Some Assembly Required

When I had a sewing project and borrowed a machine from DG (the Doting Grandmother) I realized my sewing experience was pretty minimal, and I had to rediscover how to use it. It was fun to play around with the different stitch settings on some scraps of fabric, finding many different wrong ways to sew a hem, along with a workable one. I found myself noticing the various stitches and embroidery on the baby clothing. The edges are mostly overlock which of course requires a serger, but it was fun to find out what is possible with what I had.

We have a lot of books and advice and even classes but the whole baby-raising process also seems to be learning as you go, finding things out by trial and error. Things like our baby currently being a morning person (unlike her parents), that canned formula seems to cause more gas than powdered type, that spinning around in circles is calming, and that lying flat on mommy was restful in month one but not month two.

Meanwhile, if I'm not imagining things, little RR is piecing together some things on her own. For example, she has gone from mad-orchestra-conductor mode with no hand control, to something like intentional movement, sometimes holding her shirt or bib. Now at 11 weeks she also sounds different, at least to me. What had been random squeaks are now more like babbles, with some definite syllables showing up. Hear for yourself: Babble-July17.mp3

That's Entertainment!

After seeing the remarkable power of the hairdryer to calm down little RR, I made a "greatest hits" CD featuring a hairdryer solo, plus a duet with the vacuum cleaner. It wasn't long before we had occasion to play this back and it was quite amazing; the recorded sound is just as effective as the original! My own preference for relaxing music runs more towards Vivaldi, but as they say, there's no accounting for taste.

Just as I was leaving a recent video shoot for a local dance group, the director D. kindly gave us a present for RR: a beautiful yellow paper lantern decorated with butterflies. I hung it from the ceiling and she has been quite captivated by it, staring intently at it for some time on many different occasions.

There is no one panacea though, as all of these distractions seem to have effect for a relatively short time. T has found that playing the video of a dance show from last year holds her attention for quite a stretch. I assume the key factor is all the brightly colored costumes in motion- she actually cooed at one piece nicknamed the "stoplight dance" which has red, yellow and green dresses. She waves her arms almost as if keeping time, especially to the more uptempo pieces. T pointed out that this video was the last project I edited before she was born, and no doubt she became accustomed to the music in utero. (We'll try not to let the American Academy of Pediatrics know about all this, since they apparently counsel against any TV viewing for newborns.)

My first baby-related craft project was assembling two stuffed toys into a mobile, and hanging it from a small motor that turns it slowly. Like the other diversions, this usually holds her interest for a few minutes at least. She seems to like the yellow smiley face the best, and sometimes greets it with a happy sort of squawk each time it comes around.

      (click play button above to see video)

Of Quiet and Noise

Little RR was (mostly) well behaved at her very first play-date this afternoon with two other babies, but this evening was a different story- not her usual quiet self at all. She was really mad, judging by her tone of voice, and trotting out our usual suspects of feeding, burping, changing and rocking failed to interrupt her single-minded attention to perfecting the art of the cry.

As it happens, there is a hair dryer attached to the end of the changing table, which we use to dry off a damp posterior in between application of the baby wipe and the diaper. The mere sound of this device from across the room had an immediate and profound calming effect, quite unlike all of our parental ministrations.

Several people have mentioned using hair dryer noise as a pacifier, and we have noticed its effects before, but this time was more dramatic. The "sleep sheep" as mentioned previously was not as useful this go-round... perhaps she has built up a certain sheep immunity by this point.

One does wonder what curious mechanism is working inside her head, to which the magic key is apparently a hair dryer.

T's Top Ten

The delights of parenthood are many, but the end of pregnancy deserves its own recognition. Here is T's list of Top Ten Postpartum Pleasures:

10. Farewell to due date calculators and baby name lists, and hello to the new-to-us world of parenting blogs and instructional DVDs (how many ways are there to fasten a sling or swaddle?)

9. Fitting behind the steering wheel

8. Ibuprofen, the wonder drug

7. Carrying laundry baskets, grocery bags and the like, All By Myself. Hooray for independence!

6. A wedding ring that fits again - yes, I am actually married

5. Being able to turn over in bed on my own (forklift not required)

4. Stairs, not elevators, and walking without conscious effort and a cheering squad

3. The freedom to eat whenever I want. Fasting before & after iron pills is SO last trimester

2. The (very occasional) well-timed splurge of a dark, delicious coca-cola

1. Belly-down back rubs. Heavenly!