Baby Update

"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling) 03/23/2019 at 00:45 • Filed to: Family, Baby

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(Warning: Shitpost) He has gone through a lot of milestones over the last 16 weeks, but I feel like this is a big one. He is going with us on an international trip to Mexico just before his first birthday (to the usual spot his familia de la madre does annually), so he’ll get to ride in one of these death traps...

This is a pulmonía statue...

He therefore needs his first photo ID, which is also his first Federal ID. That was an experience - filling out yet more paperwork for him and then swearing in front of some acceptance guy that the contents of the application are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. He’ll fly before he’s old enough to really realize it, travel internationally before he’s old enough to remember it, etc. A little mind boggling, but I guess most of my siblings did similar (I was the one born when they were super poor), just without passports because it wasn’t a thing back then for trips into Canada and Mexico.

Here’s the headshot I took for his passport, which really reminds me of the insane amount he’s changed/developed since he was born:

I wonder if it’ll arrive in time for the spring cruise, not that I think anyone else would want to deal with frequent feeding and diaper change stops (still up in the air whether I’ll be able to go)... I’m sure he’d love the curves when not asleep and he was really into the nature walk we did today, touching plants as I told him what they were, so the gondola trip would probably be really interesting for him.

Sorry for the shitpost. It’s kind of like a doggopost, I guess.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 01:12

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I like it.  It's like a doggo post for oppos that have graduated to the real deal.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 01:15

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That's not your son; it's your goddamn clone! All the way down to the brow

ttyymmnn > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 01:15

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Enjoy your time. Because tomorrow he’ll be a teenager. 

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 03/23/2019 at 01:29

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People do keep telling me that he looks like me in the face ... I’m hoping that his mother’s features soften his face up a bit compared to me. I wouldn’t wish looking too much like me on anyone.

His hands and butt, neither of which are visible here, are definitely like   his mom and maternal grandfather...

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 03/23/2019 at 01:32

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I already feel like it’s going fast. One of the downsides  to being older when you have your children...

ttyymmnn > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 01:33

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I was 36 when we had our first. And 39 when we had our twins. So, yeah.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 03/23/2019 at 01:36

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I’m right there with you. 37 for my first. Hopefully the next, if we have another, isn’t twins. I’m not sure we’d survive that. One easy child is already hard enough for us.

ttyymmnn > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 01:44

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We planned to have two kids, instead we got two more. Having five in the family instead of four is a significant difference, from hotels to car buying. They are three years apart, so we will have three kids in college at the same time, if they all decide to go. :/

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 03/23/2019 at 01:55

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 The We semi-planned to have two, but question doing it again. It’s expensive and a lot of work; if he had been a girl it’s unlikely that we would even be talking about it (my wife really wants a girl).

Even with just the one, with the way we need car seats forever, my wife wants an SUV. Our cars are wholly inadequate for modern child accessories.

Interesting points there, too. Odd numbers are harder than even; we are thinking of getting two CCs for companion fares for our major family vacations if we have another. Right now we just have one and we’re tentatively planning to not get him his own seat on the flights this fall, since he’ll still be just small enough to hold... There is no really efficient way to do three people on a flight, you just have to suck it up and buy a whole row of seats. On the upside, we’d all be together and would fit in that space.

f86sabre > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 06:27

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What’s awesome is that the passport is good for 5 years. Toward the end won’t look any like that.  Immigration will just shrug. 

pip bip - choose Corrour > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 06:59

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enjoy it

DipodomysDeserti > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 09:25

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My wife and I backpacked around western Europe for a month when my youn gest was eight  months old.   She was great. Upon our return she was selected for extra screening by US Customs, which I thought was pretty funny. Worse part was standing in the customs line for two hours with an eight month old and a two year old after sitting on a plane for ten plus hours.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > f86sabre 03/23/2019 at 09:30

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Adults are 10. You get a full adult one (according to the forms it’s a legal signature) at 16... I looked so different over that time period that it isn’t even funny.

The most radical case of this is/was driver licenses in Arizona. You get your first one at like 14-15 and they are good for 50 years. Apparently they now require photo updates every 12, but I could swear they didn’t 20+ years ago.

Considering the administrative work involved , I’m surprised it is only 5 years...

DipodomysDeserti > f86sabre 03/23/2019 at 09:32

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Not necessarily. I travelled internationally with my daughter at eight months and she was selected for  extra screening where they asked us questions about her. At three years old (with the same passport), they asked her questions about my wife and I. Our country is insane.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > DipodomysDeserti 03/23/2019 at 09:39

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Was this the US?

Even freaking backward places seem to have less touchy Immigration & Customs than the US.

Cé hé sin > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 09:43

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Indeed. I've been to the US several times and each time immigration got more awkward. After the last time in 2009 I just said "no thanks" and haven't been there since.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Cé hé sin 03/23/2019 at 09:57

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What is strange is that they’ve been like this for decades. Back in the 1980s they were already pretty harsh.

The contrast has been pretty stark since at least the mid-00s. The worst I’ve experienced in the EU was the UK, which was still quite tame. Most are quite pleasant...

DipodomysDeserti > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 09:58

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Yes. We have, by far, the worse customs process of anywhere I’ve been. We think this terrorism thing is new, whereas Europeans  have been dealing with is for a long time. We can enter and leave foreign countries easier than our own. Niw we have the added threat of our leaders throwing a temper tantrum and threatening to close down our borders.

Cé hé sin > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/23/2019 at 20:07

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My first time going to the US was in 1998 where the immigration official just glanced at my passport and said “welcome to California”. The experience went downhill after that. Last time I understood that having completed the online procedure they had at the time the previous green form you had to fill out with the address of your first night’s stay was no longer required. It was, and as the relatives I was staying with lived on a private road and used a PO address I entered that. Wrong answer. Immigration insisted on an actual address so I had to phone my cousin and get her address. What would have happened had she been out I don’t know.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Cé hé sin 03/23/2019 at 21:17

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It sounds like the only hard time I had going into the UK. The way I vacation is generally unstructured time in a random place, so when they asked where I was staying, I said I didn’t know beyond tonight (because I did have a room reserved just for the night of my arrival day), which seemed to trouble them. I explained that I am best described as a backpacker with more money and less time than a typical one. Apparently this is peculiar for anyone from the US, since the vast majority come on tours with defined itineraries or on business.

My wife hates the way I travel - she is very confused by the concept of moving around every night or two and just seeing things by serendipity instead of a plan. Her family always goes to the same place, stays there the whole time, has a daily schedule, and plan any outings/events well in advance. That bores me and they stress out when I go do something instead of sitting on the beach all day with them. They think I’ll get mugged,  kidnapped, killed, or sick from the street food...