The mail cart

Jen gave us a toy mail cart before Peter was born last spring. It seemed like he'd never play with it: too big, too mobile, too, too, too. Tonight he walked it back and forth across the playroom floor, first slowly, then as he lost balance, running a few steps before he fell. He's stepping from an ottoman to the (screwed-to-the-wall-in-six-different-places) bookcase today.

Cruising

Today's other news is that Peter has decided to learn about cruising. He's been pulling himself up to a standing position (on the edge of the tub, the edge of a couch, the edge of a chair, the toilet) for a week or so, and he's now taking a few (one or two) steps sideways while holding onto the same piece of furniture. Tonight, he tried to switch from a chair to his exersaucer, which really wasn't stable enough, and he crash-landed on his bottom. Then he got right back up and started to go in the other direction. He was determined to learn how to get around on his feet tonight. We're just a step ahead of him, and finally got the baby gates installed yesterday at the foot of the stairs (about a week after he showed Ron how to climb up the first few stairs) and in the doorless doorway between the dining room and the kitchen. Thank heavens for the playroom with its two doors. We love this house.

Bap

Peter stopped saying "bap" today. For the past few days, it was his favorite word. I appreciated the significance: /b/ and /p/ are a voiced/unvoiced pair with the same point of articulation. I don't know if that's what interested him, but I bet it was. He had been saying "bab" for a few days before that. It usually went like this:
Daddy: Say "da-da, da-da," Peter.
Peter: Bap.
Daddy: "Da-da."
Peter: Bap. Bap. Bap.
Daddy: Say "ma-ma" then. "Ma-ma." That's mama.
(Points at me.)
Peter: Bap. Bap.

He's a very good conversationalist, and has begun to understand turn-taking in speech. But if "bap" meant anything, it wasn't clear to me. I suggested the day before yesterday that it meant "wookie" (like Chewbacca). Peter replied "Bap."

It really was his theme for a while. A few nights ago, Ron said that he was in coaxing Peter back to sleep. Peter's eyes were shut, and he was just about snoozing, then he muttered, "bap...bap...Bap, bap, bap. Bap."

Today, though, it's "mamma."

Missed this one somehow

Peter's latest portrait
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

I don't this one got blogged. It was taken almost two months ago, and the blue sleeper doesn't fit anymore, and Peter now has three little fingernail scratches on his left cheek, but otherwise it's him. I don't think he'd sit quite so quietly now, though. This day he was quite excited to be in the rocking chair, and sat stiffly and carefully.

Another view of "our" park (from Photo Fiddler, again)

Soft November Evening
Originally uploaded by photo fiddler.

Our walk to and from work is seven minutes long or so, depending on how often you turn to admire the scenery. It's been pretty cold these last few days, though, and so we've been walking through town more often than not. Sackville is still a pedestrian town with lots of street life (rare in New Brunswick, I think) and it reminds me sometimes of fieldwork in Marrakesh, when I'd sometimes plan a circuitous but faster route that involved less chatting with friends along the way. Ron says that if you stay at Bridge St Cafe long enough (about two hours, I think) eventually everyone will pass through.

Boardwalk Through Birches

Boardwalk Through Birches
Originally uploaded by photo fiddler.

Photo Fiddler's lovely picture of the waterfowl park near our house. Aaahhh.

Family portrait, Christmas 2005

Santa paid a visit to Sackville's Midnight Madness evening on November 19, and Peter (and I) had a chance to sit on his knee. I think Peter recognized the jolly old elf, who had been warned at suppertime not to go overboard with the ho-ho-ho's. Both Peter and Santa were big hits with the shoppers.

Peter's skunk costume, Halloween 2005

Peter's skunk costume, Halloween 2005
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Halloween, 6:30 pm. Ron and Peter visited our neighbors while I stayed home to greet the trick-or-treaters.

