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????!)

Siete de Sobczak, 2010! : The Adam Turns One Story

it feels like it was only a year ago.. and it was! our little guy Adam Michael Sobczak turns one today.

feels like the time has flown by (probably because we were so sleep-deprived and delirious during the first four months) and both Grace and I have had the best time watching and helping him grow, all the time ably assisted and supported by loving friends and family. many thanks to you all

(also - don't miss Adam's April update below , posted today as well! (but backdated to Apr 30 for official blog reasons)

April showers bring more Adam developments

April was jam-packed with new ways for Adam to get out there and interact with the world - he's doing more and more every day. A quick rundown of the main bullet points:

Skills, Motor:

- full-fledged walking (and near-running) champ

- discovered the awesomeness of playing with balloons, both helium and carbon dioxide filled

- fishtailing expertly around corners on his tricycle (parent-pushed)

- starting to work on his intro-level parkour skills by climbing on gates, chairs and couches

- plays 'human trampoline' with mom & dad by clambering atop the upper torso and gleefully bouncing up and down

- swings his arms, initiates rump-shaking and gets in the groove when he hears music a-playin'

- can wield a mean (plastic) fork to spear dinner bits and make the move from tray to mouth

Skills, Biological:

- Teeth count: six! (four upper, two lower). his is officially a toothy smile


Skills, Expressive:

- honors Native American culture by making the "ba-ba-ba" palm-rapidly-on-and-off-the-mouth-making-sounds sound.

- developed a fairly disarming laughing smirk

- WORDS!
"da-da" (pater familias)
"ma-ma" (mater familias)
"po po" (Chinese babyspeak for 'carry me')
"paw paw" (Chinese babyspeak for 'grandma')
"dun dun" (Chinese babyspeak for "light")
"No" (the universal expression)
"down" (i don't want to be this elevated anymore)
"ni ni" (Chinese babyspeak for "milk")

- knows how to "sek sek" (kiss) loved ones

- can use baby sign language for "more" and "no more"

- actively points to let you know where you need to be taking him next for further investigation

Skills, Eating:

- distinct favorite food choice: any type of berry. he'll go seriously chipmunk with some blueberries

Skills, Manners:

- understands "put on your shoes" and will sit down in your lap to let you put them on him

Skills, Educational:

- starting to go to his chair and desk set to "read" books

Happiness is a young baby and his red balloon

Walking and Waving a Balloon Simultaneously

Horseytime fun

Easter treasure hunting, in clever disguise

On the cutting edge of culinary headwear fashion

Enter: the Mystery Tunnel!

Full steam ahead

\

Madcap Ballcap fun

The 22 lb bench press (it's more of a toning exercise)

Modern men are secure enough in their manliness to fold laundry

Hanging around with Patrick, his largest stuffed buddy

Ready to roll

Fresh off an exciting toy box lid toboggan ride

Traveling or on the go? Take a minute to get the recap of Adam's March!

March saw no decrease to the range of Adam's activities and experiences:

- he had his second consecutive successful airplane round trip - ever the well-behaved gentleman while flying the friendly skies.

- he took his first unassisted walking steps (see below) and is on his way to becoming a bipedal speed demon. he has developed a love of being chased, running away while happily looking over his shoulder at his pursuer and laughing in terrified glee.

- top teeth began to outnumber the bottoms as the fight for gum hemisphere supremacy continues.

- the athletic Sobczak instincts continued to take root; Adam is showing great interest and prowess in deliberately kicking playballs around the living room. He also tosses them but at this point it's more an 'in the air like you just don't care' approach

National Father / Son Fashion Coordination Day

When you're a baby, the world is your jungle gym.

Cracking Up

My name is Adam - I like to dance! (any Yo Gabba Gabba-aware people in the house?)

The thrill of climbing Mt. Parent

Proudly displaying a prize trophy in the Baby Catch and Release program

Reading (or the preliminary facsimile appearances of such) is FUN-damental.

Dancing (now with Singing!) - part two

We're through the solid foods looking glass, people.

Walking Tall

Making a path towards the goal.

Technically not tall enough for the table yet, but still ready to dominate.

Siesta with Paw Paw.

February 2010: Adam Speaks (on the 9 month old level)

A little late on posting February's recap - Adam filled the month with a bevy of birthday gifts for his dad in the form of yet more personal development.

(EDIT: almost forgot! First haircut in February as well, just a quick neatening up with the scissors at the local Supercuts)

Vocal - the endlessly useful and descriptive phrase "Uh-oh" became a part of Adam's speech arsenal. what at the beginning was just some fun noise quickly became associated with the act of dropping an item out of reach.

