Monthly Archives: October 2010

The Third Person

I just figured out something. You should refer to your child in the third person. Not always, that would be … weird. But I realized that when I go into the library, the librarians want to talk to 80, but they don’t remember her name. If I cue them, by saying “Oh, 80, let’s take our books over to the return desk”, they’ll hear that and be able to use her name. This makes 80’s experience better too.

Plus it helps her learn her name. I knew a little boy who, when looking at photos of himself with his family, would point to himself in the image and say “you”. I think it bespeaks how clever the boy was, to pick up on the word associated with each face. “Mommy, daddy, and you!”

Now that I think about it, this is probably good advice when you’re out and about with someone who doesn’t know the group you’re encountering. This cues everyone in the group to your partner/friend/hobo’s name, and they don’t have to feel bad dodging calling them by the first name, because they know you introduced them last time, and you shouldn’t have to ask.

A perpetual name tag would help, of course, but this brings on many other social awkwardnesses. “How do you know my name? Oh.”

My mom never let me wear clothes with my name on them when I was a little girl, for fear a predator (of the human variety, not a coyote) would say (and I quote my mom), “Oh Sonya, I lost my puppy and your mom told me you should come help me find it.” This was during the face-on-the-milk-carton mid-eighties, and Johnny Gosch was not only an Iowan, but a cousin of mine.

For 80, I’m planning on appliqueing the infinity symbol on her stuff.

How Cantabrigian



Shuffling off, originally uploaded by sundaykofax.

To slumberland. We’re off to visit family for the weekend. I hope 80 does as well as her first time flying, where she slept the whole time. She’s been up since 4:30, and I’m not sure if that’s going to be great or awful. We’ll seeeeee.



How Cantabrigian,
originally uploaded by sundaykofax.

On Friday 80 and I walked to Formaggio Kitchen for a baguette and possible John Malkovich sighting. We succeeded in one of the two.

Shuffling off

on Flickr” href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundaykofax/5086228080/”>Shuffling off

Shuffling off, originally uploaded by sundaykofax.

To slumberland. We’re off to visit family for the weekend. I hope 80 does as well as her first time flying, where she slept the whole time. She’s been up since 4:30, and I’m not sure if that’s going to be great or awful. We’ll seeeeee.

New friend!

on Flickr”>New friend!

We just told 80 that she has a new friend, born today. The Heavy Metal Librarian had her baby, and as you can tell we’re all excited.

Sick 80

on Flickr” href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundaykofax/5062070579/”>Sick 80

She may not look it, but this girl is congested AND teething. So, she’s in her favorite jammies, on a favorite quilt, with her favorite chew toy.

See the visual pun? Bear feet.

Correction: now there’s a tooth

Whatever I thought a baby tooth was supposed to look like, I was wrong. Baby teeth are not rounded little bags of cream*.

Today 80 and I discovered that a baby tooth is a jagged mountain that erupts slowly, starting with the pointiest peaks. Babies’ teeth are like kitten claws–viciously sharp for something so otherwise cuddly.

As long as she’s engaged, her mind is off her pain. Napping is hard. We had a lot of conversations today about how I hope she’s not a biter.

Things that helped include chewing on her Sophie giraffe**, going for a walk, and listening to the eponymous Throwing Muses album***.

*Mighty Boosh reference
**thank you for the hand-me-down,
***helpful to me, since I’m interviewing Kristin Hersh

Wadsgreen update

80 has a tooth. Well, she has a tooth nubbin, which has barely broken the surface of her gums, but she’s totally growing bones. She’s been a bit cranky in the evenings, and on Saturday night I was playing with her and realized she had a tooth. It all makes sense in retrospect — the added drool, the cranky. Still, I thought this would be much more of an ordeal, involving anbesol, frozen teething rings, and whiskey (for her and/or us).

It’s hard to explain how things like this make me feel. I’m so triumphant, so excited, and have to keep saying it over and over for it to sink in. “She has a tooth. She has a TOOTH.” Things are moving so fast and so slow at the same time, these little huge things are really cool. I’m realizing that all the times parents were talking to me about some boring story involving their kid, it’s not entirely because they think I need to know. They need to absorb it, reflect on it, remember it and capture it in their minds, because it’s happening so fast for them. Enjoy this one with me, and remember this next time you’re talking to a parent. Just look in their eyes and see what’s going on for them.

Jason and I were just discussing* how today I turned on the heat for the first time this season**, and we need to take the air conditioning unit out of the window. In our new place, the heat is from radiators, so there’s hissing and squealing as the heat turns on. I was telling him that it’s a very friendly heat. It’s warmer. Maybe it’s the noises that accompany it. I said it was like living in Howl’s Moving Castle.

Jason said he was very excited. I asked him to clarify if he was excited about the A/C or the heater. He said both, but he meant the A/C. He’s been looking forward to taking it out for a while, knowing that it means the end of summer and the promise of cool weather only.

We decided we’d take the A/C out tonight, then watch Howl’s Moving Castle. It will be very, very cozy.

*over IM, because we are digital folks
**we have a little baby who hates things on her hands and would get them all drooly anyway and then just be cold, so we’re keeping the heat level at a toasty 72. In previous years, I think we kept it at 68. Like so many other things, I’m willing to be all hippie and crunchy, unless it really makes me miserable. I pick my environmental battles, and am happy in the meantime.

Baby gaga

I just found myself a new dentist, and discovered when I went for my checkup that he keeps a take-one-leave-one book exchange. There were mostly Anne Rice novels, but the sentiment is there. I’ll have to remember to bring an extra book with me next time.



Baby gaga, originally uploaded by sundaykofax.

Our little monster.