As Maxwell gets older, things get funnier.  I love watching him try to acclimate to our world.  You really get to see the learning process in action. 
I have started a "Toddler Tales" whiteboard on my door at work.  Most of these tales end up in abbreviated format there.  Here's where I'm typing out the full stories.

Here are a couple:

"The Cupcake Incident"
I took Maxwell to the park a couple of weekends ago.  While we were there he noticed a birthday party going on.  He bolted over there and got himself lost in the middle of a pack of kids.  By the time I got there, someone was handing him a birthday cupcake.  I managed to get there in enough time to stop the process.  Apologetically, I explained that he wasn't involved with the party, nor did he know anyone whose birthday it may or may not have been.  Little boy was mad that he didn't get a cupcake.  To quote one of my students:  "You cake-blocked him, man."

"Don't put the cat's head in your mouth"
Yesterday we let Maxwell play in the backyard by himself.  We stayed in the house talking and keeping an eye on him through the glass door.  Max was playing with our cat when my wife said "If he keeps playing rough with her, she's going to take a swipe at him".  I'm of a mind that this is a lesson well learned, so I let him continue playing.  Sure enough, right after I said as much, he pushed the cat a little too far.  I saw the cat lash out at him.  Maxwell dropped the cat, stood up, yelled and shook his fist at her.  Then he came running towards us, tears streaming down his face.  "Mommy, Daddy!  The cat hit me!!"

Luckily, the cat knows well enough to retract her claws with him.  Thank goodness for small favors.

"M I C"  "K E Y"
Maxwell has really taken a shine to the Mickey Mouse Club show on the Disney Channel.  I found a Minnie Mouse doll that belonged to my wife in Maxwell's closet, so I got it down for him to play with.  In the time he's had it (roughly a week)  He's undressed her and put her in a diaper and is now pottie training her.  He carries her with him throughout the house and watches TV with  her.  The wedding is next week.

"Time Out"

I can tell the "time out" technique is working.  I caught Maxwell playing with his cars and giving them "time outs" the other day.

Maxwell was helping me build his new toddler bed when he cut his toe.  It was bleeding all over, so I washed it off and put a Cars© bandage on it.  Maxwell wanted another one, but I told him "No, you already have one.".

Thinking on this, he got up and walked back into the room.  He kicked a ceramic elephant we have and said "Daddy! Owie!  Need Bandaid!".  

That's my boy.  Working the system at 2.

Two days ago we dismantled the crib and put Maxwell's mattress on the floor.  Thanks to grandma and grandpa he's got a brand new bed on the way and we thought we'd get ready.  I was worried that he would not know what to do with all the new-found freedom afforded him by the lack of bars.  Well, it's 9:41pm and he's in the living room with mommy, watching TV.

I put him down around 8:20 after reading a few books and he looked like he was going to sleep right away.  I closed the door and walked back into the living room.  I told my wife "Wow, he really went down easy!  I'm surprised he's not out here trying to stay awake.".

2 minutes later he comes sauntering into the living room.  If you've never seen my kid saunter, it's a trip.  The hips swing and it looks amazingly cool. I told him "Max!  It's night-night!  You need to be in bed!"

He replies "It's time to wake up, Daddy.  I've got to dance."

After I finished laughing I put him back down.  

Lather, rinse, repeat.

I gave up at 9:40.  He's in my wife's hands, now.

Last night is one for the record books.  Not the inauguration, that was today. I am still elated by that.  Last night, on the other hand, was when I realized how much work a toddler can be.  In the space of two hours, Maxwell had drawn all over his legs and his potty chair with marker, peed on the couch and the carpet twice, and drank some (thankfully non-toxic) cleaning solution my wife had set down moments before.  Then he wiped his mouth with a bleach pad.  

It was a good thing my hair was already white.  I swear, just be thankful I didn't tell you about the other 10 hours of wakefulness.

Another round of diverticulitis this week.  I avoided being hospitalized, at least.  The antibiotics the doctor  gave me after my last hospitalization had one refill, so I started up the moment the pain got bad.  That seemed to keep it under control.  I should be fully healed in about a week or so.

In other news:  My son peed in his potty for the first time today!  Hooray!  Now he's running around the house shouting "OBAMA!!!  OBAMA!!!"   (his mom and I taught him that one.  Grandma was pleased)

I'm flying down to Los Angeles tomorrow to attend my Grandmother's funeral.  It's weird seeing that in print.  It was not unexpected. She had pretty advanced alzheimers and had been bed-ridden for the last few months.  She stopped eating a week ago.

Maxwell (My Son) has a habit of waking up at around 1:30 or so declaring at the top of his lungs that he "Want Meelk!!"  This is a front. Really he just wants to jump in bed with us.  Being the suckers that we are, we aquiesce so that we don't have to put up with an hour of crying before we give in anyways. 

( This is all fine and good except that he has started having nightmares. )

Maxwell spoke his first four word intelligible sentence last night. 

This is the companion CD to the last post.

It is entitled "Grit and Release"

01: Queen B (Puscifer)
02: 1,000,000 (Nine Inch Nails
03: Today's Lesson (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds)
04: Pretty Like Drugs (Queen Adreena)
05: Goddess of Love (Barry Adamson)
06: Dress (PJ Harvey)
07: The Pink Room (David Lynchi via Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me)
08: You're Not Here (Akira Yamaoka via Silent Hill 3)
09: Bend Your Mind (Elysian Fields)
10: We Carry On (Portishead)
11: Such Great Heights (The Postal Service)

Think of this as an alternate take of the first compilation.

