I'm really not sure where to begin about today. I guess the easiest way to put it is it was one of those days that I am certain I will always remember. Today we went to the Phillies. It wasn't that it was our first game- he's been to roughly 10 of them, and I've saved all the tickets. It wasn't even the first time just the two of us went to game- that happened last week. It wasn't that it was an overly great game- they lost 4-3 in 10 innings. They didn't even play all the regular starters. It was just a great day.
My son woke up around 7, much to the chagrin of my wife who had to be at work early and therefore couldn't hang out to calm him down. He had no interest in going back to sleep after she left, but he fell asleep soon after we got in the car. We left about three hours before the game started. As I have driven back and forth from Philadelphia countless times in the past seven years, I know all too well how unpredictable traffic can be on the way. We arrived approximately an hour before the game started.
Since our ticket (only one needed until he turns 2) was in the Diamond Club, we had plenty to explore before the first pitch. My son had little to no interest in checking out the swank surroundings and instead chose to trot around in the handicapped section directly behind my seat. During the player introductions, he pointed out the Phanatic to me, much like he finds the animals before I do. He made a few friends along the way, some of whom were kind enough to pick up his sippy cup each time he dropped it out of my reach.
It was supposed to rain. It didn't. Since the Diamond Club also includes a large enclosed area with plenty of TVs and other things at which to look, I figured that we'd be fine either way. The sun even came out at one point. Truthfully, the weather wasn't really on my mind as my son and I shared experiences such as his first cheesesteak at a ballgame, his first time on Phanavision (this came right before the beginning of the bottom of the tenth inning; apparently we were on a second time, as we were earlier recognized walking around in another section of the ballpark), and his first time showing actual interest in what was going on in the game. Each time the crowd would cheer, he would stop what he was doing to turn around and look at the field. It's been an interesting progression since his first game last year to his first game this year and finally today: sleeping, screaming, and looking. I'm sure booing is right around the corner, maybe in time for the playoffs...
The score was 0-0 until the 7th inning, when the opposition hit a 3-run home run off of a guy who spent the majority of the season in AAA Lehigh Valley. We were walking around in the Hall of Fame Club, another less-exclusive but equally cool section of the park, when this happened. He needed a break from mostly standing next-to or between my legs, and an employee suggested we head up there. Soon after we got off of the elevator, my son was hugged/ attacked by a little girl who apparently does this to nearly everyone she sees. To her father, I say, "Good luck". While he was avoiding her, another little girl came up to us and "talked" with my son. At one point we had a little group of 4 toddlers that were blocking the thoroughfare with a combination of running, hugging, screaming, and playing. If I had been working, I would have hated it. Because I was "dadding", I loved it. We continued on through the HoFC, and my son came across two more little girls, and immediately went up to one of them with his arms outstretched as if to hug her. As far as I know, he had never done this before. He hugs family members and such, but never a stranger. Apparently he still has a little to learn, because the hug locked more like a choke. We'll be more careful next time.
When it appeared that he had "got his sillies out", we returned to our seat. No one ever showed up in the seats next to us, which made sitting much more comfortable than usual. Of course, the seats in the DC are extra wide and padded, so that didn't hurt either. We picked a good time to go back, it seemed, as the Phillies tied the game with a 3-run homer of their own soon after we sat back down. He smiled and even clapped a little as I spun around celebrating with the rest of the crowd. We stuck around and watched the rest of the game, sharing the requisite ice cream in a miniature batting helmet. After the final out, I asked an usher to take our picture, as I wanted to have a visual memory of the day. I look a lot more excited than he does, but that's to be understood as he was surely exhausted. He never lost his cool, though, and that was yet another positive part of the day.
He fell asleep again soon after we got in the car. Traffic was traffic, but I didn't much care. I smiled all the way home, having enjoyed a great day at the ballpark with my son.
