Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Not a Vessel; Not Clay


Julia lending a hand
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
I don't know what to say about this picture. I don't know how to capture my complex emotions. She had been watching my dad and I work on mudding and taping the sheetrock for nearly an hour. But one wonders exactly how much a baby absorbs. No, not that, one knows that babies absorb anything. One wonders at how much a baby can apply of what they absorb. How much they can apply, and how quickly. After all, how many times have I held her on my lap and patiently enunciated "mama, mmmmmama, mmmmmaaammmmmma" over and over, trying to get her to say it back? And how many times has she said it, or even tried to say it? None. She just looks at me with an amused look on her face and babbles baby words that have nothing, phonetically, to do with the two syllables ma and ma.

And then she does something like this. She watches her Mama and Grandpa smear mud on a wall, and the moment we put a mud-covered knife in her hand she reaches out and smears the mud on the wall. She knew exactly what one was to do with mud and a knife. And she did it. Carefully, unself-consciously, not trying to be cute or looking around for approval. As if she thought we were really expecting her to do her share of the work. As if she were equal in abilities and responsibility for the house. As if this were just another thing we were expecting her to learn and master at this age.

She doesn't yet say Mama*, she doesn't yet roll over. But she drywalls.

How much more is she pulling in? How much more am I, all unconscious to it, teaching her?

Already, at this young age, I have no control over what she learns. Even over what she learns from me.

The moment I was given another life to guide and control for a time, was the moment I began to learn how little control I really have.

The moment I try to set up a silly little photo-op to showcase how cute my daughter is, is the moment she reminds me that she isn't a passive vessel with no volition over what information sticks with her and what she does with that information, but a thinking, rationing, evaluating human being, who chooses what she learns and when she exhibits that knowledge. She is not just instincts and impulses; she is capable of decisive action.

She is not clay; she is a partner.

Now if I can only keep that in mind when she looks at me blankly while I'm encouraging her to roll over or call me "Mama".

Posted by Trista @ 11:43 AM :: (0) comments

Friday, March 24, 2006

Jumping Julia


Mid-Jump
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
After weeks of hanging listlessly in her jumper, or twirling on her toes, Julia has finally gotten the idea that JUMPING is what one does in a jumper.

It is just so gosh darn cute to watch her jump jump jump her little tiny hops around in circles, laughing and giggling all the while. She looks like a little ballerina. Or a frog.

Posted by Trista @ 9:51 AM :: (0) comments

Another milestone smashed through


Eating Cheerios
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
I mentioned in an earlier post that Julia hasn't quite gotten the hang of putting cheerios in her mouth. Well, Sunday breakfast consisted of Peaches and cheerios, and I am proud to report that Julia finally managed to get cheerios into her mouth! She grabbed them by the fistful and shoved her whole fist into her mouth. So, I guess she still needs to work on the delicate pinching move to pick them up one by one (she can pick them up one at a time, but manages to flip them out of her grasp before they end up in her mouth) but I have no doubt that she'll manage that move in no time...

Posted by Trista @ 9:47 AM :: (0) comments

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

What Ostara Sent Us


016020257_04
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
Julia's Auntie sent us her Easter dress, so we were able to get her pictures taken. This is what my mother, Kristin and Julia were up to while my dad and I were knocking down walls.

For more fuzzy-bunny adorableness (including a beautiful one of Julia's little feet and my mother holding Julia's hand) go here.



Prepare yourself for Sugar Shock.

Posted by Trista @ 11:49 AM :: (0) comments

Monday, March 20, 2006

Feeding Frenzy


Are you really going to let me try this myself?
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
One of the things we've been working on here in the Frog Pond is self-feeding. That way Kristin and I are one step closer to being able to resume our couch-potato lives without interruptions for baby. In fact, soon SHE'LL be able to bring food to US! yeah. Cheetos on the couch, bring it on!

Anyway. That's for later. For now we're just working on trying to keep the food in the general vicinity of her mouth. To that end, we bought these cute little Gerber Dippers. They're ridged little stick things that the babyfood clings too so Julia doesn't have to worry about keeping the spoon the right side up. This is just to get her in the habit of using a utensil.

Yeah. Maybe we should have worked on her (non-existent) skill at getting cheerios into her mouth first. Oh well, hind sight is always 20/20.

When I first put the bowl in front of her and placed the dipper in her hand, she seemed a bit unsure. As if it were a cruel joke.

Then, she started getting into it. You mean I dip this thing in here? Really getting her hands and dipper in there.

During all this, I continued to feed her with a spoon AND help her get the dipper from her mouth to the bowl. We made a HUGE mess, but had a blast!

Then, because not only had we not gotten messy enough, but we also had not yet had dessert, I put some frozen berries into a mesh bag for munching on. Actually, that's a misstatement. I had put the frozen berries in the bag when we started. MEANWHILE, they melted while we played with the yellow gunk. So they were quite drippy by dessert time.
Mmmm, mushing berries in a mesh bag Julia wasn't exactly certain what to do with this bag... but eventually she discovered that it made a nice paint brush.

