Daddy Plays Bass

Pre K Graduations

2017-06-19T09:06:00.000-04:00

For the past two and a half years, Esme has been attending the Rutland County Parent Child Center in Brandon while Tina and I have been working. For the past year, she has been attending the pre K classroom program at Neshobe School. On August 9, the childcare center held a graduation ceremony for the students entering Kindergarten in the fall. They had songs, gowns, and tributes to the kids.

About a week later, Neshobe preK held their graduation ceremony.

Now we are looking forward to summer: hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, road trips, music in the park, ice cream, musical barbecues with local friends, visiting family, and hanging out with friends from school, childcare, and the neighborhood.

Christmas Eve in D.C.

2016-12-28T14:21:00.000-05:00

December 24, 2016

We went down to DC to stay at Esme's cousin Jess' house for Christmas this year with lots of family. At one point, I remember thinking that it would be a little crazy to come all this way and not visit The Mall or any attractions, but we were having a great time at the house. I'd even given up on the idea as it was moving towards dusk, but that's when the crew rallied. Before long a crew of seven were headed for the Metro.

As we reached the Metro station near their house, there happened to be a group just coming out. The were apparently connected with the Coast Guard or National Guard or Homeland Security, but they encouraged the youngest girl of their group to walk up to Esme, wish her a Merry Christmas, and give her a stocking filled with gifts. Several in our group were brought to tears by the presence of the Christmas Spirit, which choked up a few in their group. We parted filled with the joy of the holiday season.

I explained to Esme about the ticket gates and the blinking floor lights on the side where the train is coming. We waited with anticipation as the whoosh of air from the train arrives just before the train itself, and stepped on when the train arrived. It was dusk on Christmas Eve, so the train was pretty much empty, but some of our group stood while others sat. Esme decided to stand. (To my knowledge, she has never sat down on the Metro.) She loved the need to hold on tight as the train started and stopped, squealing with laughter and delight when she tried not to hold on but found she absolutely had to (nearly giving Jess a heart attack on several occasions).

We took the time to stop off at Eastern Market and grabbed two bananas for a hungry Esme who had used up her meal walking to the train station and playing on the train.

Then we headed the rest of the way into DC proper and walked around the White House block (which at this point was blocked off all the way around the Treasury Building, too. Which ended up being lucky as Esme said she needed to make a pit stop. The best place we could come up with was a fancy restaurant with 15 foot tall Nutcrackers on either side of the door. Esme loved it.

When we finally made our way to the Washington Monument side of the White House, we merged with the crowds. Throngs. (Melee may be too strong, but I swear I was in a rugby scrum at one point.) After we made a circle of the state and territory trees, I tried to get another photo of Esme with the White House in the background. She did not really want to balance on that fence, nor was she a fan of me stepping back while holding her hand to help her balance just to snap a photo. But a picture is worth a thousand words (and I think several dozen of the ones this one's worth have been redacted).

Time to head home and Esme's nothing but excited to get back on the Metro. Most of the rest of us are excited about getting a taxi or an Uber and getting home to eat. So we sent some home by car while five of us made the trek back to a Metro station and on to home. On the way, a sketch artist started working on Esme, who was busy being the center of all attention as she played precariously with balance and grip strength on the train.

A final walk home brought us back to fabulous food and family. What a special day in DC, possibly with memories to last a lifetime for Esme.

She Plays with Me!

2016-11-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

Mid-November, 2016

I suppose one of the points of this blog is to share music with my daughter. I mean, I did title it Daddy Plays Bass and all, so this shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone, but then this happened:

You have to understand, she's playing a dog guitar (look close). She can press on any of 8 buttons that run C to C (and the C chords are identical sounding, so it's not high to low or anything special -- it's just chords). But she does a pretty damn good job of playing along, even though I'm too loud to let her be heard. So I got quieter:

So there she is, playing along with me, asking questions, and becoming a musical creature. I'd say this is a parenting win at this point. Life is fun, and kids keep you honest. Be good out there world.

Swimming

2016-08-11T11:41:00.000-04:00

August 11, 2016

Another red letter day for us this week. Esme can now float and locomote in water. It's been a long time coming...

She has long loved going to the lake (usually Lake Dunmore at Branbury State Park) and playing in and near the water. She has used various floatation devices such as a life jacket (required by state law for kids when on a boat -- even a kayak), beach toys, inflatables, and, most recently, a water noodle left by her sister on a recent visit. One recent favorite is a pair of inflatable yellow fish with a connector between them that she can lay on while either kicking or using her arms. This has been a great tool for allowing her to observe her increasing ability to move in the water, usually by kicking. I, being the former Red Cross Water Instructor (swim instructor at camp), have been taking every opportunity I can to teach her effective techniques such as the flutter kick, breaststroke kick (frog kick), and dolphin kick for her feet and, for her arms, the doggy paddle and breaststroke. She's usually pretty open to my teaching for a period of time, then just wants to play or practice the skills she's learning. I haven't pushed too hard because I want her to enjoy the water, not feel like it's a chore.

Lake Dunmore seen from Rattlesnake Cliffs.

Two years ago, on a visit to North Carolina, she became comfortable jumping into a pool (as long as there was an adult in the water waiting to 'catch' her). Last summer, she started being able to move herself in the water a little with the help of various floaties. This summer, she has expressed interest in actually learning to swim -- at least partially due to seeing her friends do things that she could not do. She's been listening to me much more and working to apply those lessons.

Last week, at a visit to Sugar Hill Reservoir at the Goshen Dam, she joined me on a friend's paddleboard with her water noodle. We were well off shore (in water that was at least 15-20 feet deep) when she wanted off. When I started back to shore, she became very upset with me. She didn't want out of the water, she wanted off the board -- to swim with her noodle. I carefully helped her into the water and she kicked herself around a bit. At one point, while trying to get back on the board, she let go of the wrong thing and ended up going under. I was right there, but before I could get a hand on her she had taken care of things herself -- one hand on the noodle and one on the board. I cheered her on for handling the situation herself and helped her back onto the board.

I've been telling her for about two months that the next steps for her are learning to float and dunking her head underwater, but she's been very resistant on both counts. Until this week. We left Brandon just after noon on Tuesday and headed up to Vergennes, where we turned toward Lake Champlain and Button Bay State Park. (You may have seen Tina's Facebook post this week with some pictures of our trip.) One of the wonderful things about Button Bay is that it has a very
kid friendly swimming pool. It is designed more like a beach with a gentle slope that starts at the level of the pool deck and deepens gradually to three & a half feet at the deep end, so kids can wade in to whatever level of water they find comfortable. Fully planning to use this as a teaching moment, I entered the water with her and her purple water noodle, but we were immediately stopped by the lifeguard who told us that water toys such as ours were not allowed in the pool. I was dismayed at first, thinking this was going to impede our learning and fun, but Esme had other ideas.