Showing posts with label nap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nap. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Day 13
Everything about today was great, expect that the 11:30 Kindermusik class that we had this morning was actually at 10:30! I felt so terrible. It was the first major mistake I've made in this experience. He was happy enough running around in the classroom, and we get to make up our class on Monday, but it was still so disappointing. Because we were in West (the good part) Reading, and it has a nice "Main Street" of sorts, we parked and visited several of the shops. We saw some puppies at Spoil Em Rotten, checked out some tunes (including a few albums that I had a hand in producing) at Vertigo Music, and scoped out some sneakers at A Running Start. However, my son's clear favorite stop was at Earth Rhythms, where they have three of his favorite things: drums, shakers, and ceiling fans. If we hadn't needed to have lunch, he would have stayed there all day (and I likely would have had to buy several broken drums)! We will definitely be going back there again.
Since it was such a nice day, we found the nearest restaurant that gave us the option to eat outside: Taste of Crepes. I'm not sure that I had ever eaten a crepe before, but I know that my son hadn't. I also ordered a strawberry smoothie for us to share. Though he made a very sour face after his initial bites and sips, he kept on asking for more. As usual, he made friends with all of the surrounding diners. We both enjoyed our lunch and nearly two hours on "The Avenue". After an abbreviated nap yesterday, I thought it was important to get home and give him a much better one today. Soon after his nap was over, Mommy returned home.
Tomorrow is going to be awesome.
Since it was such a nice day, we found the nearest restaurant that gave us the option to eat outside: Taste of Crepes. I'm not sure that I had ever eaten a crepe before, but I know that my son hadn't. I also ordered a strawberry smoothie for us to share. Though he made a very sour face after his initial bites and sips, he kept on asking for more. As usual, he made friends with all of the surrounding diners. We both enjoyed our lunch and nearly two hours on "The Avenue". After an abbreviated nap yesterday, I thought it was important to get home and give him a much better one today. Soon after his nap was over, Mommy returned home.
Tomorrow is going to be awesome.
Day 12
Trail running with a 14 month old takes some preparation. Of course there's the preparing bottles for both of us, diapering, dressing, feeding, rediapering, harnessing, driving, unharnessing, removing, unfolding, and harnessing. Along the way my son tends to remove one or more socks, so there's also sometimes the added fun of locating and replacing said sock(s). Even with all of that done, I still have to stretch. That's what we did yesterday before our run at Gring's Mill. I was just beginning the stretching portion of my day when a helpful, albeit unwelcome, voice from the car parked next to me said, "You do know that trail is closed, right?" No, I did not know that, Mr. Voice. I told him that I knew that certain areas of the trail were closed, but I knew nothing about this one. He told me there was a sign proclaiming it so at the entrance, but I must have missed it. Regardless, we had come this far, so at the very least I was going to see this supposed "closed" trail for myself.
It's a short walk downhill from the parking lot to the entrance to the trail. It didn't take long to see why we were not going to be using this trail today (or any day soon, for that matter). The trail is usually next to the Tulpehocken Creek. On this day, it was under it. I'm not talking about a random puddle or two or a few overrun sections- the trail was the creek.
On our way out of the park (after unharnessing, folding, stowing, and reharnessing), I finally saw the sign proclaiming the trail out of order- all 8 and 1/2 by 11 inches of it. Thanks, Parks Department. We returned home and proceeded to run around our neighborhood. Dryly.
After lunch and a shower, we had an uneventful band practice at school. We surprised one of my son's fans who teaches in the building, possibly making her day, and continued on our way. It was time for a very late nap, but along the way we stopped in THE BIG CITY to pick up medicine for one of our dogs. I figured his nap would last long enough for me to study a little bit and then take him home before working the field hockey game that evening. He did not agree. Soon after pulling into the Chick-Fil-A parking lot, he awoke. I ordered a sandwich for me and a piece of chicken for him, and we left for the nearby high school.
He got a chance to run around on our artificial track and field for a while before the girls began hitting balls all over the place. He also made a few friends along the way. As much as he loves looking at girls, it was great seeing the look on his face as he discovered that this event consisted of nothing but girls. He walked up to many of them, pointed at them, and moved on to others. Good boy. I cut up his chicken and fed it to him while he wandered around. He met all of the people with which I work at the games, and work began. Though I held him for the duration, there were plenty of volunteers to take over for me.