Finally, because Julia is a girl who doesn't really like to be covered with gunk, she let me know in no uncertain terms that she was ready to get out. Don't you think you should put the camera down and get me out of here now?
Unfortunately, I didn't get the message. So she had to get a bit firmer. I REALLY want OUT OF HERE!!!
Not to worry, though. I did eventually get her out and in the bath where her equanimity was restored.
I guess we should stick with working on picking up cheerios.

Posted by Trista @ 12:37 PM :: (0) comments

Friday, March 17, 2006

That's right, just a little closer...


Can I bite your camera?
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
Like Sunny from the Series of Unfortunate Events, Julia's great love in life these days is to bite anything and everything she can get her hands on. This day I was close enough to her with the camera that she was pretty darn sure that I was finally going to concede to her wishes and let her chew on the big black thing that I'm always pointing at her...

Posted by Trista @ 1:10 PM :: (1) comments

She is nothing but happy to comply


The terrible two
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
I asked her to show me her teeth so I could take a picture of them and the obligingly pulled her lower lip down for me!

I just have to tell you that the first tooth? It was easy. Eeeeeeeeeeeasyyyyyyyyyyy. Smooth as butter. We noticed a bump and a day later there was the tooth. The second tooth? The second tooth was a bully. A week of tears and pain and no appetite and fevers and fussiness and drugs. Wonderful wonderful drugs. Oh yeah, and Julia got some tylenol and motrin and anbesol, too.

But it's finally in and just in case you were wondering, those suckers are sharp! She used to pull my finger into her mouth and gum it and it was so cute! Now she pulls my finger into her mouth and bites HARD. It's not so cute anymore. But you know what is cute? The sound she makes scraping those teeth against a zwieback toast or an arrowroot cookie.

Scritch, scritch, scritch and a determined little look just makes my heart melt. Melt I tell you. Just like the arrowroot cookie. I'm a gooey mess all over the floor.

Posted by Trista @ 1:07 PM :: (0) comments

Monday, March 13, 2006

Accidental Picture


Accidental Picture
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
Messing around with the digital camera, Kristin and I managed (somehow) to take this absolutely beautiful portrait of Julia while standing like a hundred feet away from her. This is Julia on March 11th, 2006. No, she doesn't normally look this sad. But I don't like to think of this as sad; I like to think of it as soulful.

The sad thing is that we have yet to capture for posterity her truly pouty look where her lower lip juts out and she just looks so cute you can't help but give her anything she wants...

Posted by Trista @ 8:48 AM :: (0) comments

Thursday, March 09, 2006

sleeping with the lovey


sleeping with the lovey
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
It's been a mystery exactly HOW A, Julia's caregiver, has been managing to put her down for naps. We were pretty sure that our nighttime routine of Kenny Logan, 20 minutes of fast rocking with a bottle in a completely dark room, several false lay-downs a binkie and a completely silent house wasn't happening at A's place. On the weekends all we've been lucky to get is 30 to 45 minutes, but A reports naps of upwards of 3 hours in the afternoon.

So, we decided to ask her. Turns out she puts Julia down while still awake by putting a soft blanket up against her cheek. That's it. No rocking. No binkie. No problems.

Well, we had been giving her a hard time because she's still wiping her kindergartener's butt even though he wipes all by himself at school. She claims he won't wipe at home. We didn't want this to turn into something like that. If she goes down so easily at daycare then by golly she's going down easy for us!

So Kristin went and bought 2 loveys. One to use and one spare. And last night in the midst of extreme orneriness brought about by tremendous teething we put her down, fully awake, with the lovey up by her face.

And silence reigned.

Even when the dogs started barking I heard Julia start crying and then within moments fade back to sleep.

We LOVE the lovey.

I hope my telling you about it doesn't jinx the loveyness.

Posted by Trista @ 9:28 AM :: (2) comments

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Playing with the big kids


Fishing
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
Sunday Kristin, Julia, and I took dinner over to our friends who just had their second little one. Their daughter, Big Sis, is getting closer to three years old. She is so excited to be a big sister, and I can see a difference in her self presentation already. She's helpful and bossy and paternalistic. It's so cute.

Anyway, she wanted to play a game and asked me to play this fishing game with her. Julia was sitting on the floor and when she showed an intersest in the game Big Sis handed her a fishing pole and we all sat and tried to play it together. Julia had such a great time. She really loves playing with older kids. We think it's because she's got older kids surrounding her at her care-provider's place. All those older kids playing with her and talking to her and singing to her and just generally loving her company. They're helping our little girl grow up a bit faster than she would on her own. And she loves them for it.

Posted by Trista @ 1:22 PM :: (0) comments

Friday, March 03, 2006

Can I have a cookie?


Self feeding
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
After reading that at her age Julia should be able to feed herself a cracker, we realized that we had never given her a chance to self-feed. So, zip out to the store and buy Arrowroot cookies and teething biscuits. Julia loves them both. She loves putting them in her mouth and gumming, gumming, gumming. And she loves taking them out of her mouth and "painting" with the sludge created. *sigh* I guess now is when it starts to get messy. WHAT HAVE WE DONE!

Besides the mess, only hard thing about this stage of development is going to be to keep me away from those yummy arrowroot cookies (hey, I had to try them, didn't I? For quality control).

Posted by Trista @ 3:29 PM :: (1) comments