The ol' ball game

So last week we went to see the Long Beach Armada play the San Diego Surf Dawgs here at Blair Field in Long Beach. Jack helped Mommy keep score and as you can see, he found it tremendously exciting.

The big thrill of the night was Rickey Henderson -- yes, that Rickey Henderson. He plays for San Diego's independent league team -- apparently still under the impression that a major-league team will offer him a contract any day now, and who knows, stranger things have happened. But still, at 46, he's still spry and a gamer, putting on a good show for the fans and being a supportive and positive member of the team, by all accounts ("Rickey's just one of the guys," said a Dawgs player in the LA Times -- don't remember hearing this when Henderson was a Met, but whatever.)

Meanwhile back at home, Jack has been trying to flip over in earnest and has been successful on a few tries! Also, over the last few days he has become a real jabberjaws, regular holding extended conversations with his dangly mobile and gym toys, the nearby pillow, Mommy, Daddy, basically anything nearby. Just kind of "Aaaah baaah yaahh yahh vaah" kind of noises, with an occasuional "HyAAHHHHH!"or screechy, happy "ayyyyyyAAAHayuuuuAHHH!" hollered out from time to time, going on for hours, really cracking us up. His laugh, such as it is, has evolved too, from a kind of throaty "hurrh" to a more gurgly laughing sound, to an actual laugh today for the first time! G was getting ready to go shopping -- where she is right now, with jack -- and Jack was lying on the bed blabbing away, so I went in for a tickle attack and snuzzled his big ol' chins with my beard. Well I guess this tickled him a lot because we got a whole bunch of genuine chuckles out of him, to our delight. I have shot some video of Jack and I hope to have it online soon.

Here you can see Jack doing his best to flip over on his back.

And here, you can see Jack saying, "Ah, screw it," and flopping over on his belly again.

Meanwhile let it not be said that our lad is anything but the very picture of sartorial splendor. Here he proudly models the very latest bodysuit from the Hyman Roth "I'm a retired businessman living in Havana on a pension in the 1950's" line.

And what I wouldn't give to be able to relax like this:

Teddy bear's picnic

Jack went on his first picnic on Sunday. Mom and Dad took him and a picnic basket full of wine, cheese and Italian salami to Point Fermin Park over in San Pedro, just a few miles from our house in Long Beach. Jack snoozed for a while but when he woke up, seemed to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. I am a little disturbed by his slight resemblance to Karl Rove in this photo, however.

The park has incredible views of the pacific and steep cliffs to the sea -- I gather there are walkways to get you down to the rocky/sandy beach areas below where seals (we counted at least 8, including a momma seal and her three pups) and whales and dolphins (didn't see any of these) frolic and relax in the sunshine.

Also, the park features a beautiful, restored lighthouse built in 1874.

It burned brightly until Pearl Harbor, when the California Coast went dark to minimize the risk of invasion or bombing. Then the top was sheared off and replaced with a boxy radar installation. It was restored in the mid 70's and actually lived in by the park ranger until the last couple of years, when an extensive restoration took place.

There's no light in it presently -- I took a little tour of the lighthouse and the guide told me the actual, original light is the subject of a lawsuit right now and they hope to return it to the gallery soon. Meanwhile there is quite a view from up there:

We had a lovely day and will go back often. On our way back to Long Beach we stopped in San Pedro's shore village area, which has seen better days and is not at all as nice as the one in Long Beach, which we hit to feed my funnel cake jones. But there was a cool little brig there, the Swift of Ipswich:Checking their website I see the vessel is one of four in their fleet, which is used to take young people to sea and teach them sailing skills. There's a volunteer meeting this week, and I think I will go!

Back in Long Beach, Jack patiently let us wheel him around while Daddy pursued his rarely-consumed treat, funnel cake.

Back at home, Jack stands up to make an important point and tries to act tough:


But it's all a charade and within moments his true nature -- that of a jolly little imp -- is revealed:


We have to make sure Jack gets plenty of tummy time! This is fun exercise for a while.... but soon the seething rage emerges from a frustrated little fellow who hasn't quite figured out how to use his arms properly, so he ends up kind of lying there like a figurehead on a sailing ship!

We're back!

bigsmile, originally uploaded by laughograms.