We had fun frolicking about for a while with me swimming around the pool with her hanging on my shoulders. I continued to let her know that floating and dunking were her next steps. She let me help her float a little, but it didn't seem like we were going to make much progress. Tina eventually joined us in the water and I took a break. When I returned, Tina called me over and told Esme to "Show Daddy what you can do!" Without hesitation, Esme pinched her nose
with one hand, fully submerged, then started kicking -- moving clearly toward Tina with no support other than her buoyant little body. I was ecstatic. For the next hour or so, we played a game. Either Tina or I would throw my goggles varying distances from Esme who would lunge towards them, then kick her way over to grab the goggles and bring them back. (Yes, it felt a little odd to be playing fetch
with my daughter, but the girl was loving it and getting faster and more efficient every time.) By the end of our time there, she was jumping from the side into the water and kick-swimming almost all the way across the pool. Sure she's still holding her nose closed with one hand and holding the other out in front of her reaching for the goggles (meaning she's not using arm strokes to move), but her comfort level and skill in negotiating around other swimmers constantly increased throughout.

Today we're headed back to Lake Dunmore. I'm excited to see her swimming on her own in a lake. I just wonder how long it will be before she knows how to go underwater without actually holding her nose -- so we can begin the process of coordinating arm strokes with legs to help her be the little fish she seems to clearly want to be.

First purchase

2015-07-25T10:02:00.000-04:00

Big sister Zoey is in town and while she and Tina were off hiking yesterday, Esme and I made a plan to go downtown:
"I want to go to the bakuwrly." (Sorry, but it's very hard to accurately transcribe just how she talks at times. I'll continue to do my best. Today was a beaucisul day, and we'll have anudy one toNAno.)
Just on a whim, I asked her if she wanted Daddy to buy her something at the bakery, or if she wanted to spend some of her own money. She wanted to do it herself so she started looking for her money. She ended up finding four crisp, one dollar bills in her cash register. And no matter how I tried to advise other possibilities, she would have none of it -- she was going to carry those dollars in her hand all the way.
Which she did.

When we reached the bakery, she let the kind woman know which cookie she wanted. Even to the point of helping the woman pick out the exact cookie from the tray. She handed over her money and took her change. I tried to help by holding her change, but she would have none of that until I pointed out that, with a dollar in one hand and change in the other, she had no more hands left to hold her cookie. So she kept hold of her dollar, took her bag of cookie, and we headed outside.
As this was her trip all the way, I asked her where she wanted to sit.
"In the shady parts!" she replied clearly. She led us to a bench and sat. I was a little surprised when she only ate a small portion of the cookie before declaring it was time to head home, but not nearly so much as when she offered part of her cookie to Tina and Zoey when they returned from their hike.

How many of you can say the first thing you ever purchased with your own money was a chocolate decadent cookie that you offered to share with others?

It's the Little Things She Does (part IV)

2015-05-25T21:09:00.000-04:00

I don't even know where to start. This girl is learning and exploring so much, it's hard enough to try to keep up with her -- when am I supposed to find time to blog about it?! But fear not, intrepid explorers, she's going to bed with mom tonight and I'm going to steal a few minutes for writing. (Which means I'm not planning for school, grading, playing my guitar or bass, practicing Aikido, planning Aikido classes, gardening, or reading (gasp!) for pleasure.)

One of the biggest moments for me recently was about a month ago at Good Earth Farms, where we have a seedling CSA. We'd stopped by to pick up our first tray of frost resistant plants and had a great time exploring while we were there. At one point, Esme was a little tired and was in my arms, with her head on my shoulder. I'm busy talking to the folks that run the place about gardening and music when I hear, over my shoulder, Esme clearly say, "N - E - S - H - O - B - E, F - A - R - M, S - T - A - N - D. What does that say?"

I turned around and realized that, on their red barn, they have written in white letters 'Neshobe Farm Stand'. (The Neshobe River runs through town. Esme's eventual school is Neshobe Elementary School.) Somehow, this little 3-and-a-half year old is recognizing letters out of context.

She's also listening closely when we try to teach her that "an-uhn-uh" is actually pronounced 'another' (which she worked at to reach "an-uhd-er," so there's that), and she doesn't actually need her toy binoculars to watch the birds (and squirrels) at the bird feeders outside our kitchen window. Perhaps not listening so closely when we try to teach her to only water the plants (not the driveway, or the house, or the garage) and that Daddy is not always a climbing apparatus.

She's entering the arena of imaginative play, whether with her imaginary friend, Flower (who has an amazing capacity to be large or small, here or there, whatever the situation requires); her stuffed animals (which require medical attention at an alarming rate, or at least they did the first few months after Esme got her doctor's kit -- does that mean she's got a limited attention span or that she's an amazing physician?); her kitchen (which sometimes requires one to promise to finish cooking the food in order to get her to go to bed); or with her imitation of so many of the daily activities that happen around our house (and you should see the girl fold clothes -- you never thought of doing it that way, I guarantee you).

She captures hearts wherever she goes, especially at the Brandon Free Public Library and the local bookstore, Book & Leaf. We go to the library at least once a week, for books, movies, and music. It seems she never fails to step up to the counter at some point and engage one of the three librarians. At the book store (where both my books are on the local author shelf!), she bounces back and forth between her parents and seeking out the woman who runs the store. (Yes, they sell coffee and tea and some incredible cookies. We rarely leave without at least three items, whether they be literary, gustatory, or coffee-y.

She continues to 'play' instruments, though I must admit to being a bit worried when she came over to the door really upset one day with my guitar in her hands. She had perhaps knocked it down trying to get to the window? Mostly she strums or pounds, but her whistling is developing past a single note and her capacity to sing a melody (whether or not she kept the words from the original song) astounds me.

And now my writing time has expired for the evening so I'm throwing a few photos your way to make up for the past few months of no contact. There are so many more stories to share. Until next time.

Esme with the first section of her strawberry garden.

Love and kisses to all!

Emergent Musician

2015-03-28T12:51:00.001-04:00

I have been meaning, for some time, to compile video of the various instruments Esme 'plays'. Thus far, she owns a kazoo, two shakers, a drum (featured in the latter three videos), a xylophone, bells, and any two objects she can bang together to create sound (and sometimes, rhythm).
She also enjoys playing her daddy's bass, guitar, drums, and has been experimenting with her mama's pan flute and her sister's keyboard. (She even dragged me from the very out of tune upright in our living room to the keyboard upstairs, indicating along the way that she doesn't like how the upright sounds and prefers the better sounding keyboard.) She's certainly not yet making what most would call music, but she is showing interest in playing and caring for the instruments. Today I grabbed three videos of her musically multitasking, and it seemed like this would be a good time to start the musical posts. Daddy may play bass, but Esme plays everything!

In this video, Esme find a way to use a Lincoln Log as a bow to play Daddy's guitar.

http://youtu.be/a-Z9DStirTQ

And for these next three, she's playing both her drum (Thanks, Cathy!) at the same time that she plays guitar, whether strumming or as another percussion instrument.

http://youtu.be/WDnIEpxClgg

The 'Weather Watcher' song featured in this video comes from her child care center.

http://youtu.be/zA1aDlMLPC8

http://youtu.be/wvJ1VFQYbf0

I hope you have enjoyed our little emergent musician. I look forward to being able to play actual songs with her in the not too distant future.