Motor - the fundamentals of advanced baby motion (walking) made an appearance in February - that would be the timeless art of cruising, the method of movement that the diaper industry named their intermediate set of diapers after. there's a lot of real estate in our living room in terms of usable edges that Adam learned to utilize in pulling himself up to a standing position and giving him a base against which he could steady himself as he tentatively tried out two-limb locomotion. by the end of the month, he graduated to mobile cruising when we purchased a push walker - he loves making laps around the main rooms (with the occasional redirecting nudge from mom or dad). on the nonverbal communication front, he is getting the concept of waving 'hi' and 'bye' - right now it still takes the form of him wiggling his fingers randomly but he's getting the hang of it. lastly, he is becoming an expert of moving bits of food from the tray to his mouth - a finely-tuned pincer beginning that converts to the classic "shovel" approach as the food gets nearer the target.

Gustatory - on the topic of food shoveling, Adam has moved on to the Stage 3 canned mush foods (turkey dinner puree!) and has also added bite-size portions of certain grown-up foods to the mix. he is particularly a fan of sausage, green beans, strawberries and blueberries

Tickling the delightfully colored ivories

Mommy and kiddo

Catching a ride in the laundry basket taxi

On the way to his first freestyle rap battle

True, Dad is fairly pale but don't be fooled, he is wearing a T-shirt

Raw baby power, revealed

On the move

The push walker gets a tune-up

Light purple yogurt puffs - just like nature intended

Enjoying the plushness of Nerf's new kitty condo
The central cruising circuit track

Applauding Dinner

Defines vanity

there's a lack of multimedia imagery here that would help illustrate this anecdote but i'm not the driver who would, while in traffic, fumble for the phone in his knapsack just to take a picture.

during this morning's drive to work, i saw a new white BMW 650 coupe also in the commute slipstream - most notable about the whole setup was the custom license plate reading "ENVY ME".

i don't personally know the gentleman who was driving it so in truth i am not giving him a fair attempt to make any necessary clarifications ("the car was a gift from my mother - she thought the phrase sounded 'cool') - but - i'm going to go out on a limb and say methinks the guy has gone beyond sleeves and is wearing one or more of his insecurities directly on his automobile.

the man drives a nice car - by that definition some people are going to envy him. he probably knows that fact but still presses on with the direct imperative.

this is one of those things i have a hard time getting my noggin around - seeing things from that guy's worldview. nothing screams 'lack of class' to me quite like loud and/or ceaseless self-promotion. if you sink the winning shot in a pickup game of basketball, there is no need to declare how awesome you are - give your teammates half a beat and you'll receive your due adulation. in similar fashion, if you're successful in your career and you can afford a luxury car, by all means buy one and drive it with the satisfaction of knowing your hard work made this particular perk available to you - but pull back on the show a little and stick to the regular plate or at most a non-boasting vanity plate like "I (heart) BMW". all you're doing with "ENVY ME" is making people want to test out the durability of their Corolla's keys on your passenger side door.

2010: The Year Adam Makes Contact...

....with further developmental milestones!

sorry to those (maybe two or three) of you who have been waiting with bated breath for the next sobblog update - December through about mid-March are "the bad times" for Accounting people at my company and my time / energy for entering new posts has been somewhat limited.

the first month of 2010 was another busy one for Adam as he crossed the eight-month mark:

Culinary - his mastery of eating finger foods has been progressing nicely and his appetite for all kinds of food, both mushed-up and solid, remains impressive. on the fluid side, he's taken to drinking from bottles and sippy cups (with straws) all by himself, holding the container with no help.

Locomotion - the kid has started to learn the fine art of waving, or at least wiggling his fingers in a playful fashion. in addition he picked up the ability to clap his hands in response to someone else clapping, or just whenever he's feeling particularly cheerful. most notably, Adam has begun his journey into cruising, using the couch mostly to move himself around in quasi-bipedal fashion.

Cognitive / Logic - Adam has this motion toy that's basically a twisty slide that plastic balls travel down before entering a chute and going along a pneumatic air tunnel that shoots the ball back up to the top of the slide (or off the toy entirely, depending on the force of air). we plopped him down in front of that and he quickly fell in love with watching it do its thing - he surprised us though by watching us hit the start button (you kinda hit this little animal creature on the head) to put the whole exhibition in motion and then learning to do it himself after only a few demonstrations. boy genius - you read it here first.

Growing! - near the end of January Adam's second tooth (right next to the first on the bottom) began to emerge. the wide toothless smile gives way to the goofy-cute kid tooth grin.

enough talk, enjoy January's still and moving pictures!

January 1 - thus begins a year-long game of tag.

The picture you see in phrase books depicting "tuckered out".

Celebrating the better parts of the BCS Championship game

Chinese laundry / Ancient Chinese secret, huh?

Tooth #1 sighting

Mommy and son laugh over the drool stain on Mommy's shoulder

The intensity and enthusiasm of an all-star couch cruiser.

Adam and Paw Paw (grandma) appreciate literature.

Adam and Gung Gung (grandpa) share ribald stories that shock the monkey's delicate sensibilities.

G.I. Adam reporting for duty

When Dad's in charge of bathtime, Adam's hair gets crazy.

In pursuit of cinnamon maple puff

Snacking and talking some jive