Babies grow up so fast!
It’s been a while since I had written anything to
the Dad Chronicles because of
routine yard work in the Dub Shack and the usual getting pulled in a thousand
different directions, but I found a little bit of time to scratch out and share
updates with the little CA.
After I wrote 1YL, I was happy to leave it alone and
live life as a boring suburban Afro-wearing dad with a gorgeous wife and the
world’s cutest toddler yet the writing bug kept nagging at me. In the midst of
all of the beauty I live around, Caeli is learning how to walk!
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| Clearly I won at life: Gorgeous wife, beautiful daughter |
Thank God Chastity and I have mostly baby-proofed
the house although there is that landline cord that looks a bit attractive to
fifteen month old eyes.
More about our big kid: As of today, the walk is really a quick few
steps of running from our outstretched arms to a hug from the parent who catches
her before she falls down. Once she gets it down, I know I am going to have to
change at least one doorknob so she doesn’t get trapped in the coat closet
chasing daddy’s basketball or becoming mesmerized by the vacuum cleaner. Even
as Caeli crawls, it has that funky step in it that looks like she is going to
stand up and become a fulltime walker but not quite there yet. She’ll get it
soon; hopefully daddy starts losing weight with her getting into everything
around the house, both cars, and throughout the yard.
Trust me, this child is always supervised: The days of free range play has unfortunately
faded in the rearview after my own childhood expired and the way Saline County
is developing every piece of land, that memory of going outside to play for
hours at a time only to return home when the street lights come on are from
yesteryear. Who’d think that at the old age of 37, my only child would not get
to enjoy exploring the woods or playing down the street with other little girls
her age without a reputable adult overseeing her fun, games, social abilities,
problem solving skills, and camaraderie with others as I did out in Friendship?
You know, this is the world we live in – we parents
have to manage it more closely than our guardians ever imagined they would have
to.
In the ten months since Caeli graduated from the
NICU to the zoo (as her primary nurse Emily termed the real world), she has
progressed by leaps and bounds thanks to continuing prayers; a tight support
system consisting of the people we have confided in the most; our friends from
Kidsource Rhonda, Amanda, Sara, and Katie; the ability to rearrange our work schedules
(thanks, Rineco!) to have the availability for her doctor’s appointments; and a
near-photographic memory just like her daddy. In the midst of all of her successes, the
lone setback was due to her swallow study from April. We still have to thicken
her liquids to a honey consistency, and there is still no way I’ll try giving
her Dr. Pepper yet. There will be another swallow study slated for October – I
pray she’ll be able to consume foods and drinks without Thick-It as she is
currently a silent aspirator.
Just as a reminder, dads don’t babysit their kids. WE RAISE THEM.
Babies do grow up fast, so maintaining the aura of
innocence at home in addition to the privacy the family has grown accustomed has
to be paramount. It doesn’t mean I won’t share pictures of the family from time
to time, but I’d be a fool not to protect my wife and child from judgmental
eyes and crass opinions of how to take care of my family.
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