Month: June 2010
The same, but different
With G and A born on the same day three years apart, comparing milestones is really easy….maybe too easy. Jason started this blog when G was about one, about the time G started being interesting. Now that Alana has reached that stage, I can’t resist the impulse to go back and compare.
What I found:
1) We clearly give less of a shit about Alana than we did about Genevieve. In 2007, we had lots of posts about whether or not G was smart, the minutia of her diet, what she was saying, etc., etc., etc. Now? nuthin. Just a bunch of pics of alana eating. Mostly cupcakes. They are cute, but don’t really capture the same tone of concern about her intellectual and physical development.
2) Genevieve is a camera hog. We barely have a picture that is only Alana. G horns into every possible shot, stealing the spotlight from the poor helpless baby. She can’t stand the thought that Alana might be getting even a second of the attention that is her right as firstborn. I am sure this isn’t at all unusual but note it here for Alana’s future reference as she works with her therapist.
3) Alana’s a little fatter and slower but may be a little smarter than G. She was hands down a better infant. Seems like she picked up words a little quicker. We noticed G saying something that sounded like “Kila” in April. My mom noticed the same thing about Alana on her first birthday, a couple of months earlier. Alana has had “mommy” down for awhile. Another sign of my indifference that I can’t tell you how long….Alana also has “Daddy” down, and “shoes”, two other items of intense interest to her. she is still way less interested in TV and more interested in toys and developing motor skills than G ever was. We were impressed when G figured out what a phone was and we called her with Jason’s cell. Alana used my phone to call home the other day and left a message on the machine….all with no help from me!
4) Because G is reaching new milestones every day, we don’t get as excited about Alana’s new milestones. Around this time when G was 18 mths, we were obsessed with getting her to learn how to swim. We still are, 3 years later. Our goal for Alana is to keep her from drowning while G still trys to master swimming.
5) Alana is just more laid back in general. Sure, she gets upset and pitches a fit on a fairly regular basis, but she gives up faster. Two minutes or so of crying when I put her down at night and then she passes out. G went at it for ever, and still does…she’s a persistent child.
6) She’s every bit as mommy- and blanky- obsessed as G is/was. They both suck their thumbs and rub the tags on their blankeys for comfort the exact same way…some things are universal I guess.
I guess it’s good that Alana is learning how to talk more quickly. She needs to learn how to stand up for herself.
making friends
Approximately 2 minutes after arriving at the pool, Genevieve walked determinedly up to me and announced that I should come help her make a friend. As she marched me over to another little girl and her dad, I got a vision of Child Services coming and accusing me or G of stalking. She then said in a very serious tone “Hi I’m Genevieve, do you want to play with me?”
I’ve been noticing how awkward people are saying hello to others, making casual acquaintances, generally greasing the wheels of human interaction with such simple gestures. Maybe I just notice it more cause with kids you have to do it more. And even more so in Scottsdale than in Mesa: people drive their cars straight to their garages and shut the doors, sheepishly shuffle by each other at the daycare even having done this dance for days in a row. Three months later and we’ve only met 2 neighbors immediately adjacent to our house, and one neighbor who like us recently moved in with children and is desperate to make friends. Solipsism, faster-paced, generation net, fear? Its part of Scottsdale’s low-level noise, in sharp contrast to all the yammering idiots in Mesa who couldn’t mind their own business. Never thought I’d miss em.
So I introduced myself to the little girl’s dad, and the two of us enjoyed a bro moment of kicking back and watching the clock turn while our respective Monsters ran themselves retarded, swimming and splashing and pretending to be penguins. Alana started flapping her arms imitating her big sister. Each time we go to the pool now, G gets a little bolder about making friends, and seemingly a little wiser about this being her route to success. Its not happening in our neighborhood, so this is the best I can offer her, and hopefully she will start to see the same kids again and again and start to have a comfort-level about friends at the pool like she does about her daycare.
This week I twice left work early to get G and A to the pool for an hour, and every day now she asks me if we can go swimming. Her swimming gets bolder and better each time, and just like riding with better riders helps me, swimming with other kids she forgets herself and her fears as her natural exuberance and athleticism take over.
note: commuting home at 4:30 to take the girls to the pool includes approximately 30 minutes of sunscreening and pants-changing and car-seating and heat exhaustion before life-giving cooling ensues.
A Theory of Bustice
The McDowell Mountain Aquatic Center has given me much to think about, especially since I have a mild chubber pretty much the whole time I’m there.
*ahem*
- If you look good, and your boobs are fake, you look really good.
- If you don’t look good, and they are fake, you went to the plastic surgeon instead of the gym. You do not look good – perfect boobs look freakish with cottage cheese thighs.
- If you look good, irregardless of boobage, you look good.
This is expressed symbolically as follows:
OO + | = :)!!!
OO + () = :(!!!
oo + | = :)!!
pack of wild dogs
5 is a lot of dogs, and i got a little sketched when more identical yellowdog heads kept appearing and i was only climbing about 5mph. I stood up on the cranks and growled at them til they left me alone. i forgot about them on the way down until i was going 25 and they ran in front of me. be sure you have the sound turned up.
this make me laugh at all the crybabies complaining about minor dog issues on the trail, afraid of their own shadows and expecting the entire world to accommodate completely.
If A Security Warning Is Issued in the Forest?
The State Dept issued a warning about unofficial roadblocks, that scared away an upcoming rental. Our management agency sent an explanation from the Chamber of Commerce for Rocky Point describing the roadblock as a traveler census. The Consulate in Nogales responded that they have information we do not, which they can not reveal, but which they are obligated to act upon if even one American might be at risk. Byron and I passed the roadblock consecutive weekends just outside Sonoita. It was boring and benign and they did not even ask us to stop. The Border Patrol checkpoint near Ajo is far more intimidating. Does the State Department have any accountability for the demonization of an entire town, and the complete destruction of our rental revenue? Apparently not, as the warning was issued by a civilian who volunteers at the Consulate, and the Consulate later admitted they had no evidence to justify the warning. Their solution after screwing the town’s Memorial Day revenue and receiving numerous complaints and calls to Senators McCain and Kyl: rescind the warning, and not even buy us dinner.
The only drugs I saw were from a guy in Old Port who sold me a pair of kid’s sunglasses, then tried to sell me some overpriced X. His pot smelled like a pizza – now that should get a serious government warning. The Superlay has an entire aisle dedicated to mayonnaise, and another exclusively for hot sauce, but sells not a single jar of horseradish for cocktail sauce – that should get an even sterner warning. Me riding like a hooligan – definitely deserves a warning. G watching the same Phineas and Ferb dvd for 4 straight days, Alana spilling my beer and pretzels in the sand, Kila dropping a deuce on the beach a quarter mile from the nearest plastic bag, 2.5 cases of beer and a half bottle of tequilla in one long weekend – warning, warning, warning, warning!!
G get less scared of the ocean every time she gets in, coming in with me and just her waterwings for a sunset swim. Alana gets more and more interesting, showing preferences and opinions, the most significant that she does NOT like being in the ocean. Weather could not have been better, 3 out of 4 days were nearly calm. And G finally got to buy some ice cream from the ice cream man.
