Cookie Monsters, Swear Jars and Crossfit

Taylor mimics me [and cookie monster] at the dinner table saying 'NOM NOM NOM' as she eats her cheerios. It never fails to elicit a laugh out of me. It's priceless. The first rays of consciousness reflecting off, and emanating from, the mirror pool that that is my daughter. It reminds me - I've gotta get a swear jar. Years of being in the young male dominated game industry have turned me into a abject potty mouth. If I keep this up the only job she'll be suited for is a shrimp boat captain. That's no fucking good....oh dammit.

I meant to post about this as well about 4 months in - about how I put Taylor to sleep, slowly stepping away from the crib - my knees and ankles crack like rolling thunder. It's almost enough to wake her up. I turned 40 the January after her birth and the joints are feeling it. It's a dramatic contrast to a newborn that can fold herself like a piece of origami. I'm currently enrolled in crossfit twice a week to roll back the clock...and to keep up with a baby girl missing an 'off' switch. 

Bird, Ball, Book, Boogie

On Taylor's eight-month birthday, she waved goodbye to her dad as he walked out the door to work. Then she waved as his car pulled away from the driveway. It was an up and down, full-forearm sort of wave, always accompanied by a full smile. She continued this ritual on a daily basis, but only with Dada, and usually only in the mornings. Within the last week, at nine and a half months of age, she started waving to other people as they passed or to acknowledge them across the room. This wave is a wrist-only sort of wave—more controlled and directed—and as it usually elicits a response wave, the action is being positively reinforced. I had fun traveling with Taylor through the airport this past weekend, as strangers seem to enjoy this kind of communication with a baby.

We've just returned home from a two-week vacation in Mystic, and while we thought Taylor might take her first steps while in CT, she hasn't yet taken more than one that wasn't the result of forward momentum. She has, however, increased her cruising and crawling speeds, and will occasionally stand up and in place unassisted for 15 seconds or more.

Ever more exciting is Taylor's expanding vocabulary. She began saying a version of "bird" at nine months, after our repetition of the word when looking out the window every morning into the single backyard tree, populated as it usually is with doves and the occasional grackle. "Ball" (BA) preceded "bird" (BIR) and came along with "book," (BUH) and now "boogie" (BOOGIE!). I thought the latter might be a version of "birdie," but she uses it in differing circumstances. "WHOOTH" is also now in regular use, which I take to be an imitation of "What is that?," a question we often ask her while showing her around an environment. Taylor has been pointing at objects that catch her attention for about a month now. The pointing is often accompanied by the surprised expression "OOH!" and now "WHOOTH!" She seems to be both pointing out objects that excite her and telling us "Look! Do you see that?" And yesterday, Clay and I each separately had the experience of Taylor pointing to something while we held her, then pushing our chins in the direction of the object to ensure we were looking at it. She did it again with me this morning and I'll be interested to see if this behavior continues. Her development is so delightful to see!

The Live Music Capital of the World

I recently signed Taylor up for her first Music Together class, a classroom-based music program which requires us to sing and move in kid-friendly, age-appropriate ways. But her musical education has been enriched simply by virtue of our residency in this, the self-proclaimed "Live Music Capital of the World." We're a stone's throw from Central Market, which hosts free music on Friday and Saturday evenings, and The Hartman Foundation Concerts in the Park at the Long Center have been a Sunday staple. We usually bring along a picnic to the latter affair and meet up with a friend or two. In the past month we've seen:

• Three performances of the Austin Symphony (Brass, Woodwinds, Big Band; on the lawn at The Long Center)
• The Boogers ("The world's most dangerous kid's band;" Ruta Maya)
• Lucas Miller ("The singing zoologist;" Austin library)
• Graham Wilkinson ("A kaleidoscope of roots music, folk, rock, Americana, jazz and reggae;" Central Market)
• Charles Thibodeaux (Cajun; Central Market)

And Clay and I have happily discovered that it is indeed possible to swing dance with a baby between us.

