I missed video Friday this week, so I am posting one day late. The last time I shot a gun I think I was 10 years old, I have never shot a hand gun. From the video, you can see I do not do this very often, but it sure was fun!! Thank you Doug for taking me to do this. It was A BLAST!

Desmond with a death grip on Bert!

We won some tickets to go see Sesame Street Live from the Credit Union and some radio station last week. Last night we picked up our tickets and found our way to the Centraplex to see the show. We had to get there an hour early because we also had won tickets to go back stage and meet some of the characters, and have pizza with them. We were a little worried how Desmond might do, as he is not into Sesame Street yet, and sitting still is not something he is into these days. We decided to give it a try, it was free to us so what did we have to lose.

With that being said Jackie and I both agreed it was a very wise decision to go after all, he LOVED IT! At the pre-party we all had to line up to meet “Bert and Ernie” we let a few of the older kids go first, and one by one smiles turned to melt downs. I guess the pressure was too much, some kids freak out when they see a larger then life puppet coming to get them. That was not the case with Desmond, I set him on the ground and he went running towards them. He has no idea who Bert and Ernie are, but he did not want to let go of them, he gave them “high-fives” grabbed onto them and just had a face of pure excitement on it. It was “wow” and “yaaay!” and claps all around from him. When they left we looked around at us, and says ” see it?” and pointed to the door they just went into to go back to the dressing rooms. Seconds later he is running towards the door like a crazed fan storming backstage. I was able to wrestle him to the ground, and we moved our way up to our seats.

We handed our tickets to the lady who was helping people to their seats, she looked at our seat numbers and did not know where to seat us, those seat numbers did not exist. She went off and asked someone else, she comes back and tells us to head down front. It turns out we are up front and center, best seats in the house! we couldn’t have been any closer. This was perfect, because again, Mr. Desmond does not sit in seats for more then half a nano-second. Once the show started he was hooked, the lights, the singing, dancing, giant stuffed animals running around stage, he was fixed on it, and I was fixed on him.

Its pretty wild how much enjoyment you can get out of watching your child enjoy something new. It was a new rush of feelings for me. I have experienced enjoyment of seeing his eyes light up before. But this was new and different. When it comes to being goofy in public with strangers I tend to shy on the side of “im too cool to do that, and I hope no one is looking at me” but last night, who cares, every parent in the complex was being a kid again and acting the fool with their children, the adults ate it up just as much as the kids. That was fun to me, Jackie and I caught ourselves looking at each other a few times and smiling at how much he was loving this. The characters ran out into the crowed lots of times during the show, and each time we were always right their to get a handshake, elmo came and saw us, and yes Desmond can now say “elmo”, actually its more like “eammmo”.

So there you have it, our first experience with something on that big of a scale with a small child. Thank you Credit Union and Light Rock Z90 whatever the heck station you are for the free tickets. We enjoyed them!

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I am feeling generous today so I am posting two videos. The first is from our vacation. It is about 2 minutes. Just some clips and highlights of the week. The 2nd is of Desmond laughing, it makes me laugh and smile to hear him laugh like this. Have a great weekend everyone.

It is Friday again, thank goodness for that. I have another video for you. I guess Friday is video day. So this week in the life of Desmond it has been all about talking, pointing, grunting, being sneaky or just showing his frustration.

Lets start with talking for example. I say “Hey Jackie dinner is ready” he says “KAACKIEEE! KAACKIEE!” Oh yes he knows who his momma is, and she is KAACKIE! Also “EAT” is another of his favorite words. You can also ask him questions, and usually the answer is YESH (like Sean Connery) or NUH.

When I come home from work now he wants to be picked up ASAP. As soon as he is picked up he points. Points to something, anything it does not matter, but he wants to make sure I know about it. The pointing is always followed by a questionable grunt, like Tim Allen on tool time.

Sneaky, oh yes he is learning to be sneaky. He can climb up on chairs and reach things he is not supposed to reach. If he hears you coming around the corner he will turn around sit on his butt and look innocent and smile. Very sneaky Dr. Jones, veeery sneaky.

Frustration, this is a hard one to watch, he gets frustrated when he is unable to accomplish something on his own. There is one chair in the living room he wants to get up in soo bad, but its just an inch too high. He will climb and scramble and hike that leg up, but its just too much. This is when he hulks out. This is hard to watch. Yesterday I helped him up into the chair, gave him a snack, a drink, and flipped the channels to find some cartoons. I never made it to the cartoons, because go-kart racing was on the speed channel. Immediately its VROOM VROOM, VROOM VROOM for 20 minutes. That boy loves him some cars. The picture above is him enjoying all that. The video below is from last week. We had him try his new pool and swim suit. We think he likes it. Have a great weekend!

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Today was Desmond’s last day for his ISR swim lessons. It has been a long road for the little guy, and his mom too. I have to say I am so proud of them for sticking with it. The results have just been so amazing, and I am so very proud of him. Yesterday he was to swim fully clothed, diaper, shoes the works! And he did awesome! Standing ovation awesome! Below are some pictures from that. To celebrate his big day, we went to firehouse subs! He got his 1st very own kids meal! Fire Hat included. He had a blast, and chomped down his grilled cheese and Oreo cookies.

I was able to get some video of today, and show all that he has learned. Some things I want to point out from this video, as I am sure I will get search hits from the ISR references. the idea of ISR is to teach children how to rescue themselves. It is not a swimming lesson for fun. It is designed to teach them to act calm when they fall into the water and float, breath, and get to the side of the pool. This whole process has taken over 6 weeks. The 1st part of the video shows Desmond getting to the steps, he stands up, and loses his balance, falling in backwards. This is a perfect example of how it happens. The instructor let him fall, and he recovered himself nicely. This is what it is all about. I highly recommend this program. You can learn more at www.infantswim.com

Just a fun video to bring in the weekend. Desmond loves to chase, and be chased. Here he is chasing me. Have a great weekend everyone.

I meant to put this video up last week with the other post, but felt the post got a little long, so here is a short clip of the little guy having a big time in the back yard.

This week has been a rough week, not much sleep, constant go go go all the time, we are getting ready to move again! We have not even started that process. Then Thursday work was pretty rough for me, just a really difficult time, pretty stressful day. Finally after a long day I come in to catch Desmond right before he is going to bed, and this was what I got to enjoy. It fixed everything.

Just a fun little Friday post to kick off the weekend. Enjoy!

Things he will dance for:
1. Cell Phone Ringing
2. Hacksaw Sawing
3. Radio
4. TV
5. All toys that make noise.

Desmond Shaking his Booty

Desmond has now been flipped around in his little car seat to face forward. I made sure I did it on the day of his Birthday, he has found this to be a very big deal, as do I! He really enjoys being able to see all the action. I am sure if feels like a roller coaster being as his mother drives like Dale Earnhardt! No, No I am kidding she totally drives like Jeff Gordon. I drive like Dale. On the way back from Atlanta, Desmond was in the back seat just a jabbering on as he usually does, it never makes any sense usually, and we pay no mind. However this time he just keeps getting louder, and louder, and clearer. Geg!, Geeg!, Gweg!, GWEEG! Jackie and I both turn around and look at him, there he is just sitting there with his toy cell phone up to his ear, calling me on the phone. Of course I pick up my cell phone, and we proceed to have a conversation back and forth about our feelings and what not. He really has a lot too say, and is very insightful.

Enjoy a little clip of him talking on his cell phone, just about anything is a cell phone these days. Toy ones, tivo remotes, sippy cups, even a shoe, or the draw string on my mothers jacket. He must get incredible reception because he is always on the phone.