And I’m basically writing this post in admiration for the work my wife’s put in since then. The reason it’s delayed is that I haven’t been able to see the fruits of her labor until now. Now sure, I’ve helped indirectly with most all of these items, but she’s the one that really put the hours in, and it’s very obvious now.

• Vocabulary: although Devin’s got about 6 words he uses regularly now (Mom, Dad, Cat, Ball, Baby, and of course No), he’s got at least 25 signs that he uses even more frequently, and I’m only just starting to realize it. My friend Julie extolled the virtues of teaching babies sign language early, and although I was always on board philosophically, it’s one of those parental tasks that takes a LONG time to glean results. When Devin busted his first sign on me a couple months ago (Milk), it came out of the blue, but was absolutely, positively communication. Since then, he’s been springing out with a few new ones every week, and starting to put them together into ‘micro-sentences’ (i.e. more + food + please). The part that’s blowing me away right now is the fact that he’d been using many of his new signs for a while before we realized it. Fine motor skills and precision are not a 1-year old’s strong suit, so many of the signs he was taught came back to us in a slightly modified if not exaggerated form. However, now that he knows it’s an effective way to ‘talk’ with us, he makes sure to let us know when he’s telling us something and we’re not getting it. If Des wasn’t so consistent in always using signs for key words along with her verbal communication, I’m reasonably sure he wouldn’t be so overflowing in ’speech’ right now. It’s just plain awesome!
• Fine Motor Skills: I’m pretty much the ‘read a story’ guy, and the ‘crawl around and chase each other’ guy. I made a comment to Des a few months back that I was wondering when he’d finally start using his stacking blocks and such, and she started setting two parts of the day aside (without me realizing it) to play with him in that regard. When she opens a bottle, she hands him the cap and lets him put it back on. When she needs something picked up from the floor, she asks him to please get it for her, and he’s all over it. I didn’t realize how well this was working until today, when he picked up a water bottle cap I dropped, got mad when I didn’t put it back on, and then proceeded to pick it back up from the end table and place it solidly on my water bottle. This is now manifesting itself with him actually cleaning up after himself, and placing toys back in the basket when he’s done playing. Again, amazing. The real-world tasks have apparently not just strengthened his motor skills, but his independence and responsibility, as he often now follows after US and picks things up that have been left behind.

I suppose I’m writing this as I feel a bit like an absent dad in parts of the process, but am now incredibly impressed with how well Des’ work and parenting has paid off while I’ve been bringing home the mortgage payment. The pivotal moment was today when he was making odd gestures at me and I had to be told that he was actually talking to me – in this particular case telling me about his stuffed bear, and I just thought he was scratching his chest.

Looks like I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and appreciation to give. This really is a learning experience for everyone involved, and one I’m humbled daily to be a part of.

volume knob

Originally uploaded by sfegette

Devin’s favorite ‘toys’ around the house these days are pretty much all the personal items I swore I’d never let my kids play with. Mainly my guitars. He’s gotten quite good at plinking strings and just recently learned how the volume knob works. Amazing.

What’s even funnier is when I play the bass (or guitar) and let him mash buttons on my footswitches. He again really loves the volume pedal (very obvious he’s making changes), but recently discovered my distortion pedal, which is a new fave.

I can only hope that he retains all of this learning until his finger dexterity (and body size) is a bit more amenable to actually PLAYING the instruments. I’m already proud as hell that he’s taken a specific interest in music, but if he shows any inclination/interest I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he grows up with an instrument in his hands.

Man, Devin’s growing quickly. This shirt has to be my favorite of his non-onesie wardrobe (thanks, Heidi!). He’s almost big enough for the Frank Zappa onesie Wendy got him (awesome), but for now this is about as rockin’ as he gets. The camo pants/hoodie round it out pretty well, too.

And the cycle goes on…

Now I’m not complaining, mind you – Devin’s well worth the effort – I’m just saying. You really can take your freedom for granted before having a kid. As wonderful and life-changing as it can be as new parents, we certainly have a healthy level of respect now for those areas of our lives we took for granted beforehand.

Parental pride is going to be difficult to maintain, cause Devin’s just such a damn cute kid. Now we’re not sure, but are reasonably certain he’s already said his first word as of 2 months, and it was a surprising one – “elk”. I had no idea he was so literate with his wildlife, but after a few days of surprised looks between ourselves, Des and I finally figured out what it is he’s saying. Every time he feeds – without exception, he just keeps saying his new word over and over (with his mouth full, no less)…

elk
elk
elk
elk
elk
elk

Now we’ve no idea where he’s seen an elk here within the San Francisco city limits- or even less how he was able to learn to speak it’s name, but clearly our boy’s a genius. Or a naturalist wunderkind of some sort.

Or something.

He’s so freakin’ cute now it’s almost painful. But of course I’m biased.

At this point we’ve got a rudimentary form of communication down in the form of some hand signs/body & face gestures (i.e. I’m hungry, I’m bored, I’ve got a major poop on deck, change my diaper now), but his main vocabulary is a rather adorable series of grunts and noises that get downright expressive. Much like his dad, he ‘talks’ in his sleep a lot, and it’s not uncommon to hear almost lyrical phrases and themes in what he’s grunting or singing out (I may post an MP3 of this at some point, cause it really is classic to hear). Can’t wait til’ we’re all speaking the same language!

Check out the strip at Community MX

In case you don’t get the gag- ‘NDA’ stands for non-disclosure agreement, which means I often have to answer many public questions with a vague “no comment” due to security/intellectual property issues with my employer. Chris Flick (the brilliant cartoonist who pens this strip) loves to grill me for it, too…

Desiree and Devin catch a quick nap on the sofa.

I then interrupt them with my flash.

Follow the saga here.

Our little guy gets his first gulp of real hospital air after 38 grueling hours of labor(!!). 10 fingers, check. 10 toes, check. Healthy cry, abs-checko-lutely.

There’s more pictures here, too

Devin Benjamin Fegette was born at 10:11pm on June 1st, at 8 pounds/7 ounces. Although you can’t see it here, he’s got his Grandpa Pete’s red hair, too. There’s a lot more pictures here, too.