Kid Stoke

[JMO]

Most of the photos and videos I deal with these days are of my kids. And since there doesn't seem to be a proper place anywhere else, I thought, what the heck. Let's try it here. Post 'em if you've got 'em.

Without further ado, please welcome the newest maggot, CMO (Cole Robert Morris). Born October 23, 2012 at 8lbs, 14 oz, 21 in. Oh yeah.



And here's my first son, JMO jr. doing his best Larry Bird impersonation.

[userA]

nice work jmo, were you at the birth with any active role?
good looking children
bobby

[vinzclortho]

Lucia Walker Pratt
Born Sunday, October 21st 12:10 pm
9.0 Lbs
20"

At 2 weeks 2 days old I figure she'll be ready to start skiing this winter. Of course I'll have to revert back to skis from a snowbard to really be able to teach her how to ski and I'm not looking forward to ski boots as opposed to snowboarding boots...but we all make sacrifices for our kids!

[~mikey b]

fine looking sprouts boys!

[Poop~Ghost]

I was right there just 7 years ago... time flies like you won't believe. Now I'm riding trails with my little guy.

[skiing-in-jackson]

Congrats to both of you.

Don't believe the propaganda! Kids are great.

[Binky]

Bowyn, 9 months, and laying claim to his new throne created out of a tree that crashed in our yard during Sandy

[Fuzz]

Congrats to the new/recent parents! Kids are awesome. It's almost impossible to explain how having a kid changes your life. Yes, it's more work, in many big and small ways. But the rewards are great too. My kid is 5 now. I love experiencing his mind at work, as he's constantly figuring out new stuff and asking questions about everything.

He loves hiking:


Just like me, loves reading maps:


Loves museums, whether science...


...or history/art:


He loves rocking out to Iron Maiden with the air guitar:


And he loves skiing; best conversation while sitting on the chairlift on a cold and windy day at Loveland when he was 3:
Me: Are you cold?
Him: Yes
Me: Are you tired?
Him: Yes
Me: Do you want to go home?
Him: No


He loves to mug for the camera too:

[Danno]

And he loves skiing; best conversation while sitting on the chairlift on a cold and windy day at Loveland when he was 3:
Me: Are you cold?
Him: Yes
Me: Are you tired?
Him: Yes
Me: Do you want to go home?
Him: No

Great thread, and absolutely killer post, Fuzz. I quoted the highlight, but your whole post is something I needed to hear today.

Here's my sprout, hope to get her on some type of skis this winter.

[~mikey b]

it's fun ripping pow with your kid

[LegoSkier]

This should probably be it's own thread since the kid is a direct result of this forum but little Tarlan Lorraine Virdeh was born Oct 7th to divegirl and I at 8 lbs 8 oz and 20 in. That's right, 100% pure bred maggette. Her first name was my grandmothers and is Assyrian/Armenian for Falcon - because in not too many years she'll be swooping down on you on skis like a bird of prey.


In true maggette style divegirl rocked the labor 6.5 hours with no meds of any kind.

[Fuzz]

telemike, that is an awesome shot!

Great thread, and absolutely killer post, Fuzz. I quoted the highlight, but your whole post is something I needed to hear today.

Here's my sprout, hope to get her on some type of skis this winter.

Cute! We got our son just stomping around on skis in the backyard after he started walking.

The big thing about raising kids is managing expectations. We all know that we shouldn't always expect too much of kids (e.g. don't be surprised if your kid doesn't want to wake up early to go skiing/hiking, or is done after only 30 minutes, etc.).

But the big "aha" for me was the reverse -- that we also shouldn't expect too little of kids either. They are smarter, more curious, more adventurous, and more resilient than we adults think. And it makes our adult lives a lot easier too -- we don't have to put our interests "on hold".

We've always tried to treat him "normally", never answer his questions with "Just because" or "That's the way it is" or "Because I said so". While that can create some long conversations (e.g. one discussion on food and eating led to an interminable number of "Why" and "How" questions, which led to biological evolution, stellar life cycles, all the way to the Big Bang), he absorbs everything like a sponge (one of his favorite possessions is an evolutionary "tree of life" poster). As a result, he loves going to museums -- science, art, history, whatever, and actually asks questions about every exhibit and pays attention (it's a great learning experience for us as well!).

We've never made special "kid" food for him. He eats what we eat. As a result, his favorite foods are now chicken curry, edamame, miso soup, humus, spinach, California rolls, any kind of noodles (pasta or Chinese), chicken satay, pizza with sausage + onions + green peppers, and much more. We rarely have to order chicken fingers or burgers at restaurants. So we can go to normal restaurants and have a normal meal.

We've been traveling a lot with him (we took him to Asia to visit grandparents when he was 18 months old), and he's already a very experienced traveler. He knows exactly what to do at security, on the airplane, etc. We love traveling, and so it's been great that we've been able to continue that.