Edit:  fixed the composer of "The Pink Room"  (Thanks to daveroguesf)

I decided to put together some tunes for you guys. 
This is a mix cd entitled "A Memory of Blood".
The theme is "Tension and Regret"

EDIT:  I added the proper tags and lyrics to the tracks. I will add a .zip file with all the tracks and the cover for the CD when I get it done. 


Art will be forthcoming once they give me a damn computer that has photoshop on it.

01:  Dark Entries (Bauhaus)
02:  X-ing off the Days (Queen Adreena)
03:  Fermata in Mistic Air (Akira Yamaoka via Silent Hill 2)
04:  Pity and Fear (Death Cab for Cutie)
05:  Outside (Tribe)
06:  When Under Ether (PJ Harvey)
07:  The Four of Us are Dying (Nine Inch Nails)
08:  Vagina Mine (Puscifer)
09:  Idiot Prayer (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds)
10:  Still I Rise (Barry Adamson)
11:  Bayonne (Elysian Fields)
12:  The Rip (Portishead)

The comanion CD  "Grit and Release"  will be available later this week.  Mostly the Same Bands, Different Tunes with a different feel.

Enjoy!

(originally posted on Sunday, but never hit submit)

Today I celebrated Father's day by going to PIXAR and seeing "Wall-E". 

It's a brilliant film.  I won't spoil any of it for you, but I'll say this:  For a movie with almost no dialog, I loved it. 
I would argue that the short before the film, "Presto!" is Pixar's best short so far.  I was dying of laughter while watching it. 

So, I laughed, I cried, and at the end I felt satisfied. 

Thanks to James for getting the extra ticket and thinking of me.

As an aside, I bought my son a Wall-E shirt and golden story book.  But his favorite part of the gift was still the Cars set that I found.  The kid is obsessed.

I have tears in my eyes right now.  I was talking to my wife on the phone while she was trying to put our son down for his nap.  As we were hanging up, she said "Say Bye, Maxwell". 

So, loud as can be, I hear "Bye Bye, Dad"

I was laughing and crying at the same time.  My little man is growing up!

In other news, I am on day 4 of my new job.  I am now the "Academic Director of Game Art and Design, and Video&Game Programming" at the Art Institute of California - San Francisco.  So my title is slightly longer, I am in charge of two game departments, I am making LOTS more cash, and they are paying for my Masters Degree! 

Not to mention that the insurance is about $500 cheaper a month. 

Things are looking up.

I was hospitalized again this week for Diverticulitis.  Yuck.  At least this time it didn't perforate my intestinal wall.  I'm back, and relatively healthy. Now I get to eat tons of glorious fiber!  Metamucil, here I come!

Little boy turned two on Sunday.  The day after this, he learned to navigate doorknobs.  This was somewhat of a surprise.  I had just undressed him to get him ready for his bath and had turned around to grab the bath toys.  I heard a click and I turned around to see an open door and the last traces of a naked two year old screaming down the hallway away from the tub. 

Life as we know it is officially over.  At least he can't figure out the locks, yet. 

My second xbox360 just red ringed me.  I'll be xboxless for three weeks or so.    shmah!

Since I don't post enough about my son, here's two recent photos:

So the parents came and visited, and brought along a satchel of goodies containing a Wii, amongst other things.  My wife scoffed until she got to play Wii Tennis and Bowling.  Now I can't get her off the machine.  She is now inviting her friends over to play as well.  My son gets a huge kick out of the action. 

Speaking of my son, we had our first Wii injury last night.  We were bowling, and I was swinging my arm forward only to find that my son had rushed into the space where my arm was headed.  I whacked him pretty hard on the head and almost knocked him down.  It appears that no damage was done, not even any bruising, so it must not have been as hard as I thought.  After much cuddling he was happy again and watched us finish our match.

Here's my Super Smash Brothers Brawl friend code: 2320-5939-4010

Yesterday I stepped outside myself. This was not a conscious act.  One minute I was Todd, the next minute I was not Todd. No longer was I married. No longer was I a father.  I was no longer.  I was/am the spark of pure existence that hides behind everyones mask.  I was the driver in the vehicle that is Todd.  All of Todd was revealed to be a series of reactions based on the stimulus around him and I was something more than that.   I was somewhat surprised to remember my true self. 

This ties in really nicely with my ideas of spirituality.  I identify with both Buddhism and Judaism to some degree.  When we die, we are no more.  The key word there is "We".  It is the "We" that we identify as ourself.  It is the mask we wear, it is the chemical result of our brains and our bodies.  In other words, Todd is a result of how this vehicle interacts with the world based on the hard/software that is given.  The energy that drives it, our true self, our consciousness, goes on.  I don't know if our experiences in this life are integrated into the whole, but that's my basic thought process. 

This all occured in the space of 5 seconds while I was driving to the train station.

I am going to post a section of some lyrics to NiN's "Into the Void" because It almost perfectly describes the experience:

Talking to myself all the way to the station
Pictures in my head of the final destination
...
Tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away

A brand new Nine Inch Nails album?  Already??