Hawkins: Adventures in Parenting

In most parts of the country, this time of year is typically marked by long periods of overcast darkness and freezing precipitation. We are not used to this in Las Vegas. A few cloudy days perhaps, maybe some brief rain in the morning a few times a month.

When we caught a western storm system this last week, it stuck around and rained more or less constantly for six days. I’ve been living in Las Vegas for 16 years. This was unprecedented precipitation. We got half a year’s worth of rain in less than a week.

So when it let up and the sun came out, we bundled Logan up and went out for a walk around the neighborhood. For the most part he seemed to enjoy himself, but didn’t appear to care much for the bright sunlight. Having spent most of this short life in the Morlock friendly interior of our home, this was little surprise.

Logan has started to take note of his surroundings and is making an increased effort to interact with what’s around him. On a few occasions, he has grabbed ahold of a rattle or a toy. Frequently he will grab at his binky, and he’s taken to gripping at mine or Cameron’s shirt while he sleeps in the wrap.

The real interaction, however, is with the little keyboard. This is an old Casio battery powered keyboard that Cameron received as a child. Something that she used to learn to play the piano. She pulled it out to see if Logan would respond to the interactive noise and blinking lights.

We weren’t surprised that it caught his interest, but were a little surprised at just how much he seems to enjoy it. He’s given it a pretty significant beating over the last few days. I expect his first album will be out next year.