The First 100 Days and Participation Trophies

Similar to a presidential term, I see the first 100 days of a baby's life as a significant test...for the parents. Let's face it, for those first 100 days or approximately 3 months the baby is not extremely giving. The first month you wait for him/her to finally smile, the second month you cross your fingers hoping that you didn't lose the colic lottery, and the third month you watch as he/she teases you with longer sleeping stretches at night sometimes even sleeping the whole night through only to wake up 3-4 times the next night.

Jason recently completed his first 100 days (as of this post he is 16 weeks, 1 day or 113 days old) and we're starting to see some of those encouraging infant signs. He recognizes us and smiles almost instantly, he's starting to play with small toys (which really is just holding onto something and trying to put it in his mouth), he's sleeping pretty well at night, and he's much more aware of his daily routine and surroundings. Not to mention that except for the random sickness that throws us for a loop, Bridget and I are much more familiar with his likes/dislikes/tendencies and I like to think we're handling the two kid thing much better than we were just a few weeks ago.

On to Owen...In one of my recent posts I posted I wrote about Owen and teeball. The three game season just ended (two of the five games were rained out with no make-ups) and Owen's team, the Yankees, finished with a record of 0-0. It was actually a great league. No pressure; just a bunch of 4 year olds having a great time hitting, fielding, diving, and at times wrestling.

Now I spent a fair bit of my childhood playing various sports on various teams and I have about 10 trophies total to show for it (a couple of those are fishing trophies, which I won't get into in this post). I received a trophy when the team I was on accomplished something. Win a league. Win a tournament. The normal stuff. I should have known, however, what was going to happen when Owen's final game ended. The coach in addition to his normal selection of post-game treats called the players over and gave every one of them a little gold trophy. A participation trophy?! What the?! I know it's how things work these days, but I long for the days when a trophy meant you accomplished something and not just that you showed up at the correct time wearing the right uniform. I guess it's good that I learn this about kids early in Owen's childhood. And with that I leave you with some of the pictures from Owen's first teeball season...

Devon Strafford Teeball 2013

A little tongue action with each swing

Taking a knee

The team and their gold trophies

3 Months, Off to School, Back to Work, and Roller Coaster Fan

And so, we've made it to another milestone...3 Months! Many people think 3 months = 12 weeks but as a parent that counts the days until his newborn is something more than a helpless being who at times smiles but more often frowns and cries I can tell you that 3 months is actually 13 weeks. In any case, Jason is now 3 months old and doing well.

3 months old!

It's always hard to tell as a parent that your child looks any different as time goes by but other people tell me that he is looking much different than he did a couple months ago. I can definitely tell that he's bulking up, though. He has the stereotypical chubby baby thighs and cheeks. And the best part about a baby's 3 month birthday...no doctor visit which means no shots! We get a month reprieve before they start poking the little guy again.

The 3 month milestone meant even more to Jason and Bridget. It meant that it was time for Jason to start going to school each day and for Bridget to return to work. Neither seemed very pleased with the situation although I think Jason handled it slightly better in the end. Bridget did an amazing job with Jason over her 3 months at home with him. I love Jason but there is no money you could pay me to spend 8-10 hours alone in a house with a newborn day after day. I certainly am not patient enough for that. So far we are four days into the new school routine and Jason seems to be handling it very well. He's sleeping well in his crib at school, which is something he never did at home during the day, seems to enjoy the other infants roaming around his new classroom, and is still eating like a champ. I did manage to give both Bridget and Jason a cold so he got his first of many colds during his first week at school, but he would have gotten one from someone in his room anyway; I'm just giving him a head start.

A couple weeks back on Memorial Day the family decided to take a road trip out to Dutch Wonderland, a nearby theme park in Lancaster, PA. We had no idea how Jason would handle a day at a theme park, but Owen loves it there and really wanted to go. Dutch Wonderland is a theme park built specifically for kids. While they have rides that adults can ride on, you only have to be 42" tall to ride every ride in the park. We told Owen over the winter that he had grown to 42" tall and could go on the rides at Dutch Wonderland including the Kingdom Coaster, the main roller coaster they have in the park. We quickly found out that Owen LOVES roller coasters. He had ridden one roller coaster at Hersheypark last year and there's a kiddie coaster at Dutch Wonderland that he had ridden in the past, but he could not get enough of the Kingdom Coaster. He and Bridget ended up riding it 8 times in a row! I can only hope that Jason is tall and grows up fast so that he and his brother can start riding rides together because I'm not sure how long I can keep up with them. We had a blast and will definitely be going back again soon.

Owen on one of the many rides that he rode at Dutch Wonderland