BayDad

This is from a while ago, but is still *really* funny.

We’ve been going to the Severex Lights Display for the last couple of years, and I’ve been surprised to find that lots of people don’t know about it.   So, here ya go:  Get yourself over to severex.com, where you’ll find their address in Sunnyvale, and make some time to go down there some night.  I’d recommend a weeknight after 8pm or so, which I know is a bit late for those of us with toddlers, but its worth it!

If you’re looking for other lights in the area, there are lots.  A coworker of mine made this Bay Area Kids Holiday Fun Google Map that shows the locations and links for a bunch of the bigger neighborhood displays, including the severex one.

I recently spent one of my daddy-afternoons driving around to various bike shops & sports shops checking out the different selection of child bike seats that are available.  I don’t have a fancy bike, and didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that would likely only last a few months, if that.  So, after 3 different stores, I settled on this Bell “Cocoon” child carrier seat, which was only $50:

I got it home, and put it together, which was fairly straightforward, but took a couple hours.  Like many kid-products, there seems to be a bigger emphasis on cost than on ease of assembly.  It took me a while to get the whole contraption mounted to the rear of my bike, and I had several times where I was about to give up and junk the thing, and go buy the $200 version.

But, with enough wrangling, I actually got it mounted and secure, and have taken a few rides with Mr. Busy Bear.  He seems to really like it, and has a big grin on his face while we’re riding.   I was surprised by how different it is to ride with a 25 pound toddler on your rear.  It significantly changes the way the bike handles, and getting on and off with him in it can be harrowing the first couple of times!  So, if you get one of these, be careful!

We mostly just rode on Stevens Creek Trail, up to Whisman Park.  I was hoping that we could make it all the way to Shoreline Park, but we ran out of steam before getting there.   Maybe next time!

I’m on daddy duty 2 or 3 afternoons a week (4pm and on) so with the long summer nights, I’ve got a fair bit of time to spend with Mr. Busy Bear, which is really nice, and I’ve been trying to find more and more things to do other than just hang out at Mercy-Bush park!

If you want to hear a long drawn-out story, ask any parent about what it was like to have a newborn in the house for the very first time.  It’s an amazing change, and it takes a lot of effort just to keep things going from day to day.  It’s been just over a year, and I still remember it pretty vividly.

One of the things that I really think helped me get through that time were a good selection of “environmental” recordings.  My favorites are “Ocean waves at Sunset” and “The Underwater Cave,” but we have a few others: a rain forest, a stream, and some other stuff too.  At Amazon’s $0.99 per track, you can’t find a better deal.  That’s 2 hours of music for less than $2!

These have proven especially useful (and still are) for times when we have friends over and are having a dinner party or otherwise making a bit of noise around the house.  We have a stereo system in Mr. Busy’s bedroom, and we turn on the Ocean Waves pretty loud, and put the Squeezebox on infinite repeat.  After everyone is gone and he’s sound asleep, I can even turn of the waves directly from my PC without entering his room.  Thats a godsend!

We used it as a replacement for a white-noise generator, but I also think of it as a parental sanity generator.  Just imagine: It’s 4am, you went to sleep 3 hours ago, and there’s a crying baby who needs food, comforting, changing, or something.  You’re tired, he’s tired, and that about describes the situation.  Having something to mute the crying (after you’ve fed, changed, and entertained him) helps immensely.

I can remember more than a few nights spent sleeping on the couch, Mr. Busy in his swing, and the Ocean Waves blaring on the stereo.  There were nights where this was the only thing that could get him a good solid block of sleep, and getting a good nights’ sleep was the key to keeping him happy the next day, so you can see how important this was!

These days, Mr. Busy is sleeping well, can stay up later (9pm+) with little ill effects, and we’re working our way steadily towards a 7:30am wakeup time, which is just totally awesome!