Raising a Reader

2015-01-11T20:53:00.002-05:00

We have, of course, been reading to Esme since she was a baby. There have been many evolutions of this process over time, but the leap that we saw today was astounding and emotional and joyous. All the more so as it happened with a book I loved as a child, but haven't shared with her that much thus far.
On another blog post, I can remember writing about how, as a child, I always read The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter with my mom. I can remember saying, repeatedly, as we would finish the book, "When I grow up and become Peter Rabbit, I'm not going to go into Mr. McGregor's garden!" I pointed out the irony in that post that I grew up to be Mr. McGregor instead of Peter. (So much so that I have been known to chase rabbits, squirrels, and groundhogs around my yard with a rake.)
Today, along with a pile of other books, Esme presented me with The Tale of Peter Rabbit. She even told me to read that one first. So I gave her a little background ("Daddy loved this book!" "When you were a little boy?" "Yes, when Daddy was a little boy, Gran would read this book to him almost every day."), and launched in to reading. One of the new facets of reading with Esme is to ask her to find things in the pictures, or she will say she sees things that we have to find. I had her point to Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter under the tree, and Mother in front of the tree. I had her point to the tree itself, as it is the last thing mentioned on the opening page. But, before I could turn the page, she pointed to the beginning of the story, "Once upon a time, there were four little rabbits..."
"Oh," she said, pointing to the first letter. Not quite getting what she was saying, I asked her what she saw; what she was pointing at. She again said 'O', pointing to the larger-than-the-other-letters first letter on the page.
"Yes," I skeptically said, "that's the letter 'o'." I might have left it at that if she hadn't pointed to the middle of Flopsy's name.
"Oh," she said, then pointed to Mopsy's, and both of Cottontail's. "Oh, oh, oh."
At this point I got really excited. Keep in mind we're on page 1 of the story. I flipped the page and before I could start reading, she found and identified all the o's on the page. (Okay, so some of them she pointed to multiple times on her way to pointing out all the o's, but this is letter recognition in a 3.4 year old.) I read the page and asked her to identify Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, which she did in their red cloaks. Then I asked her where Peter was, and she pointed to the little bunny in the blue coat. (How she knew which one was Peter isn't clear to me, but she was certain -- and right.) We continued this process throughout half the book. Turn the page, she finds all (most) of the o's, then I read and she connects the picture to what I read.
She did point to some other letters, seeming to ask me what they were, so I identified N, T, and b for her. She seemed to not be as excited about that, but then she put her finger under the beginning of a word and said sounds as she ran her finger along the word. She stopped, moved to the next word, and repeated her sounding process. She did this for about a line and a half of text, not matching sounds with the letters or words, but indicating that she understood the concept that these strings of letters, one of which she could identify, related to the concept of speaking, or at least making sounds.
I then started at the top of the page and followed her process, pointing along each word as I read it to her. She let me do that as Mother got her basket and went to the bakers, but that slowed the story down and she didn't want it to continue on the subsequent pages. She did continue to point out o's, to Tina's and my disbelief. We each watched in amazement as we transitioned from upstairs to downstairs. She held the book and told us what was going on in the picture as she scanned the lines of text with her finger. When we got situated all together on the couch, Esme showed Tina how she could find the o's on a page. It did take a while, but we finished the book. Esme also identified the picture from the book that's at the bottom of her cereal bowl, a gift from my mom a year or two ago. And she was clear that Peter was a naughty rabbit who ought to listen to his mother.
If it stopped there, this would be an amazing enough day, but she didn't stop pointing out o's. On other books, on Tina's purse, on other pieces of paper. There were several times that she was starting to put herself in a vaguely dangerous situation (climbing on the table, stacking things so she could reach higher), but when asked what she was doing or being asked to get down, she would reach just a little further, point out an o, and proudly climb down safely.
Still later in the evening, when Tina was typing on her iPad trying to get some work done, Esme cuddled up next to her and started quizzing Tina on what the letters were on the screen's keyboard. Tina had to abandon work and set up a new document for Esme. For the next 20 minutes, Esme would type a letter and Tina would say the letter and it's main sound. At first, Esme's keystrokes seemed random, but there towards the end I watched Esme meticulously work across the keyboard from l to a and from p to q.
So, in the professional language of our trade, Esme today proved herself to be an emergent reader. Odd how one person gaining access to means of communication can leave others speechless.

Thanksgiving in Vermont

2014-11-26T14:21:00.001-05:00

Some images of our holiday...

Sunset through the window screen.

We got our turkey this year from Stonewood Farm in Orwell. (Their oldest was in my 5th grade class last year.) There's something special about a locally sourced turkey, even if I don't eat it...

And Zoey and Dan brought home brewed beer all the way from Michigan. Quite honestly, one of the best pumpkin ales I've ever had, in addition to the other, also very good option.

Trying to show a progression of snow...

Our cup runneth over with squash, onions, and assorted fixin's for one of the most looked-forward-to meals of the year.

Got the progression on this side of the house!

Visit to a Friend's House

2014-11-17T19:18:00.001-05:00

Talk about a play date! Esme, as you can likely tell, was midway between heaven and disbelief. I really don't think she could have imagined herself actually riding a horse...

And the scenery. The Green Mountains off to the east, the Adirondacks to the west, and a little girl, jazzed on life.

(Please bear with me while I try out a new blog app. I may have to go back on the computer to edit, position photos, and add more text.)

Our Trip to Atlanta

2014-11-16T19:38:00.000-05:00

It was a ridiculous idea from the start: we'll get up at 3AM, get to Burlington airport by 5AM, and be on a flight to Atlanta by 5:45AM. We did get to the airport in time to grab muffins and yoghurt for the flight, but only barely. Here we see Esme on her second airplane trip. (The first was a two leg journey from SE Michigan to Burlington in June of last year when she and Tina flew together after I'd packed, driven, and unpacked the U-Haul.)
All things considered, a moment of crying when she had to take off her shoes and her stuff went through the scanner is a great outcome. The remainder of the trip to John and Raney's place was essentially smooth and painless. (Aside from the aforementioned getting up at 3AM and the accompanying sleep-depraved weirdness.)

Atlanta airport provided us with several nice situations, such as the opportunity to point out that Esme had been in a plane, then a train (the Plane Train at ATL), and would soon been in an automobile. This gave us more amusement than it did her for some reason, but she's never seen a John Candy movie, so that can be forgiven.

Upon arrival at Camp O'Keefe, Esme was shown every avenue towards fun and excitement. It only occurred to me much later that I never did get a photo of the actual reason we went to Atlanta in the first place. No pictures of my sister's Rehearsal BBQ at the park. No pictures of the wedding, nor the ensuing party. There were certainly photos taken at those venues, but not by me. I was having too much fun then to bother with such frivolities.

This is JohnO, driving Esme off-road through the leaf piles.

On Saturday, while Tina and the female side of the event were having the Bachelorette Brunch, Esme and I went off to Home Grown to have lunch with my dad, who happened to be passing through on his way from NC to MS. (Note to those who don't know my family very well. My dad is not my-sister-getting-married's dad. I'll leave it there, because to start trying to explain the various relationships amongst the two individuals getting married would require knowledge and effort.) This particular photo was actually taken for Cheer and Trevor's sake, or at least their panda.

What can really be said about this photo? Irish tomfoolery.