Soon Mommy arrived to take him home. The game got a whole lot less exciting after he left but thankfully did not go into overtime. This was even more important because we still had to take his monthly picture before he went to bed. I got home just in time, and the day had come to a close.
It's a short walk downhill from the parking lot to the entrance to the trail. It didn't take long to see why we were not going to be using this trail today (or any day soon, for that matter). The trail is usually next to the Tulpehocken Creek. On this day, it was under it. I'm not talking about a random puddle or two or a few overrun sections- the trail was the creek.
On our way out of the park (after unharnessing, folding, stowing, and reharnessing), I finally saw the sign proclaiming the trail out of order- all 8 and 1/2 by 11 inches of it. Thanks, Parks Department. We returned home and proceeded to run around our neighborhood. Dryly.
After lunch and a shower, we had an uneventful band practice at school. We surprised one of my son's fans who teaches in the building, possibly making her day, and continued on our way. It was time for a very late nap, but along the way we stopped in THE BIG CITY to pick up medicine for one of our dogs. I figured his nap would last long enough for me to study a little bit and then take him home before working the field hockey game that evening. He did not agree. Soon after pulling into the Chick-Fil-A parking lot, he awoke. I ordered a sandwich for me and a piece of chicken for him, and we left for the nearby high school.
He got a chance to run around on our artificial track and field for a while before the girls began hitting balls all over the place. He also made a few friends along the way. As much as he loves looking at girls, it was great seeing the look on his face as he discovered that this event consisted of nothing but girls. He walked up to many of them, pointed at them, and moved on to others. Good boy. I cut up his chicken and fed it to him while he wandered around. He met all of the people with which I work at the games, and work began. Though I held him for the duration, there were plenty of volunteers to take over for me.
Soon Mommy arrived to take him home. The game got a whole lot less exciting after he left but thankfully did not go into overtime. This was even more important because we still had to take his monthly picture before he went to bed. I got home just in time, and the day had come to a close.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Day 2
My son woke up around 9:15, so I quickly went downstairs to brush my teeth, fill his bottle, and otherwise get ready for the day (our upstairs bathroom has been under construction for roughly a month- that's another story for another blog). By the time I got back upstairs, he was asleep again. I took this opportunity to take a shower and get dressed. He was up soon after that. For the second day in a row, I got him dressed before lunch.
It was raining heavily as my wife left for work in the morning, but it stopped soon after. A combination of the uncertainty of the weather, the late wakeup, and my recent foot pain caused me to forgo my 5-mile training run. Instead I chose to watch episode 28 of Deadwood and thought a little about running while my son had his breakfast. I'm trying to watch shows with questionable content before he starts talking. If you've ever seen a few minutes of Deadwood, you know why.
By the time he finished his cereal bar, it was more or less time for lunch. We played for a little bit (to work off the calories, of course), and I prepared a bag of distractions for the day's adventure: band practice.
A few years ago, some of my coworkers and I started a band at school. We played at the school talent show and on the last day of school for a couple years, but our goal was always to put on our own concert. Last spring, we did. We got a lot of kids to perform with us (that's a 7th grader playing drums in the video), charged admission, and used the proceeds to buy our auditorium some much-needed stage lights. The night was a success, and we have since been asked to play at a couple of other events. One of these events is taking place later this year at a local bar. Our principals take part in an U.G.L.Y. Bartender event each year, and this year we will be providing the entertainment. Because the band usually practices after school and my wife is still working when practice begins, my son will occasionally be accompanying me.
I knew I couldn't just let my son run free in our rehearsal space (the school's band room), so I packed up a small play pen to keep him contained. In the interest of full disclosure, this device was originally purchased for the purpose of allowing a former rabbit of ours to frolic in our yard. It's also very clean and the perfect size for a toddler, so get over it. While it worked great to this end, he was also able to push it towards the very dangerous hi hat, so I had to use a combination of several other percussion instruments to hold him back. While he didn't like this at all, it saved his fingers from getting caught in between the cymbals.
