Look what I can do! from Jessa Pelizari on Vimeo.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Bye Bye Baby
I think the most amazing thing about being a parent (and forgive me for getting a little cliché here), is watching Eily blossom from this defenseless, immobile, generally unaware puddle of pudgy cuteness into a brave, toddling, curious individual, complete with her own unique personality. These days, it seems she progresses closer and closer to a "big kid" at the speed of light. Case in point: yesterday morning. I set her down on her feet on the living room floor, and out of the blue she walks five steps. As if this was no big deal at all. As if she'd been doing it for years. Only after Jesse and I began shouting "Yay!" and clapping did she turn to look at us with a huge grin on her face, realizing she'd done something special.
Okay, so maybe we're falling into the typical parent trap, oooing and ahhhing over ever tiny accomplishment. After all, it's not like she just discovered the cure for cancer or anything. But honestly, spending every day living life through her eyes has made me realize just how many things most of us take for granted - like the power to support our own weight under our legs and walk across a room without toppling over. Again, falling into the pit of cliché, it's like discovering the world all over again.
What surprises me even more, however, is the tremendous leaps of faith she is willing to take as she navigates her way from unsteadily standing and letting go to lifting a foot and taking a step forward. She knows she's going to fall. You can see it on her face, no real surprise as she loses her balance and her knees buckle beneath her. And just as soon as she is down, she clambers back up again. Rinse, lather, repeat. I look at her and realize she is the perfect example of perseverance. There's a lot to be learned from our little pint-sized powerhouse.
So, with all her determination focused on mastering the fine art of walking, one would think Eily had filled her new skill quota for the day. But just to be sure she'd sent the message home that she is no longer a "little baby," she pointed out that she can say her name. It's not crystal clear, and usually comes out more like "EYE-EE!" (yes, complete with exclamation point), but she says it nonetheless.
Now I know, this is a bit of a stretch. Maybe it's just a new sound she likes to make. Maybe she just hears us say it a lot and wants to mimic, not really knowing that "Eily" is the word to use when talking about herself. We weren't sure either, so we tested the theory. When we held up a mirror, she would point and say her name. Then she saw a picture of herself and said it. I pointed at Jesse, and she said "Daddy." Pointed at her reflection or her picture again, and she said her name. Pointed at one of the cats and heard her excited whisper of "Ti-Ta" (Kitty Kat). After playing this game for a while, Jesse and I have agreed she really does recognize her name as a label for herself.
At first, I was blown away by this. The more I think about it, though, it's around age one that kids begin to apply labels to the world around them and then try to communicate using their new vocabulary. So while she's a little ahead of schedule, it makes sense that she's suddenly become so communicative. In addition to this most recent lexical entry, she signs for "milk" without hesitation and understands what it means if I sign it to her first. She made the sign for "more" for the first time that I could recognize yesterday and beamed when she got exactly what she asked for. She will wave, unprompted by me or Jesse, whenever anyone enters or leaves a room. I can practically see all the little synapses in her brain firing away with every new connection she makes. This is something I find absolutely fascinating; the power of the human brain to make the leap from simply experiencing the world to communicating ideas about the world through language.
I'll stop before I totally geek out about the whole thing (but really, it is SO cool). Suffice it to say that I am totally amazed and, I'll admit a little sad, by how grown up Eily is getting. But along with the bittersweet thought that my baby is getting big comes the excitement of being able to share the world with her and watching the light in her eyes as understanding replaces her confusion about this mysterious big world she's found herself in.
And now, as a reward for reading through all of this, here's a video of Eily saying her name this morning:
Okay, so maybe we're falling into the typical parent trap, oooing and ahhhing over ever tiny accomplishment. After all, it's not like she just discovered the cure for cancer or anything. But honestly, spending every day living life through her eyes has made me realize just how many things most of us take for granted - like the power to support our own weight under our legs and walk across a room without toppling over. Again, falling into the pit of cliché, it's like discovering the world all over again.
What surprises me even more, however, is the tremendous leaps of faith she is willing to take as she navigates her way from unsteadily standing and letting go to lifting a foot and taking a step forward. She knows she's going to fall. You can see it on her face, no real surprise as she loses her balance and her knees buckle beneath her. And just as soon as she is down, she clambers back up again. Rinse, lather, repeat. I look at her and realize she is the perfect example of perseverance. There's a lot to be learned from our little pint-sized powerhouse.
So, with all her determination focused on mastering the fine art of walking, one would think Eily had filled her new skill quota for the day. But just to be sure she'd sent the message home that she is no longer a "little baby," she pointed out that she can say her name. It's not crystal clear, and usually comes out more like "EYE-EE!" (yes, complete with exclamation point), but she says it nonetheless.
Now I know, this is a bit of a stretch. Maybe it's just a new sound she likes to make. Maybe she just hears us say it a lot and wants to mimic, not really knowing that "Eily" is the word to use when talking about herself. We weren't sure either, so we tested the theory. When we held up a mirror, she would point and say her name. Then she saw a picture of herself and said it. I pointed at Jesse, and she said "Daddy." Pointed at her reflection or her picture again, and she said her name. Pointed at one of the cats and heard her excited whisper of "Ti-Ta" (Kitty Kat). After playing this game for a while, Jesse and I have agreed she really does recognize her name as a label for herself.