Esme led Tina and I, on our last day in town, to a nearby park that JohnO and Raney had taken her to the previous day. I was really impressed that she did so, since I'm not really aware of her having ever given directions before, nor having memory of how to get to a place after having only been there once. I choose to see this as a sign of intelligence, spatial awareness, and personal interest.

The little pink car that Esme drove around herself when no one was able to push her in the other pink car.

I don't even know how to start to describe this situation. "There was a toilet being used as a planter..." doesn't seem like a good way to start a caption for anything.

Heading home after a fun weekend. And Morgan, I'm not sure at all how R's hat made it into E's possession, but we'll get it back to you sometime.

Back home, with Esme swinging in the crabapple tree while I climb the red maple. Esme was inspired, and she climbed our two apple trees later this same day.

Thanks to family, friends, and other relations for making it a special, poignant, joyous weekend. (And I hope I don't have to fly with a 3 year old again any time soon.)

Spirit in Nature Trail, Ripton, VT

2014-09-28T20:09:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, we set out to find a small set of hiking trails. We found serenity and fungi. Whether that's a literal metaphor or not, here's the trip.

You can't tell, but there's a 15 foot drop about two feet left of Tina's foot in this picture. Parenting can be nerve wracking!

The mushrooms were otherworldly!

This fungus was about as big around (in all dimensions) as a Kennedy half-dollar.

This one had just interacted with Esme. I know the feeling.

It got a little chilly, so Esme borrowed my fleece.

A maze of stones. There were prayers and wishes at the center.

Hope you can come visit us sometime soon. We miss all our family, friends, and peeps!

Apple Picking at Champlain Valley

2014-09-28T19:58:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, we went apple picking at Champlain Valley Orchards. We discovered Silken apples, of which we still have a dozen or so to consume. Crisp, sweet though slightly tart, would go great in a pie, but they're unlikely to last since they're so good to gobble up!

I wore my new Inside Scoop shirt from the Brandon ice cream parlor.

Those are the silken apples

Those of you on Facebook already know this picture...

These are those Silken apples!

Esme made a friend while we were there, and loved dancing on the flatbed trailer.

Thanks Champlain Valley!

Brandon's Harvest People

2014-09-27T08:08:00.001-04:00

Every fall, many citizens of Vermont put out these 'people'. Esme was enthralled, and we had to visit many of them to have her picture taken. I thought this was going to be a fun hour or so, but by the time I realized just how many of these folks there are in our new hometown, I started taking wider angle shots to capture more than just the one she stood near. (And now there are more of them...) This day's adventure was about three hours.

There are four of them in this picture. Can you find them all?

Two more in the background here...

One Esme's size here, while three others wait to cross the street.

This is our local scoop shop, where Esme gets her 'pink ice cream'.

More from the town green across
the street.

The town green was filled with them, not to mention the wedding couple
at the Brandon Inn.

And a few days later, more started popping up. We may need to take another walk...

PS This was supposed to be posted last Saturday, but the blogger interface from my phone doesn't seem to like uploading 20 full sized pictures at a time, nor does it seem to save drafts. (This is my 3rd time attempting to post this.) And now it has been over a year since my last post.

It's the Little Things She Does (part III)

2013-09-26T18:32:00.000-04:00

I realized recently who the true audience for this blog is. This is for Esme. I don't know if she'll ever want to read it, nor do I really care. But if she wants her daddy's perspective on the early years of her life, or finds the writing compelling, she'll have access to it. (I love you, Boo.)

I'm in my fourth week of school. Or is it fifth? Fifth, I think. (Ahh, a peek into the mind of a teacher...) This has meant great changes in my relationship with Esme. After spending whole days of her life exploring the world through her lens, seeing what she saw and noticing the little moments of exploration and joy, I now see her awake for, at most, only five hours a day. At times I feel energetic and full of joyful love and I want to chase her around, toss her in the air, and play for an hour or more. We walk down to the park behind the library and she hangs from bars, climbs stairs and slides (I condone climbing slides as a parent and when I'm playing, but disallow it as a teacher), swings, and rocks on the horse (or frog, or lion). We walk the balance beam when it's almost time to go.

Did I mention she's climbing?

She'll push her doll stroller down the sidewalk on the way there, getting distracted by sticks, grass, leaves, and passing motorcycles and trucks. Frequently, the stroller is abandoned on the side of the walk, and Esme will carry Fanette (or baby, or other baby) the rest of the way to the playground. When she sees it on the way back, always from a great distance, she squeals and takes off running to get it (as if she had no idea it would be there and "isn't this just the best thing ever?! I love that stroller!"). She'll proudly and carefully put her doll/baby in the stroller, almost tucking them in at times, then start strutting down the sidewalk full of purpose and spunk.

Get out the way, Bo! Here comes Esme!

In full-on power-walking mode

I love her for keeping me in shape. I haven't really trained on a mat since July, though I did make a point of doing 40 handstand pushups on my 40th birthday (with all the associated build-up and training), but I find ways to include Aikido training in my walks and playing with her. There's the obvious physical workout of picking her up, tossing her in the air, and catching her to set her gently on the ground, but there's also the attentiveness training of taking a walk with her. I try to move when she moves and stop when she stops. And she's highly erratic. She'll go from a casual stroll to a full run to a dead stop within two sections of sidewalk. (It gives me some hope that the next time I'm Uke for Sensei that I'll still have some chance of following what he wants me to do -- not much, of course, since I've never actually followed exactly what Sensei wants me to do, just had some chance of getting there.)

She continues to be enthralled by music. She dances in her highchair, in the kitchen, out in restaurants -- all it takes is for a song to be playing with a clear rhythm. [Her current musical collection includes two drums, a harmonica, a recorder, a xylophone/bell spinny-thing (which I'm sure is the exact brand name of the thing), an electric-acoustic-howly dog (which you'll have to come visit to really appreciate), a kazoo, a water-bird whistle (which also has to be encountered to be appreciated), and any object that makes a noise if you hit it against another object.] As far as I can tell, her sense of rhythm is better than mine (and that's the only compliment about music I got for the first 8 years I played -- you've got good rhythm) and she's very able to hear and repeat sounds. Couldn't tell you if she's on pitch -- if I could do that, I could do it for myself, too, and both my singing and bass playing could get better. There's still one song of mine that she seems to dislike, but most of them she'll happily dance along if I engage her while I'm playing.

She also has a cow in the neighbor's yard that she likes to let her baby ride.

That's my girl...

The Girl Speaks

2013-08-26T20:30:00.000-04:00

So I tried to post a video of some of Esme's speaking, but had trouble connecting my new phone/device to the computer. Nor could I figure out any way to upload it to any place but YouTube, so it's on YouTube now (with some trepidation on my part -- though I guess posting anything here gives Google and the NSA access to it anyway, so I don't think I'm really doing anything too dangerous.)

and please forgive the brief nose picking.

Here's the link:

http://youtu.be/VPi0u_TFYNo

Thanks for your patience!

Orwell 250th Birthday Weekend

2013-08-17T20:58:00.001-04:00

We went down to Orwell today for the town's birthday party. I met a few of my students and got a library card for the Orwell Free Library (and are there other kinds? ), and hung out with Tina & Esme.