At the airport

At the airport
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Ron (accompanied by a licensed pilot) took a short flight on his 40th birthday last month. He taxied, took off, and flew for a bit. The pilot landed, which I guess is the hard (ha!) part. They flew from Moncton to Sackville and back. Our Flickr account (click on this picture) has an aerial view of Sackville that almost shows our house (we'd be under the wing, a block in from the water). Anyone who really doesn't know just how small our little college town in will find the photo enlightening. It really is small. [Nov 22: I wanted to add that the plane Ron went up in was like the little one on the right, though not that one itself. He said later that the cockpit was smaller than the inside of our Mazda Protege.]

Two teeth

Two teeth
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

At eight months, Peter now has two teeth. He tried them out on my finger yesterday, and they work quite well.

Faster and faster, and Ron on TV

Peter's crawling like it's old hat these days: fast forward, and (since Ron forgot the undershirt one day last week) with his tummy up off the ground. He's still enjoying trying to walk, but usually content to hold someone's hands while he does it. For a few days last week his proper and rational-looking babysteps were exchanged for goose-steps that were much, much too big, but he's back to babysteps again today.

Mum and Dad babysat yesterday so that we could go to Halifax for the closing of Ron's play. They say that one of the news programs ran a clip about the play, as well as a bit of an interview with Ron. Peter was facing the other way when that came on, and he whirled around when he heard daddy's voice. Dad says he obviously recognized Ron on tv, and was so entertaining that they missed the story all together. The play went well, and got two standing ovations.

Alphabet blocks

Alphabet blocks
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

I bought these blocks at the auction in Amherst a few weeks ago where I also got the rocking chair. We've been having lots of fun with them. I make towers and imaginary crosswords, while Peter bangs blocks together and sometimes takes a baby swipe at my towers and brings them down. He's mobile enough now that he can creep across the playroom, sit up, and get a few blocks out of the basket (on the bottom shelf of the bookcase) himself.

From Nat's blog ...

It takes sunlight eight minutes to reach the earth. We never actually see the sunlight of the present, only that of the past.
Staring into the evening skies, we can gaze upon a star that scientists will tell you no longer exists, a star that went extinct ten million years ago.
Both are points made by Thich Nhat Hanh. Both cause one to stop and think for a moment what our perception is and how subject to influence it is. The observer and the observed are essentially one and the same because we inter-are. We are a part of what we are observing: If we do not exist, then nothing exists, the subject and the object are part of each other.

See Sangha Fairytales.

Forward

Peter started moving forward this evening, commando-style and pretty slowly, but definitely, definitely forward.

Catching up ...

Peter took his first step today (at 7 months and a week). He was standing balanced against my legs, and stretched one foot out as my mouth fell open. He put it down, I grabbed him before he could fall, and he grinned. He's been walking laps around the downstairs for the past few days, always aided by two steady hands from above. He's got the left-right-forward momentum technique down pat, but has absolutely no balance (or fear, for that matter). And he's figured out how to sit up from a lying position in the last week too. The first time he did it was last Friday at lunchtime. It was so slick that I almost missed it. He crawls backwards well up on his knees, then sticks a leg out sideways and takes one more step backwards with the other knee. And he's taken a few crawling "steps" forward in the past week, but never more than two at a time.

Camel, maybe?

Camel, maybe?
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Ron worked on the office for a few weekends, removing lime green carpet (and a layer lino tiles and cardboard and glue underneath that) and wallpaper border, and then painting it in a quiet camel shade. (Not a noisy camel shade! Or rather the noisy goldfinch yellow some previous owner had chosen.) I've moved one of the cream armchairs in, as well as a Moroccan rug, and one of the red Persian carpets. It's much better.

Rocking chair

I got a rocking chair at an auction over the weekend. It's very solid, but probably dates from the mid-Victorian period so it's been well taken care of. I hope rocking Peter to sleep at 4 am every day won't be the end of it; perhaps it's already rocked four generations of babies to sleep.

