cheerios launched as weight-Lifted grandson crawls linearly
The week here has been remarkably busy. Tom was sick with flu. Melika and Tom’s nanny was sick with flu. Melika was in the middle of several big, important and massively deadlined deals. I had work to do on a potential consulting gig. Nazy remembered her New Year’s resolution (“complete a painting each week&rdquo
. And, Jamsheed (known as ‘Tiger’ by his parents) was growing and becoming self-aware. (For example, he has a disguise so that his friends won’t recognize him while he’s sucking on his pacifier.)
“My physician says that I don’t need to use the weight room any more,” I told Nazy as I hoisted the grand(est)son from the play pen.
“I don’t think..”
“Let me just sit down on this bench and press..”
“Bench Press?”
“He’s clean, Nazy. So I don’t need to jerk.”
“Make sure you squat before you get up.”
“Get up, Nazy? I just want to curl over and..”
More specifically, Tiger is in the midst of a growth spurt. I can tell because he’s eating …
“… solid food, Nazy.” I explained. “And dense solid food,” I continued. “The mass per cubic centimeter of sweet potato/lentil mush is much higher than that of Mother’s milk.”
“Cubic centimeter?”
“If you continue feeding him that stuff, the food in his stomach will achieve critical mass and collapse into a black hole. Our grandson, the house, the city and the planet will be sucked into oblivion. All because of mashed sweet potatoes and lentils.”
“Are you sure?”
“There is only one way to avoid the crisis. His digestive system would have to work perfectly to eliminate… Uh, where are you taking him Nazy?” I interrupted myself.
“I’m changing his diaper, Dan.”
“Ah ha!” I replied. “We can conclude that the digestive system is working,” I thought.
Nazy illustrating how the baby should open his mouth to eat
Because of flu and deal constraints, we saw a lot of the Grand(est)son this week. He is a hefty boy who is=beginning to move on his own. His locomotion activities began on the 360° basis. Several months ago, he learned to roll over (a vertical roll) Then, a couple of weeks ago, he figured out how to move in circles when he was set down on his stomach (horizontal). Then..
“.. moved linearly, Nazy!” I exclaimed. “He moved himself in a straight line. Isn’t that great!”
“You saw him crawling?”
“Not exactly, Nazy. He went backwards.”
“Backwards?”
“But straight backwards. Do you think…”
“It’s a first step toward crawling.”
“Nazy, my dear,” I replied. “You don’t step when you crawl.”
Tiger (his grandparents call him Jamsheed) has also learned to make his own desires known. For example, when Nazy tried to give him only half a jar of applesauce & blueberries, he complained loudly. (And he wasn’t assuaged by the proffered peas and oatmeal alternative.)
In the food arena, he has discovered Cheerios. But..
“Getting them into his mouth is not that easy,” Nazy explained. “He doesn’t pick them up one at a time, he wants to get all of them into or onto (they’re sticky) his hand before maneuvering at least one into his mouth….
“In fact, Dan,” Nazy notes, “He eats Cheerios the way you eat popcorn. You don’t take one kernel at a time. You grab a handful.”
“Perhaps, but I get all of my handful into my mouth on the very first try. He drops most of his on the floor.”
“He’s learning.”
“Melika should teach him about gravity. He’s always surprised when something hits the floor.”
“Not surprised. Just curious.”
“He acts surprised when he throws something and it lands on the floor.”
“He doesn’t throw things, Dan. He waves them around and loses his grip.”
And, in swimming class he..
“… shunned the instructor, Nazy.” I explained.
“Shunned? He refused to let her touch him. He knows what the instructor is going to do and…”
“.. he doesn’t like it. He is not being a good example for the younger students.”
“Those youngsters are so naive. They don’t know that she’s going to dunk them.” Tiger thought. Buoyantly.
He is perfectly happy in the water as long as I am holding him. He splashes with abandon. He kicks and laughs. If the instructor comes near, he doesn’t let go.
“I’m no fool,” Tiger thought. Grippingly.
This week, NASA launched a satellite from nearby Vandenberg Air Force base. We can see the rockets from our home, so I asked Nazy if she’d like to watch.
“Of course, Dan. What time is it?”
“6:20.”
“Just after dark?”
“Just before light.”
“Take a photo.”
Nazy heard the launch while she was in bed. I went outside and heard and saw it. From our home, the rocket was visible for about 90 seconds. I was a disappointed with the photographs, but then the ones on the web were not much better.
For last week’s letter, click here
Winter in Santa Barbara