A Resounding PLOP (and other assorted snippets)
St. Louis is Melting
We don’t get to play outside much these days. You see…it’s hot. It’s so hot they had to shut down at least one local road to fix buckling asphalt. It’s so hot cooling stations have been set up throughout the city to help folks without access to air conditioning. Basically, it’s too hot to do anything other than look out the window and marvel at how hot it is on the other side of the glass. During the winter months, I think of my Canadian readership with something akin to pity. Today…I would gladly teleport myself northward. Or perhaps I’d teleport them here so I could watch them stagger under the oppressive humidity. Both have their perks.
At the Sound of the Grunt…Run Away!!
I am thankful that my daughter grunts when she poos. This may seem an odd thing to offer thanks for…but I truly do cherish this trait. For one, it offers endless amusement to my wife and I. But more significantly, it kept us from having to rebathe Little Lutine last night.
Norah manically scooted about in the tub, chasing her bobbing toys while splashing great sprays of water onto both her watching parents. She giggles. She screams. And then grows very serious. She hunkers down. She grunts. I spring to action and hoist her from the water as quickly as I can. My reward is a resounding “PLOP” a mere instant after her little feet cleared the water line. Success!! Moonshot howled with laughter and Little Miss, for her part, looked about with confusion, unsure what all the fuss was about. Sure…we had to clean the tub and the toys, but we didn’t have to do it with super speed while distracting a naked baby so that we could resanitize our child.
Thanks for the warning, Norah.
Up, Up and Away
It seems Norah is to become a climber. It was probably inevitable with her father being somewhat of an irrational monkey who looks at the world as his own personal jungle gym. So, while it comes as no shock to find Norah pulling and clawing her way unaided onto the couch…it still fills us with dread. Her reach just keeps gaining height and we have to keep getting more and more clever to keep things out of her reach. But material destruction aside…I’m more than a bit concerned that we’re talking about a child who has yet to learn that head first is not the proper way to exit her parent’s bed. Onto this fearless child has now been bestowed the ability to climb.
I’m considering taking up praying.
So Many Pictures
As good as her word, Stephanie delivered a cd full of pictures from Norah’s birthday party. They are wonderful and beautiful…and overwhelming in their sheer volume. I will try to have them up soon…but between these and the shots Moonshot’s folks left with us…I’ve got some wading to do.
I did manage to post the July pictures up to but not including the party and I’m noticing a trend. She’s getting harder to photograph. She just doesn’t hold still anymore. Once upon a time, you should make a funny noise and capture a cherubic face. Today she runs from one toy to the next and makes it increasingly difficult to capture the cuteness we see on a daily basis. If I’m able to master this…I may have a career waiting for me in sports photography.
9 comments:
Birthday aside, Xavier's July album contains 7 pictures, including a scan of his first drawing. The photographying is getting inversely proportional to the mobility, doesn't it?
Norah's July album is so pretty, though. She's growing up like a blooming flower. Little gym looks fun - well, at least it would look like a really interesting activity if I wasn't so much tired these days. We do have some heat in Canada, maybe not as serious, but some days are quite humid and heavy, and this doesn't help tiredness. My Little Gym nowadays is just a regular day with Xavier (who's a calm enough child, all things considered).
Good luck with Norah climbing, that sounds like a lot of work. Xavier also seems to have an avid interest in things he can climb onto, but he hasn't reached the sofa level yet, so we're doing ok.
I'm all with you on the hot thing. I just saw an ad for Al Gore's appearance on Oprah today concerning the melting. It's superhot here but somehow I'm thinking it's hotter at your house.
I'll be back to check out those pictures when I've more time...
Sounds like Norah is at one of those really fun stages, the kind that keep you on your toes times two.
The plopping story had me laughing. The picture in my mind is almost too vivid.
Climbing. Ah, yes, you are getting into the fun stages. Can't wait to see how all that plays out.
So you have air conditioning, being able to stand on the other side of the glass and stare out at the oppressive heat with incredulous wonder? For us, it's been easier to stand outside and wonder at how the inside of the house can be hotter than the inside, what with so few people investing in the AC that's really only good for about a month a year. Or stay in the basement. Always cool in the basement.
I envy you your advanced defecation warning system. Both our boys have been (and one still has potential remaining) bath tub poopers. What's really annoying is that they have never inflicted their effluence on their mother... only me.
Good luck with the climbing thing. One aid for you as parents is that wee kids' heads bounce for the first few years. Kinda gross, but totally true. Tavish has slipped in the change room at the pool and landed flat on the back of his head. No damage. (Uh, not to be encouraged though!) He now regularly launches himself off the couch at home, arms raised, fully expecting to be caught by laughing parents. I was sort of distracted by the elder boy this Friday evening and the launch malfunctioned in that instead of waiting arms, I presented the younger lad with a knee off of which to bounce his head, before that same head plunked onto our carpeted floor, trailing his body behind it. Tears, consolation and guilt abounded, but he's none the worse for wear.
Sometimes I get the feeling that parenting fully embraces Darwin's law of survival of the fittest.
Supposed to be over 100 today. heat index around 115...everyone feel sorry for us. Go ahead.....
oh it's so hot..
Emilie - Xavier's photo albums are incredibly cute. I had seen the artwork you posted previously and it inspired us to stick a crayon or two in Norah's little hands. Her masterpiece doesn't have the color balance and use of space that Xavier employed...she's mush more into negative space right now. But she was really enjoying it, so thanks for reminding me that she was ready for them.
As for the climbing, what sets Norah apart from most other kids it seems is her brute strength. She was born big, grew fast, and is just way too strong for her own good. She pushes the kitchen chairs around. The metal monk in the living room had to retreat once she realized she could topple him. And those powerful limbs can proper her up to the couch once she gets a hold.
Linda - I odn't know what it is in PA, but as I type this, it's exactly 100 degrees here with a heat index of 115 due to the humidity as Jet mentioned. It's just got no business being this hot...ever.
And yes..we're developing those super human parent reflexes.
Mark - Both Emilie and Linda avoided the poo. I knew I could count on you to dive right in (figuratively speaking).
And if you see Norah wearing a helmet in all her future pictures...you'll know why.
Si - Yes...we have AC. You be crazy not to round here. We typically kick it on mid May or so and turn it off again mid fall. Then we get a tiny little span in which we can throw our windows open...and then it's too cold and the heat kicks on. Here in the Midwest you get lots of the extreme...and a quick, quick zip through the moderate.
Luckily, Moonshot and I are usually both there forNorah's bath. It helps to have four pair of hands during the crisis.
And I'm really not too worried about the climbing. It's a stage I knew would come, so we're just deal with it. And I'd rather have an inquisitive child who wants to push herself to explore than one content to sit docilely in front of the tv. And this is the price to pay for that.
Jet - I doubt we'll get much sympathy from this crowd. But just in case we're confusing Simon...that's a heat index of 46 degrees celsius. That's almost half way to boiling!!
We had 41 celcius (with humidex) in the last few days. Maybe we made it to 46 at some point, maybe not. I do pity you... but as Simon said, you have AC - we have only a basement (mine isn't much better than upstairs these days though), and shopping centers and restaurants. :D
When you say it like that's almost half way to boiling... that's just freakin' nutty! It has no right getting that hot, ever. I agree.
Just popping in to point out that it's also quite hot over here on the western side of the State. Yup, hot all around the Midwest during August, also known as "Frizzy Hair Month".
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