I’m Climbing the Walls!
I think I’ve mentioned before that we have become more active at the rec center lately. We at least swim there almost every day. When our schedules allow, my wife and I drop Calli, the two year old, off at the child sitting service, workout for an hour, pick the little one back up and go swimming. We always have a good time. (I’ve gotten rather adept at reading comics while on the stationary bike!)
Last night I tried something I’ve alway been too chicken to do: climb a rock wall! Calli, on the other hand? Leapt at the chance and handled it like a pro! The fifteen year old didn’t want to wear the harness. But the two year old that’s still in diapers, adding an extra level of discomfort? I’ve got a little Spider-Girl on my hands!
Insert my daughter here...
Unfortunately, the rec center doesn’t allow camera use, or this blog would be plastered with pictures!
My adventures in rock-climbing? Hoo-boy. My first attempt, I asked where was a good place to start for beginners. The instructor asked, “Sooooo, do you want, like, easy easy?”
Now I’m not an athletic guy, but not wanting to display my weakness, I said, “Wellll, maybe not eeeasy easy…”
With a fairly dubious look the instructor said, “So, like, medium easy?”
Not wanting to overstep my abilities, I said, “Yeah, medium easy sounds good!”
So I stepped up, called out the few commands as I’d been instructed. (“Belay on? Ready to climb!”) And I was climbing.
I got about half way up the wall and couldn’t find my next footing. The instructor pointed one out that seemed too high. I made it, though. And then slipped. I found myself swinging to the next side of the wall. I guess instincts kicked in, because my left hand had a Vulcan death grip on it’s hold. I probably could have just let go and let the rope do the work, but, nope. I had to wrench my arm and shoulder instead. (It wasn’t that bad, no trip to the hospital necessary! 
)
I swung back to where I had been, and clinched. I am not all that comfortable with heights. Not deathly afraid, just … uncomfortable. I tend to clinch every muscle in my body when on a ladder or scissor lift for work, I just power through. So I think that’s what happened. I just couldn’t find the next step.
I called out that I was coming down and clumsily repeled down, my legs giving way when I got to the ground, placing me gently on my ass.
“What did you think?” the instructor asked.
“It was fun.” I panted. “A little harder than it looks, maybe…” There ya go, tough guy!
“Want to try somewhere else?”
Sure, why not. “Sure. Why not!”
He put me on the wall my daughter had just climbed…
After the wall, we went swimming. My arms felt like lead weights and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to swim! I stayed in the kiddie pool with Calli while my wife went around the ‘lazy river’. The lazy river is an area that winds around the main pool and has jets that simulate a current. My pregnant wife loves it because walking around that is the only exercise she’s found that doesn’t make her back hurt in her current condition.
We basically had the pool to ourselves, so I was throwing around some of Calli’s toys with her. We splashed and played, and I came to realize that for a moment, I had forgotten what I like to call, ‘my adult edit button’. You know, that thing we get as we grow older that tells us what not to say, how not to act… Of course, I’ve had many moments like that since Kat and Calli came in to my life, but very rarely in public.
Maybe it was the bolstered confidence from climbing the wall and at least making that attempt. Maybe it was left over adrenaline. Quite possibly, it was thanks to my amazing daughter. But after I discovered that my adult editing equipment was missing? I didn’t look too hard to find it.
These are the experiences that make fatherhood sooooo worth it!
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OK, now I’d like to ask for a little help. My wife and I feel like we’ve exhausted every baby name book on the planet and scoured every site I can google ‘baby names’ for. We need a really cool boy name! My running gag is that, we already have a Katrina and Calliope, we can’t name our boy Jeff or Jon!
Anybody have any really cool boy names out there? I’ll keep posting this each Friday and I want to come up with a cool giveaway, but I wanted to go ahead and fire this out now so that you can start thinking!
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Enough about me, get back over to dad-blogs and check out more of the amazing talented bloggers that participate in Fatherhood Friday!
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Tags: Calliope, Climbing, Commercial Gyms, Indoor, Katrina, Lazy river, pregnant exercise, Recreation, Rock climbing, Swimming
I always wanted to try rock climbing. I have never done it, but I am sure it’s a lot harder than it looks
I wish we had a rec center with a lazy river. I am all about lazy. Instead I go to the lake and float on my extremely cheap inflatable raft.
Otter’s last blog post..Walkers: Good or Evil
There is a giant rock in the middle of Texas called Enchanted Rock. I’m trying to convince wife to climb it with me.
Mocha Dad’s last blog post..Marriage is For White People
Those walls are harder than they look, but are bunches of fun.
As for boy names, I’m a traditionalist. I like John Patrick (shortened to Jack -it’s an Irish thing) I also like Jake, but that’s a dime a dozen anymore. Sean Michael is always a good one. Seamus is good, but could be prophetic.
WeaselMomma’s last blog post..Geeking Out
Awesome. Good for you doing the rock wall. I’ve always wanted to try it but haven’t done so yet.
How about Ren? My wife loves it (from Footloose, not Ren and Stimpy), but we’ve already got another name picked out for our boy (if a boy comes next).
Kevin Grossman’s last blog post..Cross-training with Baby (feel the burn)
I’d love to do a rock wall sometime but share your feel of heights(I also have a small fear of public spaces so my exercise comes from the treadmill in the basement)
As far as names go, we were gonna call our second Xander(Alexander Richard) but after planning it for 3 years and not getting pregnant we changed out minds about 3 months before he was born. I’m sure you of all people can figure where that came from lol(We ended up with a name from the spin-off instead
)