We think Charlotte is trying to speak Mandarin. Last week we got home from school and Ginger came up and greeted her baby as Charlotte tried to squirm out of her car seat. I said, “Ginger!” She looks at me, looks at the dog, and says, “Jing jing!” See. Mandarin. Well, the Chinese are taking over, it’s probably a good skill for her generation.
Last week was a big talking week. She also said “Dada.” Greyson of course reminded me this was before she said “Mama”. Yeah, but he didn’t get this cool experience…
I walked into the Older Infants class at her school and found Charlotte lined up in a high chair with all her baby friends. When Charlotte looked up and saw me, she excitedly turned to her classmate in the next high chair and said to her, plain as day, “Mama!” It was like she was showing me off. “Look! That’s my Mama! She’s here!”
That was worth the wait for her to say “Mama.” It’s sort of how I feel everyday when I see her, “Look! That’s my Baby! She’s here!”
Our weekends in Fall are typically devoted to sports, college or pro football. Greyson grew up playing hockey. It is his favorite sport and still his passion. This weekend he got to share this with our daughter at the annual carnival and practice for our favorite NHL team, the Carolina Hurricanes. It was her first hockey experience.
(I took these pics with my sweet new camera. Let me know what you think!)
“Let’s go Daddy!”
We weren’t sure what she would think of this.
Clearly, it was a hit. (Please notice Stormy the Ice Hog was with her the whole time. We bought her that stuffed animal when she was born. He’s the Canes’ mascot.)
Learning the rules during the team practice as my heart fills up.
He took her down to the ice to see things up close.
I feel like I need to give an update on the status of baby-dog relations in our house. Now that Charlotte is walking, a few things have changed and we need some advice from more seasoned parents of canine and human babies.
Since the first Christmas we were married back in 2005, Ginger has been top dog around our house. We always joke that our little rescue purposely looked innocent and sad to lure us into becoming the suckers who pick up her poop, buy her organic treats, and carry her around. Like all expectant parents we swore she would never be dethroned and that she would always be our “original baby.” All things considered, I think we’ve done a pretty good job, but I’d be lying if I said Ginger still got the same amount of walks. (We used to walk her, no exaggeration, 4-5 times a day. She’s down to 2 now.)
When we brought Charlotte home from the hospital Ginger was intrigued by this new little creature and protective of “her baby.” She never minded people picking up the baby, but Dave and Trish’s dog got near Charlotte when she was a newborn in her bouncy seat and Ginger lost her doggie mind!
Baby, meet your dog. November 4, 2010, the day we brought her home. So tiny!
Ginger gave the baby a daily sniff as she grew into a roller and a sitter. She became a little more weary as Charlotte crawled and cruised her way into later infancy. When she became a mover, she wanted to pull up on Ginger and grab and pull at her hair. Now, our new little walker is like a stumbling drunk and falls on Ginger all the time. The poor dog is such a trooper.
The gruesome twosome back when Charlotte was about 4 or 5 months old.
We try to monitor the baby around dog at all times. We DO NOT let Charlotte around Ginger while she’s eating food or treats because Ginger is very territorial about her food. Ginger loves sitting under the high chair for sure. We’ve only had one little incident where Ginger barked and gave a warning snap to Charlotte when she grabbed her tail. I still feel like a walking baby is cramping the dog’s style. So I’m thinking of consulting a professional. We don’t need Cesar Milan. I don’t think it’s gone that far and we’re not in the Greater Los Angeles area, so I think a home visit from the Dog Whisperer is out.
I wish I had heard of Dogs and Storks back when I was pregnant. There are consultants in our area and I’m wondering if anyone has ever used a service like this. How can we teach the baby to be more gentle with the dog? How can we keep the dog from being nervous around the baby when she’s stumbling around? Anyone out there have experience with this?
Whoops! Uh, yeah. Charlotte loves Cee Lo Green’s hit song “Forget You.” We were attempting to play it for her yesterday. She does the cutest little dance! If you had the volume up on your computer, clearly you heard we had played Mr. Green’s other version of this song.
She also loves Adam Levine’s “Moves Like Jagger.” Greyson says Charlotte has “moves like Keith Richards” because of her unsteady stumbles.
Hmm…maybe we should look up some kid friendly music. Is Raffi still around? Oh, who am I kidding, I can’t listen to that s&*#.
Yesterday was a day of reflection for everyone, myself included. I think we have to force ourselves to watch those smoking towers again. Force ourselves to see the faces of our terrified countrymen running and bleeding. Force ourselves to listen to Matt Lauer’s shaky voice as a plane hits the second tower. We have to force ourselves to remember because 3,000 innocent victims’ families are forced to face grief everyday.
I think we all had the “where were you?” conversation yesterday.
I was a 20 year-old college junior living with my sorority on our hall in a dorm. I was sleeping in because I didn’t have class until later. One of my sisters woke me up and told me to turn on the TV. That day made me feel like the problems of my silly little life were so mundane. I had been worrying about an upcoming quiz, a midterm project, and sorority recruitment. After I watched the day’s events unfold I realized how insignificant one person’s problems are in comparison to the horror and loss our world was facing. I just remember thinking that everything was going to change.
It did.
A decade later I’m a married, 30 year-old, working new mom. I watched the anniversary events on TV and later went to our church’s annual worship in the park. I looked down at my feet where I had laid out a blanket for Charlotte and saw this…
Instantly I was taken back to that day, sitting on the bed of my dorm room with that same blanket watching with shock and disbelief. Once again I realized the problems of my silly little life were so mundane. I’ve been worrying about work next week and my teething baby.
I hope and pray Charlotte will never have one of those, “I know where I was” days. Days like the attack on Pearl Harbor for my grandparents. For my parents, the day President Kennedy was shot. For me, the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion when I was really little, and September 11, 2001 for all of us. (I’ll add to this, the Columbine High School shooting. Greyson’s hometown is Littleton, Colorado.)
I want to take Charlotte to the memorial at Ground Zero one day. I want to tell her what happened that day, to force myself to remember.
