The Mysterious Logic of Norah Lu
In keeping with her heritage, my daughter has developed quite a few bizarre eccentricities. And I, being the bizarrely eccentric father, am more than proud to show off these behavioral ticks with just as much enthusiasm as I do her more traditional achievements.
Behind the Head
Hide the Toys
Objects of affection are also better appreciated through their absence apparently. Little Lutine delights in placing a toy just inside her room and then slowly closing the door on it. It’s like David Blaine for the under-one set. It just disappears!!
Similarly, she seems compelled to throw her toys over baby gates. Through the course of the day, Norah will deposit a variety of toys and books, and shoes, and remote controls, and assorted other objects over the either of the two gates she has access to. She does not appear to enjoy this. There is no giggling involved nor even smiling. She strolls to the barrier, quite seriously deposits her cargo on the far side, and the marches away without a glance backward.
Face Dunking
I’m told that children Norah’s age may be afraid of the water. Or, at the very least, afraid of getting their face under the water. Norah, on the other hand, has an obsession with submerging her face. She’s been working on it for some time and has only arrived at her current level of strangeness in stages. First, she would lean over in her bathtub to dab her forehead against the water. We assumed early on that she was trying to drink the water, but it soon became clear that the face to water contact was the goal. Slowly, she started smashing her face into the water with greater vigor. She would raise her head, water pouring off her little face as she grinned proudly at Moonshot and me. “Did you see that?” she seemed to be saying. We told her she was very brave…and she’d promptly do it again.
Lately, she’s upped the ante just a bit. Instead of bending down from a sitting position, she will roll over onto her belly so that her dunking is more complete. She now holds the dunk for longer and longer times…apparently trying to learn to hold her breath. Granted, she’s not very good at holding her breath since this game now routinely leads to her jerking her head up suddenly and coughing for a few seconds before charging straight back for another attempt. I’ll admit it’s a bit eerie and unnerving to watch. While she’s clearly having a good time…I’m a nervous wreck outside tub, mentally reviewing the steps for baby CPR. I want to let her explore, so I just keep thinking she’ll either scare herself away from the game or grow bored with it. But so far, neither has happened. So I just keep a close eye and shake my head in disbelief.
I have no doubt that as she grows, her list of oddities will increase, but these are my current favorites. I just wish I knew what was going on in that baby brain of hers.
8 comments:
It is amazing to watch them develop their own personalities, and oddities to boot.
Some of them you hope they'll drop, but some you almost cry when they do.
One day you look at your spouse and say, "Hey, our child never does (insert adorable oddity here) any more."
LOL... but not laughing directly at Norah. ;-)
I LOVE the little things that make kids their own individual selves. I'm sure Spock or Brazelton (even Darwin) would have their own analyses of the behaviors you described. My theory on the over-head thing is this- Norah is implementing her own way of christening her favorite things as "her own." I'm sure she has some specific Latin words to embellish the ceremony running through her little head.
The over-the-gate-tossification is her version of house cleaning. Somewhere along the way she's picked up a "take care of business" attitude and figures clutter is non-productive. Or something...
The dunking? That's probly just plain fun. It's really cool that she's not afraid.
Thanks for sharing your Little One's weirdnesses with us. Makes her all the more endearing to us.
Oh! Here's one. Picture this. My granddaughter, at the age when she was still crawling, would pick up a ball or toy and when she realized that one-handed crawling was impossible, would hold the toy up and crawl with one hand and one elbow. I admired her ingenuity. But yeah, it looked kinda freaky.
Very cool weird things.
Let me just say though, that unless they've had a terrifying experience involving water, little ones Norah's age aren't afraid of water, they're just not used to it. I have to say that often, it's got to do with water going where it shouldn't (i.e. eyes, nose, ears), and if that's mitigated (or ignored, as she seems to be doing) then it helps a great deal.
Try and get her to blow bubbles while she's under. Demonstrate it and see what she does. It'll be a development of comfort for her, and a signal to you that's not in need of baby CPR.
Cheers!
That fourth "h" in your fifth paragraph would be very important if not for the inclusion of the clarifying picture that accompanies it.
The odd little baby and toddler habits are very fun to watch develop and morph over time. Both our boys have taken to water like fish so far. Weird thing is that Dex hates to get water in his ears while bathing, but will hurl himself down the little waterslide at the pool and jump fearlessly into my arms (dunking his head) from the edge of the pool, with no concern about moistening his tympanic membrane.
Kids!
These are great and even better now that you have written them down. You should print this out and keep it somewhere so you dont forget it.
I love how they are all different and pick up different things here and there as they grow. It really makeds parenting a joy to take part in....
:)
Hilarious! I'm in complete agreement with you about being proud of the quirks. I'm always excited when CK does something odd. Although I'm not sure what that says about me...
May Norah continue to make you proud :)
Mark - As you say, several interesting quirks have already been lost to time. I enjoyed writing these down mainly because so many behaviors are fleeting.
Linda - I don't know whether her inclination to hide her toys is really an attempt to straighten the house...but believe me, we're working that angle. We figure if she likes putting things away...we'll encourage that behavior and steer it toward the proper toy chests.
Tal - Excellent suggestion on the bubbles. I tried it tonight during her bath. She looked at me like I was crazy and then returned to her normal game. I try again tomorrow ;)
Si - Yes, I thought about clarifying with a first name...but liked the way the sentence sounded better with the possible misinterpretation.
Perhaps all dex really needs is a slide to take his mind off the horors of water filled ears. Just install a slide in your bathroom and you'll be golden.
Anna - This is exactly the sort of thing you make your kids sit through each year on their birthday, isn't it?
Stephanie - Take comfort in the fact that CK will continue to give you ample oddness. She's got plenty of it in her genes on her Daddy's side ;)
Aw, I'd missed this post before, and read it in three parts during the day - such is babysitting.
Norah's a fun child, indeed (though probably makes her parents a little nervous at times with her knack for adventurous exploring... hum, she really is her father's child, ain't she?).
Xavier, himself, likes to bang his head into the fish tank glass while watching the fish, and often enough sleeps on his tummy with his knees drawn up under his belly - which is apparently a very comfortable position - and he likes to lean out from his stroller and watch the asphalt pass under, go figure. He's also started, lately, to bodily arch himself back quickly when he doesn't want us to pick him up, or put him down somewhere he doesn't want to (his high chair being a least favourite destination these days... he's okay with it once we've got him strapped down, but the installation is a painful moment); does it real quick, too, enough to give us little frights at times, scared to drop him.
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