it’s like not knowing how to breathe.

Mar is doing great at swimming…. holing her breath, going under water, paddling and kicking… but still sinking.  I’m hoping she’ll be closer to swimming on her own by the end of the summer (hey, it could happen).

Teach you kids to swim.

Last week, I got the bug to go out and be a kid again.  I thought… I need to get out there and do some active things.  All this hanging out with babies all day is starting to make me soft, I need to get active again.  So I did what any man would do… Looked for a DODGEBALL match to get in.  Well I found one in downtown Seattle at Cal Anderson Park.

Every Tuesday and Friday night at 9:00 at Cal Anderson Park, awaits an army of rubber ball wielding roughens of the likes you have never seen.  People of all types are there, ready to fight to the death… or at least until the ball crushes your face.  These kids are relentless.  This is not the dodgeball that I remember… this was nuts.  There were about fourty of fifty people all cramed onto one half of a tennis court, and about 20 balls flying at supersonic speeds.

I have to say, that I couldnt get the smile off my face the entire time (even after a ball hit it), and after one hour of play… I was done.  Super fun, and it made me feel like a kid again.   If you want some fun in your life, get out there and play.

Then Sunday I played in my first outdoor soccer match since 1997.  I play goalie so conditioning and stamina were not what I was really worried about.  It was the fact that I have about 40 pounds on my former self, and haven’t dove on the ground on purpose in a really long time.  I must say, that I still got it… a little slower, but I can still get in front of a ball when it counts.  The game ended 2-5.

Today I woke up feeling really, really old.  my entire body is bruised and beaten.  I could barely raise my head to get out of bed, and even my fingers hurt.  The strapping young man that used be at the peak of physical performance, has turned into a soft pile of mush.  The years have not been kind to my body, and its time get it back.

I am not the kid that I used to be… and it hurts.  Ouch