Atticus has been practicing his rock and roll, frontman posturing since he was barely 4 months old
When I took this shot in early May of 2012, I initially captioned it, thus:
“After realizing that he has an exact duplicate on his right arm, Atticus chose to try his hand at cannibalism. Fortunately, his teeth have not yet grown in so he just gummed his fist until he fell asleep.”
But as I look at it nearly 10 months later I see it in a slightly different light – as my friend, Rob pointed out back when I first posted it on Facebook, he looks like he should be holding a microphone. With an innate love of anything with a melody, his musicianship extends to the limits of what Fisher Price allows and anytime he hears a song on TV or the radio, he starts bobbing his head and shoulders. The kid has better rhythm than I have ever had (even pre-brain injury!)
Tickling the plastics
We have a hand-me-down, toddler sized, stand-up synthesizer keyboard that Atticus LOVES! He stands in front of it or, if he’s getting fancy, off to the side of it and bangs ALL the keys and buttons and both of the drum pads at the same time while he “dances.” What is produced is a cacophony of various synthesized instruments, animal sounds, regular piano and drum sounds interspersed with the demo songs and declaration/sound effects like, “GUITAAAAR! Brer-ber-brerrroow!” Sometimes when he starts to get fussy, I’ll stand him up in front of his piano and say, “Hey buddy! Play Daddy a song!” He usually starts pressing keys and gets a big smile. How old can a baby be and still be considered a prodigy?
Atticus the Vain checks himself out in the mirror (like he does every time he catches his reflection) at the doctor’s office. He got his 1 year shots and finger pricked; he didn’t cry when she actually pricked him but he was not a fan of having the blood squeezed out. He’s usually pretty good with shots but apparently this one is particularly painful because he cried and cried as he watched the nurse with a look of ultimate betrayal. He was making sure she didn’t try anything else, no doubt. It was heartbreaking.
As we all got prepared to celebrate the first anniversary of the birth moment, Papa and I wanted to start the countdown to 10:51am at 10:49 (120, 119, 118, 117…) but wiser heads prevailed.
Markedly fewer tears shed by either mother or child this year.
I offered to stage a recreation of Atticus’s first photo with Christine and Atticus reprising their original roles and Gramma playing the part of Dr. Miyazaki but nobody else was interested.
Surprise Buddy! It’s Batman® pajamas!
We got him an adorable pair of Batman® pajamas. Unfortunately, no cowl or cape was included but I am in the process of convincing Christine that it wouldn’t be a choking hazard and she should sew something to complete his costume. We’ll see how it goes.
*Chewing* on the toothbrush is the next best thing to actual brushing, right?
We also got him a little tooth brush and Apple-Banana baby toothpaste for little, gerbil-like baby teeth. Mmmmmm… He mostly just chews on the tooth brush at this point but at least he’s on the right track.
Don’t make me angry… you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry…
I was teaching a class that evening so we all decided to go to Kimono for a birthday lunch. It was actually more of a lunch for us but he did have some of my sweet carrots so I think that counts. Atticus quickly grew bored as he was repeatedly told that he couldn’t play with things such as sharp knives, full glasses, empty glasses, eye glasses etc. etc. but the waitresses all kept coming over to flirt with him so he was mostly occupied.
Shortly after we finished eating, we heard the telltale clapping that signals a restaurant birthday celebration! We hadn’t asked them to do anything special but we had mentioned that we were celebrating his first birthday so the fact that they were singing to him, was that much greater! I think almost the entire staff, save for two or three kitchen guys, came out to sing. I missed it but Gramma said that the kitchen guys (who had spent much of the time we were there, waving and making faces at Atticus through the kitchen window) made a “giant flame-volcano” at the crescendo of the “Happy Birthday” song.
Rather than a boring piece of cake, they brought out this magnificent origami pagoda thing made out of orange pieces and toothpicks! It was great and maybe they always do that for birthdays, but it felt super special. Atticus devoured the orange pieces as fast as he could get his chubby little hands on them. He may have gotten his table manners and proclivity for mealtime mess making from me but he got his voracious appetite from his mother! I think it’s a vegetarian thing.
