scary clown and fast clapping babies dodge jigsaw hazards
Welcome to a New Year and a New Decade. And, if we’re lucky, it will be the year that we get a new President.
“A new President, Dan?” Nazy asked. “We don’t even have a President.”
“Well, my dear, there is Donald..”
“ … he’s a clown, not a President, Dan.”
“Clowns are supposed to be funny…”
“Some clowns are scary, Dan.” Nazy replied.
“I know, Just like this ‘president’.” I concluded.
Over the holidays, Nazy and I had great fun playing with the grandchildren. As the newest grandchildren, Azelle (16 months) and Auriane (9 months) were especially fun to watch. Auriane is at the perfect baby watching age. She stays wherever she is placed and happily claps her hands, waves her arms and coos and giggles…
“… as long as you are close enough for her to see,” Nazy interjects.
“That’s true,” I replied. “She gets upset if she can’t see you.”
Azelle, on the other hand, is a rare example of a perpetual motion machine. Anyone who thinks that light sets a cosmic speed limit has never seen Azelle take off — a challenging situation that usually occurs the instant that your back is turned or your eyes closed.
Important note: You cannot sneeze without closing your eyes.
More challenging, Azelle’s speed is matched with absolute fearlessness. This means that she doesn’t just run: she climbs, she flies. Just watching is frightening.
Of course, Azelle also interacts with Tiger and Arrow. Tiger is generally pleasant and nice with her. The major risk for Tiger is that he will overestimate Azelle’s strength and, as a result, not always be as gentle as necessary. However, Azelle is getting physically stronger every day she is not fragile. In fact, in the (near) future Tiger may have be worry about underestimating her strength.
Arrow, closer in age, takes a somewhat different approach. The easiest way to predict the toy that Arrow will want to play with is to notice the toy that Azelle is holding. In short: If Azelle has it, Arrow wants it. Arrow has simply adopted what he’s seen from Tiger. (Aimed at Arrow.) But, when Tiger took things from Arrow, Arrow responded by crying. When Arrow (tries) to take things from Azelle she responds by crying — and hitting. So now Arrow is learning from both siblings. An astute observer of parental (and grandparental) action, he has also developed his own strategy:
Arrow’s parents and grandparents have spoken about the matter in a constructive and instructive way. In fact, we’ve spoken about a lot of important ways that older siblings should be …
“… careful around babies, Arrow,” I explained.
“i am careful.”
“I know. But she is very little and she doesn’t understand things. She likes to put everything in her mouth. So…”
“So what?”
“So you can’t play with the marbles because marbles are a choking hazard for Azelle. We have to be careful.”
“But…”
Although Arrow wasn’t convinced, we ‘compromised’: I took the marbles. Arrow, vocally annoyed, made a mental note. A couple of days later Arrow saw Azelle playing with..
“… my truck, Dan. That’s my truck.” Arrow said as he grabbed the truck from Azelle.
“Arrow!” I replied. “You were reading a book. You don’t need the truck.”
“It’s my truck. Azelle shouldn’t play with my truck.” He said as he wrestled the truck out of Azelle’s hands. Azelle responded with a scream.
“Arrow, Azelle was playing..”
“It’s a choking hazard, Dan. She can’t play with choking hazards.”
“Very clever,” I replied. “But the toy you call a ‘chocking hazard’ is as big as my first apartment,” I thought.
Regular readers may recall that, in recognition of the Adams Family focus on jigsaw puzzles, we ordered customized puzzles for Tiger and Arrow. Arrow has put his puzzle together several times. Tiger’s puzzle, which has far more pieces and large expanses of roughly the same color, has proven to be a more formidable challenge. We unleashed my extremely talented wife to get things moving. I’m happy to report that progress is being made.
“Why don’t you listen to me and do what I ask, Tiger?” I queried.
“I listen to strangers,” Tiger replied.
“That’s really stupid, isn’t it?” I retorted. Fruitlessly.
Finally, we’ve begun taking Azelle to swimming classes at the local YMCA. She …
“ … is really having a great time,” Nazy commented after the first class.
“Aqua, aqua, aqua,” Azelle noted.
“A new President, Dan?” Nazy asked. “We don’t even have a President.”
“Well, my dear, there is Donald..”
“ … he’s a clown, not a President, Dan.”
“Clowns are supposed to be funny…”
“Some clowns are scary, Dan.” Nazy replied.