Peter Rabbit belongs to the library, but the swing is private property. Be forewarned.

Kingsland Bay

2013-08-17T10:52:00.001-04:00

Eli shows the kids a red striped salamander he found under a stone

Yesterday we went to a state park with friends, hung out on Lake Champlain, and took a nature walk... I only took pictures of the nature walk.

Fairie Doors (part II)

2013-07-28T20:36:00.000-04:00

Way back when we lived in Ann Arbor, Esme and I were going around finding Fairie Doors. (Okay, so it's only about three or four posts back, but it feels like a long time ago.) As alluded to in that post, we found more doors around town, in addition to the poster that is now in Esme's room here in East Middlebury.

It was during one of our walks around the block near our home that I happened to notice the Fairie Door built into the base of a tree. Here you get a shot of the first time I saw it...

...and here you see the same door, closer up, with a winter's decoration.

While walking with Tina and Esme on another day in the neighborhood, Tina spied yet another door, this one also within just a few blocks of the house.

As promised, this is a picture of the inside of the Fairie Door at Peaceable Kingdom on Main Street in Ann Arbor. Photo credit goes to Ross, who either took it himself or snagged it off the web. Either way, he sent me this image:

And I leave this Fairie Tour with a very similar image to the first one I shared, but this time there is the added door on the side of the window display (above Esme's head). As alluded to in the earlier post, these doors seem to appear only when you know they're there or are specifically looking for them. I have been to this door (street level) probably hundreds of times over the 14 years I lived in Ann Arbor, and it was only on this last visit that I noticed the white door. Was it there the whole time? Did the Fairies add it recently? I have no idea, but it certainly confirms my thoughts about these magical doorways. They're there for those who can see them. They're not there for those who can't.

Vermonter-ization

2013-07-26T19:32:00.001-04:00

This is a narrative I wrote over the first couple of weeks we were in Vermont. (Oh, and for those who don't know, we moved from Michigan to Vermont in the last two weeks of June. I'm going to be the 5th grade teacher at Orwell Village School (also on Facebook) starting August 28, and Tina will be home with Esme. Daddy will still play bass, but not quite as much as previous. Hopefully I can find the time to keep this blog going...

The truck is ready to load

It's big and empty

Jim was the primary packer inside the truck
Ross and I just brought him stuff and followed his packing instructions.

Notice that the motorcycle in this picture is not the same one from the previous picture

Housefull of stuff, two motorcycles, three bicycles, plants, grill...

And whatever else we could throw on top of the other stuff.
Still plenty of room, though. (As one of my unpackers said after I'd opened the truck:
Well that's not even packed halfway to the ceiling!)

June 23, 2013, 5PM: Arrive in East Middlebury - Zero Hour

Okay, so this is technically leaving Ann Arbor, but it gets the point across

Nothin' but bikes left in the back!

There were at least eight people waiting for me as I pulled in to the driveway -- or more accurately, alongside the driveway -- with my 26’ moving van towing a car. Within two and a half hours, the van was empty aside from our two motorcycles. I only had a brief tour of the house before I was beset with requests concerning where a particular item should be placed within the house. My confusion, already set at maximum with the whirlwind of having rented the van, loaded it, driven it 765 miles with car (and cats) in tow all within the preceding 53 hours, was exacerbated by the changing names of the rooms within the house. The cats were immediately placed in the master bedroom. That was the back of the house and led into the kitchen, which also somehow adjoined the bathroom, the back exit of the house, Esme’s room, and the living room, which is also the foyer. Or at least that’s how I see it now. At the time, I can remember giving directions for things to go to the back bedroom, the master bedroom, the guest bedroom, the nursery, the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the study, the library, the coat closet, and wherever-the-hell-you-can-damned-find-space! (Okay, I never actually said that last one, but it certainly went through my head several times.)

Sweaty Wade offers his thanks

9PM: Return Home for the first time - Hour Four

Following the unpacking and riding the motorcycles back down the ramp, it was shower and pizza time. There was some checking in with the landlord, talking to the new housemates, making sure to batten down the hatches before leaving, but I found myself showering in record time to get to the pizza. (And even after receiving such incredible help, I was not allowed to purchase the pizza.) As dusk began to fall, I realized that I had shifted from the far western edge of Eastern Time to the far eastern edge of Eastern Time (and sure there are those who would split hairs with that statement, but the point is still valid) and it was getting dark an hour ahead of my schedule. I bid a grateful thanks and a hasty farewell to my hosts and helpers and made my way back to the new homestead.
Pulling in to the house in full dusk, my task became painfully clear. Find light, or turn around and go back to sleep somewhere else. Luckily, I had packed well and all the tools I needed were at the back edge of the truck. Unfortunately, I had not unloaded the truck, so not only was I unclear on where things had been moved, but it became painfully clear very quickly that the first things off the truck were tucked up against a wall, with layers and layers of other stuff stacked both horizontally and vertically around them. Okay, no toolbox, no flashlight.
But wait! I have multiple flashlights though the only one I could find for certain was in the tank bag of the motorcycle, which was, astoundingly enough, still on the bike. This was a particularly trick LED flashlight with a controllable beam and a translucent sleeve that would turn it into a lantern. Oh, and a hook for going hands free when necessary.
Armed with my flashlight in the now completely dark house, I began to wander from room to room, checking on the cats occasionally as I wondered if I was going to do anything by lantern-light or just throw in the towel and head back over to the waiting bed offered by Jean & David.
It occurred to me -- as my eyes rested on the 50 foot extension cord hanging on the porch railing -- that the other apartments in the house did have power. I immediately went outside and started walking around the house to see if anyone’s lights were on. I saw none. (I later learned that one neighbor is an early-to-bed, early-to-rise type of person, and the other neighbors were out of town at the time.) I did find the electrical boxes and saw that two of them had dials in motion while ours was still.
I went back inside to get my iPod charger -- the only thing I could think of that would tell me if a particular outlet had juice -- and began looking for outdoor outlets. The one on our porch was dead, but, lo and behold, the garage had not only an active outlet, but lights as well! Once I had the power going, I realized that my extension cord had only one plug at the other end. I found the first lamp I could put my hands on and the living room was lit. Over the next five hours or so, I added extension cords, a power strip, two fans, and three more lamps to the mix as I sorted our houseful of $h!+. As I plugged in yet another lamp around 1:30 AM, I thought about what I would do if I blew the fuse. The panel had to be inside one of the other apartments, so I wouldn’t have access to flip the circuit breaker; however, when I added up my power usage, I figured the two 30 watt fans, and the four 6 watt LED bulbs didn’t even add up to one 100 watt bulb, which I was sure the system should be able to handle.
I continued to sort the boxes into some semblance of organization, putting them in rooms I thought would be appropriate as I dug my way into the piles of stuff to access the four items that I most wanted to assemble before I called it a night: Esme’s crib, our kitchen table, the futon couch, and Tina’s and my bed. By 3:00 AM I had three of the four assembled, but I didn’t want to flip the table upright, as it’s quite noisy to move around, and I guessed that our early-to-bed neighbor was sleeping on the other side of our living room wall. That also kept me from assaulting the couch, as my experience told me that assembling that quietly was next to impossible. I continued to sort and organize boxes and assorted detritus until the fact that I’d been up for over 20 hours, including 9 hours of driving the moving van (without cruise control), finally caught up to me. I lay down for just a moment to rest. And, of course, it was fully daylight when I awoke. (I was smart enough to set an alarm, just in case, as I did have to pick up Tina & Esme from the airport in Burlington before noon.)

