Missing Daddy

D was home this morning because he is working a late shift today (this is pretty common). So he spends the morning playing with Nicholas, they have breakfast and lunch and nap together and a general good time. Nicholas follows D around as he's trying to get dressed throwing the Banana book at him wanting him to read it, D very patiently reads it, etc., etc.

So it's time for D to leave "Bye, Boogie, see ya tomorrow!" And out the door to the garage. Nicholas runs to the door and starts banging on it and crying (actual tears) "DADADADADADADADADA!!!" So I pick him up and take him to the front door so he can see him drive away. He sees him, stops crying and waves. As soon as DH is out of sight, "DADADADADADADADADA!!" And more crying. I tell him Daddy has gone to work and will play with him tomorrow.

The screaming subsides, and he climbs off my lap, goes over to the front window, presses his face up against it and quietly says "Dada" (sniff) "Dada" (hiccuppy sob) "Dada" (shaky breath) for about 5 minutes.

I couldn't decide if I should laugh or cry.

One way to give a mom a heart attack

Backstory:
Our dog just had surgery on his back leg. This means when he wants to go outside, we let him out on the back deck, and he can get down the stairs to the yard but not back up them. So when he wants to come back in, he stands at the bottom of the steps and barks. We go outside and walk him around to the front of the house where he can get back inside.

What happened today:
The dog is barking to be let in. Nicholas is playing quietly with his toys. I go out the back door and close it behind me (yes, I'm sure, because if a door is the tiniest bit ajar he will go for it). Bring the dog around to the front and what do I see - THE BACK DOOR IS OPEN AND NO BABY!! So I run to the deck, screaming his name, and there he is, at the top of the stairs looking at me like "what's the big deal?"

I guess my kid can open doors.

The moral of the story:
You know all those baby proofing things you think you surely don't need yet because "he's only one, and can't even reach the door handle"? You just might need 'em.

The first...

Meet Nicholas. He is 9 months old, and growing up too fast already. With a baby, there are all sorts of wonderful firsts. First smile, first roll, first crawl, first sit and first stand. And then there's today's first - first blood.

I guess it's part of being a parent, you can't protect them all the time - expecially not from themsleves. When he was a "baby lump", I put him where I wanted him to be and there he stayed. Now, I turn my back for two seconds, and there's blood coming out of his mouth. As it turns out, his bottom teeth cut the roof of his mouth when he fell over, and it is a very small cut, but turning around to screams and blood is no one's idea of a good time.

At least now I know we can survive the small accidents as I'm sure there will be many more. Since he started pulling up on things, the tumbles have increased ten-fold - that darn gravity thing! Now what will happen when he starts walking :) ?