At first, I was blown away by this. The more I think about it, though, it's around age one that kids begin to apply labels to the world around them and then try to communicate using their new vocabulary. So while she's a little ahead of schedule, it makes sense that she's suddenly become so communicative. In addition to this most recent lexical entry, she signs for "milk" without hesitation and understands what it means if I sign it to her first. She made the sign for "more" for the first time that I could recognize yesterday and beamed when she got exactly what she asked for. She will wave, unprompted by me or Jesse, whenever anyone enters or leaves a room. I can practically see all the little synapses in her brain firing away with every new connection she makes. This is something I find absolutely fascinating; the power of the human brain to make the leap from simply experiencing the world to communicating ideas about the world through language.
I'll stop before I totally geek out about the whole thing (but really, it is SO cool). Suffice it to say that I am totally amazed and, I'll admit a little sad, by how grown up Eily is getting. But along with the bittersweet thought that my baby is getting big comes the excitement of being able to share the world with her and watching the light in her eyes as understanding replaces her confusion about this mysterious big world she's found herself in.
And now, as a reward for reading through all of this, here's a video of Eily saying her name this morning:
Saturday, May 8, 2010
The Early Tastes of Summer
It's official - after taking my last final at 8 a.m. Thursday morning (yuck), the semester is finally over!
Kicking off the summer in proper fashion, Eily and I celebrated that afternoon with a trip to Brownsburg Park in New Hope for a picnic, followed up by a quick jaunt on the Stockton-Lambertville section of the D&R Canal Towpath in NJ.
Eily has become quite a fan of parks as of late. The park in New Hope has a brand new play area for her to enjoy. But before playing, her mean mommy made her eat some lunch.
You'll notice she's no longer eating mashed up homemade baby food. Despite a serious lack of teeth, our little gourmand has no trouble enjoying chopped carrots and sweet peas these days. Of course, allowing her to get her hands on her own food brings a new enjoyment all in itself. The one-sided food fight:
Thankfully, Eily doesn't get too bent out of shape over a little cat hair in her food. She managed to gobble down most of what landed on the blanket. The rest we donated to the birds circling overhead on that clear, breezy afternoon.
Trips like this will be many, since my boss has agreed to allow me to keep the same work schedule over the summer that I had during the semester. This means Eily and I get Tuesdays and Thursdays to go on all sorts of adventures together. It also gives us Friday afternoons to do as we please. So yesterday we hit up the local produce market to get the ingredients for a yummy Black Bean and Pepper Salad.
Eily loves the produce market. The guys who stock the rows of produce bins always laugh at the big smiles and waves she has for them. Much to my dismay, she is perfecting the art of flirting at a very young age. In addition to providing a venue to practice her feminine wiles, the market also has a decent record for playing lots of 80's pop music while we shop. Lacking the self-control to keep myself from dancing whenever the upbeat tunes carry through the air, Eily is usually witness to some bad moves on my part and a lot of shopping cart swerving as we bop to the beat. Her squeals of delight do nothing to discourage me from making a spectacle of myself, either.
You can see for yourself just how happy she gets as we wander through the aisles of unfamiliar foreign goods (of which I have become quite a fan).
A special note about the above picture: This adorable shopping cart cover was handmade by Eily's Great-grandma Bev. This was its maiden voyage, which I promised to document. Eily says thanks and she loves it Grandma Bev!
The salad for which we purchased the ingredients on the trip turned out great. And while Eily is still too young to enjoy the bell peppers, she noshed the dressing-drenched black beans for dinner last night and was pleasantly surprised by all the new flavors they offered. With lots of leftovers, she had the same for lunch today. Hers is a "special" version of the salad, as can be noted in this video:
This salad is so good, I think I'll finish this post by leaving you with the recipe. (The cheese and cheerios you see in the video are optional and not included here in the original.)
Kicking off the summer in proper fashion, Eily and I celebrated that afternoon with a trip to Brownsburg Park in New Hope for a picnic, followed up by a quick jaunt on the Stockton-Lambertville section of the D&R Canal Towpath in NJ.
Eily has become quite a fan of parks as of late. The park in New Hope has a brand new play area for her to enjoy. But before playing, her mean mommy made her eat some lunch.
You'll notice she's no longer eating mashed up homemade baby food. Despite a serious lack of teeth, our little gourmand has no trouble enjoying chopped carrots and sweet peas these days. Of course, allowing her to get her hands on her own food brings a new enjoyment all in itself. The one-sided food fight:
Thankfully, Eily doesn't get too bent out of shape over a little cat hair in her food. She managed to gobble down most of what landed on the blanket. The rest we donated to the birds circling overhead on that clear, breezy afternoon.
Trips like this will be many, since my boss has agreed to allow me to keep the same work schedule over the summer that I had during the semester. This means Eily and I get Tuesdays and Thursdays to go on all sorts of adventures together. It also gives us Friday afternoons to do as we please. So yesterday we hit up the local produce market to get the ingredients for a yummy Black Bean and Pepper Salad.
