KidCity (exactly what it sounds like)

After we went sledding the other weekend we stopped in to what we thought was a kid's museum called KidCity. What it is is an old building that has been filled with nothing but playscapes. They range from space ships to kaleidescopes, model trains, to a big apple tree clubhouse. There is a Pirate Ship, a little person grocery store, and a whole under the sea area. The following are a few pictures from the last time we went. We actually bought a membership because Everett loved it so much and it is good for him to be able to socialize with others. Right now his social skills consist of kissing and showing off for the girls, and pushing the boys out of his way.

A note on being a Dad

This blog, started as a Journey to Fatherhood, has now become a Journey IN Fatherhood. I have spent most of these pages dedicated to the milestones and growth of Everett but have not touched on what it feels like to be a dad, so to remedy that I offer this thought:

When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things." I Cor. xiii. 11.

When I was a child I used to laugh and sing and dance around. When I became a man these things ceased as I knew them. The best part about being a dad is that I get to experience them all over again. I can dance to ridiculously goofy songs (think "Whip it" by Devo); I can run around the house acting like a monster, bounce on the bed, make funny faces, go sledding, pretend the grocery cart (carriage for New Englanders) is a race car (complete with skidding rear wheels.) I can even screech out the sound effects. I don't have to care what the outside world thinks of that behavior, only that it makes my son smile, or laugh that laugh that makes me forget there is an outside world. Sure, there will be a time that comes way to soon when that type of behavior embarrasses him and I will have to cease once again. Hell, I will probably even embarrass him a few times before I stop, but until then, I sure am having fun. It is important to remember how much fun the world can be, and however wise I think I become the real wisdom is in viewing the world through a child's eyes. I hope this blog is entertaining but also reminds us of how wonderful the little things are. I thank my son for showing me this once again.

Everett Discovers Snow

If you were watching the weather reports last week you would know that this past Friday we got a lot of snow in New England. 6-8 inches fell through the morning on Friday. Everett happened to discover it though the window while playing.

Seeing his interest I decided to take him to get a sled, that way on Saturday morning we could really introduce him to the snow. The next morning we got up, had some breakfast, got dressed for the weather, and after a quick internet search for the perfect hill complete with directions and topo maps we headed out for a good time. Here are a few pictures from the event.

As you can see from the last picture above, he didn't quite understand what was happening. Amy and I sure had a good time though. Check out the video below:

Everett's First Play Date

The other day we had the pleasure of watching Naomi for a few hours while her mom took care of some things she needed to take care of. Everett loved having another little person in the house. He touched her hair, tried to poke her eyes and nose and mouth, gave her big tackle hugs, and took every toy she was playing with. I guess we will have to work on the sharing. He is not used to other babies around. Naomi on the other hand attends daycare where she is often stepped on and tackled and crawled over, she just took it in stride. We loved having her and will gladly do it again anytime. Here are a few pictures of the two:

Everett is Walking

Everett has begun to take steps over the past few weeks. I was traveling this week and upon coming home I discovered that all he does now is walk around the house. He walks laps the whole day. Here is a video I shot this morning.

More Bahamas Pictures as Promised

Me on the Mayan Temple Slide

Amy and Everett on the rope bridge A really lazy river

Everett on the beach.

Amy taking a tube ride through the shark tank

Amy and Everett on a water slide

Baby in the Bahamas

This past month my company sent me to the Bahamas for a sales conference. I decided to stay a little longer and fly Amy and the baby down to enjoy a little vacation. We stayed at Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas. It was a great time. We tried everything, the beaches, the waterslides, the aquariums. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Everett enjoyed the Aquariums

He also liked the beach and started exploring sand.

This grouper could have easily swallowed Everett whole.

Here we are in one of the tunnels with a ray swimming above us
I have so many more pictures I will do a follow up post shortly with a bunch more.

A Boy and His Dog

It took 9 months but Napolean has finally warmed up to Everett and accepted him as a member of the family. They now have their own ritual where they hug and wrestle and Napolean licks Everett. It is pretty funny to watch and they do it often enough that I got a video.

Christmas Everett

This was Everett's first Christmas. He might have been a little too young for presents but he really got the hang of the gift bags. He loves pulling the paper out of them. Here is a video of him unwrapping one from his Godparents, who are currently living in Puerto Rico. What a great idea, thanks guys. We already used it to show him where you are.



Also, thanks to everyone else who so generously made his first Christmas a great one, now to find a spot for everything.

Everett and Napolean

Peek a Boo Continued

Here is another video, a little less grainy this time.

New Video

Everett Laughing as I play peek a boo with his stuffed animal.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a good holiday. Amy and I took Everett to his aunt and uncle's house and here are a few pictures.

Halloween Bean - Part II

Thank you all for the comments on what Everett should be for Halloween. We actually did not choose any of the costumes I had posted. Instead we found this at Old Navy and since it was 50% off and only $10 and he is only going to wear it once, we couldn't resist. Here it is, Everett the Magic Dragon, who lives by the sea.

Everett Laughing

Here is a good video of Everett getting really wound up and laughing. Grandma is lucky she didn't get peed on.

Everett Talking

Everett is starting to use syllables to try to get his point across. Here I think he is telling me he is hungry and would like more food.

Halloween Bean

Since it is the middle of October and we have Halloween coming up I have decided to enlist your help in choosing a costume for Everett. Below you will see several different images of what the Bean would look like in different outfits. Take a good look. Use the comment section to place your vote or suggest something different. We will do our best to then obtain the winning costume in his size. Voting will run through the end of this week. Now, the pictures....

The Everett Monkey

Super Everett

Teddy Bean

The Wonderful thing about Everetts are Everetts are wonderful things,

their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs,

They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!

But the most wonderful thing about Everetts is he's the only one

Recent Pictures

Amy is right, we do have some pictures to share. I like to call these "Attack of the Naked Baby." This is me winding the baby up and getting him ready to pee on mommy.

Everett likes being naked, he also likes peaches. Here you can see him wearing his peaches and for once, you can see where his eyebrows are.

And like any baby, what goes in must come out, here he is working on a nice poop(note the red around the eyes, he pushes pretty hard). He went directly from the highchair to the bathtub on this night.

Lesson Apparently Not Learned

You may remember a post around the 3 of April, here it is, where I learned a very valuable lesson about carrying around naked babies. Well apparently, I forgot to let Amy in on my little bit of knowledge.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, he is sooooo proud of himself.

Everett Claps

Here is a video of Everett's newest trick. He just started today. This is what is happening:

Everett likes to crawl up to the TV and pull himself up so we started to tell him no to teach him not to do that. We didn't really think he would get it but he does. He recognizes his name and that he is doing something wrong, he then turns around and sits. Just today he started clapping when he turned around. Then he starts all over again. Here is the video: