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fun in fours

growing

Bounce, Swing, Jump, Run

Tuesday 08 January 2013

The Boy wants to stand. Just like the Girl at this age, he pushes up into a wobbly standing position any and every time he has enough support.

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We discovered tonight, though, that unlike L, the Boy loves the strange, hang-in-the-doorway bouncer that we got from who knows where or whom.

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He liked the effect of jumping, bouncing here and there. He liked the effect of swinging, the gentle motion causing him to squeal his "I'm thrilled silly" squeal.

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But mostly, he liked to swing his legs wildly. That boy's going to be a runner, I tell you.

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There and Back

Saturday 05 January 2013

When the Girl was much younger, much smaller, and much lighter, we spent a lot of time down at the swing. L could pass whole afternoons in the swing if she would have had someone there patient enough to push her that long. If took the time, I could find pictures of me pushing her, Papa pushing her, Dziadek pushing her, friends pushing her -- anyone who came for a visit, down there by the small creek that forms the boundary between our property and the neighbor's, pushing, pushing, pushing. Higher, higher, higher. That was the formula.

Today, we took the Boy down for the first time.

It must be genetic -- his love and fascination were instantaneous.

Superpowers

Saturday 29 December 2012

If you could have one superpower, what superpower would you choose? Why?
--Plinky

The Boy is working on his first superpower. It's an amazing feat of balance, coordination, and timing -- and something we all take for granted. It's a cliche now to say that walking is nothing short of controlled falling. Yet the Boy can't even crawl yet, let alone stand, let alone walk: even with support, he wobbles and sways.

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So he is indeed working on superpowers.

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The Dog Next Door

Wednesday 12 December 2012

The plan was simple: it was Sunday; the Girl and the Boy had been inside most of the day; there was still a bit of light left and some power in our small camera's battery -- a walk seemed in order. We reached to top of the driveway and it became immediately obvious that the walk wouldn't occur.

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It had nothing to do with the impromptu photo session; the weather wasn't a factor; the Girl wasn't complaining that she was too tired. No, nothing as complicated as any of that. It was simply that Max, the neighbor's dog, was out, taking his owner for a walk. Max would make the perfect companion for L: they're both hyper, hyper, hyper, to the point of carelessness and frustration.

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And so they leaped and ran, rolled and barked (yes, both of them), and the walk never got any further. I stood chatting with our neighbor, a retired gentleman who seems more like a third grandfather to L at times than anything else, and we both remarked at how quickly both the kids are growing.

"We'll be heading out to Missouri," he said as the conversation drew to a close, "to spend Christmas with our son and his family." And I realized again -- how many times will I realize this? probably countless -- that within two blinks, we'll be saying the same thing about L and/or E.

"We'll be heading out to X to spend Christmas with our daughter and her family. Our son and his family are supposed to meet us there as well," I'll tell our neighbor, asking him to keep an eye on our place.

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And marveling as he turns to walk away at how recently I did the same.

All photos by the Girl.

Giving

Wednesday 05 December 2012

The Girl has surprised us of late with her generosity, spending her own money to by a copy of her favorite non-fiction book — she’s always keen to point out that it’s non-fiction — for her friend. She continued today, buying presents for a handful of friends and family from the school Gingerbread House Gift Shop (I guess a Christmas time fundraiser).

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When we returned home, she was eager to dig out the wrapping paper and begin layering sheet after sheet on the gifts.

The Boy, on the other hand, is still exploring the more basic giving: the gift of joy.

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Attention

Tuesday 04 December 2012

The Boy now focuses his attention, follows objects of interest, and consequently loses interest. Unless it’s food.

Where's My Lunch?

The other day, I was getting ready to feed him his soup. It was still a bit too hot, though, so I set it to the side of his chair and turned my attention to the tea bag that was making my cup of tea a dangerously unsavory mess. The Boy, not to be distracted, followed his food. And stared for a good long time.

Up the Street

Sunday 25 November 2012

I grew up in a closed environment, literally. There was one way in or out of our housing subdivision, a fact that was of great solace to my mother as I was growing up: now strangers just “passing through.” And so I had almost complete freedom to go wherever I wanted in our neighborhood while growing up.

Neighborhood

The only rule was that I had to be able to hear Dad whistle and get back within a reasonable amount of time.

I wish we lived in such a neighborhood now, for every time the Girl is outside playing alone, I’m a little edgy. It’s unlikely anyone would be just “passing through,” and it’s unlikely that anything would happen to her. Yet Amber Alerts, urban legend, and the Jaycee Lee Dugard case make a slightly paranoid father like me more so.

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And so when she heads up the street to visit a friend, I stand at the end of our driveway and watch her head up. The friend’s parents do the same when he (or they) come back down to our place. It’s a simple enough matter, but I watch her bouncing up the street and realize, not for the first or last time, that she’s growing up, that she’s journeying from home and toward independence with a rapidity I’d been warned about but doubted for myself. And it will all repeat itself with the Boy, but I’ll be more prepared by then. I hope.

Barbie Bike

Monday 19 November 2012

It took her a while to save up the money, and in the meantime, she had to learn how to wait patiently.

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And for a little girl who is obsessed with all things Barbie, the effort and time involved in opening the package was almost too much.

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But in the end, she got it open, and then I began clipping this and that anti-theft string and band.

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And we sat for a while pondering why they put the drive train on the left side, and why bikes generally have them on the right to begin with.

Growth

Thursday 15 November 2012

WordPress's automated permalink creator tells me that this is the fourth time I've titled a post "growth." I suppose the real surprise is that, given the fact that we have two kids, I haven't used that title more often. It's a constant refrain in the house, among friends and family, even acquaintances.

"How she's grown!"

"How he's grown!"

Still, for K and me, that growth is gradual. Parents get used to seeing their children daily and the incremental changes disappear into the blur of everyday reality until we suddenly see something that shows, pointedly, how much a child has grown.

Like stumbling on an old picture.

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At six months, he spills out of the chair he barely fit into at six days.

Entertaining

Wednesday 07 November 2012

With some help, the Boy can now sit. He casts his eyes here and there, his attention drawn to this sound or that motion, and his arms or legs are constantly in motion. It seems like it would be a good match for the hyper Girl.

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They sit together, banging anything and everything, both delighted with the racket.

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The difference comes later, when the Boy has a moment alone and sits silently, almost contemplatively, for a seemingly impossible length of time. The Girl wouldn’t last three seconds.