Summer in the City

I try to fill our weeks with activities so that no day passes without some kind of interaction with others—for my sake and for Taylor's. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I workout at the CrossFit gym from 7:00 to 7:45 and am often home just after Taylor wakes up—by 7:30 on most days. Clay and I trade off time with Taylor for showers and a spot of morning tea, then we take breakfast at the table with T joining us in her highchair. Clay leaves for work by 9:45; Taylor, John Henry and I follow his departure with a 30-minute stroll around the neighborhood. Taylor is usually ready for a nap between 10:30 and 11:30 in the morning, during which time I try to sneak in some cleaning, laundry, emailing, phone calls—anything I need two hands or a quiet room to complete! In addition to the occasional social gathering via a Meetup group, our summer weekly schedule currently includes:

Mondays, 11:30-12:00 - Emler Waterbabies swim class (sometimes followed by lunch with Shelley and Jaylen until 2:00).

Tuesdays, 10:45-11:45 - Heartsong Music Together class


Occasional Wednesdays, 1:00-4:00 - Grandma Hoffman comes over to play with T (while I tackle house projects).


Thursdays, 2:00-6:00 - Jennifer watches Taylor (while I write, research and plan my next career phase).

Fridays - 10:30-11:45 - Spanish for Babies Meetup group with Aileen and company followed by midday lunch with Clay.

Clay's just come off of a few months of crunch time—12-hour workdays and a number of six-day workweeks. (Which means 12-hour workdays and six-day workweeks for both of us!) The first few nights that he was home by 7:30 in the evening felt like vacation. Wee Bear is still taking her time getting to slumberland, with bedtime falling between 8:30 and 9:30, so Clay is able to see her up and at 'em for a little while each evening. And he's patented his own go-to-sleep (or back-to-sleep) method involving the "chest rest" and "hand swaddle." It's quite effective, really, and a nice alternative to nursing.

Six Months and Standing

Six days after her six-month birthday, on May 8, Taylor decided to stand up—and I was lucky enough to see it. I had just walked back into the room to find her fully awake in her crib, pulling up on the upper crib rail with both hands, chest raised off the surface of the mattress. She had been doing this regularly, but this time she pulled her chest up high enough to be able to inch her feet under her body and place them, step by unsteady step, one in front of the other until she was in a standing position, hands supporting her on the crib rail. She smiled in that unconscious, gleeful way that only babies and young children are capable of smiling. My words to her at the time: "You just did that! You just stood up!" And we laughed together at her remarkable accomplishment.

A few weeks later, on May 26, I took Taylor on her first trip—a visit to see her new cousin Max and her Aunty Karen and Uncle Dave in Denver, Colorado. Taylor read the manual in advance and followed the recommended procedures: nurse on take-off, sleep, wake upon landing. Dave and Karen live in a sweet little bungalow in The Highlands area of the city. Unlike our mostly carpeted home in Austin, Dave and Karen's place has hardwood floors. An hour or so after our a.m. arrival, I put Taylor down to, presumably, scoot her way along the hardwoods in pursuit of a toy. As I began to look away from her for a moment, my head quickly snapped back in a double-take. On contact, Taylor had started crawling—a full and complete, all-fours crawl. No more launching forward for our little one. She had found a new means of getting around. And we hadn't even unpacked yet.

Word to the Daddy.

On Friday, April 27, around 8:30 in the evening I had just come home from a long day of work and Taylor was, according to Christia, finishing an epic opera of baby babble. I proceeded to make a series of 'town idiot' faces and sounds to make Taylor laugh, which she did....then she paused for a dramatic and deliberate moment and said clear as a bell "da da". No, I don't think she knows what it means, but I would like to think that she's imitating Christia on that one - we've been saying 'ma ma' and 'da da' while pointing to one another. We both had a good laugh about it. It was a *great* way to top off the day.

Gnah.

People comment on it frequently. It's one of the first things people notice: that adorable little nose. Most noses on babies are disproportionately large, but not yours. I find it adorable like everyone else, but something else about it really gets me - it's where your laughter originates. You smile quickly at people and a with great frequency, but your laughter is something rarer. You save it for those things that you find truly funny. When you laugh it is with a wide open mouth - from your tiny perfect little nose comes a 'gnah'.