Eily loves the produce market. The guys who stock the rows of produce bins always laugh at the big smiles and waves she has for them. Much to my dismay, she is perfecting the art of flirting at a very young age. In addition to providing a venue to practice her feminine wiles, the market also has a decent record for playing lots of 80's pop music while we shop. Lacking the self-control to keep myself from dancing whenever the upbeat tunes carry through the air, Eily is usually witness to some bad moves on my part and a lot of shopping cart swerving as we bop to the beat. Her squeals of delight do nothing to discourage me from making a spectacle of myself, either.
You can see for yourself just how happy she gets as we wander through the aisles of unfamiliar foreign goods (of which I have become quite a fan).
A special note about the above picture: This adorable shopping cart cover was handmade by Eily's Great-grandma Bev. This was its maiden voyage, which I promised to document. Eily says thanks and she loves it Grandma Bev!
The salad for which we purchased the ingredients on the trip turned out great. And while Eily is still too young to enjoy the bell peppers, she noshed the dressing-drenched black beans for dinner last night and was pleasantly surprised by all the new flavors they offered. With lots of leftovers, she had the same for lunch today. Hers is a "special" version of the salad, as can be noted in this video:
This salad is so good, I think I'll finish this post by leaving you with the recipe. (The cheese and cheerios you see in the video are optional and not included here in the original.)
6 cups of cooked or canned black beans
1 each of red, yellow, orange,and green bell peppers seeded and finely chopped
Dressing: ½ cup fresh lemon juice, ½ cup olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp powdered or finely diced fresh garlic, 1tsp sugar, 1-2 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp prepared mustard
Mix dressing ingredients together with wire whisk and pour over black beans and peppers. Toss until evenly coated.
This may be the first of many recipes I share over the summer, especially with the new kitchen getting closer and closer to completion!
For now, Eily and I are headed out to Scudders Falls to watch Jesse compete in the second annual Throwdown Hoedown kayaking competition. Stay tuned to find out if Jesse will defend his title as one of the top 3 all around paddlers on the water!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Almost there...
Just a quick note to let everyone know that we are all still alive and well. My last final is tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Look for much more frequent posting after that! (Until my summer course starts at the end of May, that is.)
In honor of my impendingliberation free time, I hope to celebrate by reading as many books as I possibly can that meet all of the following criteria:
- No summaries, reviews, or test questions at the end of every chapter
- No pictures. None. My imagination has practically atrophied from lack of use while reading lately.
- Must make me cry. (Not a particularly difficult aspiration for any book these days. Heck, I cried over the trailer for Babies the first time I saw it.)
So far on my reading list:
1) Finish Misogyny: The World's Oldest Prejudice
2) Finish Mark Spitz's new biography on David Bowie (pictures in this one will be completely forgiven and happily consumed by my greedy eyes!).
3) Several books by Jodi Picoult , whom I both adore and simultaneously hate. Honestly, the woman is amazing. I swear she laces the pages of her books with crack or something. I can't put one down once I've started reading. On the other hand, I often feel a little guilty for getting swept up in these sort of "ripped from the headlines" kinds of stories. Oh well. We all have our vices.
If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears (and eyes)!
The rest of my summer time will be spent trying to alleviate the mother guilt I feel for having spent countless hours making Eily play by herself while I study and/or work. Trips to the zoo, art museum, beach, historical sites in the area, etc. are already on the agenda to help me feel less like a bad mommy. If anyone has any ideas for an almost-walking one year old to enjoy in the area, feel free to suggest away! And by all means, invite yourself on some of our outings. This goes for those of you with or without kiddos!
Alright, back to the grind I go. This is the only final I'm not really looking forward to, mainly because I actually have to study for it. Boo!
In honor of my impending
- No summaries, reviews, or test questions at the end of every chapter
- No pictures. None. My imagination has practically atrophied from lack of use while reading lately.
- Must make me cry. (Not a particularly difficult aspiration for any book these days. Heck, I cried over the trailer for Babies the first time I saw it.)
So far on my reading list:
1) Finish Misogyny: The World's Oldest Prejudice
2) Finish Mark Spitz's new biography on David Bowie (pictures in this one will be completely forgiven and happily consumed by my greedy eyes!).
3) Several books by Jodi Picoult , whom I both adore and simultaneously hate. Honestly, the woman is amazing. I swear she laces the pages of her books with crack or something. I can't put one down once I've started reading. On the other hand, I often feel a little guilty for getting swept up in these sort of "ripped from the headlines" kinds of stories. Oh well. We all have our vices.
If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears (and eyes)!
The rest of my summer time will be spent trying to alleviate the mother guilt I feel for having spent countless hours making Eily play by herself while I study and/or work. Trips to the zoo, art museum, beach, historical sites in the area, etc. are already on the agenda to help me feel less like a bad mommy. If anyone has any ideas for an almost-walking one year old to enjoy in the area, feel free to suggest away! And by all means, invite yourself on some of our outings. This goes for those of you with or without kiddos!
Alright, back to the grind I go. This is the only final I'm not really looking forward to, mainly because I actually have to study for it. Boo!
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