Gompers Growing Up

Wow, we had quite the weekend at our house. Friday was Beth’s doctor appointment, always a little traumatic. She was 29 inches long, which is about average, and 16 lbs 11 oz, which is off the charts low. So she’s long and thin like her Mama. Then came the shots. And the crying. I hate watching her get shots. Those of you who are parents know what I mean, those that aren’t, it sucks. Afterward we went to Wendy’s and got some treats. She likes fries and frosties. The rest of the day was taken up with shopping and house cleaning. Because Saturday was…

THE PARTY!

Now, a child’s first birthday is more for the parents. Beth didn’t care why everyone was there making a fuss over her, she just had fun. Mama and Daddy had fun hosting the party. We bought a big cake, baloons, streamers, food, the works. We invited some people from our street, some of Sarah’s co-workers, and assorted others. We had about 16 people show up, which turned out to be all that will fit on our deck. Now, some pictures. First, Beth with food. These are always fun, but notice the careful placement of the hot dog. Yes, she did that.

And the cake. We gave her a piece knowing she would go crazy with it, but she still needed some encouragement.

From there it got messy.

After that, Mama and some other ladies took her upstairs for a bath,Daddy stayed with the guests. Once she was presentable again, she came back to the party and played, mingled, and generally had fun.

We told everyone not to feel like they needed to buy her presents, but they did. She made out like a bandit! Here’s a few select pics.

Anyway, the party was a success. The last person left at 1:30 am. So Sunday we didn’t do much of anything. One last picture of Gompers and J.T., he’s her “boyfriend” from up the street. Don’t worry, I’ve got my eye on him. But they do look cute together.

Wow, hard to believe it, but it’s been a year already. Everybody tells you that they grow up so fast, but I was kinda like “Whatever, a year is a year.”. That’s not the case at all. On the one hand, Time is a constant, measured out in minutes, days, eons, or whatever your favorite measurement might be. On the other hand, Time is an illusion, warped, stretched, or compressed by our perceptions. I’ve mentioned this before, but it really strikes me at odd times, and I think it bears repeating. 

The other day she said her first word, which was duck. ( I know, now I need to teach her to says “Ducks suck! Go Beavos!”, but that might be a while.) She was wearing some little jammies with ducks on them and her momma told her they were ducks. she promptly said “Duck.”, much to our surprise. She still doesn’t know what it means, anything is duck to her (Eeyore was the other day.), but she will say it very clearly. Now, to me, it seems like just yesterday her only vocalization was to cry when she was upset. But when I really put my mind to it, I can recall all of her new noises she would make leading up to this. My favorite was her growl. She would growl from deep in her throat over and over again. Man, I hope we have that on video!

Just yesterday she was only nursing. Today she can feed herself stuff that we eat. Just yesterday she couldn’t roll over. Today she can pull herself up on things and take a few steps, if she’s holding on to something. Just yesterday she didn’t make a sound unless she was upset. Today she chatters all the time, with the occasional word thrown into the mix. Just yesterday I could put her down somewhere and she’d be there when I got back. Today I have to watch her like a hawk or she’ll take off crawling and get into something she shouldn’t. Just yesterday she fit in the crook of my arm and was weightless. Today I have to switch her from side to side when my arm gets tired. Just yesterday…..

Today, Beth Helene Haselden turns one year old. Right now I’m going to go enjoy every minute God gives me with my beautiful baby girl.

One of the fun things to do with Gompers is introduce new foods. At first it was easy, just grab an assortment of baby foods and see what she likes. But then as she got older, she needed to start feeding herself and learning to eat grown up food.  Having her learn to self feed at the same time she’s developing her fine motor skills led to some epic messes. Bibs are helpful, but they only go so far. So some times we strip her down to a diaper and let her rip.  And I’m sure it’ll only get worse before it gets better. The following are some of her more colorful forays into the world of grown up food.

Just kidding, Beth cannot morph into a calico cat, although it would be cool if she could. That is Sassafrass thinking we’ll feed her if she sits there.

Just like her Daddy, Gompers loves ice cream. But we don’t let her feed herself that stuff. Let’s see, I know those pictures are here somewhere…

Ah yes, I believe this was hamburger helper.

And she runs for the border to think outside the bun. Taco Bell beans and cheese.

Pudding, anyone?

And that old standby, Spaghetti-os!

Honestly, I don’t know where she gets these atrocious table manners from.

But seriously, we do make sure she gets her fruits and vegetables, it’s just funnier with the other stuff.

Til next time….

Wow, I should have started this a long time ago. It’s fun, fairly easy (Thanks to great tech support! Props Sean!), and I can do it whenever Gompers is sacked out. Even if nobody reads it, it helps me to remember things about her growth and development. And she is the coolest toy ever!

I was never sure I wanted to be a dad, or what kind of dad I would be. It was always fun watching my nieces and nephews grow up, and I enjoyed babysitting, but having my own? But then I finally grew up (took a few decades, right Mom?) and met the right woman. But still, right up till they laid that baby in my arms, I was thinking, “What am I doing? This can’t end well!”. But then there she was, red faced and angry looking, and she wrapped those tiny fingers around mine. And I was wrapped around her little finger, never to be parted.

Beth is here!

Sorry to get a little mushy there, but hey, it’s my blog and I’ll cry if I want to. But seriously, I was just thinking back to that day, and I wanted to share. I appreciate any comments and hope I’m at least a little entertaining. And now for some humor. Over the last few days, Gompers has acquired a new facial expression. She does it quite frequently, and it cracks us up. Enjoy.

Beth's new face

Hello world, or the small portion of it that will end up wasting a few minutes reading this.  The purpose of this blog is to try to keep track of the growth and development of Beth Helene Haselden (aka Gompers).  I will try to post at least once a week with pictures, anecdotes and general news on my favorite subject, Gompers.

For the purpose of this first post, just to get my feet wet, I chose some pictures of Gompers getting her feet wet.  We bought her a pretty pink pool, which she promptly pooped in, but she had a good time for the first 10 minutes.  Good thing Momma was there to notice the water getting cloudy as Daddy was working on his third beer and not really paying attention; in my defense, it was Father’s Day.  I paid for that, by having to sanitize the pool, the toys, the baby, etc.  Here are some pictures, enjoy.