Almost Crawling

Julia,

You are almost 7 months old...and you are almost crawling!

You've pretty much mastered sitting.

Learning to crawl is really a long and involved process. But the way you like to pull yourself to standing on everybody, though, sometimes we think you're trying to skip crawling and go straight to walking. But for now, your preferred method of mobility is rolling everywhere.

You roll here:

You roll there:

You get to where you want, or you get to where you are stuck and then it's back to start!

But wherever you're rolling, you normally wind up on your belly.

And then, you normally tuck those knees up and under you...

Push up...

Surprise yourself...

And then...quite rightly...you get really proud of yourself!

Once there, you kind of rock a little bit and try so hard to go somewhere, but mostly end up falling back down, and rolling away, which is totally acceptable.

After all, learning to crawl is serious business. But, it looks good on you.

..And it'll really tire a growing girl out.

The Adventures of Young Batman: Love and Laundry

Look! Up in the air!

Down in the sand!

Behind the curtain!

On that boat!

It's BATMAN!

Today marks the 28th day and night straight of wearing the Batman shirt. It's all been your idea too; we wouldn't force you to wear the same shirt day-in day-out, would we?

You're pretty vocal about it. "I want Batman shirt, please!"

And pretty vocal about when you can't wear it. A few cold days during our New York trip proved to be a bit difficult for you when we had to slip a thermal on underneath it or slip a jacket on top.

But, you got over it, and made the most of it.

At one playground, I encouraged you to tell a kid you were playing with who, exactly, you were. Straightfaced, you unzipped your jacket slowly to reveal your shirt. And said: "I'm Batman."

Even I believed you!

You seem to find power in the Batman shirt; and that's okay!

You won over some cool kids at another New York playground with your shirt and your excitement about it. At first they wouldn't let you play with them; but you kept at it, and in no time they were running after you saying "Wait! Batman, come back! Where's Batman?"

The Batman shirt and you have had many adventures in the woods:

And many quiet nights in bed:

There have been many messes on your yellow-and-gold emblem. Ice cream...

Grass stains...

Dirt, dirt and more dirt.

But -after some early mistrust- you trust your Mother and I that we'll wash it as quickly as possible and get it back to you. So, some nights you go shirtless for a few hours while we wash it for you. One morning you even picked another shirt out yourself to wear while Batman was being washed. And, later on, you said "I want Batman shirt please."

In fact, you tell us about 5 times a day that you are Batman. "I'm Batman" you'll say. But that doesn't limit you; in the course of a day, you're Aidan, you're a bay, you're a lion, you're Simba, you're Wreck-it Ralph, you're a leopard, you're a panda, you're kung fu panda, you're a frog, you're a prince, you're a princess, you're a daddy, you're Buzz Lightyear, you're Serious Buzz Lightyear, you're...amazing!

It's not like you've become a never-nude. You'll strip the shirt off in a second if it suites you. If you get wet at the ball park...or wet at the playground...you'll readily strip away your Batsuit to reveal the hero underneath.

...and there go the pants...

But, when all's said and done, you and the Batman shirt are reunited...and it feels so good. You like it when it's warm from the dryer, but, if it's still a little damp, you'll wear it too.

You and the shirt have had some great times...

I mean, look, the shirt goes so well with any outfit...

And it's given you strength and comfort at times when even a Superhero could use a little help..

Don't worry, you survived the ER, and were a super patient. But guess what you refused to let the Doctors or Nurses take off of you, even though you were running a 104.5 temperature?

You've been down and come through on the other side. As with all superheros, you've grown.

You now excitedly brush your own teeth (although your new electric Neverland Pirates toothbrush certainly helps too...but Batman is always up on the latest gadgetry).

And you even learned how to put on your own shirt and...when it's needed...how to take it off too.

But don't worry, we're not about to make you take it off. First of all, it makes you happy. Secondly, it makes you unhappy to be without it. Thirdly, it's completely healthy. Trust us...your parent's super power is super paranoia. So we did our research and asked a nurse. It's completely normal and healthy for a toddler of your stature to have a vested interest in an inanimate object...whether it be a blanket, a toy, a shirt, a pair of shoes, a hat. It's a safety blanket of sorts. And, the Batman shirt is pretty cool. You get lots of compliments on it...and I bet lots of adults wish they could wear their favorite shirt every day too. Plus, it could be worse. The nurse told us of one 3 year old girl who became obsessed with a red bikini. And she wore it every day.

