On to academic domination, and Fred Meyer Playland

Guess who starts Headstart Preschool next Tuesday! Give you a hint.... Baron!!!! We are so proud of him and also deeply, deeply saddened by the inevitable realization that our baby is gone and our little boy is here. It's so exciting though!!! I can't wait to hear all about everything he does and following his progress and being there to help him whenever he needs. Lovin our little Monster!!! So, we've never dropped Baron off at any grocery or retail store "Playland" to be watched by some unhappy old lady desperately waiting for her next smoke break. Mainly because I've always figured that he'd be the kid that would go so crazy and be so far beyond any babysitters experience that we'd get called back to pick him up after five minutes. But, for about a month now he's really been wanting to go into the Fred Meyer Playland. We usually go to the one on Lombard and Interstate but we frequent many grocery stores, mostly to entertain the beast for free and disrupt the general order. Last week we finally relented and acquiesced to his repeated demands and signed all the paperwork and got him admitted into Playland. As soon as the attendant opened the door he ran in and never looked back. We no longer existed. Poof! Gone. So, we slowly, dejectedly slunk away towards the produce section, questioning our place in the universe more than ever. It was so bizarre shopping without him. We both kept stopping every couple of minutes and looking around frantically for a child that wasn't there. I kept waiting for the inevitable page to rescue the Playland attendant before the end of the world happened on her shift at the hands of my cute little angel. Nothing. We had an hour limit and after about forty minutes we headed back, paid for our groceries and then went to retrieve our devil spawn. I looked in and Baron was just playing away, his usuall whirl of activity, while three other kids his age were GLUED to the t.v. It was so amazing. The Attendent gushed about him. She told us that he was the only kid who offered to help pick up toys and he played the whole time and interacted great with the other kids and, as usuall, found a girl to shadow and play with and just on and on and on.... She said he was more than welcome to come back. I asked her several times if we were, in fact, talking about the same child. We were so proud of him. He never ceases to amaze and astound me.

I thought he was going to get pulled right out of my arms

Hey, this incident happened during the summer of 2011 but the blog has listed it as being April 2012. If I had half a brain I'd know how to fix it, but I don't so I can't. He's had some really, REALLY close calls in his life, and that's not even counting his time in the NICU. A least a few times I've had every nerve of my body light on fire and scream as I see Baron doing something that will definately get him hurt, maybe a trip to the hospital. About two weeks ago he cracked his head open for the first time. SWEET! He was running in Andy's house and fell and hit his head on the corner of Andy's table. Gave him a gash in his head about an inch and a half long. I was so ready to jump in the car and race to the closest ER. But, it didn't bleed much, which is a good sign with a head wound, right? And, of course, would you believe HE DIDN'T CRY!!!!!!!!!!! He winced, he writhed, he wined a little, but he did not cry. Crazy, freaky, unatural little monster.
But, today he cried. Reader, never in my life have I lived a moment of my life and thought, "This is just like a horror movie, but it's really happening to me, right now." Until today. We were playin around Lloyd Center Mall, killin time, disrupting the general calm, just another father/son outing. We were in the elevator bound for the third floor. The food court. I was holding him because he's been a real pain in the patootie the last couple of days, can't be trusted on his feet. We're right up against the doors as they open to let us out and I start to walk forward but only take a half step before I'm jerked back a little and instintively tug on Baron and look over and see that the doors are jammed because Baron's hand is wedged between the two layers of door. I pulled and he wouldn't budge, he was really stuck in there and the doors aren't opening back up like they're supposed to when they become stuck. I can't reach the door controls. The small group of people on the other side of the half way open door are still trying to comprehend what is going on. Now, this all happened in the course of maybe five or six seconds but it really, truly seemed a lot longer. I was hyper aware of every nuance of the situation. And for a split second that elevator was a giant, evil, unstoppable terminator machine that had a hold of my son and was hurting him. I was in a panic and I did what my instincts told me to do; pull. Now, in retrospect I realize this was probably not the best course of action but I did it and he popped free and then he started crying as I held him against my chest and pushed straight through the people waiting to get on the elevator. I rushed over to a quiet spot and checked him out and he was okay, probably more scared by my actions than any actual pain. A friggin elevator. Is everything dangerous?

First day at Daycare!!