“I know, Just like this ‘president’.” I concluded.
Over the holidays, Nazy and I had great fun playing with the grandchildren. As the newest grandchildren, Azelle (16 months) and Auriane (9 months) were especially fun to watch. Auriane is at the perfect baby watching age. She stays wherever she is placed and happily claps her hands, waves her arms and coos and giggles…
“… as long as you are close enough for her to see,” Nazy interjects.
“That’s true,” I replied. “She gets upset if she can’t see you.”
Azelle, on the other hand, is a rare example of a perpetual motion machine. Anyone who thinks that light sets a cosmic speed limit has never seen Azelle take off — a challenging situation that usually occurs the instant that your back is turned or your eyes closed.
Important note: You cannot sneeze without closing your eyes.
More challenging, Azelle’s speed is matched with absolute fearlessness. This means that she doesn’t just run: she climbs, she flies. Just watching is frightening.
Of course, Azelle also interacts with Tiger and Arrow. Tiger is generally pleasant and nice with her. The major risk for Tiger is that he will overestimate Azelle’s strength and, as a result, not always be as gentle as necessary. However, Azelle is getting physically stronger every day she is not fragile. In fact, in the (near) future Tiger may have be worry about underestimating her strength.
Arrow, closer in age, takes a somewhat different approach. The easiest way to predict the toy that Arrow will want to play with is to notice the toy that Azelle is holding. In short: If Azelle has it, Arrow wants it. Arrow has simply adopted what he’s seen from Tiger. (Aimed at Arrow.) But, when Tiger took things from Arrow, Arrow responded by crying. When Arrow (tries) to take things from Azelle she responds by crying — and hitting. So now Arrow is learning from both siblings. An astute observer of parental (and grandparental) action, he has also developed his own strategy:
Arrow’s parents and grandparents have spoken about the matter in a constructive and instructive way. In fact, we’ve spoken about a lot of important ways that older siblings should be …
“… careful around babies, Arrow,” I explained.
“i am careful.”
“I know. But she is very little and she doesn’t understand things. She likes to put everything in her mouth. So…”
“So what?”
“So you can’t play with the marbles because marbles are a choking hazard for Azelle. We have to be careful.”
“But…”
Although Arrow wasn’t convinced, we ‘compromised’: I took the marbles. Arrow, vocally annoyed, made a mental note. A couple of days later Arrow saw Azelle playing with..
“… my truck, Dan. That’s my truck.” Arrow said as he grabbed the truck from Azelle.
“Arrow!” I replied. “You were reading a book. You don’t need the truck.”
“It’s my truck. Azelle shouldn’t play with my truck.” He said as he wrestled the truck out of Azelle’s hands. Azelle responded with a scream.
“Arrow, Azelle was playing..”
“It’s a choking hazard, Dan. She can’t play with choking hazards.”
“Very clever,” I replied. “But the toy you call a ‘chocking hazard’ is as big as my first apartment,” I thought.
Regular readers may recall that, in recognition of the Adams Family focus on jigsaw puzzles, we ordered customized puzzles for Tiger and Arrow. Arrow has put his puzzle together several times. Tiger’s puzzle, which has far more pieces and large expanses of roughly the same color, has proven to be a more formidable challenge. We unleashed my extremely talented wife to get things moving. I’m happy to report that progress is being made.
Note: Nazy completed the puzzle that Tiger had started while Tiger, his Mom, Dad and Arrow, were in Mexico. She left the last piece for Tiger. FWIW: I have no aptitude whatsoever for jigsaw puzzles.
Meanwhile, in Bellingham, (the lovely) Leandra has mastered ‘The Potty’. This accomplishment is putting pressure on her mail cousins… Although
“… Arrow is doing perfectly on the potty,” the pre-school teacher commented.
“That’s great news,” I replied. “Perfect at school, stubborn at home,” I thought.
Aa I thought about this, I remembered a ‘discussion’ that I’d had with Tiger:
“Why don’t you listen to me and do what I ask, Tiger?” I queried.
“I listen to strangers,” Tiger replied.
“That’s really stupid, isn’t it?” I retorted. Fruitlessly.
Finally, we’ve begun taking Azelle to swimming classes at the local YMCA. She …
“ … is really having a great time,” Nazy commented after the first class.
“Aqua, aqua, aqua,” Azelle noted.
For last week's letter, please click here
Azelle Swimming
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