7:30AM: First morning in the new house - Hour 14.5

After my four hour snooze, I got started again, this time with an eye towards making the house navigable for Tina and a toddler to explore as we continued unpacking together. When my second alarm went off, telling me I needed to get in the car to retrieve my family, I was satisfied with my progress. Heading through Middlebury, I tried to see if there was any place that would be ideal for lunch after the airport, but, as you will see when you come to visit us, Middlebury is an oddly laid-out town, and I was not as familiar with it as I thought I would be. Granted, it had been almost 15 years since I’d spent any time in town, but the lay-out of the town had not changed. It took most of my mental capacities to make sure I went through town on the right roads without breaking any major traffic laws.
Just as I saw the 50mph sign that indicated I was leaving town, I received a text from Tina saying they’d missed their connection in Philly, and would be in Burlington at least two hours after their scheduled arrival. I turned around and headed back into town to find a place to eat breakfast. After parking, I asked the first person I saw on the street where a new resident should have breakfast. I was directed to a classic diner on the town green. After fortifying myself with buttermilk pancakes served with local maple syrup, I headed back home to continue unpacking and waiting for news from Tina about when she and Esme would be arriving.
They did make the next flight and Tina barely had time to text me to give me an ETA before getting on the flight, which gave me just enough time to finish assembling the couch before getting back in the car and heading out again.

(Side note: Tina has lived all her life in Michigan, and had never, before stepping off the plane, been in the state of Vermont. Strange then, for her, to get off the plane and exit the terminal to see a little kid run up to his grandmother excitedly asking if grandma would make ‘Michigans’ for them when they got to her house. We still don’t know what a ‘Michigan’ is, but it seemed to be a somehow fitting welcome to Vermont for her.)

Having been on the phone with Tina as she walked through Burlington’s airport, I knew they’d be outside waiting for me when I drove up. I looked for them and the parking sign Tina described to me, but I was almost through the pick-up lane when I heard Esme’s squeal. She apparently saw the car before Tina, and just before I drove past them, and alerted us all to our proximity. (And I must say that it’s a strange thing to be driving along at an airport and hear, clearly and without any question, your not-yet-two-year-old daughter’s voice. How can I tell the difference between her excited yell and that of any other child? I have no idea. I only know that, upon hearing Esme, I had absolutely no question -- that’s my daughter’s voice, and I need to stop now.)
We made it halfway across Burlington before the rain started. At that point it occurred to me that the last time I’d seen any rain to speak of was with Tina in Michigan. From the time I rented the truck until I had my family in the car with me, I’d had clear, dry weather. This may not sound like a notable event until one realizes that both Michigan and Vermont were experiencing veritable monsoons at the time. (Farming friends in Michigan were talking about root rot and losing crops to excessive rain, while the folks I was talking to in Vermont were saying that it had been raining for three weeks almost without a break.) Somehow I dodged all that rain during my packing, my unpacking, and my traveling.
As we close in on being in Vermont for two weeks, we have the house mostly organized, Esme and the cats seem to have accepted our new environs without complaint (though it was touch and go for a little while after we let Bo out of the house for the first time and we didn’t see her for 26 hours), and we’ve started exploring town a little.

Old Orwell Town Hall, now Orwell
Village School Gym, where I will
be teaching Aikido come fall.

Orwell Village School (with the Gym on the left)

Orwell Town Green, where I had my first orchestra concert

I did go down to see my school and meet my principal in Orwell. He has been very encouraging about starting a youth Aikido class as an after-school club, but in that first meeting, he also indicated that starting an adult class was not only possible, but likely as well. I also found out there is a town band at the school, meeting for an hour to practice on Thursday evenings before giving a concert on the town green. I joined them one week, but discovered they are an orchestra, following sheet music. I played along on a bass drum, but I don't read music (yet), so I haven't been back for that.

Life is starting to settle for us. We have power, utilities, and internet is coming this afternoon, which makes me want to finish this narrative so I can post it once the web is again accessible. We’ve explored our local lake/state park (Lake Dunmore at Brandenburg St. Park), our local swimming hole (the Middlebury River goes under a bridge about a half mile from the house, with places to jump into the water and swim), and the farmer’s market (I now have three tomato plants, four cucumber plants, strawberries, and kale growing in my new garden).
We even went over to Montpelier for the Independence Day parade at the state capital at the beginning of July. I think coming back from that was the first time that returning to our rental in East Middlebury really felt like coming home.

We’re home now.
Home.

It's the Little Things She Does (part II)

2013-04-17T14:04:00.001-04:00

The Kisses
Perhaps my current favorite 'behavior' is the kisses. She likes to kiss things, and distance is no object. We might be on a walk and a dog is across the street going the other direction. She'll stop pushing her doll in her stroller, turn and walk to the edge of the sidewalk, take out her Nuk, squat down and lean forward, (and I hear more often than actually see) and *kiss*. (And how does one write the sound of a kiss?) One of her favorite kiss targets is the AATA busses. She'll typically wave and yammer at the bus when it's nearby, but when it's about to go out of sight, the same elaborate ritual (with variation depending on whether she's in her stroller, her bike seat, or on her feet).
She kisses pets walking by outside the house while she's inside. She waved at a jumbo jet the other day, then planted a kiss into the sky. The recycling truck got one yesterday. And any number of cashiers in check-out lanes, friendly passers-by, squirrels, and, most especially, birds. She seems to particularly like robins.

Sharing the Nuk
No, she doesn't actually share her Nuk with others, much like she doesn't actually kiss all those busses and birds, but she will hold her Nuk out to something -- a dog down the street, a squirrel outside the window, or any of her many dolls -- and mimic the sound with her tongue. (Sounds a more like imitation chewing than Maggie Simpson.) This seems to especially happen when she perceives the animal, &tc. has suffered some misfortune, and could use a little security. Do I project compassion onto a 19 month old? Perhaps, but I only share what I see...

More to come, including pictures, in this partial post. The girl awakens...

Fairie Doors in Ann Arbor

2013-03-19T13:48:00.002-04:00

Several weeks ago, I stumbled upon a list on FourSquare for Fairy Doors in Ann Arbor. It had seven locations listed, and knowing a little of the history of these Fairy Doors, I wanted to take Esme on a tour of them. As it's winter out, and many of these doors are outside, Esme may not be wearing the most appropriate fairy door explorer gear, but it's Michigan.

Our first stop was the door outside of a local art gallery. This was the first door I'd discovered years ago, so it seemed fitting to have Esme start the downtown portion of our tour there, too. I didn't fully realize this when we started, but, from that point, there are (at least) seven fairy doors within three blocks. And we hit them all, even finding an extra two at the only local bookstore that was willing to stock my first book, The Rapscallions.

