Raising Watsons

May 15th, Tucker is almost 12 weeks old and Mom played her first post pregnancy game against Tucson Roller Derby.

Gramma came out to stay with us for a week and help the little man transition from spending every day with his awesome mom, to spending the day with our wonderful nanny.  Gramma has had TONS of experience with little tiny babies lately as she is the dedicated go to caretaker for all the new mommies at West Nottingham.  Mom and Dad even got to go see a movie, the first one since our guy was born!  I think Gramma had the most fun on this trip, but we could see how happy Tucker was each day when we got home from work.  He got to go on long walks down to the riviera, got plenty of tummy time (much to his chagrin), and got his first taste of the jumper.  We see the jumper as quickly becoming his favorite thing on earth since he already loves to stand and show everyone just how big he’s getting …

Standing for Something

Some Jumper Action Shots

BBQing outside with Dad on Memorial Day

he just looks so mischievous here, like a mini-mini-me

Bouncy Seat of Smiles

What a wonderful visit we had, now we just have to figure out how to get Gramma back here a few more times!

So there we were in deepest West Hillywood attending the first reunion of The Sanctuary birth class of early 2010.  Five families started with similar birth plans which resulted in five completely different birth stories. Overall we had two cesarean sections, one hospital birth, and two water births at home.  It was so nice getting together again, we share a mutual obsession for our own babies and each others.  All the babies had met previously during our many hours of class time, no surprise they were completely comfortable with each other and so curious!  At one point one of the babies let out a big belch and a unanimous roar went up from the whole crowd.

Here’s the first yearbook shot of all these babies:

From left to right: Cassius, Tucker, Mylo, Emerson, & Shyela.

And here’s their fan club …

Happy Birthday Grandma Friedel!

Your gift is a bit dodgy on the legal side. You have to have a permit in most states to possess picures his adorable. Heck, these pictures have been known to ferment revolution in those dark oppressed countries with the battle cry “how is this kid so damned cute??!”.

We’re about to star the early summer visitations. Aunt Catherine is comic tonight to mee the little man forthe first time, and then grandma & grandpa Friedel are arriving on Monday for a week of all the cuteness they can handle. Tucker has been training up for all the excitement by eating. A lot. All the time. 🙂 Since heather’s no longer pregnant, I can’t call my resiliant paunch “sympathy weight” any more, now it’s been cristened “solidarity weight”. Tucker and I are on a race to double our weight, so far he’s killing me. But I’ve stocked up on cereal and I plan on eating only after 10pm. Show this kid how we used to do things in the 80s.

Today, as Grampa Watson mentioned, is Tucker’s 2-month birthday! And to celebrate Tucker and Mom went for a nice walk on this brisk spring morning.

It was a chilly day but Tucker has spoken, he definitely does NOT like hats. Which is really too bad since he looks SO damned cute in them. But, bundled in three blankets and strapped into his Bob mom and the birthday boy strode north along the beach.

First stop, Redondo’s gigantic public library. Tucker really enjoyed himself here and this proves it, this kid is a genius. He loves the smell of the stale stacks and the amicable silence. Err, I mean I think he does, that’s what dad likes about libraries anyway. Then it was off to Micheal’s crafts to get some poster board for the derby bout this weekend. Mom’s not playing since the travel team has a game next month, but dad’s announcing and mom will be cheering the home team on.

Meanwhile, dad and radar had a ho-hum day at work. We’ve been shooting for two weeks straight and everyone is exhausted! Thankfully, we have two days of no shooting. But then we’re right back to it for three weeks straight of 12 hour days! I’m tired just thinking about it. But that just makes the one or two hours I get with the little man all that more enjoyable!

Tune in next week for some dynamite new video footage of Tucker B and dad on the couch. More cuteness than you can shake a stick at!

New footage from the “10 Great Minutes with Tucker Watson” series has been leaked onto the internet. This footage was found on a cute little jump drive, in a cute little handbag, on a sun dappled bench, during the warm weekend rush at a nearby YogurtLand.

This is what our experts were able to show you, but let me warn you. This is cute, I mean off the charts cute. I’ve probably watched this 10 times. It’s habit forming.

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We decided to give the little man a quick dunk before mommy’s group. I guess you’re obligated to have them squeaky clean when on review. Luckily, they’re a group of homebirthers, in Venice none the less. The paparazzi caught us and now everyone knows, this guy has a really cute butt. He’s always stuffed into chubby cloth diapers, diaper covers, and then a tasteful onesie. There’s so much padding i’ve never really noticed how tiny his bum is. It’s like two eggs in a hanky, it really is. And little eggs at that.

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After a long hiatus, we were finally able to sneak up to Sugarfish for our usual fabulous meal. Tucker was mostly agreeable and with a little swinging of his car seat, he was a generous newborn and let his hungry parents scarf down the bounty of the sea. So thanks little man, you’ll get to try some of this delectable sashimi soon enough! = )

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So here we are, the boy and I. Just hanging out on the bed like we do. When you-know-who up and smiles … a bunch of times. He’s still not doing them on command, but it’s amazing just tracking his changes even over these few short weeks. We had a banner saturday but forgot to take any pictures! We’ve never been good about the picture taking in our daily lives together or even on trips for that matter. Took a trip down to the Brazillian BBQ place in the redondo pier and had an amazing carnivore’s brunch complete with 4 kinds o steak, chicken, lamb, ribs, and sausage. What would accompany all that animal better than bottomless bubbly?! Then we headed out to a friend’s place for the latest UFC fight and an Italian feast. I have to admit, it was more like Tucker’s coming out party and there happened to be two guys bloodying eachother on the tv rather than the other way round. While Heather had retained some sort of anonymity while pregnant, she was suddenly thrust into the limelite hotseat as all our female friends are at that age and are SO interested in starting their own families! I was surprised by how earnest and congratulatory our confirmed bachelor friends were about my becoming a father. There must be something hardwired into men that makes them imagine raising a boy, or raising a younger version of themselves at least. I can remember saying “i’m going to do that with my boy” even when i was a little kid. So here’s our 10 minutes of laptop fun:

So there we were, just hanging out: BIG man & little man.

When all of a sudden, we had SMILES! = )

With 2 dogs, 2 cats, & plenty of desert dust, sneezes are a regular & adorable occurance.

Being a little international man of mystery, or even a local little man of mystery takes a lot out of you.

But you can’t keep these Big Foot(s) down for long, there’s kickin to be done.

But then things got weird, really weird …

Finally, we were told to leave this place. Make haste good sir, find me that lunch truck!