May 2010: Adam's Birthday Shindig + the rest of the month

May was busy what with Adam's birthday pool party and Mother's Day but somehow we managed to take some pictures and videos and jot down some of the month's new milestones:

Verbage:

• dunk - taking it to the hoop
• "dees" - please
• "pup pup" - dog
• bird
• "nite nite" - i'm ready to enjoy some REM cycles
• more - hey quit being so stingy with those cheerios

Hand verbage

• drink
• eat

Activities

• if it's a ball, Adam can dunk it in his mini-goal and do a celebratory round dance
• getting the hang of brushing his teeth
• able to point out different family members
• gets a kick out of petting the dogs - the occasional dog lick to the face is cool too
• cause and effect in action - understands that pressing certain buttons do things like make the cars on the race track go
• starting to actually "read" books
• saying that Adam loves to play in the pool would be a grievous understatement
• started playing the "up/down" game on his dinner chair , except that sitting down is "down" and standing up is also "down"

Daddy Amusement Park: Admission Free for all first-born sons

Cousins hangin' out

Mommy and Me, happy as can be

Discovery Green, Houston, Elevation: Dad

We have liftoff

Awesome fun time at the pool

Adam and Paw Paw relaxing at the kids' side of the pool

Adam and friend Austin's 2' sea adventures

Aunt Lara making with the birthday wishes

Sesame Street Babies: the Muppet Babies of the 10's

Fountains = awesome

Hangin' (literally) with Mom

Nice to have family around

Madras and drool: a classic combo

All the pros got started when they were babies

A balloon, milk, and Mommy: great!

Above the (non-regulation) rim

the notsalgia surcharge

one of my favorite memories as a young kid was spending sunny Saturday afternoons tooling around on my Big Wheel, a toddler version of a tricycle with two flat wheels in the back and the titular big wheel in front. There really wasn't much cooler in those days than pedaling down the driveway at a furious pace only to jam on the handbrake and swerve into a cool-looking 90 to 180 degree turn.

but why explain with words when i can let some kids who are probably now construction foremen or maritime lawyers show you the magic:

having become a man since that time and having put an end to childish things (pay no attention to that xbox 360 on the entertainment system shelf), i hadn't spent much thought on Big Wheels in the last twenty-odd years until recently when Grace and i were looking around for gifts for Adam's first birthday.

a quick trip across Amazon revealed that the "original" Big Wheel was back! Adam's a bit too young for it now, but the inner fishtailing daredevil in me thrilled at the prospect of my own son one day being able to enjoy the same exciting Big Wheeling adventures that i'd once known.

notice the main difference between the late 70s/early 80s commercial and the updated modern image: the kid-Nerfing helmet that seems to have to accompany any product that moves today's kids at a pace slightly above three miles per hour.

something strange, though - the Amazon review rating was kinda low.... why so? didn't take too long to figure out.

The Big Wheel @ Amazon

Thirteen pounds of (apparently shoddily-produced) plastic costs nearly $180 + shipping? $180????

it's been a while since i can remember seeing such a naked play on a newly-of-parenting-age generation's sense of nostalgia for their past enjoyments. happily there look to be some very serviceable substitutes by Radio Flyer and others at a third of the price (which these days is about the price i've come to expect for a kid's vehicle), so there's still a chance Adam will become a handbraking expert like his old man.

(...... $180????!)