Run Fox Run

I’m a sick, sick man

Sometimes, you just have to go whole hog and personalize the whole family. We were quite a sight to see as we strode down the street. Leda was all for it, and Jenn reluctantly agreed. I was giddy.

Good Hair Day

This one’s going to break Erica’s heart.

Most of you remember that Leda was born with a full head of dark, dark brown hair. It’s lightened up over time, and for a year I kept it trimmed short, though lately we’ve been letting it grow out. It started to get shaggy so I trimmed the bangs periodically, and kept assuring Toby that once it grew over her ears, once it got a little longer, it would look all right. I’ll admit it, I loved running my fingers through the curls in back when she sat on my lap reading or using the computer.

That’s right, loveD. Today Leda had her first professional haircut. I said “just a trim, please just give it some shape, we’re growing it out,” but I should have known from the many times I’ve said that about my own hair and then ended up with choppy layers — perhaps I simply don’t speak hairdresser.

Here Leda is “before,” and “during,” and “after,” her first salon visit. She got to sit in a tiny racecar, and she was serene throughout. (Some will see the trace of a Stroud pout, likely because she’ll miss out on pigtails for a while.) The after shot is with her friend Gracie at the lush Loantaka park.

Unexpected Thrills

While there are many opportunities as a Dad to be proud of some acheivement by your progeny, it’s the ones that you weren’t anticipating that are the most exciting. We have attended a weekly swimming class at The Connection in Summit for about a year now. And Leda has seemed to enjoy the time in the water with us. But today, Leda swam on her own for the first time.

She had her arms over a noodle (long cylindrical floatation device) and we usually hold her so she can practice using her arms. Today, the instructor had us see if the kids could balance themselves. I think we were the only parents to try it, but there was Leda floating and balancing on her own with us at least a foot away. We only had to remind her (often) to keep her head up. But it was really exciting. Also, our teacher informed us that we were on the cover of the next class schedule. We didn’t even realize that our picture had been taken, but it’s good to see that at least we look like we’re having fun.

Ahhhh puppy

If I were a student of linguistics I would no doubt have some fancy name for the way Leda’s vocabulary is growing. Some words she learns by mimicry, recognizing that “thank you” is what you say when someone picks up something you dropped after Mommy has said it to the nice man next to us at the restaurant a few times. Other words have come from books (”heddicottor” for the Richard Scarry helicopter; “Wiggle”) or songs (”me,” “hello,” “abc’s”). Other items are named for the functions they provide for Leda: the computer is “baby” since it provides a portal to view Nathan, Milo & Huck, West, and Leda herself. From somewhere came the insidious “Elmo.” Her word for muffin starts with p, but it is consistently used to mean muffin, with the “please give me a piece of that” part implied. Baku is bicycle; “peedo” is peekaboo. There are other words that mean something to Leda that we cannot yet understand, even with contextual cues. “Salmon” and “Opah” are the prime subjects here, suggesting something of a seafood fixation. I can sense her frustration when we fail to comprehend, and I am striving to keep up with her.

Anyway we’re pretty much amazed by the way she’s developing. We sat down and made a list when she hit 18 months, but it was instantly obsolete. It’s clear that once you learn the word for “airplane,” each time one passes overhead (and this is surprisingly frequent; how did we never notice before?) it is a miracle to be named and celebrated. This is to say nothing of the singular transcendence of a passing Choo Choo. Thank-you, NJ Transit. Being a word person I’m not shocked by the importance of names or of namability but the awe in Leda’s eyes is a reminder that language — shared language — is something to rejoice in.

Ahhh, puppy. Salmon Opah, everybody.

Gliderboy 2, Electric Boogaloo

We’ve brought Gliderboy.com into the new millenium. We can represent our lives in both an expository and pictorial fashion, now with dated entries. Neato!