Carrots

I tried carrots tonight, and that went better. I'm still surprised at how sad he appeared when he tasted the green beans: the corners of his mouth turned down, and he seemed about to cry. What did he think we were eating all this time? I wonder if he's holding out for cotton candy, or apple crisp.

baby pushups

baby pushups
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter started trying different crawling techniques a few weeks ago. Today he's up on his knees and rocking a bit. This day, he was trying hands and toes.

toy car

toy car
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

We've been playing cars lately.

big kid clothes

big kid clothes
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

I dressed Peter in "big kid" clothes yesterday: navy corduroy pants, and a navy and white sweatshirt jacket. He was wearing a pale blue Winnie-the-Pooh t-shirt underneath, and pale blue and green monkey Robeez on his feet, but the overall effect really shook me. He's getting bigger.

Six month checkup

Peter weighed 23.25 lbs at his appointment yesterday. He ripped up the paper sheet before Dr Johnston could measure his height though.

Peter's first solid food

Peter's first solid food
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

We gave Peter his first solid food on Labor Day. He loved it, and has had barley, rice, and oatmeal in the weeks since. Yesterday we started green beans from the organic food coop, no less, and cooked and pureed by his mummy. The beans weren't a success yesterday, and weren't any more popular today. His dispair has melted me, and so I'm abandoning beans for something sweeter for the time being.

Crawling

backwards mosaic
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter's crawling backwards these days. Creeping, rather. Or maybe inching. He starts out flat, then moves his hands toward his knees and flexes so that he's up on all fours, and then stretches his legs out backwards so that he's flat again. He crept across the kitchen floor the night in several minutes I took these photos.

Six months and a bit

Peter was six months old last week. It's hard to believe that it's been that long, and no longer than that at the same time. I wonder if he'll know when he's grown up how many times each day Ron and I said, "What a great kid."

I think Peter said "hi" on the phone tonight to Ron. He's been saying haaaa for a while, and mama for the past week, but until now it hasn't seemed to have any symbolic content. This evening, while I held the phone up to his ear, he looked at the phone, and said hhhiiii two or three times at the phone, then looked at me and smiled.

He's also creeping backwards very effectively (far and fast), and rocking on his knees. He seems frustrated at not being able to move forward.

And he's been eating baby cereal since Labor Day. Rice, oatmeal, and barley. He's a neat eater, surprisingly.

Gotta go. Baby Peter's up.

Kisses, puppy kisses, and funny noises

I have to blog this before it changes, or before I forget. We kiss Peter all the time, on the cheek (both cheeks, when it's me) or on his tummy and so on. He laughs like a nut, so we do it a lot. Since Peter was about three months old, I've been putting my cheek to his mouth, after I kiss him, so that he can kiss me back. He does.

It began with him opening his mouth against our cheeks and making random funny noises: ghghghgh, aaahhhhhh, oooohhhhhh, and so on. One day last week, he tried licking Ron on the cheek a few times. Today, he started grabbing my head and pulling my cheek tight against his mouth and saying (really loudly) "awhhhhhhhhhh". I wonder when he'll hit the right combination, and when he does, if he'll know right away that it's the right one. In the meantime, it's hilarious.

Jumperoo

Our friend Sarah came by this evening with a piece of baby furniture that her daughter has grown out of. It's a seat that is attached to a frame with four bungee-like tethers, with and front dashboard that has blinking lights, electronic sound effects, and a steering-wheel-like appendage for the driver. As soon as Peter got in he began to jump up and down and back and forth, smiling and shouting. This is a roller coaster for babies.

Rites of passage

Peter was baptised last week. It was a beautiful ceremony, serious and joyous at the same time, and full of love and family.

He wore a christening gown that Mum made from the skirt of my wedding dress: the symbolism of this seems appropriate to me.

Looking in the mirror

Looking in the mirror
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

He's also become more and more interested in the mirror in the last month: he smiles at himself in the mirror, and at me (or the camera) sometimes.

