Gametes In Love

My father would be proud, for at the tender age of 3, G is well on his way of mastering the art of back-seat driving. Ever since we turned G’s seat around his skills of observation have extended themselves to ‘helpful’ driving suggestions.
For example, he likes to tell you when the light turns green, and insists that you “GO!!!!”… even if it’s not your light. He also likes to tell you where to turn (and gets mad when you don’t)… even if the direction he insist you go is the opposite way.

I think someone needs his very own backseat driver’s license.

I’m pretty sure that the smart parents keep their kids facing backward, not just for the impact safety aspect: it’s for their preservation from driving (no pun intended) mom and dad crazy.

I had to get into the driver’s seat via the rear of the car today? Why? Because I locked myself in the backseat of my car.

Since G has been playing escape artist after being unbuckled from his seat, I’ve started applying the child-locks on the rear doors. And of course, I’d forgotten all about this when G asked me to sit next to him after he got in the car. In my “smartness” I wanted to illustrate to him that if I sit in the back with him, then no one would be able to drive the car. So down I sat, and closed the door behind me. G didn’t find his lesson particularly amusing, enlightening or insightful, so I decided we were done and tried to get out. Only to realize I couldn’t. I had two options: 1) yell for help and look like an idiot; 2) climb over to the front of the car and also look like an idiot.

So… what I learned:

1. The Honda Fit has a very narrow space in between the front side seats.

2. The headrests on the Honda Fit are pretty darn tall.

Those two factors, paired with an 8m pregnant lady mean some hilarity watching from the side-lines as she (I) navigates the way to the front. There was definitely some booty wiggling action trying to inch over to the front. Carefully at that, so that I didn’t kick G in the head as I was trying to swing my legs over the seats. What saved me from a line-up of parents laughing hysterically at this sight was 1) tinted windows; 2) me parking at the last spot of the school lot.

So yeah… while G learned nothing from today’s adventure, I learned to never close the rear door behind me… unless I have someone around that can rescue me. Or at least I hope I learned this. We won’t know until the next time I try to lock myself in though 🙂

G and I had a long and adventurous day yesterday. We were out of the house for a full 7 hours all by ourselves!

We started off with a long ride to the North-East Bay to pick up A (of Wishing for my miracle fame). The three of us then headed to Concord for a “New Mommy” get-together. G was the youngest in the bunch, if you don’t count the wee one in A’s belly. It was interesting to see how kids develop over time and to see the milestones I have to look forward to with G. When we walked in, the hostess’ little guy was sitting in his swing just silently marveling at the mobile over it. His mom was prepping some items for the guests in the kitchen. As I parked G in the car seat right next to the swing, I thought to myself “Wow – it will be great that someday, hopefully, G will be doing that too.” Right now, he sits in the swing for maybe a minute before he starts crying.

After the get-together, G and I spent some good, quality time with his “uncle” Augie. Augie has two boys of his own, and I’m always impressed with how immaculate his house is. Even the toy den with toys scattered is pretty organized. G and I had some words about toys observing the loot of goodies… well it was obviously me doing the talking while he stared up at me with that newborn cross-eyed look of his. I made it clear to him that he and I will be fighting over his Lego’s. I LOVE Lego. For my college graduation gift, I asked my parents for a programmable Lego robotics set. I got a DVD player instead (which I’m not complaining about), but I still yearn for that Lego set.

All and all, throughout the day G did very well and I’m really proud of my little guy!

G’s mommy on the other hand proved herself to be completely irrational and probably somewhat certifiable. Since this is our first day out on our own, and probably my second day driving G I couldn’t stop but think about these crazy-terrible “What If” scenarios. Things like:

• If there is an earthquake right now (we do live in CA) while I’m driving on this bridge and it collapses (it did happen in ’89), how will I get G out of his car-seat? I’m a terrible swimmer: how will I keep him alive?
• If I’m in a car accident and knocked unconscious, will the people who come to my rescue be honest enough to not kidnap my child?

Yep – I told you I was completely irrational. These are very unlikely and obscure scenarios, but honestly, I was driving around with that in my head. Please tell me I’m not the only first-time parent that’s dealing with Doom’s Day preparation.

See.. this is why I should never be left alone with my thoughts.