Monkey House

Cole has had a couple of “firsts” lately:

First Steps

This one is tricky. The day we’re considering his day for “first steps” was the 9th of May. But it’s subjective and different parents will classify differently. Here’s how it played out:

Cole is standing there, not holding onto anything, and decides to put one foot in front of the other. He falls. Not daunted, he brushes himself off, and tries a few more times. Step-fall. Step, step-fall. A “step-fall” happens when his weight isn’t really stable on the next foot. So, for me, he wasn’t REALLY taking his first steps, he was putting a foot forward and then falling. But then, about the 5th or 6th time, it was Step. Step. Step-fall. It’s the step in the middle that counted. After taking that first step, he was still balanced, brought his other foot forward and took another step without falling. Then he step-fell.
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OK, the connection is only coincidental. But funny!

I was logged into Twitter last night, when a few people (notably, a fellow named Shawn King) started laughing and posting links to Don Cherry’s (always outrageous) suit:

http://twitpic.com/1k56m3
http://shawn-king.posterous.com/wtf-is-don-cherry-wearing

I looked once. I looked twice. Then I replied to the world (don’t bother following those links, they’re redundant copies of the ones already posted above and below):
You’ve seen #DonCherry wearing the suit: http://post.ly/eRa5 . Now own the lunch bag that predates an #nhl legend: http://bit.ly/cKe1pc

Apparently over a hundred people decided to check it out. As you’ve probably already guessed, Alie coincidentally made a lunch bag with the same print, which is still for sale on the PhineasGrace Etsy store that she and Natalie run:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/36883004/lunch-bag-brown-floral-dots

Too funny!

Yesterday after I got home, we scrambled to put a hasty plan together for dinner. We settled on spaghetti with bolognese sauce, and there was no way in hell I was going to have that tasty meal without garlic bread. It would have been a crime.

I offered to Alie to take the monkey with me to the grocery store. This is ALWAYS a good move, for these reasons:
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Having our little monkey is just about the best thing ever. I can’t think of anything better offhand, despite having a bit of a crap day. But crap days are really… crappy….

As my wonderful readers (hi, all 3 of you!) know, Cole is a horrible sleeper. This led to a bit of burnout in his dad this weekend, and here’s why:
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Tonight we decided to take Cole to a restaurant. We were invited to join a group of folks (including several children) eating at Hino’s Japanese restaurant on Wellington, and I think we both felt it was high time to get out of the house for part of an evening. As the decision was made, it occurred to me that I wasn’t that worried about Cole after all.

Mealtime at home is usually a period of relative peace. In his highchair with a bit of food, that little sucker chills out pretty good. I was picturing a restaurant outing going fairly similarly, and I’m afraid to say (for the purposes of comedy that is) that it went as I pictured. To us, we could tell he was getting tired and a bit cranky-pants. But to the rest of the world he was this calm, happy, funny (and CUTE) little guy. As people often say, “remarkably well adjusted.” All it took was a bit of walking around, a bit of bread to nibble on, and he was distracted from his own growing grumpiness.
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