Published: May 05, 2008 01:36 am         

Not much stimulus needed at Estate

Just sitting here, waiting on my “economic stimulus payment” check to arrive so, you know, I can go stimulate the economy ...

— Of course, there are some people inside the walls of the Kellar Estate who simply need no additional stimulation. Take our son Jason, for example. Jason, who turns 18 months old Tuesday, is already a non-stop whirlwind of activity.

From the moment he wakes up far too early in the morning, to the time he finally decides to rest his head and go to sleep far too late at night, Jason is into EVERYTHING.

His latest achievement involves learning how to climb to places which his parents previously thought were safe and out of his reach. Take the kitchen counter, for example. Time was, not too long ago, we could leave a package of chips or cookies sitting on the counter and feel reasonably safe they would still be there when we’d check on them a few minutes later.

Not any more.

Taking a lesson from the step stool he learned how to maneuver in the bathroom to reach items in the sink, Jason will now move chairs from the dining room a few feet into the kitchen and ascend the great heights to attain previously forbidden fruits ... and candy ... and cookies.

While his mom, Vida, and I were at first impressed with not only Jason’s superhuman chair-moving strength and the lightning speed he would display in climbing said chair — both of which would be conducted in the split-second it would take for us to turn our backs — we now have taken additional measures to protect Jason, as well as all of our valuables, while we nervously await the display of Jason’s next super power.

— Jason is just hitting that magic stage, where he is learning at least one new word every day. Our child is more than happy to demonstrate his new verbal knowledge, as he blurts out tiny bursts of the English language, usually still mangled with great lengths of baby babble.

All of his new words are preceded by the exclamation, “Ooooh”, as in “Ooooh, car!” or “Ooooh, kitty!”

Of course, there are still the occasional moments when he just erupts with one loud “Ooooh!” for no apparent reason. We’ve discovered this means either Jason hasn’t learned the right word he was looking for, or it is time to change his diaper.

He is trying his best to communicate, and can use “Yeah” and “No” in response our questions.

For instance, the question “Do you want something to eat?” almost always receives a reply of “Yeah.”

On the other hand the question, “Have you been a good boy today?” usually receives a downcast look, a brief sigh and, “No.”

— Jason has lots of friends among Vida’s daycare group. One of his closest toddler buddies is Gavin, who when he first arrived used to look at me quizzically. This is because one of Jason’s favorite games is, “I love to tease Daddy.”

In the mornings before I come to work, I typically have a pocket full of loose change. After giving me my morning hug, Jason enjoys standing next to me, banging on the pocket and yelling out, “Momma! Momma!”

We don’t know why he does this, as he really doesn’t want Vida. I think Jason just wants to see my reaction at being called “Momma.”

Well, Gavin used to stare at me after these moments, point and ask, “You momma?”

I’d do my best to explain, then realize I was trying to relate the finer psychological points of the Mommy/Daddy reference to a child who is only a few months older than Jason.

These days, Jason usually calls me “Dada”, even in the mornings, so now Gavin will look at me, point, and state with great conviction, “You Momma and Dada!”

Sigh ...

— Then, of course, there is the Estate’s youngest occupant, our granddaughter Lauryn, who turned six months old Thursday. I hesitate to say “littlest” resident, because this girl is growing FAST. Lauryn is generally a very happy and very vocal baby, who loves to talk or sing to anyone who may be close by. But Lauryn also loves to eat and whomever she believes is the person in charge of getting her meals at that particular moment better be ready to provide sustenance in a flash.

Lauryn has her first tooth coming in and we all know it won’t be long at all before our grandchild will switch from formula and baby food to chicken legs and hamburgers.

Lauryn is also showing signs of wanting to stand up, testing her legs each chance she gets. Of course, she still hasn’t quite mastered the sitting up or crawling techniques quite yet.

Still, if Lauryn learns to stand and maybe even walk before she learns how to crawl, it will mean we just have another child prodigy in our family. It also means we will have to make sure Jason isn’t passing along any of his climbing secrets to his niece ...

Just a thought ...



Kellar is a Herald-Banner staff writer