PC addiction and assisted ambulation

No monumental news this weekend, pretty much business as usual. Everyone's more or less healthy for a change, which is nice. It seems like at least one of us has had a cold or flu for months. We pretty much hung around home, I managed to do the lawns and a couple of other minor things, so my todo list probably only slightly lengthened this weekend.

Here again!

At first I thought it was no big deal, but we're going to have to think seriously about how to limit Elissa's "computer time".

She'd sit there for hours if we let her. While it's better than TV (She's only interested in interactive stuff), she'll end up with RSI before she gets to primary school.

Mind you she has graduated from mouse only activities to using the arrow and space keys for some of the games. Today she learnt how to double-click and use the "back" button on the browser.

While we're on mice, Elissa asked me tonight, after brushing her teeth:

"Do cats like mouses?"
"Sure, they like to eat them."
"But they're yucky!"
"Don't you want a mouse for breakfast?"
"No, I eat things from the pantry. Weet-bix and Nutri-grain and yummy things, not aminals." (That's how she usually says "animals" at the moment, not a typo, and it's dangerously contagious when talking to her about them.)

I've posted a couple of videos of Isaac walking (assisted) below. When you click on it it should open in a new window/tab, so just close it when you're done and you should be back here.

Method1: Using the trike or whatever it should be called. It's got four wheels, but more or less configured as a tricycle at the moment.

I've modified the bike slightly, using a couple of rubber bands, so the rear wheels don't rotate as freely, otherwise it would get away from him too easily and he'd end up flat on his face. With the mod, the rear wheels drag a bit, but there's enough friction to generally keep him upright.

Method 2: Using a chair, he's quite stable. While the chair doesn't slip away too easily, occasionally a leg gets stuck in the groove between tiles, resulting in him turning through some random angle until it gets out. This doesn't seem to bother him all that much. He's walking for the novelty, not the destination.

Method 3: This is how he generally does it. The amount of noise he makes is directly proportional to how much of a hurry he's in. This video is actually from a couple of weeks ago, but I thought it was appropriate.