Alder's Tone

One small milestone for baby, one giant worry for parentkind.

That's the transition from having this small screaming thing to having this small screaming thing that moves. Quickly.

Where's the baby?I have mentioned Jack Jack before, and been reluctant so far to enlighten those who have not yet seen The Incredibles, but now the time is right to do so. But first, go out and buy it, watch it, then come back. It's Pixar law, you have to do it. If you have small children it's very educational. Especially for teenage girls embarking on their first baby-sitting experience.

Jack Jack Parr, the gifted son of a super hero couple, star of the Pixar short film Jack Jack Attack, is a fictional character with super powers that can make him speed around in the blink of an eye. It is supposed to be a humourous animated film. It is supposed to be funny. That is, unless you have a 7 month old who can do exactly the same as Jack Jack. And then it turns from fun to fear, along with a realisation that this fictional character is actually as close to reality as you can get. All except the floating through the air part. And maybe the laser eyes and the bursting into flames. OK, the bursting into flames is clearly artistic license.

Crawling is up on the agenda just now, not that it's started just yet but that it's imminent. It seems so long since Jack Jack was able to roll over and we'd miss it, wait a few days then miss it again. Now we can roll him on his back and watch him roll onto his front, roll him back and watch it again. And again. And again. And again. And I'm bored now, but he's still rolling. Still rolling.

What's amazing us the most just now is you can look away for literally 2 seconds (I never thought parents could say "2 seconds" and mean anything less than a minute, but now I know "2 seconds" means "a time period somewhere between one and three seconds") and miss out on something. That something can be:

• Turning from back to belly


• Spinning through 180 degrees


• Pushing backwards and moving a few feet, off the mat, onto the rug, off the rug, onto the carpet, across the carpet, heading for freedom...

It's going to open up a whole new world, one where everything has to learn to levitate or be grabbed, and that includes the cats. Why don't they build family homes an extra three feet taller? And furniture three feet higher? And plug sockets in the ceiling rather than nearer the floor? I'll tell you why - so Ikea can sell you little bits of plastic to put in your plugs, clip onto your cupboards, slip on the corner of your coffee table, just to squeeze even more cash from you.

It's a funny old milestone. One that shows development, yet presents fear into parents.

I'm afraid. Very afraid.

But there is hope. And that is in the form of what is now affectionately known as "the prison", which we touched on earlier in this post. I'm playing around with giving it a proper name, like HMP Alderstone, but then I'd have to have "the block" and provide work and privileges, and is it worth it?

Posted by Alder at 20 March 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Times they are a changing, and at present this is most notable at mealtimes. Sure, Junior is rolling over at will now (we've actually seen it this afternoon, so know he's not "Jack Jack"*), but mealtimes are the biggest changes we're seeing just now.

Last week we saw our first three course meal. The menu went something like this:

The reaching for the bottle is no longer news, but the self-catering is. He's holding his bottle himself now, having done one complete feed on his own. That wasn't quite there with the "you feed yourself while I surf the web" type, but there was no support from either of the parents as far as the bottle went.

Solids are always good to watch, the face always gets screwed up on the first spoonful, thereafter it's wolfed down with some spoon grabbing going on.

Big change this week, we go from 5 feeds a day to 6. At the same time a bottle is dropped and replaced by a solid only. The pattern will now be alternating between solid and bottle, with no solid AND bottle feeds, it's one or t'other from hereonin.

My mate...
The next couple of weeks should be interesting as new foods are introduced. This week we're looking at rusks which are home-made from recipes rather than bought - have you seen the sugar content of Farley's???? Next week we move onto toast, meat and fish. I hope to be at home for the toast, as it's done with Marmite. I've stopped asking questions, that's what the weaning plan says so that's what we try. And if he doesn't like it then Daddy's here to finish it off. That's what dads are there for, right?

I have just found out that MOTS has never tried Marmite. WHAT? Are my in-laws from the planet Zogg or something? I thought Marmite was a staple diet for kids? There's a right of passage here, just like being beaten up for your lunch money at school, becoming a regular in the local pub long before the 18th birthday, Marmite has to be on the menu at some point. It's child law. Anything else is, well, child abuse.

Anyway, MOTS has been introduced to the delicacy and is in the "Hate it" camp. I must admit it's got to be around 13-14 years since I last had Marmite on toast, and having shared a teatime toaster-load with MOTS this afternoon I can safely say the experience didn't hold true with my fond memories. Looking back at my last jar I have to say I was a student, and hardly ever made it back to the flat without first passing the pub, so the several pints of 80/- may have had some effect on the taste.

So, in the space of a paragraph, it looks like I've gone from "Love it" to "Hate it". Hmm, interesting times ahead indeed for the boy.

* See the short animaton "Jack Jack" on The Incredibles DVD and you'll know what I mean.

Posted by Alder at 17 March 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well done the Gs!Congratulations to the Gs!

Many congratulations to the Gents on becoming parents in the small hours this morning, and to the two sets of seniors on becoming grandparents.

Today will be magical, long, tiring, and even better if someone makes Dad a bacon roll when he gets home!!

Can't wait to see the three of you.

Posted by Alder at 14 March 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2)

39 Weeks on Saturday, the baby is due a week on Sunday, at some point shortly this is no longer going to be about a bump but rather a living breathing person! Here's a brief summary of the most recent goings on....

....baby Gent is now 4/5ths engaged, or rather was on Tuesday. Accoring to Mrs Gent there are some seriously weird feelings going on tonight and I think that is getting very close to 5/5ths...is that one then?

Cramming - I have found I am cramming as much into my days and nights as possible at the moment! I am going to the cinema with Sarah more than ever, we are going for currys (I know I know) and Pizza Huts like they are going out of fashion and justifying everything I do with a "Well it might be the last time for a while".

Nesting - its been in evidence. I was spring cleaning this weekend as directed by Mrs Gent. Cupboards were cleaned out, items were organised just so and I realised that we were clearly VERY close now. Whats that about clean windows Lee?

Feelings, Nothing more than Feelings - Sarah is now saying she is getting all new and wonderful feelings and pains which lead me to believe we aint far off now folks. Beam me up Scotty as if ever I needed a drink, strong, its now...and.....I......cant!!!!

Too much information - I believe Raspy was conceived on Tuesday 27th June 2006. Brazil beat Ghana as I stated in a previous post but here are some genuine quotes I found amusing from the players post game - were they commenting on the ACT itself or their game:

Ronaldo: “It takes a lot of hard work, it’s not easy. You need to make a lot of sacrifices and put in a lot of hard graft. What are my objectives from this point on? I want more, more, more! I want to keep scoring. Only those people with something to give can expect to receive.”

Ze Roberto: “It’s an amazing feeling to have scored. One thing we struggled with today was keeping possession. One of the reasons that happened was because we went in front early.”

Gilberto Silva: It is crucial to play a hard game

Genuine bona fide comments....spooky!

Still nervous, still excited, still realising that you know what, when you were on a journey as a kid in the car you would almost always ask one of your parents......."Are we nearly there yet???......well yes son or daughter, we are nearly there..oh yes. :o)

Posted by ChrisGent at 08 March 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)