Sleep positions, 2

Asleep
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter still sleeps with his arms stretched out. At night, when I take him back (half asleep) from our bed to his crib after nursing, his arms spring out.

How many colors of cream

How many colors of cream
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Last weekend's [month's] project was painting the kitchen cupboards. The corner cupboard (not visible here) is another shade as well. I'm not pleased with this photo (it's kind of dark), but the kitchen turned out beautifully: retro and understated, pretty but not cute. It's quite bright, which isn't obvious from this photo. There's another window not visible here (over to table that would be at the right) that has a view of the garden, and a door that looks into the back porch with views of the garden through those windows too. There are Flickr notes on this photo: double click on this one, and then mouse over the photo.

Country songs

Last fall, as we were driving from the Cape to town, we'd hear this occasionally on the radio. I don't think it became a big hit, and I never got tired of hearing it despite the sappiness. Peter does sleep in the middle sometimes, especially in the mornings when he wakes at 4 and nurses every hour until 6 or 7, when he might take a nap. It's not always quite as sweet as it seemed when I was listening to this song before he was born: sometimes when he's just about asleep, he starts to thrash around, and whacks me until I move over or take him back to his bed. On other days, though, he sleeps quietly and wakes up sweetly smiling with his eyes still closed.

Nova Scotia beaches

Nova Scotia beach mosaic
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

We went for a drive last Friday: Sackville to Parrsboro to Five Islands to Truro (to see Grammy) then home. We stopped at a few beaches (our favorite summer pastime); Peter slept most of the way.

Sitting

Peter sitting
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter's sitting up now, in a manner of speaking. For a few months, he's been able to pull himself up to sitting and standing positions if you hold his hands. That really means that he lifts his head, bends his elbows and hips, keeps his head forward, and eventually bears weight on his feet. After a week or so of this ("Practice sitting, Peter!"), he would left his legs straight up in the air before trying to sit. This week, he's been able to sit alone once he gets up and has a little support until he gets his balance. (In an earlier posting with the picture of Peter frowning, he's being supported in a sitting position with my feet.) He does still fall over though: in this picture, he's just about to start pulling grass. As he got more and more interested in the grass, he leaned further and further forward, and slowly moved onto his face.

Rolling

Ron says that Peter is now rolling onto his stomach: yesterday at the beach (second beach, actually, at Silver Lake on our way home from Sandy Beach) he rolled while Ron watched, and then this afternoon at Ron's office, he rolled while Ron was looking the other way. He's been rolling from his stomach to his back (periodically) for the past month or so. I suppose he'll be moving more and more now.

Laughing

laughing
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Ron took this. I don't remember what Peter was laughing about. Ron says that maybe I was "going 'ga-boogeda-boogeda' in his ear or something."

Gardening with babies, 4

in the grass 2
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

I love this one.

Rolling

mosaic peter rolling
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter and I were hanging out the other afternoon when I saw him just in mid-roll. When I grabbed the camera, he rolled back. Then he did it again, rolling almost over from his back to his stomach, and then back without ever really rolling completely. Ron videotaped him for 11 minutes last week doing the same thing, each time rolling almost all the way, then back. He's going to be an accomplished roller, once he decides to go all the way.

Mummy and baby, July 2005

Mummy and baby, July 2005
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Ron took this photo on the last afternoon of this year's Festival by the Marsh. Peter and I were watching the Society for Creative Anachronism's sword (and stick) fighting display by the Mount Allison swan pond. As you can see, Peter loved it. That's our trusty jogging (ha!) stroller on the right. Thanks, "Uncle" Alphee, for the Sears gift certificate!

Hands in mouth, July 2005

Hands in mouth, July 2005
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter's becoming more and more vocal. Last week, when this picture was taken, he began to "talk" with both hands in his mouth. He was making lots of noise, vowels and consonants, when I took this picture.