Our first stop of the day, Liberty St, outside of Selo/Shevel Gallery

Esme was a trooper throughout, and seemed to really enjoy these little doors that I pointed out to her, or perhaps she was just mimicking my pointing. In any case, we had great fun exploring our city and noting the varying styles and positions of the doors. Several doors were at ground level, which made sense. But other doors are at toddler eye level, or even above the mantle of a fireplace. I was at first puzzled by these heights until I realized that fairies, by nature, have wings, so their doors can be anywhere. And so they are! Anywhere and everywhere.

Our second stop of the day was Peaceable Kingdom on Main St. A friend of mine later sent me a photo that showed the interior of this particular domicile.

Our third stop was a fluke. It wasn't on the list, but I wandered in to Crazy Wisdom bookstore and asked about fairie doors. The woman at the register pointed out the cabinet-like fairy apartment that Esme is squatting next to in the photo, as well as the smaller fairie door by the elevator. (Sorry for the blurry face shot there, but Esme was jumping up and down at the time.)

Next we walked over to a place that seems to help the fairies take the best care of their doors of any of the places we saw this first day.

This is a close-up of the door at Sweetwater's coffee shop. (It's the same one in the first picture on this post.) Here you can see the coins, buttons, and other trinkets people leave for the fairies. I later learned, by checking out an urban fairie website, that this is often donated, as the fairies have little use for money.

This fourth stop for us of the day was listed on FourSquare as Red Shoes Thrift Store. The door pictured was the one Esme is pointing to, though it was red with blue trim at the time. The store has since become a boutique and I suppose the fairies are just keeping up with the times, changing to a pink door that matches the rest of the building.

Knowing full well that the Ark, Ann Arbor's premier live music venue, was closed during the day, we stopped by anyway, just to see if the door happened to be on the outside. Sure enough, there it was on the bottom of a door I have walked through no fewer than a dozen times in the past 15 years. I never saw it before.

That was the end of our fairie door tour for day one. We were not, however, done with the FourSquare list. There was still a library branch and a bookstore on the outskirts of town. A couple of days later, we headed up to the library listed, but were told by the librarians that it was the downtown branch that held the fairie door, fittingly enough in the children's section that Esme and I had been several times. (Again, these little things in life are sometimes hard to see when you're not looking for them.) We headed out to the bookstore next, and found the door without assistance at Nicola's. It was made a bit easier by the placement of three books about fairies and a poster we ended up buying that showed a list of about 27 fairie doors in the Ann Arbor & Dexter areas. So the day we thought we were hitting the last two, we discovered we may have just gotten started.

From Nicola's, we headed back down town to find the door at the main branch of the library. I looked all around, but finally had to give in and ask a librarian for assistance. And even walking around looking for it, I had walked right past it. This, like the one at Peaceable Kingdom, was visible from multiple directions, allowing the viewer to see the little fairie apartment, complete with furniture and little lamps.

Seen this close up, it's hard to miss the little windows on these books, but sitting across the room, you literally don't notice -- even looking at them intently.
This concluded our first round of fairie discovery, but again, we now possess a fairie door poster as well as a paper that tells where each of the doors on the poster is located. (Though three of them are 'in the Wright's house, which again, is better explained by the Urban Fairie website.)
We did make one trip out to Dexter to see if we could find one of the doors there, but I had failed to bring our paper with us and couldn't get a consistent internet connection to be able to look things up while parked in town. Plus, Esme fell asleep in the car right before we drove into town, so even if I'd known exactly where to go, I'm not sure I would have chosen to awaken her.

I'll post more on these later, as we have had subsequent adventures and sightings, both in expected places (from our poster) and in completely unexpected places, like a tree in our neighborhood. Stay tuned for more Adventures with Esme!

Outings

2013-03-03T12:57:00.000-05:00

I started this post back in November, to show some special trips Esme went on around town. Now it's March, so I thought I'd come back and finish it off.

'The Cube' is near the Michigan Union. Her stroller is under the corner of The Cube for scale.
It's mounted on a vertical axel, so the whole thing spins like a top if you push it.

At one of our favorite newer restaurants in town. Esme is getting much more proficient with a glass.

Over Christmas, we visited Grandma in Lansing. Esme received a toy bottle set where the liquid disappears as you tilt the bottle upside-down. Literally overnight I noticed her playing change. She now feeds her baby, or the dog, or her Cheshire Cat, or Tina or me. Imagination is a part of her world now!

She was also able to play outside in the snow several times this winter.
She loves to get outside every day.

We had several visits to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum this winter. Tina and I have taken her individually, we have gone as a whole family, and we've met friends there to enjoy the child-friendly environment. Esme loves the water table, though she always ends up much wetter than one would think possible. (Yes, I know you would think a lot is possible. Not far enough...)

You can't see my skis in this self-portrait, but that is Esme asleep on my back.
I look forward to more 'backpacking' outings as winter eases into spring.

Esme at the playspace in the mall. I don't really do malls,
but this play area is cushioned and has neat things to climb on.

Esme loves the Main Branch of the Library downtown. There's one table with a rotating toy selection that she loves, in addition to the incredible chess set. (I always have to be on close guard if there's a game going on -- Esme's libel to walk off with a queen or a knight just when it's most needed.)
Though they do have the Infant/Toddler hour here on Monday mornings, I've found it's a great place to go with Esme anytime. Toys to play with, people to watch, stairs to climb, plus it's not a quiet library type of kids room. It sounds more like the hum of learning in an active classroom than a library.

Finally for today's post, I bring you Mardi Gras in Ann Arbor. There are paczki all around, and one can find an occasional King Cake, but this is not Coastal Mississippi, so the celebrations are mild. Esme did get into the spirit while sharing one of our three paczki with me and helping to decorate the pub. They even gave her beads to bring home, which she's been playing with for the intervening weeks.

Thanks for reading and sharing the journey!

It's the Little Things She Does (part I)

2013-02-12T17:05:00.000-05:00

Esme tries to get into the Hundred Acre Wood at our local Barnes & Noble

So it's been a while since I've posted here for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the main one is the gap between what I wanted this blog to be and what my viewers seem to want. I wanted this to be primarily a writing blog (I'm a writer at heart), while the requests I get are always for more pictures and video. There's also the fact that I thought this could be a format for me to discuss the realities of parenting and discussing some of the challenges that arise in frank and honest ways. However, I've discovered a serious aversion to airing dirty laundry in public, which makes many of my potential posts difficult to write and publish. I wish I was courageous enough to get into the nitty gritty of daily life of arguments and challenges, but I'm not. I don't want to upset people or alienate people. So I keep many of the juiciest bits to myself and only post the cute glory that is Esme. If you want to read some of my inspirations for that type of blogging, you could look at some of these:

Rage Against the Minivan
and

Parenting from Scratch
and especially

Controlling Chaos

Since I'm not as gutsy as some of these bloggers, I'll take a different tack. I'm going to share things that I'd like Esme to know about herself later. (I know that I have greater control of the information on this blog than I do of the information on Facebook or Google+. For instance, I can download my entire blog and save it to my hard drive, photos, videos, writings, etc., and put them together for her to peruse on her own time when she's of an age to want to know more about her childhood.)