In short, the security of that Batman shirt means something important. It's bigger than a shirt, or a man, or a hero: it's a symbol, larger than itself. For you, it is something permanent, safe and something you can control in a world that you are just starting to realize doesn't necessarily revolve around you. It's control in an ever-changing world. You can control a small piece of your world by controlling your wardrobe. And that makes you stronger, more confident and more patient with a world that's crumbling around you...oh wait...that was a cookie that was crumbling. But, you get the idea. You're smart. After all, you ARE Batman.

And, Batman, I'm so proud to have you as my son. You're dealing with a lot, and you show courage when you need to, comfort and love to those around you, and creativity all the time. That's pretty heroic to me.

Wherever there is an uncontrollable world; wherever there is a toddler uncertain about the millions of whirling gears shifting around him; wherever there are new foods to try, new situations that may be a bit scary and strange new feelings, emotions and understandings, he will be there. For he is the Batman.

The Big Apple

We've been back from our New York City vacation for weeks now, and I still haven't written about it. Part of it, sure, is that I met some difficulty figuring out how to get 1000 photos off of my iphone. Go ahead, Aidan and Jules, laugh at me from your very tech-savvy future at your dear old Pop's technical difficulties.

But part of me hasn't written about our first trip as a family of four because I know the write-up won't do it justice. I mean, I can go through our itinerary of what we did, and what we saw; lord knows I have photographic evidence out the yin-yang to show you. But I worry that this just won't capture the ephemeral, instantly nostalgic, plain magical nature of the trip. Maybe it was the way the sunlight lit the hairs on your little heads as it came through the branches in Prospect Park, maybe it was the the way you both grew so much while we were away, maybe it was sharing your magic (and tantrums and fits and crying too) with our far-away friends who we hold so dear, or maybe it was just being with both of you and your mother for all those days, without the interruption of work or house chores. But, whatever it was, in my memory, our trip was just magical.

This trip to the Big Apple will forever be the apple of my mind's eye. It was more than the summation of it's parts. It was well...it was magical.

It was Aidan's first real plane ride, and Julia, it was your first ever plane ride! The trip there was a little chaotic, I'm not gonna lie. A mixture of dehydrated/motion sick mother, baby Jules spilling orange juice all over both of us, and a cranky non-napped Aidan fighting sleep so hard until the moment we landed. But, you were all much better on the way back, which was good, since your Mom took you both alone. But, we did it. You did it. You survived two plane rides! (Aidan you loved riding on "the big one!")

When we got off the airplane at the airport, Aidan you saw a "Welcome to New York" sign that had a large red fruit on it. You said "It's the Big Apple!" That was truer than you know! And many adventures were about to be had:

There were more firsts:

Aidan's First Big Boy Swing ride:

Julia's first high chair and staying in seated position for long periods of time (until Aidan knocked you down..gently):

There was the Brooklyn Children's Museum, and the Bronx Zoo, and a water taxi ride (both of your first times on a BOAT!) to Battery Park in Manhattan.

There were playgrounds and pizza:

Best Buddies (new and old!)...

Who's the boss?

and Big Bridges...

and Balloons (who became best buddies):

You were so happy when I finally let you hold your green balloon without it tied on to the stroller.

You took me seriously when I told you it would fly away if you let go...so you held it tight while sleeping.

really tight...

...for over an hour...

and then you woke up and played with it some more...you finally released it back in to the wild on your own accord and said 'goodbye balloon!'

There were sandwiches and more stroller Naps:

And then there was Prospect Park...running free, running wild, exploring, bonding, basking in the magical glow of the wilderness of youth. The quality of the light ethereal; the breeze elevating; the open, safe spaces inviting fun and nostalgia instantly. Some of my favorite moments with you Aidan are in this park...like when you crashed a preschool class, Aidan, and they invited you to play parachute with them. Like when you told me you had to go potty and we raced to the nearest building and almost made it. Like chasing 'chickens' with you on my shoulders...like watching you explore on your own and going free until you were a little dot on the horizon...playing 'get you' and 'zurg and buzz' while racing through the open fields...watching you glow in the world around you...and Julia, you didn't get to enjoy the park in the same way Aidan did, but the fresh air, but you ate, you relaxed, you even played with your brother. We loved being there. It was...well...magic.

Twas the park so nice, we went back thrice.

"I'm Simba!"

I mean, it was just magic...This is the kind of stuff, the kind of memories, that I want to remember for the rest of my life. It was magical being with you both in the woods, and wonderful sharing you kids with some of our closest faraway friends like Uncle Sam, Uncle Saxy and Auntie Yumiko (who you, Aidan, thought was a mermaid).

This is the stuff dreams are made of.

And the best part is, it all really happened:

And, the best part was that we did it as a family. The Weinsteins ate the Big Apple and loved every bite!