4 month appointment

Peter's 4-month appointment was yesterday. He was 2'4" tall (long?) and 19.5 lbs.

Peter and Nanny, July 14 2005

Peter and Nanny, July 14 2005
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter's nanny and his dad's cousin visited today, and everyone went to see (Ron's production of) Midsummer Night's Dream. Peter loved it so much that we had to leave. I had hoped that he'd fall off to sleep, but the action and animated voices proved too interesting to miss. He didn't fuss so much as cheer loudly.

peter in motion (2)

mosaic 2 peter in motion
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

It's hard to capture what a baby really looks like: so much of what we think of as visual perception involves sound, gesture, and even smell. Peter has the most wonderful laugh that disappears when the flash fires. I took these in low light without a flash as Ron was changing Peter's diaper.

Freshly painted back porch

Freshly painted back porch
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

The past few weekends, I've been painting in my spare time. This porch used to be two ugly shades of gray. The inspiration for the blue walls was a robin's egg Ron, Peter, and I found on a walk a few weeks ago.

sandy feet

sandy feet
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter laughed himself silly when Ron started pouring sand on his feet.

family portrait, Aboiteau Beach

family portrait, Aboiteau Beach
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

July 4 at Cap Pele. We thought Peter might scream when Ron put his feet in the water, but he didn't.

flowers from the garden this morning

flowers from the garden this morning
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

I was up early this morning, and cut some flowers for the table. The roses are Rosa mundi, Cardinal Richelieu, and William Booth. The peony is an unknown variety.

Gardening with babies, 4

Peter June 27 2005 backyard frowning
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter was wondering why I was holding his with my feet. He's sitting up very well now with support. Usually that's a sofa, or mummy's or daddy's hands.

Gardening with babies, 3

Peter June 27 2005 backyard crawling
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

He didn't really crawl here, though as you can see he was trying quite hard. Too much friction, I think.

Gardening with babies, 2

Peter June 27 2005 backyard 2
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

I've already mentioned, I think, that Peter's been spending his spare time in the shade under a bush while I do some gardening. This evening he wiggled around on the back lawn for a while until the mosquitos got too thick.

Peter sleeping in his blue lion Robeez, 3 months

Peter sleeping in his blue lion Robeez, 3 months
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

I love the soft leather baby shoes made (in Canada, yeay!) by Robeez. Peter's already grown out of his yellow chick ones which inspired my hit song, "Here comes Peter with a chicken on his foot".

Peter and the reading blanket, 3 months

Peter and the reading blanket, 3 months
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Aunt Cynthia made this quilt for Peter. We've named it the reading quilt: every night, between bath and bed, Ron or I wrap up with Peter in the blanket on this chair in his bedroom, and read a story or three. "Goodnight Moon" is my favorite. Ron likes multimedia books with textured fabric patches. Peter likes funny voices.

Crawling

June 19 2005 067
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Peter crawled (or creeped? tummy and arms on floor, pushing with feet) across his blanket yesterday. He has been pushing 4 or 5 inches at a time, but the crucial step of moving his hands forward before they get pinned underneath was missing until yesterday.

One eye and half a nose and mouth

One eye and half a nose and mouth
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

I love this one.

Creative expression

Getting a three-month-old to put a handprint on a Father's Day card is more difficult than it may initially seem to the first-time mother.

Grasping

Playing is more obvious than it used to be. Last month, Peter began to wake early (between 4 and five am) and move around and make lots of noise for an hour or so before falling back asleep. I was calling it fussing at first, then "flailing." On Mother's Day, when Peter began to "flail" as usual, I got up with him so that Ron could sleep. Lo and behold, he wasn't fussing, but "practicing" using his arms. When I put him under the gym toy (he was interested in this for the first time a few days earlier), he began to flail in a more concerted way, smashing in the general direction of a hanging toy with a closed hand. He's gotten more dextrous. Yesterday (six weeks later) we noticed Peter grasping a hanging toy with his thumb and forefinger; he's also started using an open hand to spin another toy mounted on a rocker. In the past few days, he's also started holding ("hugging") a stuffed toy ("Powder Puff" the stuffed bear) in the crook of his arm while sitting.