Atticus makes short work of consuming the ground levels of the structureAtticus attempts to demonstrate the proper way to comb his hair
Next on the agenda was to go to Great Clips for Atticus’s first hair cut! He was very patient and didn’t cry or anything but he kept trying to see what the stylist was doing to his hair!
Atticus’s attempts to cultivate his ever lengthening mullet are cut short.
Somebody, I don’t remember who, suggested holding a hand mirror so that he could look at himself. He loves nothing more than looking at his own reflection!
Atticus checks out the baby in the mirror that seems to follow him wherever he goesHow much for a mohawk?
I needed to be at Sawtooth at 5:00 so after his haircut, we went back home for cake and ice cream. We have never really given Atticus any sugary type treats just because we haven’t so we weren’t sure how he would react to these birthday delights.
Tiny birthday cupcake and tiny cup of Ben & Jerry’s are mutually ignored by the birthday boy. Soon, though, he will learn the joys of sugary snacks and empty calories.
At first, he was only interested in the mylar balloon that Gramma had suggested getting but when we all started singing and he noticed the mini cupcake with its burning candle! Then it was hard to keep our little pyromaniac from grabbing the flame…
Christine holds his hands back from grabbing the candle as we begin to sing the traditional birthday dirge.“Happy birthday, dear Atticuuuuuuuuuus…” (YYYAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!)
Atticus “sang” (ie. ear piercingly screeched) along with us as we wished him a happy birthday. When the song was done and the candle had been extinguished,
Picking up a cup cake by the icing is not as successful as you might think
Christine removed the wax number one and Atticus just looked down at the cupcake, unsure what to do next. Christine dabbed her finger in the icing, let Atticus taste it and told him it was good for him to eat.
He gingerly tried picking up the cupcake by the icing and made it halfway to his mouth before the cupcake and the bit of icing he was holding on to parted ways fell to the table (icing side down, of course.) He solemnly picked it back up and, with speed that I wouldn’t have thought possible for a one year old, he shoved the entire thing in his mouth with both hands!
After a brief mishap, Atticus crams the ENTIRE (mini) cupcake into his mouth and chews for several minutes before sucking the residual icing off of his hands
He held everything in his mouth with his two meaty little fists until the mini cupcake was devoured and he smoothly transitioned into consuming the icing stuck between his fingers. When he was done, we decided to give him some of his ice cream. The first several bites were met with a horrible face, a slight shake of the head and grunts for more.
I know it looks like he’s in pain but I think it is more shock than anything else.“Do you promise that this next bite won’t be as cold as that last one?”“Ice cream, you frigid temptress!! I don’t I think I’ll be able to choke down more than another bite or two (or three or four…)”On the one hand, ice cream is cold and foreign and unfamiliar BUT on the other hand it is delicious and melting quickly…
Atticus had a wonderful first birthday and he was great all day long! We honestly couldn’t ask for a more perfect son!
I’ve been trying to take a picture of him each day (it started with Christine’s pregnancy) and rather than showing the updated version every few months, I’ve decided that I’ll post it each year on (or near) his birthday. Check it out:
Atticus and I napped on the couch this morning and I felt him stirring but I didn’t open my eyes right away. He gently began patting my face and stroking my beard and then, ever so softly, he whispered, “Da-Da”. It was the greatest thing ever!
He whispered, “Da-Da” like he was trying to coax me awake without startling me.
I could help but smile so I opened my eyes and snapped a few shots with my iPhone before I even put my glasses back on.
Christine has taken to referring to Atticus’s new Pack N Play as “Baby Jail”. Most of the time he enjoys Baby Jail but occasionally he just stands there and cries. If you sit in front of him and head but his stomach (he invites you to do so by squishing his belly against the netting) he laughs and laughs! My first instinct is to say that he is very easily amused but then it occurred to me how often I alternately head but him and kiss him through the net over and over and over and over just to hear him giggle. I guess the requirement for what we find entertaining runs in the family. Well, for the guys at least.