So here are some written snapshots of Esme these days, with photos that may not fit each of the exact ideas, but they're pretty close:

"I want your hand"
Anyone who has been around Esme for any length of time lately knows that she is very clear about wanting help or wanting someone to join her on a walk. When she visits Grandma Brenda in Lansing, she'll wait at the top of the stairs, holding up her hand, until someone comes over, takes her hand, and helps her down the steps. (At least, she would do this until she started being able to navigate stairs on her own.) She still does this at home when she wants to go down into the basement to play on the mat or explore.

She also does something like this from the backyard at home when she wants me (or whoever's around) to go with her. She'll walk up to me holding up her hand and, once she's holding my finger, she'll turn and start walking away. Sometimes she keeps holding on, but more frequently, she'll pretty immediately let go once she knows she's being followed. Then she'll lead me to the gate, wait for me to undo the latch, then head down the driveway to the sidewalk, occasionally looking back to make sure I'm still following. She does the same type of thing inside the house when she wants me to accompany her to another room. It's a wonderful way she's chosen to communicate, and it melts my heart just about every time. (Who doesn't want to be wanted and needed in this world?)

"That way"
When Esme wants something that she knows she can't get for herself, she'll walk up to me, hold up her arms and wait to be picked up. Once she's snuggled into my arms, she simply points. Sometimes I have to ask, "What do you want?" or, "Where do you want to go?" and she'll hold out her arm in the general direction she wants to go. Sometimes it's a toy she sees on the upper shelves of her closet. Sometimes it's specific food or drink. Lately, it's the fact that she saw or heard the cat at the door and wants her to be let in or out. (What the cats are paying her for this service, we're not quite sure yet, but there's got to be some sort of payoff. The cats have never had it so good!)

"Mo" and "All Done"

If she didn't still have food, and the finger pointed
to her mouth, this would be 'more'

Like many parents, we've experimented with teaching Esme a few simple words in sign language. As I don't know sign language, I'm not absolutely certain we have the 'right' words, but as long as we're consistent using the same sign for whatever word, she picks up on them pretty quickly. Two of the most common ones she uses these days are 'more' and 'all done.'

Half of 'all done'

For more, she points to her mouth and says, "Mo." This is most frequent when she's finished a bottle (or gotten close to the end of it) and wants to continue drinking. She'll then slither out of our laps and either lead or follow us to the kitchen where we'll pour more milk into her bottle. She also uses it when she's in her high chair and wants more of the specific item (usually fruit) that she's been eating.
When she's done eating, we can usually tell because she starts to squirm around in her seat and seems to try to get up (which isn't possible for her with the tray in place). She'll shake both of her hands while looking directly into our eyes and the message is clear.

Comprehension of Language
It is absolutely clear to me that Esme has a large set of words and phrases that she knows. If we ask if she wants to eat or wants food (and she does) she'll walk right over to her high chair. (And with this as well as most of the others that I'm about to mention, I've checked myself to make sure I'm not giving any visual cues. It is definitely the words that she knows.) If we ask if she wants to go outside, she'll go grab her boots. (And on that vein, we can ask her to get her boots -- she'll grab the boots. We can ask her to get her shoes -- she grabs the shoes.)

Lately, I've been giving her choices. "Which hat do you want?" while holding out two or three of her hats. She'll look them all over, then make her choice and grab that one, and it's not always the same hat. Yesterday, I knew we needed to go get more milk, but I smelled a malodorous gift in her diaper. I tried to get her to walk down to her room with me to change, but she seemed resistant. So I asked her if she wanted to change her diaper or go to the store in the car. Without hesitation, she pointed to the door and grabbed her hat. So we went to the store and came home before the diaper change.

Speaking of communication,
Esme loves 'talking on the phone'

There are lots of other illustrations of her grasp of language. It the evening, Tina can ask if Esme's ready for a bath and Esme will take off towards the bathroom, frequently getting there first and tapping on the door until Tina catches up to her. When it's time for bed, Tina carries Esme over to me and asks her to give me a kiss. Esme immediately leans towards me. I usually have to ask her to take out her Nuk, which she does before leaning in further for a kiss. Then Tina says, "Say goodnight to daddy." Esme waves at me and gives a sing-song, "Nn-nnnn", mimicking the sound of Tina's 'goodnight' before they walk down the hall. Again, it's heart-melting goodness and love.

As always, there are so many more events and photos to add, as well as (and I'm not making this up) 73 videos of Esme I have taken with my iPod, from very early on. This is a very well documented 17 month old. You're welcome to come visit us if you want to watch all the videos on my computer, but I suspect you'd get distracted by the girl herself. I always do...

Weekly activities

2012-12-17T13:55:00.000-05:00

November & December 2012

We've been busy this past month and a half since I last posted. Our main excitement has been making our weekly rounds. Esme and I have several specific things we do every week --

going to the local library branch's Toddler Hour on Tuesday mornings,

going grocery shopping once or twice, and stopping by the pub for snacks before or a,

walking up and down the sidewalk in the neighborhood,

and now that it's gotten colder, we've added trips to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum.

On a cold day in early November, Esme went to her first presidential election. (It was actually her fourth time at the polls, so she knew the drill. We weren't really prepared for the lines, though, so a really nice mother and daughter pair pushed our stroller forward holding our place in line so Esme could run around inside and outside for most of the time. So many things to vote for this time, and it was hard to juggle with her still wanting to roam.)

Mornings are sometimes slow around here, with a sleepy Esme eating breakfast, or sitting in her chair at the base of the tree of life.

Esme has started trying on several hats lately. She never liked to wear hats, so this is a welcome development as Michigan's winter will be upon us soon. (Theoretically)

We enjoy naps together sometimes, though I usually take her nap time to get other things done. (Today I cleaned the bathroom, and I'm writing in this blog. I like a sense of accomplishment.)

As I mentioned, we've been going to all the AADL's Toddler Hours. (Not every one every week, but we've made it to all of them as of this morning's trip to the Downtown Main Branch.)

Downtown: Mondays

Mallett's Creek: Tuesdays

Pittsfield: Wednesdays

Traverwood: Fridays

Our local Mallett's Creek Branch...

The Traverwood Branch on the north side of town...

And also at Traverwood, where she first started pulling a wagon.

And the day after the Traverwood wagon, she started pulling Jim's old wagon around the porch.
(Quick learner, that girl.)

When we're not out and about, we tend to hang out in the living room and play with various toys. She's been pretty happy knocking down any block towers I build, but lately she's starting to build a little of her own. She also likes to 'share', which means she tries to give you something. But with Esme, you'd better take it or she can get more than a little bent out of shape. (I like to called it 'forced sharing.') Though I was talking with a parent of an 18 month old who's just turned the corner into the world of 'mine.' Ahh, the things we have to look forward to!

We play games at home for most of the day.

When Mom gets home, it's time to play a whole new set of games!

And perhaps my favorite new activity: Cheers, when we're eating
the same food item. (And it only happens then -- no other food toasting allowed.)

So these are the ways we fill our days. I've got several videos and many more pictures of various activities, but this is already a long enough post. And I can hear the little one stirring in her room down the hall. Thanks for reading and sharing in the joy that is Esme!