Liberty Park Swinger- The degree to which we have had to adjust our environment to keep 19-month-old fingers out of drawers, cupboards, light sockets, toilet bowls, TP dispensers, dog food bowl, fireplace, computer keyboards, furnace vents, the pooch's nether regions, and potted plants is startling. Our child---does not stop. She's "exploring her world."
-I've never been so aware of those twangy doorstops on the bottoms of our doors. Previously happily oblivious to them, I now find myself in amusing daily power struggles with my youngster over how frequently and vigorously to twang them. And they do indeed twaaannnnggg. Two of them have been completely removed by our mighty daughter.
- Trying to get wiggling feet into footy pajamas, snap the 2nd and 3rd snaps on onesies (as Emma wriggles and giggles), get a fresh diaper on as Emma does revolutions on the bed, get the
head hole of a shirt over the head and one arm in before the shirt comes right back off the head again, or untangle the arm loops on carseat or stroller and get them somehow latched into their correct compartments before Emma decides to just get out and walk back in the house --all kind of remind me of dreams where you're trying to run through quicksand...or piano playing dreams where I'm trying to find the right page number of a hymn as the congregation waits...but the book's upside down, and then you knock it off the piano, and then you flip through the pages and still can't find it....
- But it's all so amazingly fun I can't stand it.
- Emma has a high-wattage, movie-star-worthy smile.
- She is also amazingly limber. She can do the splits, no problem.
- I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Emma's foster mom, who I believe had Emma on a firm schedule. Nap and bedtimes appear to be a familiar inevitability for her. Although Emma usually screeches with indignation when I put her down (and stands right back up again), after I place her in reclining mode the second time she realizes that resistance is futile and stands up no more. There may be a few minutes of resigned whimpering, but then....she's out.
- Emma yearns to have a hands-on experience with food. Being spoon-fed is for babies. She wants to hold the spoon herself (and then fling it away--it no longer amuses her). Better yet, she wants to hold the jar of applesauce and place her fist inside, then lick the applesauce off the fist. The most successful (shriek-free) method of feeding Emma is to place bite-size portions of food on her highchair tray and let her mix and match as she wishes.
- Emma says mama, baba, da da da, booya, gives a great Bronx cheer, rolls her tongue around loudly inside her mouth, cackles, growls, and occasionally grinds her teeth.
- Her favorite song is "Bandstand Boogie" (the incomparable Barry Manilow arrangement!). We played this for her on Napster every night when we were in China. She stands between Joe's knees, holding his hands, and runs back and forth in time to the music, chortling with glee. We believe she's got the music in 'er!
- We realized that Emma will completely skip a generation in learning about pop music from about the 1980s on...She'll grow up listening to classic country, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Mozart sonatas, show tunes, and the Carpenters' Christmas album.
- We're all having a great time -- wouldn't change a thing.
-I've never been so aware of those twangy doorstops on the bottoms of our doors. Previously happily oblivious to them, I now find myself in amusing daily power struggles with my youngster over how frequently and vigorously to twang them. And they do indeed twaaannnnggg. Two of them have been completely removed by our mighty daughter.
- Trying to get wiggling feet into footy pajamas, snap the 2nd and 3rd snaps on onesies (as Emma wriggles and giggles), get a fresh diaper on as Emma does revolutions on the bed, get the
head hole of a shirt over the head and one arm in before the shirt comes right back off the head again, or untangle the arm loops on carseat or stroller and get them somehow latched into their correct compartments before Emma decides to just get out and walk back in the house --all kind of remind me of dreams where you're trying to run through quicksand...or piano playing dreams where I'm trying to find the right page number of a hymn as the congregation waits...but the book's upside down, and then you knock it off the piano, and then you flip through the pages and still can't find it....
- But it's all so amazingly fun I can't stand it.
- Emma has a high-wattage, movie-star-worthy smile.
- She is also amazingly limber. She can do the splits, no problem.
- I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Emma's foster mom, who I believe had Emma on a firm schedule. Nap and bedtimes appear to be a familiar inevitability for her. Although Emma usually screeches with indignation when I put her down (and stands right back up again), after I place her in reclining mode the second time she realizes that resistance is futile and stands up no more. There may be a few minutes of resigned whimpering, but then....she's out.
- Emma yearns to have a hands-on experience with food. Being spoon-fed is for babies. She wants to hold the spoon herself (and then fling it away--it no longer amuses her). Better yet, she wants to hold the jar of applesauce and place her fist inside, then lick the applesauce off the fist. The most successful (shriek-free) method of feeding Emma is to place bite-size portions of food on her highchair tray and let her mix and match as she wishes.
- Emma says mama, baba, da da da, booya, gives a great Bronx cheer, rolls her tongue around loudly inside her mouth, cackles, growls, and occasionally grinds her teeth.
- Her favorite song is "Bandstand Boogie" (the incomparable Barry Manilow arrangement!). We played this for her on Napster every night when we were in China. She stands between Joe's knees, holding his hands, and runs back and forth in time to the music, chortling with glee. We believe she's got the music in 'er!
- We realized that Emma will completely skip a generation in learning about pop music from about the 1980s on...She'll grow up listening to classic country, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Mozart sonatas, show tunes, and the Carpenters' Christmas album.
- We're all having a great time -- wouldn't change a thing.
2 comments:
Loved the update. Your synopsis of what it's like to dress a toddler made me laugh out loud. Glad to hear things are going well.
Loved the update - Thanks for taking that leap of faith and bringing Emma into the family - you have richly blessed the lives of everyone involved. Love reading your blog, and now also being able to interact with Emma in person. It's weird - they're two totally separate and individual experiences - like the night we got to watch the video of when you were in China you met Emma (which was more fascinating than any documentary I've ever seen) and having Emma live and in person playing in the same room right behind us - is she live or is she Memorex? Loved that song list too - and watching her dance - what a doll - all we needed was Tom leading the music with her hands!
Love you all,
Barbie
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