Metacognition and armored bears

The nice thing about a blog post, I guess, is that friends and family can ignore it easily without hurting the originator's feelings, unlike an interjection around the dinner table or even an email in the inbox. This may be a candidate. But at the moment I am going to test the idea that when I feel like blogging I should blog.

A have a break in my routine this morning because I am going to a workshop at Rutgers instead of teaching at high school. I got up early and finished my grading early so I have been reading.

Let me link to two articles that might be really interesting to parents and teachers.

From an online journal called Cognitive Daily: What's the best way to praise a child? Be specific.

From Scientific American: The secret to raising smart kids

And now for something completely different, a link to another article I enjoyed reading this morning.

The Atlantic Monthly on the movie adaptation of His Dark Materials: How Hollywood saved God

If you enjoyed Philip Pullman's books you will enjoy this article. And mmmaybe the movie too.

time is getting away

Peter is growing so fast and no one is managing to write anything down. He's an expert walker now. He was doing <5 steps starting in  August. September 27th I was going to an evening training class for our new job. Peter and I teach Mom-and-tot swimming. Peter was going to stay home with Daddy and I was trying to slip out before he noticed I was gone. He did notice, however, and just walked down the driveway after me. Daddy counted 27 steps before he lost count. Peter on fell when he tried to go up stairs. Daddy was the only person who witnessed the first big walk. Now he's pretty much unstoppable -- unless you put him in bulky shoes or very uneven ground. I saw him thinking about jumping today.

Peter was a cowboy for Halloween. He managed to keep the hat on for a few minutes.

He's almost swimming on his own-- kicking me to get away. He can jump in from the side, kick, put his face in & blow bubbles -- but not on command.

His spoken vocabulary includes:
mama, dada, bye bye, all done, hat, hot, hi, hey, woo woo (meaning train), juice (only understandable by me)

His signing vocabulary includes:
milk, more, ball, eat, drink, all done, bye bye, hi, no**, kitty, dog, mouse, fish, rain, snow, train* , hat, hot, up

*his own version, but clear and consistent

He can't make the fingers for cow, donkey and horse-- but he knows all of those signs are on the head, so he ends up signing hat for these. He also knows that the sign for shoes involves putting hands together. His version looks more like his version of ball. He's working on signing bird and airplane -- but they are still a work-in-progress.

Yesterday he almost went potty. We borrowed a potty from a friend. He knows what it is and what it's for-- but when I brought it home he was afraid to sit on it, so I put it in a corner and decided to wait. Yesterday he pulled it to the center of the room, opened it, closed it and sat on it. Then he stood up and started pulling on his clothes to let me know he wanted them off. Then he took my hand and led me to the bathroom and pulled on his clothes again. I took off his clothes and sat him on the toilet. Nothing happened. So, I demonstrated going potty and then sat  him up there again. Nothing happened. I took him in his room to get dressed and he sat on the floor and peed. Close!

Our friends Rob and Molly introduced us to the great family band Dan Zanes and Friends. We've seen them twice now. They are great to see live if you ever get a chance. Here's us with Father Goose at Jewsapalooza.

talking with hands

I've been teaching Peter a little sign language. I started around 6-months when he started pointing and being inquisitive about the world around him. Somewhere along the line he started repeating signs to me -- but only in a monkey-see-monkey-do sort of way. There were a few times between 9 and 10 months that I thought he might know that what he was doing was actually a word. On his 10-month birthday, I knew for sure. After breakfast he threw a tantrum and I asked him what he wanted. He signed "more eat." I gave him more breakfast and all was right with the world. Pretty damn cool!

The boy is pretty much an eating machine. He's had Indian, Ethiopian, Turkish, Japanese, Mexican, etc. He'll try anything. If he doesn't like it, he'll usually take it out and look at it and try it again. Very game child. I'm expecting a growth spurt anytime now. He shot up to almost 20 lbs by 4-months-old, and now at 10-months-old, he's not yet 22 lbs. He's got 6 teeth now. The bottom 2 came back in April. The top 4 came last month. He's biting, unfortunately.

Oh, about our NC trip. I need to mention that Chris and I slid down this waterfall. Very scary!


We also rode ATVs. I only almost tipped mine over once.

Hell's kitchen

We have been feeding the cats in Weehawken while Nick and Zoe are up north for Emily's wedding. They have a nice new apartment around the corner from our old place.

Anyway, we drove out Thursday evening and decided to take the xbox through the Lincoln tunnel and have dinner at our old favorite Ethiopian restaurant in midtown. I felt like a rube in the big city after all this time as a suburbanite, I even had to pay cash at the tunnel, but the old driving skills came back quickly. It's almost hard to believe that Weehawken was home for five years!

Anyway, we enjoyed our meal and Peter was a real good sport. He tried everything but the spiciest dishes and he charmed the socks off the staff.

(I reminded Peter that he now has an Ethiopian cousin whom he will get to meet some day! Any of our friends who also know Magda and Paul in Toronto will be thrilled to know that Yonas is now at home with them. He's just the same age as Peter and looks just as handsome and just as active.)

After dinner we crossed the street to walk through the playground because Peter was so interested in watching the big kids. We watched the kids on the jungle gym and the basketball court, and we saw regular folks (not fund managers and consultants) from every culture you could imagine all taking care of their kids together. It was a great big-city time on a hot night in the middle of August. The kind of thing that makes you think you might like to live in New York after all. Momentarily.

