Blog - The Daily Poop

The little stinker did it again

© 2016 steve kolander Contact Me

AFTER TWO WEEKS OF RADIO SILENCE WITH A WORKING LOBSTER BOAT

6-7-12_val_conor_boat_jackethat2
After 2 weeks of radio silence, I emerge with the beginnings of a refurbished wooden lobster boat. Today, Valerie, Conor and I tested the new boat on the ocean. Okay, I took it out first to make sure everything was working properly. After a few tweaks, we all headed out together. If you can't see Conor, he's the one behind the life vest and under the hat. It was super sunny and if you haven't noticed from other pictures, he's Irish white. So sunburn is not an option.
Comments

CONOR GOES TO NEW ORLEANS

9-15-12_conor_spookyman_day1
New Orleans is known for its many shops, rituals and parades that honor the dead. Conor's not so sure he likes the practice. - See more at: http://dadsdecoded.com/blog/index_files/archive-sep-2012.html#sthash.fuCD9zcQ.dpuf
Comments

WWII MUSEUM IN NEW ORLEANS

9-18-12_conor_dad_ww2
The old lady in the elevator didn't think the WWII Museum was appropriate for a baby but we had fun. The museum focused on the invasion of Normandy and the war with Japan. We highly recommend the museum if you're a WWII buff but Conor was only good for about an hour of it before he got antsy and wanted to stand in the stroller instead of sit. Considering he's only 11 months old at this point, I'll consider that a victory. After he waived the white flag, we gracefully made our exit.
Comments

THERE ARE NO STRINGS ON CONOR


Conor may be his own man but it turns out that babies don't swallow solid foods automatically. As it turns out, they have to learn how to swallow. That's why they start out with soft food and slowly learn to eat things that have a thicker consistency and eventually little pieces of chicken and beef mixed in. I always thought they ate soft foods because of they had no teeth. But that was only half the story. Here, Conor hasn't grasped the idea of swallowing. Poor little guy.
Comments

CONOR'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

10-9-12_conor_racecar_eldog
Conor's first birthday was on a Tuesday so we plan to wait until Saturday to have a party. We're not that into parties but it is his first one so we opted to invite a few of the neighbors. But tonight, we opened his big present from us; a #1 red race car. He and his dog are pretty impressed.
Comments

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH A ONE-YEAR OLD

12-18-12_tiny_elton_john
Ah, come on, Christmas shopping with a child? That's a recipe for disaster. Unless you just make a game out of it. Mom shopped while Conor and I amused ourselves. Tiny Elton John had a great time and the holiday shoppers got a kick out of us, too. It's great being a dad!
Comments

OUR SON IS SHOWING NO SIGNS OF SHYNESS

1-7-13_yogibo_driscoll
It was cold today in Boston and Conor needed to run around so we took him to Natick Mall where they have a little kids indoor playground. After he got tired out, we visited the Yogibo store, Yogibos are like the bean bag equivalent of 1978. Except cooler. When we arrived, there were a few girls trying out the Yogibos and having a good time. Conor, not having a shy bone in his body, inserted himself into the middle of their conversation and somehow made the meeting about him. I dug around the internet to see if this was a normal attribute in kids and it's not necessarily so. There are in fact, shy kids and it's usually hereditary if they exhibit signs at an early age. There is a stage of infant development called 'stranger anxiety' and it doesn't last very long in the development process. And Conor has shown signs of it at times but after he sized up the situations, he ran into them head first.
Comments

CONOR JUST ROCKED HIMSELF TO SLEEP ON HIS ROCKING HORSE

1-27-13_rockinghorse
Conor was having the best time on his wooden rocking horse for about 20 minutes this morning. But after awhile, I saw that he would rest his chin on the horse's head, and when the rocking would slow down he'd sit up and get the horse to rocking again. At first, I thought he was resting and just enjoying the ride. Then I got closer when I saw that his posture wasn't right. I noticed his eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy. He was sleeping. I gently lifted him off the horse and took him to his crib where he curled up in a ball and continued to sleep. I tried to use my iPhone to record the event but as usual, it had run out of battery juice.
Comments