Well, as hard as it was for us, both emotionally and financially, we found a Daycare for Baron the day before I started my new job. Man, it was not easy. So many preschools and even quality daycare's have a several month waiting list. And cost around 1500 bucks a month. Yeesh. We were able to find one in St. John's, close to Nano and Papo's house which is ideal because we are relying on Papo to pick up Baron when he gets off work so we can afford to have him in day care. The lady who runs the daycare seems good. I know I've seen her around town and she says that she takes the children out everyday if possible so I'm sure we've crossed paths here and there. I have trouble with her name though. Lo-chi? I believe she's Indian (like, from India. Native Americans are not Indians. Chris Columbus thought he landed in India. Meh.) and she has a strong accent that I have a little trouble understanding but most important, she loves her kids. I'm sure I could make a long list of little things I saw in her home that made me nervous leaving our son there but, really, I know I could make a long list of little things in any home we would leave Baron in. Hell, I'd probably be nervous is it was too CLEAN. To me, and Christina, the most important thing is that the person taking care of our super special boy loves kids and shows it. Still, it's hard. But, I dropped him off just after nine this morning and he raced up to the door (having only been there once the day before) and when he ran inside he made himself right at home and didn't even notice (or care?) that I was leaving. When I got home from work today he actually told me that they all went to the park and he climbed the stairs and went down the slide and played games and sang songs. He told me this. I love him so much. But then, just an hour ago, wife and I are sitting on the couch and he comes over to us crying, but not a normal cry. We asked him different questions to get him to tell us what happened and we were able to figure out that he had given himself an electric shock by putting the cable to my keyboard in his mouth while it was still plugged in. Dear readers, this terrifies me to my very core. After the last three years and every damn thing we've been through and the lengths we've gone to keep him safe and healthy and he electricutes himself. In the mouth. Needless to say the keyboard is put away, out of reach and I'm on high alert again, looking for anything that's a danger. Guess what I found? EVERYTHING'S A DANGER WHEN YOU HAVE A TODDLER/KID!!! You can baby proof to a certain extent but there's just no stopping a child bent on doing things that they shouldn't.

And on to the Next Adventure!!

Wow, is this really my first Baron Blog for 2012? How sad. Bad Daddy!

Well, as always, so much more has happened in such a short amount of time than I could ever hope to chronicle here but their certainly are a few standout moments I'd like to share before I'm off to play and/or deal with the Monster Himself.

This last week the three of us spent some time at Clackamas Mall, which we haven't done for quite a while. We inevitably ended up at the play area and he jumped right in. I've told the wife a few times that he's really coming out of his shy stage and being very forward and friendly with new kids. And this is just within the last two weeks. But, it's mostly with girls. Cute girls. Well, he wanted to show Mommy just what I was talking about. He started running around and instantly got the attention of at least four little girls. He was wearing a bright yellow shirt with Spider-Man crawling himself across the front and at least one little girl kept calling out, "Spider-Man! Spider-Maaaann! Spiiiiiideeeeeeerrrr Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaann!!!". Relentlessly. Loudly. Repeatedly. But, I digress, he found a group of three girls that were near his age and they chased each other and went back and forth and up and over and on and on and..... you get the picture. And the wife and I watched as he walked up to one girl, grabbed her hand and walked her across the play area and right up to Mommy, stopped and waited for a few seconds until Mommy acknowledged his little companion. It was so cute. The wife and I laughed and the little ones went back to their trouble-causing and when the wife and I looked back at each other, their was a definite hint of absolute fear. He's too friggin young to be bringing the cutest girl on the play ground over to meet Mommy!!! But seriously, that's something he would not have done last month. Not a chance.

A couple of weeks ago he and I were at the play ground at Mt. Tabor and three attractive young ladies showed up with a cute little girl and Baron was allllll about them. One moment, he and I were playing and then he walked over to the blond, grabbed her hand and took her off in the opposite direction! That was a first, and a pretty big moment for him that I won't forget. Then! Then, these ladies took their girl over to the swings and Baron was right next to them while I was about fifteen feet back, an abandoned and discarded father. Keep in mind, Baron has never, ever in his life liked the swings. I think he has some of dad's fear of heights. So, the brunette picks him up and puts him in the swing and walks around behind him and backs up as she pulls him back. My hand covered my mouth as I knew what was coming. I could still see joy in his face as he rose up backwards into the air. But I could see it, just below the surface, the probable terror and panic and time-out. She held him for a split second and then rushed forward, pushing him in front of her as he quickly went down, leveled out and then shot up towards the sky as she pushed him over her head as she ran through. He! LOVED! it! As he came back down all he was showing was smile. I was, and still am, absolutely amazed. I told her that I've been trying to get him to let me do that for three years. His good times lasted for another thirty seconds or so before he wanted down but for a moment their, he was flying, and he loved it.

We were at that very same play ground today and he wanted in the swing and then wanted right-the-hell out. Shortest phase ever.

Starting next week Baron's life, and mine, will change dramatically. I'm going back to work! After three long, wonderful, magical, memorable, frustrating, demanding, years I'm going back to work. I'm so ready. I love my son more than anything in this universe, but I need a schedule and a routine and so does he and I don't have the self discipline to implement anything on my own. I've tried. I've done good by him. I like to think that my time spent with him has been good for him and I've been a good, positive influence on him. But, life keeps going, keeps changing and we gotta roll with changes and step up to the challenges that each new phase brings. Baron's out of his shell, he's a strong, positive little boy and he's ready to get out there and mix and mingle and learn and absorb and do it all without Daddy literally, constantly being less than two feet away. Keep your eyes open and strap yourselves in, this ship's taking off!