Ball Boy--My Gym Fun

Ball Boy

Have we talked about My Gym yet? I'm sure Karen has posted on this before, so I won't give too much background. Basically it's a Gym for babies, kind of like how I feel about 24Hour Fitness. He's not mobile so he does not get to move around on his own, but he still interacts with the environment: he gets to slobber on all the mats and toys.

So we went to the My Gym this morning. What a trooper he was. He was really jonesing for a nap, but he pulled through. Thankfully.

We got to:

1. Slobber on a red mat
2. Slobber on the carpet
3. Slobber on a green mat
4. Slobber on several balls in the ball bin
5. Slobber on a beach ball

One of the helpers, a youngster herself, was sporting a ton (seriously) of bracelets. Many of them were elastic. She observed that babies like to pull them out and let the snap back against her wrist. I think I would remove my accessories if I was going into a lions den of grabby kids! (Yo).

It's interesting—there's quite a panoply of people working at the Gym. I usually see one regular, but the support staff has a new face almost every week. I wonder what the deal is? Do they just have a high turnover rate? It may be that the shear volume of kids wear their sh** out super fast. I know with just one I'm ready for miller time at almost every time of the day. I guess I'd quit after about 2 weeks too.

But I like going. I enjoy the bonding time. It's as much about being the 'dad' in a safe, social environment as it is getting Emmett rolling around. There. I made the post about me. Whew—what a workout!

At the Park

I found a park near our house that has bucket swings . Emmett and I had a little field trip to check them out. He really likes to swing!

Blessed or Tortured?

Now that Emmett has a "to do" list we have less time to blog. Well, that's not true. I really don't have any excuses except that I'm running my own business and caring for an entire child on my own. :) So now that I'm a veteran mom (ha!) I have noticed some things. Most of these things have to do with strangers. Once you have a baby - people think it's okay to come up and talk to you and make comments (welcomed or not). So whenever Emmett and I step out the door and brave the crazy world this is the conversation that takes place at least once.

Karen & Emmett: Doo, doo, doo...I'm shopping and enjoying this lovely day.

Stranger: Why hello there! Who is this?

Karen: This is Emmett.

Stranger: Is Emmett a boy or girl?

Karen: (Thinking to myself. Um. HIS name is Emmett. And Emmett is wearing blue and brown. What do you think idiot?) But I say, "He's a boy."

Stranger: Oh my! What a cutie. How old is he?

Karen: He's almost 8 months now.

Stranger: Wow!! He's so big.

Karen: (I am thinking...do you even know what a 8 month old should look like?) Yeah. I feed him pork rinds and buttermilk daily. Okay. I don't say that. I say, "Yeah - his daddy is pretty tall."

Stranger: Proceeds to play with Emmett to get him to smile. Emmett usually indulges them with a few giggles and smiles. Then the stranger says, "Oh no! Why is he crying?"

Karen: He's not crying. (you idiot. He's obviously smiling at you). He has long eyelashes that get in his eyes. He has been blessed and cursed by his beautiful eyelashes. They are so long that they irritate his eyes and make them tear up.

Stranger: Oh. I hope it doesn't hurt him. Will he grow out of it?

Karen: No. Haven't you heard of the blind eyelash syndrome? Once he turns 3 years old his eyelashes get so long that they start attacking his cornea thus blinding him.

End Scene.

Can you tell that I am annoyed? Should I just stick a sign on him that says, "I'm not crying. My mom cursed me with these almond shape eyes and my dad blessed me with these luscious eyelashes."?

I know, I know. I just need to get over it. Or never take Emmett out to the public. Hmmm....such a tough choice.

Emmett's To Do List

I was cleaning the house (something that rarely happens) and I found something very intriguing. Apparently Emmett has a to do list. My baby is a total genius and I didn't even know it!!!!

This is what it says just in case you can't read his writing:
1. Look Cute
2. Eat fist
3. Smile at bodily functions
4. Beat box with uncle
5. Poop pants - ongoing
6.Grow Up (crossed out) - deferred
7. Get girlfriend - (yuck)

He's already checked some of this stuff off. Amazing. Ben thinks that Uncle Brian wrote this but I think that Emmett is brilliant!!!

Swimming!

We started swim lessons last week. It's not really swimming- it's just splashing around in the water. Emmett looks confused most of the time but his favorite part is playing with the pool toys and sucking on them (yuck).

Here is the pool:

Here is Emmett with his swim trunks and cool pig towel.

He is not amused.
I'll try and get more pictures next time!!

Weekend Shenanigans

Here are a couple of games that Ben and Emmett like to play.

The first one is called - "That's a Good Move". Ben puts his head on Emmett's belly. Then Emmett pulls Ben's hair. When Emmett does this Ben says, "That's a good move, guy!" and Emmett laughs. I don't like to play this game with Emmett (I have tried) because Emmett has a kung-fu grip like no other and often times he ends up with a fistful of my hair. This does not feel good so I stopped playing.

Okay, so what am I suppose to do?

This is fun!

I am a monkey. Watch me grip you with my feet!!

The second game is called "Baby Sit-ups". Ben pulls Emmett up by the hands and has him sit up. I'm not sure if Emmett enjoys this game so much but it's one that they do at My Gym.




The last game is called "The Little Merman." While Ben is holding Emmett I put his pants on without paying attention. Emmett has his legs in one pant leg and looks at me like I'm crazy. Okay, okay...this isn't a game we play. This happened by accident. I didn't know I did this until I laid him down on the changing table to put lotion on his face. He usually kicks his feet and plays around and he was just laying there so I looked down to see what his deal was. And this is what I saw:




But he is a little merman cause we started swim lessons last week. Pictures to come soon!

Way, way too cute!

Little kids are just so cute!!! (Especially when one hunts the other in the forests of PA).

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