When we go hiking, skiing, or biking, we just let him go as much as he wants to. And he has surprised us many times (like hiking up to Delicate Arch all by himself when he was 3).

You get the idea. Give them the benefit of the doubt, don't patronize them, and let them choose -- they may surprise you and you won't have to "give up" your life like many parents I see/hear.

/blog

[GimpToo]

it's fun ripping pow with your kid

All great pics and stories . . . but, Mike, this is incredible!!!!

[JMO]

This thread was definitely a good idea. Loving all the love.

Here's another vid from this summer during a photo shoot for JMO Jr.

[JMO]

nice work jmo, were you at the birth with any active role?
good looking children
bobby

Thanks, FA! I was there through the whole thing. Just an awesome experience.

[vinzclortho]

Nice shot Gimp. I'm now realizing that shin high pow on an adult are face shots for a lil ripper.

Also stoked to take my girl to the museum of science, aquarium, children's museum....alot of the places around boston I remember from my childhood that I still have good memories off. Plus as I like to say "it's cool to be smart."

Anybody have any kids in martial arts? I have been taking Krav Maga for the past year and am absolutely loving it. I'm hoping my girl will be into ballet, soccer, skiing, hiking, swimming...whatever kind of sports activities...but I would LOVE for her to have the confidence and discipline that comes from martial arts. Plus then when she goes off to college she can fuck up drunken frat boys who try to grope her at parties.

[vinzclortho]

also, what are some christmas gift ideas for a newborn baby??

a co-worker suggested a keepsake necklace for when she's a bit older. obviously at this stage the kid will have zero idea what is going on but as a new dad I'm STOOOKKKEEEDD to start spoiling my little girl.

[Steven S. Dallas]

also, what are some christmas gift ideas for a newborn baby??

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Black-and-...ndingMethod=rr

Luc Patrick: six months old last week.

Occasionally pensive.


Generally stoked.

[splitter]

aiden by chadbro, on Flickr

[divegirl]

omg, Fuzz your kid is super cute!!

Yeah, Lego, I think we need a separate thread for our mini maggette... but that's just because she wouldn't be here without TGR so we need some formal dedication.

Great thread... it's fun to be a mom.

[divegirl]

PS... It looks like we'll be keeping tabs with vinz and JMO, as they had October babies this year too! Cool!!

[vinzclortho]

PS... It looks like we'll be keeping tabs with vinz and JMO, as they had October babies this year too! Cool!!

oh yeah! congrats on your little one as well!

I think I speak for all of us when I say I'd take a bullet in the arm if my kid would sleep or at least not scream bloody murder between the hours of 11:00 pm and 5:30 am. I cannot WAIT until her sleep schedule permits us to do away with the 3 am feeding, that will be a major milestone!

So is 2 years old enough to get them on skis? Even if it's just standing on them and doing some guided sliding on the mellowest incline ever? I figure if I start at 2 years old, by the time we take a family vacation at 5 she'll be airing out the fingers under KT.

[JMO]

Wow...who knew there were so many October babies! Nice work, Vinz and Lego and Divegirl! Good luck with the sleeping thing. We're still struggling with our 19 month-old in the middle of the night. But we do plan on putting him on skis this year. My buddy at Rossignol (and Cole's soon-to-be godfather) says he's sending us a care package with all the appropriate gear. I love it when that happens.

I never had the guts to air out the Fingers when I lived there. Here's to hoping our kids are better skiers than we are.

[Fuzz]

So is 2 years old enough to get them on skis? Even if it's just standing on them and doing some guided sliding on the mellowest incline ever?

It obviously depends on the individual child's development. We got our son "on snow" at around 14 months -- just went to the backyard, held him between my legs while gliding down a very shallow decline. Then got him stomping around on skis on snow by himself around 20 months. Btw, we got him proper hard ski boots from the beginning and skipped the soft ones (based on some friends' recommendations).

Started taking him out to proper skiing and riding chairs once he was three. Started with a harness/leash. By last winter, when he was 4, he was making good controlled turns down the greens at Keystone, A-Basin, and Breck -- he LOVED going through the "kid areas" through the forests, with the jumps, tunnels, and stuff. I know some of his friends were skiing blues last winter at 4.

Some things I learned -- be prepared for really short days; always bring extra layers/hand warmers, water, and take lots of breaks; have some snacks/treats in your pocket for the lift rides/rewards; if he/she has a friend at about the same level, they can egg each other on and both improve.

[Fuzz]

omg, Fuzz your kid is super cute!!

And doesn't he know it! When we were in Italy earlier this year, all the (adult) women would fawn over him at restaurants and hotels, and he would flirt back all the time (look at them out of the corner of his eyes, smile/laugh when the girls noticed and smiled at him) -- he milked tons of free/special treats at restaurants.

And congrats on a pure-bred maggette!