Photos and video (Anna)

A while ago, our computer broke down and we've been making do with an old one. 

That's going to continue for a while, which means our promises of photos and video aren't going to amount to anything. Our computer is so slow at downloading large files that we would have to dedicate several hours to the cause and, quite honestly, with a teething baby and no sleep, neither of us are up for it. 

So, text only for a while, until such time as we either have more energy and time or a better computer. 

Sorry to all those of you (most of you) who don't read a word we write and just log on to look at cute baby photos. You know who you are (and so do we...).

Knowing us, we'll probably download a lifetime of photos the night before her 18th birthday :)

Isn't education wonderful? (Anna)

Today, Emma had the opportunity to learn three new words in the space of about ten minutes. 1) hickey 2) shit and 3) fuck...

...from the children's librarian at the local library. 

I was there with Emma for storytime. The librarian wanted to tell us, the adults, a funny story before we started the kids' stuff . She had overheard some Olympic athletes talking about the girls they had met the night before and the hickies that had resulted from these "meetings". She told the story several times, taking great delight in the word "hickey" and repeating it several times with gusto. 

Now, at a library storytime, this is the ultimate in modelling best practices in early childhood pedagogy. If you want children to learn new words, repeat them over and over, preferably in the context of a short but memorable story. 

Her next story (before "ABC Dog") was about a kid she knew who had picked up the habit of saying "Shit, shit, shit. Fuck, fuck, fuck". She thought it was wonderful, she told us, without a hint of irony, how kids often repeat what they hear adults say. She not only repeated the rhythm several times, "Shit, shit, shit. Fuck, fuck, fuck," but repeatedly reinforced that this was desirable behaviour, and a surefire way for a kid to be seen as "adorable". 

Again, early childhood literacy at its best. Make words fun, repeat them in memorable rhythms, emphasize the important bits, and laugh while you do it. 

The adults laughed. And then the librarian clapped her hands and said, "Ok. Let's start."

But the 0-3 year olds were already sitting in a circle around her, captivated by her every word...

Teething (Anna)

Kid can't seem to grow teeth one at a time. First time - 4 at once. This time - 3 and counting. 

Teething = total personality transformation + end-of-the-world crying + clinginess + sleeplessness + exhaustion + inconsolable distress

(And that's just the Mums.) 

Ergo: we're knackered. 

Can't keep up! (Anna)

What happened to our little baby who only crawled in familiar environments? Today, we spent the day checking out some of the free Olympic events, and it turns out we now have a toddler who will happily crawl and walk anywhere, no matter how long she's been there,how many thousands of people are around, what the surface is and who might tread on her. Ladies and gentlemen, let the extended game of "Catch" begin. This competition has a clear favourite. 

[still no photos and video...]

Move along - nothing to see here (Anna)

Hmm...it's now Friday. And still no photos and birthday update. Where does the time go?

Milestone a minute (Anna)

With a baby who is walking more and more steps every day, we're still catching up. 

And now, just 11 days after we've had to rethink our relationship to the horizontal plane, she started on the vertical. That's right. Climbing. Standing at the bookshelf today, she put her hands on the highest shelf she could reach, and then stood on the roof of her Old Macdonald Farm toy to give herself a lift. But she couldn't quite make it. Because, of course, she didn't quite have the developmental development and coordination to execute her vision successfully. We breathed a sigh of relief. A few hours later, however, was a different story. With the inspirational role modelling of an older baby (thanks, Matteo!) she learnt how to pull herself on the top of the heater to look out the window. 

"We're not ready for you to climb!" Caroline and I wailed to each other. And Emma replied (in baby babble, but we understood her perfectly): "Too bad, suckers. It's happening and you'd better catch up, or I'm going to be cruising down the street before you even know I'm out the window"...

(Oh, and no photos tonight. Maybe tomorrow...)

Mischief (Anna)

Emma is 11 months old today. So, ideally, this would be a long post with lots of updates and photos. But it ain't gonna be, 'cos we're beat, thanks partly to being woken up at 5 this morning by a baby eager to get moving with the day. And partly because said baby has been cranky for the rest of the day thanks to her early rising. 

We spent the day exploring some of the Olympic free events (Vancouver is currently hosting the winter olympic games). But apart from that, there were two other notable events that make us think we're in for a run of mischief. 

1) Emma apparently has aspirations of being a basketballer. Today, she took possession of the ball (actually one of her favourite books), dribbled it (toddled with it) down the court (the bedroom) around various other players (a teddy bear, a pile of blocks) and did a slam dunk into the basket (also known as...the toilet). We have the strange feeling that this is not the last we've seen of things ending up in the bowl. Ho hum. Here we go. 

2) Emma called the police today. No, this is not one of my cryptic metaphors or euphemisms. It was very humbling. She's played with the phone before and we don't exactly LET her but we haven't been too worried about it. She usually picks it up, swings it a little and maybe hits a button or two before we take it away. But today, I got a call back a few seconds after I took it out of her hands and hung up. It was the police. The police! Emma has managed to dial 911 in her two or less seconds on the phone! I then had to go through a series of questions, presumably to ascertain whether it was a genuine accident or if I was in need of help and being forced to lie. They asked for all my personal details, and repeated the question "Do you need help?" at least three times. I guess they were listening to the tone of my voice as much as anything. I'm not easily embarrassed, but  now it's officially on the record that I waste police time. And that my baby will report me for criminal activity if I don't blow enough raspberries on her belly.

We will get around to posting pics and video to celebrate the 11 months. We will, I promise. But...(yawn)...not...tonight...maybe...tomorrow... 

 

Bird takes flight (Anna)

Emma climbed our entire flight of stairs today, and managed to wiggle back down some of them as well. We were most impressed.

She's also learned to open the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs when we don't close it properly - we discovered her today happily standing on the wrong side of the gate calling to be let out. Time to up our vigilance. :)

Baby steps

We still struggle with ambiguous "firsts". When we say "milk", and Emma says "muk", is that really a word, or just imitating a sound? When we say "baby" and she comes back with "baaba", is that a word?

But yesterday and then again today, she reached an unambiguous milestone. She took her first steps. For the first time, she let go of all the props that hold her up, pulled her knee up and took four steps into our arms for a big cuddle. No furniture, no hands. Just her own legs and determination. 

We are in awe of how miraculous it is to see her going from lying on her back unable to do anything to, just 10 months later, being able to do all the complex mechanisms it requires to take a step. I think she was a bit stunned when we whooped with joy. 

That's our girl.

Transitions (Anna)

Emma is starting her transition into child care tomorrow, to get ready for Caroline going back to work. The child care spot we have is fantastic; we couldn't be happier with it. That doesn't make it all any easier, however. 

Top five things you don't want to be saying to us at the moment if you value your life. 

1) I just couldn't do it. I would feel like a terrible mother. It would be too painful. The guilt would be awful. Oh, I guess I shouldn't be saying this around you. 

2) Your baby will cry. (For the rest of her life.) 

3) Anna, why do you care whether she's in child care or not? I can understand Caroline - since she's at home with her all the time, but what difference does it make to you?

4) I heard a terrible story/read a study about the things that happen to kids in childcare. 

5) What's the big deal? I'd be relieved if I were you.