05 August 2009

Little Renaissance Man

As the days go on, and Eamon grows and matures, we start to see more and more of his personality. No longer content to just sit and watch the world go by, Eamon's personality is ever more evident. As most first time parents probably do, I love to watch Eamon doing whatever he's doing, and wonder if it's just a fleeting interest, or if someday I'll be telling people, "He always showed remarkable interest in _________, even as a small child." Here are some of the possibilities for the future of our little man:



The Swimmer
Eamon starts swimming lessons this Saturday. Ever since the first debacle in the pool, he’s gotten much better. I’ve taken him to the pool twice with my friend Beth, and both times, he’s loved it. He can’t do much in the water, of course, but he splashes with the best of them and has no fear of putting his face in the water (I think he’s drinking it sometimes).



After taking a nice swim, I put Eamon down for a minute on the chair with the towel spread out underneath him. He preceded to then wrap himself up in the towel, as seen here.

I’m not exactly sure what they do in swim lessons for 7 month olds, but we’ll find out soon enough. We’re taking the lessons at the Riverside Wellness Center, which is a relief because they have an indoor pool so I don’t have to worry about the sunburn issue. Only one of us can go in the water with him, but the other one can watch. Since Aaron was the lifeguard back in the day, he gets to go in the pool while I am relegated to cheerleader and photographer.

The Model
Speaking of photographs, Eamon (like most babies today) has had a camera in his face pretty much since he was born. In the beginning, he had no idea what the camera was, so it took forever to get him to look at the camera and actually smile. Now, however, it’s almost impossible to get a candid picture of the kid. When we take pictures inside, our camera has an orange light as the flash. Eamon now knows this orange light, and will automatically stop whatever he is doing to look at the camera and smile. Sometimes this means he stops the incredibly cute thing he was doing that prompted me wanting to take a picture in the first place.


Eamon can't pull himself to a stand yet, but can keep himself up there for awhile if you stand him up first.
The Techie
Again, like most babies, Eamon appears to have a deep fascination with everything electronic. Despite the expensive, brightly-colored toys that we’ve bought him, Eamon covers, in this order: 1) the TV remote control; 2) our cell phones; 3) the computer. We’ve attempted to trick him somewhat by giving him an old TV remote control and cell phone with the batteries removed, but it only half works. He knows that Mommy and Daddy never use those things, so he isn’t that interested, either. He knows which remote makes the TV work, and that’s the one he wants so that he can press all the buttons. What fun is a remote that doesn’t make the TV do wonky things?

Mmm...old cell phone (battery removed)


The Chef/Drummer
In the long-standing tradition of babies everywhere, Eamon has also begun his love with Gladware, pots, spoons, and whisks. These things are WAY better than regular toys, and he can sit in the kitchen for close to 45 minutes and play with these things. Anywhere else, he gets bored after 10 minutes, which is why I’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen recently thinking about how I should probably mop the floor or something.




Mmmm...wooden spoon.


The Piano Man
Ever since he was big enough for me to wedge upright in something resembling a sitting position, I’ve been playing the piano for Eamon. I’m not terribly good, and that’s something that always regretted. I didn’t start playing the piano until I was about 11, and I was always frustrated because I didn’t want to learn to play “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore” thirty-eight times in order to learn the basics. I have this feeling that if I had started young, when repetition is a delightful and desired thing, I would have enjoyed it a lot more and kept with it. So, I make it a point to have Eamon “play” the piano with me everyday. I attempt to play melodies for him, but more and more, he slaps my hands away so that he can “play” instead. He’s not bad. We have an electronic piano (the same one my parents bought for me when I was 11), and he already knows how to turn on the beats. He can make them go faster or slower, and loves to bang on the keys with them (not in time, of course). Sometimes he even sings while he does it. It’s hysterical, and while he certainly won’t be taking piano lessons for while, I’m hoping that having him play around on it this young will instill the love, so that when he is old enough, he can start learning for real.


Okay, yeah, it's another piano video. BUT! He's so much better than this one! His skill has advanced tremendously! His sense and rhythm and timing are maturing! Really, it's worth watching another piano video just to see the sheer joy on his face as he pounds away at the keys. (And, just so the world knows: I had an even better video, in which he very seriously turned on the beat, slowed it down, pounded on the keys, sang along, and then threw up his hands dramatically when he finished. And then I accidentally erased it. And then I spent the rest of the evening cursing myself).

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