I felt bad for forgetting his little drumsticks, so I gave him a drum to smack around while we played. As soon as I put it down, he started banging on it. He also "sang" a little bit when our singer began. Occasionally when the actual musicians (remember- I'm a drummer) had to stop and learn a chord progression, I would give him my sticks. He does this cute hybrid march/ walk thing when he gets a pair of drumsticks in his hands. We managed to get about 50 minutes of decent rehearsal time in before he decided it was time to go. Considering it was a little past his normal nap time, I was thrilled with his tolerance. I packed up all of his (and my) toys, and we were off. I turned the stereo in the car down and planned a route home that would give him plenty of time to take a nap.
The route took us over one of our local "mountains" (home of our Pagoda), through the rolling hills of Lower Heidelberg (home of another famous, yet far less interesting, local), and finally back home to the anticipating arms of Mommy. The daddy-only portion of Day 2 was complete, and we had a long weekend consisting of an R-Phils game, a trip to Hersheypark, a visit from Gram, and an impending hurricane to look forward to. See you on Monday...?
It was raining heavily as my wife left for work in the morning, but it stopped soon after. A combination of the uncertainty of the weather, the late wakeup, and my recent foot pain caused me to forgo my 5-mile training run. Instead I chose to watch episode 28 of Deadwood and thought a little about running while my son had his breakfast. I'm trying to watch shows with questionable content before he starts talking. If you've ever seen a few minutes of Deadwood, you know why.
By the time he finished his cereal bar, it was more or less time for lunch. We played for a little bit (to work off the calories, of course), and I prepared a bag of distractions for the day's adventure: band practice.
A few years ago, some of my coworkers and I started a band at school. We played at the school talent show and on the last day of school for a couple years, but our goal was always to put on our own concert. Last spring, we did. We got a lot of kids to perform with us (that's a 7th grader playing drums in the video), charged admission, and used the proceeds to buy our auditorium some much-needed stage lights. The night was a success, and we have since been asked to play at a couple of other events. One of these events is taking place later this year at a local bar. Our principals take part in an U.G.L.Y. Bartender event each year, and this year we will be providing the entertainment. Because the band usually practices after school and my wife is still working when practice begins, my son will occasionally be accompanying me.
I knew I couldn't just let my son run free in our rehearsal space (the school's band room), so I packed up a small play pen to keep him contained. In the interest of full disclosure, this device was originally purchased for the purpose of allowing a former rabbit of ours to frolic in our yard. It's also very clean and the perfect size for a toddler, so get over it. While it worked great to this end, he was also able to push it towards the very dangerous hi hat, so I had to use a combination of several other percussion instruments to hold him back. While he didn't like this at all, it saved his fingers from getting caught in between the cymbals.
I felt bad for forgetting his little drumsticks, so I gave him a drum to smack around while we played. As soon as I put it down, he started banging on it. He also "sang" a little bit when our singer began. Occasionally when the actual musicians (remember- I'm a drummer) had to stop and learn a chord progression, I would give him my sticks. He does this cute hybrid march/ walk thing when he gets a pair of drumsticks in his hands. We managed to get about 50 minutes of decent rehearsal time in before he decided it was time to go. Considering it was a little past his normal nap time, I was thrilled with his tolerance. I packed up all of his (and my) toys, and we were off. I turned the stereo in the car down and planned a route home that would give him plenty of time to take a nap.
The route took us over one of our local "mountains" (home of our Pagoda), through the rolling hills of Lower Heidelberg (home of another famous, yet far less interesting, local), and finally back home to the anticipating arms of Mommy. The daddy-only portion of Day 2 was complete, and we had a long weekend consisting of an R-Phils game, a trip to Hersheypark, a visit from Gram, and an impending hurricane to look forward to. See you on Monday...?
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