DON'T FENCE ME IN

2-19-13_conor_beach_march_27
A strange thing happened this evening after coming home. Conor was awfully fussy and kept wanting me to pluck him out of his high chair where his mom was having trouble feeding him. After I rescued him from his chair, he cried to be let down. But when I let him down he cried to be picked up again. It was very frustrating. I asked him what he wanted but of course, he can't really talk yet. He pointed towards the living room but I couldn't figure out what he was pointing at. So I put him down and offered him my hand hoping he might guide me to what he wanted. Sure enough, he took my hand and pulled me in the direction he wanted to go. At last, we ended up at the front door and he pointed to the door handle. He wanted out. When I opened the door, he smiled and walked to the door frame and stepped out into the rain. He looked pleased and wanted to walk down the stairs. I obliged him. When we finally got to the street Conor let my hand go and he looked around and smiled. He was happy.
Then it hit me, for the last 3 days we spent almost the whole day just sitting in my dad's front yard in San Benito, Texas, soaking up the sun and the fresh air. Conor was now cooped up in the cold Northeast and he wanted to feel the fresh air, even if it was raining. I let him stand there for a couple of minutes and then picked him up and gave him a big hug. I promised we'd take him out tomorrow. I then came back inside, ordered him a raincoat online and will wait on its arrival. There's no reason to keep a little boy trapped inside a house when he wants to enjoy the great outdoors. Even if it's raining or snowing. It's time to get the right gear so he's not fenced in.
Comments

CONOR GOES TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. AGAIN.

10_10_13_conor_childrenshospital2
Today, it got a little breezy in the back when Conor was admitted to Children’s hospital because of a super painful stomach cramp.

I got a call from Conor’s daycare that he had been crying for an hour, holding his stomach and saying that it hurt. They had tried to call once and now was trying again. I jumped in the car and headed to pick him up. Only two days before, he had the same issue and we took him to the hospital to get checked out. But because he was no longer in pain, they decided to just watch and see.

Today, we headed straight to Children’s Hospital and had him checked again. This time, thoroughly. It started with x-rays which he hated but it wasn’t painful. It was just a scary looking room with a big machine that looked like a monster. They really need to get in there and paint that room to look like something fun. It wouldn’t be hard at all. Then, they sent us all upstairs so he could have an ultrasound. He was so over that x-ray room that he wasn’t pleased to have to lie down and have jelly rubbed on his tummy so they could slide that plastic paddle around on his tummy. So he cried crocodile tears even though the procedure was painless.

Eventually, they decided he may just be really constipated so they gave him an enema to make him poo. He cried some more but was so tired from the other two experiences that he was resigned to let the nurse do her thing and he just laid on the pillow and cried. Valerie and I felt bad for him but we had seen him in pain when his stomach would cramp up so this didn’t seem like such a difficult decision. And now we are pretty sure he’ll be okay.
Comments

I THINK I SEE THE LION DAD

10-20-13_conor_zoo_safarijeep
Conor and I went to the Franklin Zoo in Boston today. We had a great time together, exploring every inch of the park. He was scared of the leopard as it paced around in it’s enclosure. We were super close. And he was also scared of the gorilla when it looked over and started staring at us. He said, “Daddy, Conor scared. Let’s go.” And so we did.
There was this really cool lion exhibit where it looks as though a safari jeep has crashed through the 3 inch glass and is now resting in the lion’s den. Conor loved it. Here he is looking for the lion. Pretty serious.
Comments

CONOR'S MAKING FRENCH TOAST FOR DAD TODAY

11-14-13_french_toast_making
I just keep getting surprised at how much our boy is growing up. He’s already helping dad with maintenance projects around the house and now with breakfast and dinner, too. HIs favorite kitchen tool is the ‘patchula.’
Comments

IT'S NOT DEFIANCE, THE TESTING IS HEALTHY

12-29-13_conor_cu_face
At 2 years old, Conor is in full swing of testing Valerie and me. Just last night, I told him to stop jumping up the stairs so he wouldn’t accidently fall. He jumped up the next stair and looked back, grinning. I repeated my request and it triggered him to jump up the next step and turn around, grinning. I wondered if I should put him in a timeout for disobeying or pick him up and get him out of the ‘hot’ area.

According to Susanne Ayers Denham, a developmental psychologist, kids aren’t being defiant when they ‘test’ us. She points out that toddlers are trying to grapple with the rules of the family. They’re still trying to figure out if you need to be there to correct them each time and how they can ‘own’ the rule so they follow it even when you’re not there.

When you figure that this ‘testing’ coincides with their increasing need to be independent, it’s hard to read when a child needs to be reprimanded and when a child needs some room to learn and grow. I find this line increasingly blurry and need a constant dose of psychologists to remind me that my amazing son is following human instincts and isn’t just trying to be a pain in the ass on any given day. So thank you, Susanne, for your help today.
Comments