Hip Mommy

Gareth and I think Kathleen should be on the cover of Hip Mama. Check out the new dark hair!

The Daily Howler

Life Aquatic with Gareth Zissou

Here's Gareth ready to direct and narrate his first underwater documentary.



We're getting him a Speedo and a cap. Welcome to Team Zissou!

The Star-Spangled Baby

As you can tell by the smile, Gareth enjoyed his first 4th of July a great deal.

The sound of the fireworks drew his attention almost immediately.

He loved the grand finale of the fireworks!

He was very disappointed to see it all end.

The night took another exciting turn, however, when some moron fired a bottle rocket into our 3rd floor balcony. Gareth and dogs found the whole affair very disconcerting.


Confessional: We didn't actually attend any 4th of July celebrations. Taking a two week old little person into the germ infested masses? I don't think so. Maybe next year.

The Daily Howler

Gareth isn't always a happy baby. For instance, he really didn't like his lion socks.

Actually, Gareth doesn't seem to like socks period. Whenever we put them on, he cries and kicks them off within minutes.

Let's hope this little undergarment issue doesn't develop into a dislike of all undergarments. Gareth Michael, going commando. Yikes.

Road Trip II: Peg Perego Bugaloo

Gareth's car seat wasn't the only form of transportation put into play over the last couple weeks. Gareth also broke in his Peg Perego, the Alfa Romeo of strollers. The stroller has more bells and whistles than our cars. The fine piece of precision engineering includes umbrella folding, adjustable footboard, open/close child tray, multiphasic shielding, 4 wheel suspension, swiveling or locked front wheels, independent back wheel brakes, a photon/quantum torpedo launcher, five point seatbelt, height-adjustable handles, and, most importantly, a coffee cup holder! His squeals of delight were so overwhelming that we gagged him with a pacifier.





Destinations included a computer store, bookstore, and coffee house/cafe. Kathleen also took him for a long walk around a local lake. They saw loons, geese, and ducklings.

Road Trip!

There comes a time in every boy's life when he must take those fateful first steps into the world. While it will be some time before Gareth actually walks on his own, Kathleen and I began his introduction to the world-at-large. His first adventure, albeit brief, included a trip to Wild Oats and Target. Get used to those stops, kid. I think we keep those companies in business. Safely buckled into his crash proof seat, we jumped in our trusty Element and journeyed about the city. His mother and I made sure he travelled in style.


After 30 seconds of taking in the sights, Gareth went to sleep . . .


for the remainder of the 1.5 hour journey.


Is it me or does Gareth have a passing resemblence to Modok, the mutated killing machine affiliated with Advanced Idea Mechanics?

Gareth:

Modok:


Gareth may not share the same megalomaniacal goals as Modok, but he would love to have that cool hover-chair.

slumber

moonlight approaches
coyotes yip playfully
while infant slumbers

Charades

Gareth was a little bored on Thursday evening. He was tired of eating, sleeping, and messing his pants and didn't know what to do. He gave it a great deal of thought.

Suddenly, an idea came to mind!

"I know," he thought to himself. "Let's play charades! Okay, the first word sounds like 'rocks'."

As his mother and I were totally clueless that we were playing charades, we attributed his animated expressions to gas. With nobody offering a correct guess, Gareth kicked his legs and drew attention to his cute little feet. "The answer is socks!" he offered in gibberish. To his mother and I it sounded like, "bleh eeh!"

Spooky socks rock.

Meet the Parents

As one would expect, Gareth gets to spend a considerable amount of time with his proud parents. During much of family time, Kathleen and I stand around admiring our handiwork and making comments like, "What a beautiful baby. We really outdid ourselves. Seriously, some kids aren't all that cute but he's really good looking." Not that we're biased or anything. With all the parental adoration, he's probably doomed to live life as a narcissist. Self love is a good thing, right?

Here's Mom telling Baby G that he has the most beautiful. eyes. ever.


Here's Dad reminding Gareth that it's necessary to be beautiful both inside and out. We're sitting in front of the computer reading an article on rhetoric, performativity, and subjectivity.

Is he engaged in the scintillating material or what?! A philosopher in the making, no doubt.

And before anyone thinks we spend too much time admiring our child, here's a self portrait of the entire family. We think we're all pretty damn hot.

Gareth is lamenting the fact that we're stealing some of the limelight.