This Moment

first bubble bath

Max and his squinty eyes

This Moment

In which "a bald headed adult gives a child the what-for"

Thanks to Crow for this post's title.

Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later... that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called Being a Father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life.

-Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities

On nearly every Monday I have a half-day at work so I can come home and spend time with Max. It gives Grandpa Mundle a well-deserved break; more importantly, it allows me the time to spend with Max so we can bond. We love spending time with mommy, but it's important to have daddy-son time, too.

Today we went to Chipotle near the Park Place Mall for some lunch before setting off for the Children's Play Area in the food court. Now I have to say, I'm usually a little high-strung when Max is in this type of environment. Most of them are bigger than he is, and I worry about him getting trampled by some of the roughhousing boys.

Max is a social butterfly though, and it didn't take long for him to meet a fellow kid. This little girl (5 or 6 years old), immediately approached Max (who at this point was about 10 feet from me). I thought, "how nice" until the young lady roared at the top of her lungs, right in my baby's face. Maxwell turned to me and put his hand in his mouth as his eyes began to well up with tears. I scooped him up and told the apparently remorseful girl that it was okay - maybe she just didn't know how to play with children younger than she was.

But when I observed this little girl, I noticed that she exhibited aggressive behavior with other young kids. I sawthat her parents were not remotely bothered by her antisocial behavior - they were more interested in their Cinnabon, I guess. Later on, Max and the little girl met again.

"Boo!", she said.
Okay, I thought. Now she's playing nicely. "Make sure not to scream in his face, okay? Babies don't like that."

At that point, the little girl frowned, turned to Max and screamed in his face at the top of her lungs. I turn to the parents - no reaction.

It is at this point that I should mention that I have low tolerance for screaming in general, and things that upset/bother/perturb my son in particular. With a couple mommies and children looking on, I decided that I must set a precedent.

"OKAY. Go AWAY and play with OTHER children because you are NOT PLAYING NICE with my son."

This was met with a blank stare.

"I mean it. Go play with children who like being screamed at. Over there. SHOO."

The girl left. She didn't cry; this made me wonder if the lesson was taught after all, but I left her alone. Later she approached the structure that Max was playing on and he touched her hand.

"Your baby just hit me!", she said.

"NO HE DIDN'T." I had half a mind to take her to task for her obvious lies, but I thought it would be better to leave.

On a previous Monday, a lady asked me how fatherhood had changed me as a person. I explained to her that before I became a father, I felt like I would be able to kill for my child. Once Max was born, I knew I could. It might be a weird sentiment to explain, but it's true - the level of protectivenes I feel is almost scary sometimes. Of course I would never want a child to get hurt or anything like that - but this kind of situation reminds me of just how protective I am.

Nobody is going to screw with my kid, 6-year-old girl or otherwise. I don't care that I'm crazy.

Mother's Day 2011

I know Mother's Day was a week ago, but I still want to share some of our wonderful photos and memories.

The very first picture we took last Sunday, is probably my favorite picture of the day:

My mom looks a) beautiful and b) so, incredibly happy.

I wanted to take family portraits, but Max fell asleep right before we got to Reid Park, and my philosophy is you never wake a sleeping baby! So my dad stayed with Max in the car, and Jeff, my mom and I went to take photos.

Then we headed over to the Double Tree for a yummy brunch. We ate like kings. Max showed off for everyone and got lots of smiles and comments on how cute he is as he walked around. He's such a ham. I can't say I really mind all the adoration, he is pretty damn cute. And I made him!

feed me!

After brunch we took a few pictures outside while we let Max run around a bit more. Here's my favorite Mama and Baby picture:

And it's rare, but I have a photo of both of my parents where neither one of them are making a weird face!!

And now, if you'll excuse us, Max is done with the photo shoot. Bye!

Review of the Brandi Fenton Splash Pad

Last Sunday we made our maiden voyage to the Brandi Fenton Splash Pad.

I guess I was hoping for more splash. The pad is geared for older kids, and Max was a little intimidated. He pretty much just stood there the whole time. The water pressure was hard and the water itself was cold. There wasn't much he could do, without fear of being knocked over by the water. But Max enjoyed watching the other kids run around playing.

He enjoyed running through the water with his daddy.

And his mommy.

But all in all, I'd say he is too young to enjoy the splash pad yet. Those of you who know Max, know he is extremely outgoing, so it was weird to see him just standing still! I can't say I've ever seen him stay still for that long. Maybe we'll try again in a few months, but for now it's not really worth the effort. Guess we'll be looking for more fun things to do this summer!

This Moment

Peek-a-boo!

Who's that hiding behind Maxwell??

Oh, it's Michelle! What? You don't want your picture taken??

Too bad! You're in a Gardner house, and us Gardners like to take lots pictures!

Two Big Accomplishments

Two big things happened this week:

1. Max started wearing shoes!

I know it sounds ridiculous, the kid is nearly 14 months, but he just refused to wear them. And it's not like we ever really tried. The one time we did, this is what happened:

But on a whim, I put some shoes on him on Sunday, and he liked them! He wanted to go outside and immediately started walking on the rocks. So on a Target trip that afternoon, I bought him two pairs of sandals. He's been wearing them all week and he's been exploring all over outside. Huge success all around.

2. Max is sleeping in until 7:30!

And who would have thought that all it would take is putting up curtains! Max has been getting up anywhere between 5:30 and 6:10 for the last two months or so. And it' s been killing us. I've been saying forever that we should put curtains up, but I just never got around to buying any. So on the same Target trip, I bought some. We put them up immediately, and Max slept for two hours for his afternoon nap (which is normally only 45 minutes long). And the next morning, and every morning since, he's slept until at least 7:15.

I still wake up every morning at 5, but hopefully I'll start being able to sleep in too. I know Jeff welcomes the extra sleep. He's up early every morning either for work or to watch Max. What a trooper.

A great week in the Gardner household!

This Moment

Butterfly Magic

My class went on a trip to the Tucson Botanical Gardens yesterday. We are learning about insects, so we went to see their Butterfly Magic event.

We walked into the butterfly area, and the humidity and heat were immediately stifling. It was hard to breath. But then you start seeing the butterflies, and you forget all about the uncomfortable atmosphere.

There were so many beautiful butterflies everywhere, it was hard to decide where to look. The butterflies landed right on us, but mostly on the adults, probably because they're quieter and slower.

I was so proud of the knowledge my kids displayed. I overheard them explaining to another visitor why some butterflies have round spots on them that look like eyes, and another time explaining why we don't touch their wings.

This is the last weekend for Butterfly Magic. Next year we'll try to go earlier in the event, maybe the butterflies won't look so beat up then. I know Max will love it. I didn't take him this year because they stress you need to be quiet and still. Two things my son is not.