Sleep position

Peter, June 11 2005 013
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

One of the things I've noticed is that baby sleep positions change as they get older. (I must clarify here that I'm basing this comment on my sample of one!) A few days after we got home from the hospital, I remember noticing that Peter had started to uncurl when he slept: until he started sleeping with his arms stretched out to the sides, I hadn't realized that he was consistently sleeping with his elbows bent and his hands near his shoulders. After a few more weeks, he started sleeping with his arms stretched straight out over his head. This became a pretty good indicator of how deeply he was sleeping: once the arms moved over his head, he would be "down for the night," as we say. After that was the zombie-like position where his elbows were bent and his arms were held forward, balanced in the air. Mum says that she remembers us (Charles, Jen, and me) sleeping that way. While he still sleeps on his back in the crib, these days, when he falls asleep on his tummy while nursing or on Ron's chest, he bends his legs at the hip and knee, and folds his arms under his head, in a nice little rectangular package. He's waking right now ...

Headshot

Peter, June 13 2005
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

Ron says that all my pictures of Peter are when he's sleeping. This one shows his nice smile. "This is his headshot," Ron says. "Baby actor for hire." Peter's really interested in the camera, but doesn't yet pose when he sees one (unlike his cousin Curtis as a baby).

Peter at 3 months

Peter, June 11 2005 016
Originally uploaded by pkellyspurles.

We're beginning to develop family traditions; since Ron has been rehearsing in evenings lately, Peter and I have been cooking together. I think that Sunday nights would be a good weekly cookie-making date. Tonight "we" made oatmeal raisin cookies. Peter posed with the teddy bear he received from my friend April Nice (an oatmeal raisin cookie-eater herself) while we waited for the butter to warm up.

Naming

We didn't have much difficulty in choosing a name. Some of the suggestions we got from my sister Jennifer's children (Ben and Sam, age 6 and Thomas, 2) were:

H20-the-scientific-name-for-water

Joey

and mmmmmmmmm.

The advantage of "H20-the-scientific-name-for-water" was that it was both first and middle names.

We called him Peter Douglas.

Nicknames

The nicknames that we've given Peter have changed. While I was pregnant, we usually referred to the "little baby" (with masculine pronouns), and sometimes to the "little kicker" or "little punter." I followed Mount Allison football in the fall, and in the womb Peter seemed to be a tremendous kicker. He was 9 lbs 10.9 oz at birth.

Since then, he's gone through a series of new nicknames. In the hospital, I called him "green bean" for a while; one morning (or night, they all run together) I remember saying that I was calling him green bean to make him angry, so that maybe he'd stay awake and nurse longer. We called him "the little guy" for the first month or so. These days, I call him "little mouse," or just "mouse." Ron calls him "little Petah," or sometimes "little pita bread;" this might be a reference to the British diction of our friend James and his 3-year old son.

"Just like Peter Pan, but it stops after the Peter."

When my friend Margaret told her 5-year old son Malik that we had called the baby Peter, he said, "That's the best name. It's just like Peter Pan, but it stops after the Peter."

Routines

Peter's just waking up from an afternoon nap, and I wonder if I can get a few words in. He's sleeping until about 5 am now. After an early breakfast, he's been going back to sleep for another few hours. Bedtime is at 8; we've experimented with earlier, but that tends to lead to an earlier morning. Peter goes to bed happily. A few weeks ago, he just smiled and laughed when I put him in his crib. Every day I expect this to change, but in the meantime I enjoy it.

We've had some good weather lately, and so Peter has been coming with me outside and lying in the shade under a bush while I get some gardening done. Sometimes he smiles at the branches, and sometimes he just looks at them intently. Not interested in bugs yet.