Two Words are Better than One

Big bug. My house. Fast truck. Hold hands. Recently little X has put together all kinds of words and he's absolutely enamored of all the new things he can ask for, report on and declare. Mom's report that it's hard to keep up, but always entertaining.  More news on the rapidly developing array of skills and words later.

Xavi Daily March 15, 2008

Monkey Love Extends to Household Kitty Cat

Recently, small Mr. X, as he is known in some parts, has exhibited his first signs of "playing pretend". Elementary perhaps in the eyes of some, but a remarkable leap to those schooled in the eyes of child development, and the growing population of stuffed creatures at 1532 E Jefferson.  Many of the aforesaid creatures were beginning to question the very purpose of their existence as dust bunnies gathered around their red box in the corner of the living room where they remained in undisturbed repose day after day. But, in recent days, they had a sudden awakening. First there was the unceremonious throwing of all stuffed creatures; bears, bunnies, monkeys - it was pretty indiscriminate, upon the floor and prouncement of a collective "night night".  This was followed by a more focused feeding of milk to small blue "P Bear" who also got a big hug before being put to night night on the living room floor.  Then, on Wednesday evening, little X took giant monkey by the stuffed paw, dragged him gently across the living room floor to the unsuspecting cat, and then, to the enjoyment and appreciation of all present, proceeded to show monkey how to "pet" schroeder the cat by taking monkey's paw gently across schroeders back and head, interrupted only by small kisses from Mr. X directly on the nose of aforementioned cat.

The stuffed creatures at 1523 E Jefferson are all abuzz with hopes of full on "teddy bear tea parties" and "stuffed animal protest marches" to be arriving soon.

Signs of Ornithologist Tendencies Blamed On Uncle

"Peacock, Peacock, Peacock, Peacock."  This is the resounding call heard through the baby monitor these days at the Ring-Katz household.  Mommies assume this means that little X is actually dreaming about his beloved big tailed bird friend. This new obsession, combined with the 15 minutes straight spent staring at the "Kiskadee" during a recent zoo visit, and the recurring comment of "caw caw" when observing bird on telephone wires are being taken as signs of a possible future second generation ornithologist in the family.  Uncle Richie could not be reached for comment as we went to press, but it is assumed that he is grinning in a satisfied manner and planning nephew/uncle trips to an area bog.

X powers

It's possible that little X has some special powers.  He's always a force of nature, and a love-filled force of nature at that. But since my Dad was diagnosed with cancer he seems to be channelling all that love right into cancer eradication. When we first saw Pops on our visit to Cambridge last week he ran right into his arms, something he doesn't do with anyone beside me and Erin.  And the whole visit he was full of just the right amount of snuggles and sideways grins and goofy tricks. When we said goodbye, he patted Dad on on the head, and then on the upper chest right where the evil tumor is burrowing down into him, and X patted it like he was showering it with special love dust.

This morning, as I carried him down the stairs, both of us overtired but awake anyway, he spontaneously announced "Pops" and "Yulya"  and said their names over and over again- as if maybe he'd been lying in his crib thinking about them, wondering how that biopsy went yesterday. 

As I am tired, and sad and scared he's an ever present source of goodness, and exhaustion, and hilarity, and a fast paced flood of life that can't be denied. And I'm grateful to have him.

Xavi Daily - February 1, 2008

Prepositions Prove To Be Favored Part of Speech

On on. Off. Up. Down. Under. According to experts, a preposition "indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence".  XWRK is all about discovering where everything fits in relation to his small, mobile, self. And he seems a little unsettled by it all.  Can he get UP onto that chair? Once there, will he be able to get DOWN?  Will someone put his hat ON? Is that nuk UNDER the couch, and if so, can he get it himself by lying on the floor and squishing himself flat?  He likes his mittens on, his hat off, and himself UP in a mama's arms

Mama Thoughts and Xavi Swims

I'm listening to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  I was watching it, but thought of blogging. And because I am used to multi-tasking, I'm doing both. Schroeder the cat is currently carefully and thoroughly cleaning Titocat. His eyes are closed, his chin is up, his ears look happy and I think he's in heaven.

I just read my friend Jenn's (AKA Kuntrywife) blog. She's the queen of multitasking. Her two girls; baby and toddler, are growing up just right, in a warm kitchen, lit by candles when the power goes out for 8 days, eating homebaked bread, swimming in rivers, picking berries naked, and always wearing rubber boots.  All bodes well for their future.

It turns out we're raising an urban baby. A kid who always has to put his shoes on to go outside, who has to GO to the park to play outside, who doesn't find acorns on his doorstep but can manage to sit on my lap, drink milk and make friends with homeless folks all on an overcrowded bus in rush hour.  But he never builds dams in muddy streams. I wonder what it will mean for him later. Perhaps he'll set off in search of a mountain or an old farmhouse in the same way I set off for a life in a city, with people, and happenings and take-out. 

We went to the pool today and for fifteen blissful minutes before his tiny lips got a distinctive blue tinge he was a regular fish.  The big highlight was chasing a ball while kicking and splashing in my arms and flashing big grins at Grammy on the water's edge.  Then, in a way that continously surprises me, he offered up a report on his status: "cold" he said. And we took one more swim and marched off to the locker room (much too cold) to be wrapped in towels and have our hair dried under the too loud dryers on the wall.