My personal favorite about this photo? The piece of Cheetos stuck in his hair seemingly floating.

]]> http://hangingwithdad.com/wordless-wednesday/may-30-2012/feed 0 http://hangingwithdad.com/wordless-wednesday/may-30-2012 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HangingWithDad/~3/eeCTmIrdoc8/egg-in-ear http://hangingwithdad.com/conversations-with-toddlers/egg-in-ear#comments Fri, 25 May 2012 13:09:32 +0000 dad@hangingwithdad.com (Adam S) http://hangingwithdad.com/?p=2213

Through the months, as Isaac has become more vocal, he’s also taken a liking toward a microphone that I have. He’ll carry it around, yell into it and then bring it over for me to do the same. It’s really funny and cute.

Well, I finally was able to underhandedly record a video of one of his performances. While he didn’t have his microphone handy, he made sure to sing loud enough for everyone to hear.

So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I present you, ISAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC!!!

(Everyone knows the ladies love a guy who can play guitar)

Do you have a showoff?

There was a lot of preparation that went into such a glorious event, with plenty of practice (we’ve been practicing nearly every day the last week or two). He’d been wearing his hat a whole lot the last month or so and was primed for the event. Saturday night we watched the end of the Twins/Brewers game while we ate dinner and Isaac got very, VERY excited when Trevor Plouffe hit a home run to give the Twins their winning run.

Then Sunday morning came and it was time. Isaac’s first baseball game was upon us!!!

Isaac woke up a little before 7 and we knew it was going to be a long day so we skipped Sunday School and just went to church at 11:15. Unfortunately we had to leave church early to get to the game in time, but we got there in time to see the 2nd batter. Let me tell you, with the price of parking near the stadium, I was really, really happy that I babywear and Isaac loves it.

We got to our seats and Isaac was mesmerized as he looked out at a real baseball field and the players. It was like a fantasy coming to life, it was really cute to watch.

But we didn’t go to the game alone. Isaac was thrilled when we got there and he got to see Uncle Roger and his cousins waiting for us. The amount that this kid looks up to them and adores them is really cute. He asks for Barrett nearly every day and grins ear to ear when he sees him.

The excitement of seeing his first base was too much for Isaac to handle quietly, which led to this FANTASTIC display of talking to the players. I’m not sure if the guy who yelled at the end of the video is making fun of Isaac or anything, but if he was it was a pretty pathetic move.

At the end of the first inning Roger went to get food and grabbed Isaac a footlong hotdog (the kid loves them). While that might seem excessive, it was not. He packed away a good portion of it (80%-ish), a ton of puffs, several french fries, a full sheet of a graham cracker, two handfuls of yogurt melts and several bites of the bun.

Now comes the absolute awesome part. Isaac sat and watched the first 3 innings, ran around the concourse for the 4th inning and then came back and watched the 5th-9th. We watched 8 innings of baseball together! He even got to see two home runs, which he loved. He preferred when David Murphy of the Rangers hit his home run because when the Astros hit their homer in the 9th inning they shot off the cannon which eventually led to him crying for 15-20 seconds. David Murphy’s homer, however, caused him to grin ear to ear and yell when I told him “HOME RUN!!!” The one thing he did like about the Astros homer was the train that they run after that is loaded down with fake oranges (Minute Maid, get it?). He talked about it all the way back to the car.

The Astros lost (no big surprise), but it really didn’t matter since Isaac can’t really follow the game. And I didn’t get to keep score on a scorecard since I had to make sure Isaac didn’t do anything crazy, but it was a FANTASTIC first baseball game. It was a good start to our baseball watching experience, which will number many, many games in my life. A perfect bonding experience. What special things do you do with your kid(s)?

Arriving Broken? Wha Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa???

I replaced the batteries, pushed the buttons and still, no dice. So I contacted the company Kristin bought it through and they sent out another one and told me to hang on to the original (she said they had 3 weeks to ask for it back). The new one arrived and…didn’t work.

At this point Isaac was getting annoyed at his Ride On because he loved pushing the buttons, but didn’t love the part where it didn’t make noise. And it was frustrating me because, seriously, two broken ones??? You’d think they’d check them before they shipped them out to me.

So I pulled out the big gun and contacted Mega Bloks directly. They said I needed to ship the broken one we just received and they’d replace it and refund the shipping cost. I went down to the post office and mailed the truck back to them. When I found out how much shipping to them would cost ($48.75 since they were in Canada!), I called to make sure they would reimburse that, as that’s more than what a new one costs most places online. They said they would, so I shipped it off.

A little while later a new Ride On came in the mail and we had a functioning toy for Isaac. And he loves it.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! The buttons work!!!

It can’t go outside in the grass because the front end is too low and will get caught up on everything (also it was enough of a pain to get a working one, I’m not going to let it get rained on), but since we have 2 now, the non-functioning one can stay outside. He’ll hop on his “truck” and drive it around, or push it from behind and get a big kick out of it. We’re having to work with him on not slamming it into walls or cabinets, but he’ll get it eventually.

All told it took about 2 months, numerous phone calls and emails and $48.75 (that we just received a check for) to get him his Christmas present. Ah, the things we’ll do for our children.

While I’m well aware that I’m not a mom, I was planning on stopping by for a little while to see if I could get to know Isaac’s classmate’s parents a little better and maybe coordinate some play dates for some of the non-school days. I figure Isaac likes the kids already, I know the ones that he hangs with the most, so I might as well try. While there was a potluck dinner last September where we had the chance to meet some of them, we sat at a table that ended up only having one other family from Isaac’s class, so I don’t really know any of them. I just see them in passing in the mornings and afternoons.

So Thursday morning came and I went to drop Isaac off. While I was in the room I talked with his teachers about the event and was informed that it really wasn’t for me but that they did do “Dads & Donuts” in June. The immediate thought that went through my head was “Great, I can hang out with two other guys”. And even if I do meet every dad in Isaac’s class, they’re not the ones who stay home and would be taking their kids to the play dates I want to set up. Guess I’ll just have to find a different way.

How have you gotten to know parents of kids in your little one’s class? Please don’t tell me it was at Moms & Muffins…

While we were there, Isaac took on a playscape that he conquered with no qualms whatsoever. At least at first.

As you can see, absolutely no problems with the steps or stairs in any way. Until he met a woman that is.

During one of his climbs, Isaac encountered an 8 or 9 year old girl who apparently worried that Isaac couldn’t do it by himself, so she started helping him. It was cute, she’d pick him up and put him down on the next step and hold his hand up the stairs. Completely unnecessary, but cute. Then he started hamming it up. He got to the point where he’d walk up to the step, stop, hold his hand out for her and wait. PLAYA WHAT!!!

That’s the kind of confidence with the ladies that I never had right there. Do you have a little flirt?