Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Flashbacks

Many of the baby utensils from Max's early days have been dusted off and reintroduced into the Tillman mainstream recently, in preparation for Speck's use. Although most if not all of these items caused Max irritation when they were being used for/by him, absence has apparently made the heart grow fonder, and he can often now be found trying to wedge his toddler-sized body into a variety of infant-sized spaces.

When we brought Max home from the hospital in this carseat, it was so much too large for him that my mum and I had to spend twenty minutes wrestling with the carseat straps to adjust them to a small enough size, and we still had to put rolled-up receiving blankets on either side of him so he didn't look too overwhelmed in there. Now, he can't actually fit his entire self into the seat -- his feet and a fair amount of leg hang off the edge, and he bangs his head on the top of the handle when he leans back.

Like most playpens/bouncy chairs/swings, Max immediately and scornfully rejected this chair as an obvious and grotesque attempt to fool him into not being held by a parent or loved one. He rarely succumbed to being placed in it at all as a baby, and never for longer than 5-10 minutes. We got it out the other day when we had some friends with a 6 month old baby over, and Max has been delighted by it ever since. Since his booty hangs off the edge and his head bangs against the metal frame when he leans back, it does not look like the height of comfort to me, but what do I know? Max is many long years from having to select chairs that support his bad back or keep him from getting cricks in his neck, and maybe his new found love of this apparatus will rub off on Speck.

And, finally, Max's old nemesis: the baby bath. Max's first few baths were torturous for both he and I -- he did not enjoy the sensation of being moistened or soaped, and I was mortally afraid that I would lose my grip on his tiny lathered self and send him spiralling down the drain (he was quite scrawny at first). Actually, Max's fondness for this bathtub is still sort of thin on the ground -- he took it out and tried it out today, but its contours were not conducive to comfort, and he had trouble getting in and out without tipping it over. After a minute or two of experimenting with it, he graciously decided that Speck could have uncontested ownership of it.

4 comments:

Ian said...

Wow...he is getting so big these days. Cute pictures!

Anonymous said...

It will be interesting to see who wins out on the big bed vs the crib. I imagine you and Ian will be quite cozy in the crib.

Chelsa said...

Don't be silly, Granny. Only one of us will fit in the crib. The other one will have to curl up in the co-sleeper.

Joshua said...

Mason did enjoy the bouncy seat. Why just this afternoon he asked, "Why dad, whither is yon seat which bobbles so sweetly?" To which I responded, "Alas, young master Max is the rightful owner and hence it remains at his dwelling." "Then let us make haste to his abode so that I may resume the splendid joy of the bounce!"

Whatever!