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It is with much anticipation and after much thought, discussion, consideration, review, soul-searching, deliberation, and so forth that I have decided to set my sights firmly on the move back to Los Angeles, CA.

After half a year in PA and half a year in Ohio, neither Tristan or I have been satisfied with each others hometowns. Granted, as many have said, we haven’t given it time. But why should we when we already know what LA is like and more importantly, that we BOTH like it? Granted we didn’t have Lee there when lived there last, but a number of our friends out there have been having kids, while still finding work and time to play; it can be done and it will only be that much better with Lee.

There’s so much more opportunity and competition there; people go after their dreams. In big ways. And that’s largely what we’re looking at. Lee is part of our dream. But we both have others and it seems best, on most counts, to realize them there.

Admittedly, it’s going to be tough for me personally, on some levels, to head west again. I’ve held on to some pretty old dreams in PA and with another move west (my 3rd), it will be just another step away from them. Especially difficult, will be leaving my blood family behind again. Now that I’ve crested 30-yrs of age, it’s become even more clear to me how little time we have with each other in one lifetime.

But, many new plans originated in LA though and revolve around it or the west coast in general (yes, the spirit of the west is still quite alive and well . Plus, with age comes an increasingly strong dislike for the cold and wet weather.

So in maybe another two weeks, maybe more, maybe less…we’ll be back in La La land. Stay tuned.
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Update 1.6.10: We’re back in LA (have been for over 3-wks and it’s great!).

So Lee finally got sick this past week and he’s done it in kind of a big way, with croup. We went to the doctors Wednesday morning after a nominal cough turned full-fledged into croup. He got dosed with a steroid that wore off in 24-hrs and he seemed okay but by midnight his coughing fits were back. By 5am he was really laboring to breathe, had turned a shade or two sicklier and was throwing up.

So we rushed him to the Akron Children’s Hospital downtown and have been here for treatment and observation since 5:30am yesterday. He’s doing better overall, but still struggling with sleep at night. We might get out tonight but it seems iffy.

The funny thing was how cavalier his pediatrician was over the symptoms he could exhibit and that “we might choose to take him into the ER for treatment”. Well let me tell you, it was a lot more frightening than might’s and if’s expectation we’d been led to. If we hadn’t brought him in it seemed a real possibility his breathing would have stopped. So, despite his and our discomfort from a hospital stay, it’s been for the best.

On at that note, here’s a quick vid of him in his room proving, incidentally, that he isn’t smiles and otherwise angelic all the time. Though truth be told, he’s still managed his winning smile and giggle at times.

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Update 10.4.09: Lee’s mostly recovered, still nursing a little somethin’ as shown when he gets worked up crying or sometimes when waking up at night. Mostly, his teething is really gnarly now. Poor little guy.

So I haven’t posted much in awhile on Lee (let alone anything!), but I’m feeling the need to do so regularly again. Anyway, here’s a recent vid of Lee crawling, not his first time, but certainly not far into his budding ability. It’s on Facebook currently, so mind the jump. Will post directly here soon.

Lee Crawls

Children surely have been born designed with multiple survival mechanisms, though many pale in comparison to what know and are used to from most creatures in the animal kingdom.

Lee is no exception and as his father and a new parent, it’s pretty powerful to watch and experience the reactions to his mechanisms.

Top three survival instincts noted to date:

1. Cuteness!

Babies are generally cute and again, Lee is no exception. He gets so much attention, both from family and complete strangers. Something so adorable is just hard to ignore or refuse lavishing one’s attention on.

2. Crying

Ugh. Probably his most powerful instinct and mechanism is ironically, his most vulnerable, at least it would be if he wasn’t of the modern home sapien erectus clan. His cries are so gut wrenching, at least as a parent, especially within the first weeks of birth, that your own senses go on hyper vigilance. If they were the cries of any other adults kids, it might be different, and most times it is just plain irritating.

3. Limb Movement

Babies have little to no great control over their limb movements at first. And some like Lee, can be excessive and violent in their motions. And while his or any other baby’s range of motion and motor control is far from a great defense, it still could do some good since their motions are quick, unpredictable (well okay, not completely unpredictable), and seemingly violent.

Of course, all this motion day-to-day is just he or she developing their motor control, but there are times when it seems to more defensive or reactionary to something they don’t like or startles them.

Regardless of what is and isn’t a survival instinct, he remains super cute.

Tristan and I are out for our 1st wknd outing today w/Lee. I picked up his 1st Curious George’s book and tried out one of the baby slings.

We’re still definitely adjusting to parenthood and won’t be out much longer.