OK, so, it has been a long time since updates, or for most of you, friends and family alike, phone calls, contact of any human kind. Be gentle with us, we only got down to the last couple of boxes last night. We are all moved in now, just some pictures to hang and knick-knacks to put away! Jack has been just so wonderful. He smiles all the time now (except when he is hungry or just waking up). But he loves staring into Mommy or Daddy's face and after a few seconds, this radiant, jolly smile. He started smiling a few weeks ago when I'd stroke his hair but now it is all the time and I just can't look away. He also is making an effort to laugh! Right now it's kind of a "hhewww" when he is particularly smiley. He is a smiley, happy, very pudgy little baby (who has just discovered the tasty virtues of his hands, but is still learning not to cram them all the way into his mouth). He had his two-month checkup just after we moved, like the 30th or so. He passed with flying colors and is in like the 98th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for length. In the words of our wonderful pediatrician, "he's huge." Jack got his first round of shots that visit, which put him in a foul temper that afternoon, but he cheered up late night. The scoop on our move can be found over at my blog. Jack and I have been spending our days sleeping and unpacking, but with most of the settling in done, we have been taking exercise walks down the extensive beach paths in the afternoon.

But you want to see pictures, right? I will start with these -- we have a plethora of smiley Jack pictures so here you are -- maybe it will brighten your day to have these around. I know they make me smile.

chairsmile2, originally uploaded by laughograms.

chairsmile3, originally uploaded by laughograms.

I couldn't decide which of these to post, so I said, to hell with it, they're both going up.

newcrib, originally uploaded by laughograms.

A momentous occasion in the new place -- Jack finally gets a crib and a room to call his own. (Well, kinda. Mommy's desk is in there too.) Jack's in his crib for only the second time tonight and frankly Mommy and Daddy are having the harder time adapting. It was high time given Jack's enormous size (25 inches, 14 lbs at 2 months). He'd be wiggling around in his bassinet and his arms and legs were thudding against the thing, like a bird in some enormous egg or a baby dinosaur getting ready to hatch.

veryrelaxed, originally uploaded by laughograms.

As you can see, Jack really knows how to relax.

lilsport, originally uploaded by laughograms.

On July 3d, Jack took in his first baseball game! It was off to Blair Field here in Long Beach to see the Long Beach Armada take on the Surprise Fightin' Falcons. Both are part of the independent Golden Baseball League. One of the greatest things to see in the last 10 years is this proliferation of independent baseball leagues. Some day we might get back to the days when every town, big or small, had their own team of journeyman players barnstorming around the region. Rickey Henderson plays on one of these GBL teams! Anyway, as you can see Jack was all suited up for a ball game and ready for action as usual! It was great fun, real cheap and a real close game with some very good pitching. The team announcer pronounces the team's name "Arrrrrrrr-mada," like a pirate, and there is a kind of cheesy but delightful pirate ship in the outfield that fires off cannons when there is a home run, to the accompaniment of the theme from "Pirates of the Caribbean" -- the ride AND the film! Jack was very alert the whole time and we all had loads of fun. Jack even got a little certificate for attending his first professional baseball game.

july3d, originally uploaded by laughograms.

After the game there was a modest but nice fireworks display. We had a lovely family evening at the park. I gather the fireworks which in the past have been set off over the Queen Mary were cancelled for lack of funds, or something.

terrorbird, originally uploaded by laughograms.

Earlier during the game, Arby I, the fun-lovin' parrot mascot of the Armada, was walking past while G was standing with Jack in the walkway (we were in the front row). "Hey Arby, how about a picture with my wife and baby?" Arby cheerfully spun around and to G's surprise -- and Jack's, if you can discern the look of stark terror on his face -- Arby, extremely gently and in a well intentioned way, scooped Jack into his arms for a photo. G and I weren't upset by this -- he did it very skillfully, as I am sure he does every night -- but we were surprised! As was Jack . . .

terrobird2, originally uploaded by laughograms.

As you can tell from the look of bewilderment on Jack's face being held aloft by a 5-foot-tall parrot, no matter how well-intentioned, was not on his list of things to expect. This expression has nothing on the wide-eyed look of alarm when Arby the Parrot first took hold of him. Fun pictures but not at all what we had planned!

bosoxbaby, originally uploaded by laughograms.

I mean, what a puss on this kid. For the momentous occasion of the Home Run Derby on Monday Jack was all suited up in his snazzy Red Sox uniform courtesy of Uncle Teige and Aunt Becca . . . Just like Daddy (and Mommy for that matter), as you can tell he takes a dim view of those who wish to separate him from the remote.

cubsbaby, originally uploaded by laughograms.

Naturally we had to save the Cubs outfit for the All-Star Game tonight. Jack however scotched plans to wear it during the game by pooping himself right up his chest -- don't ask me how -- while we were on our afternoon walk down the beach. He had a merry old time watching daddy try to swab off the gallons of poo and do a complete wardrobe change in the beach parking lot.

chairsmile1, originally uploaded by laughograms.

Finally, one last super-cute pic of Jack.