And there was this super cool fountain with jets that sprayed every which way in an inpredictable manner. Peter thought this looked like the coolest thing in the world. I was being a scaredy cat but G reassured me, so we stripped off the boy and let him crawl right in. He had the greatest time chasing the jets and getting sprayed and playing with the big kids. The other kids were so nice and careful with him it was amazing to see. Much more kindness and consideration than I would have expected from kids anywhere.



I got these pics with my camera phone, and we met a photographer who was there with her 19-month old son. She snapped a couple pictures and we might see those some time too, but for now I want to post these lo-fi pictures because it was such a good time for all of us.



Of course that diaper got soaked but I didn't want to expose a naked baby in post-giuliani NYC so I just let him drag it around.



Most everybody was pretty impressed that our little sack of spuds was so game for an adventure. But that's how he is. It makes me happy, despite the down side that all parents will understand.



Of course, at the end of the adventure we discovered that our diaper bag had no fresh diapers in it, but we wrapped him in a towel and he was fine. We bundled back into the Scion and escaped back through the tunnel, past the old neighborhood, and back to suburbia. I carried the sleeping baby upstairs and we all went to sleep together. A good night had by all.

more smokies

There was a lot of rain during the week but most of the time it didn't spoil the fun. The picture below is a happy memory for me. We were all playing down at the creek and Peter was having a great time in the water. Grey and Picot decided to hike upstream with the tubes and I bundled Peter in a towel and headed back to camp. On the way, the heavens opened and I scampered for shelter. By the time I got under the canopy Peter was out like a light. I tucked in the towel around his little feet and sat down in a camp chair.

It felt like we sat there for hours, he slept and slept and I kept him warm and listened to him breathe and watched the rain in the forest.

Eventually Picot and Grey returned from floating down the creek in the thunderstorm. Picot gave me a beer and we sat for a while longer. Good clean fun.



Here's Picot and Suzie and us and Peter and Maeve. Myrina and Daphne ran around with pals all day long and had a great time.



Here's G and Maeve upstream on Deep Creek.



Camping with an infant is a lot of work but it was very rewarding for all of us. Peter had a blast every minute of the day, and slept well at night.

camping in the great smokies

This morning I am sitting with the boy while his mom steals a couple extra z's. He's watching a signing video and I will see if I can blog a little about our family camping trip.

We took the van, of course, with the biggest load-out ever -- even bigger than our cross-country trip where we lived in it for four months. In retrospect, we could have done without the stroller, but the exer-saucer turned out to be indispensible.



The rear bunk area of the van makes a comfy refuge when the bedroom doors are closed. Unfortunately it's not really big enough for the whole family at once, so I would decamp to a tent after lights-out.



We camped at the Deep Creek Campground in Great Smoky Mountains national park. We redezvoused with Picot and Suzie Floyd and their daughters Myrina, Daphne, and Maeve. That's Picot below, with Maeve and Peter.

The campground is near the Cherokee reservation, along the banks of Deep Creek. The water was colddddd but beautiful. It was great for swimming and playing in. We carried tubes upstream and floated down past the rocks and over the rapids. We fell in a lot. It was great.



Peter thought the whole thing was great. He has mostly stopped eating sand but once in a while he tries to eat a rock when he thinks we aren't watching. He loves the water and doesn't seem to notice the cold.



Better post while I can!

autocross pics with boy

We are back from camping and we need to blog about that, but in the meantime here are some pictures from last month's autocross.



Click on the image for more.

shed days

The new shed is up in the back yard, there are some good pictures of my dad and unk with Peter.

Look, picasa web albums has a new obnoxious flash slideshow!

the end of another era

I'm selling my BMW. Not, I hasten to add, because I think owning a 4L V8 is environmentally irresponsible. A certain amount of irrational exuberance is all that makes the human condition bearable.

I was never really a giant-BMW kind of guy anyway, or at least I never thought I was, but I admired its massive competence and tank-like construction. I loved the black-leather-and-fake-walnut interior experience and the science-fiction way you can go as fast as you want without noise, rattles, and a feeling of imminent crashing death.

On the highway it was never happy going less than 80, and the back seats are not kid-seat friendly. So our Cadillac sedan will be my new commuter and family car. It's a good car, more comfortable if not more responsive, and for motoring thrills at least it's got a big ol' American 4.8L V8.

I will hang on to my BMW CCA membership because they run a great autocross. Me and Dad and my uncle and Peter went yesterday. I was going to drive the mini but the mini's ignition crapped out so I was driving the family Omni racecar. We had a lot of fun. Peter loved the noise and the crowds.

I spent half the time standing in the sun, picking up cones that people knocked down, and the other half of the time in the Omni knocking down cones. It was great.

This morning we are leaving on our camping trip. The van is loaded to the gunwales, but I am still thinking of things we need to bring. Watch this space for updates, or if you have the technology, my facebook page. It's easier to update that from the mobile phone.

on the road again

We are preparing for our family road trip to North Carolina. Today I hope to replace the cooling unit in the van's propane fridge, a surprisingly expensive part which is supposed to be easy to install.

I have already documented other modifications to the van to accommodate His Majesty, and yesterday I mounted a little video screen for his viewing pleasure. Wiggles vids are his favorite, but we also get some mileage out of Blues Clues and the Muppet Show.

Our early aspiration to keep his pure little mind unsullied by TV was ditched in short order when we realized there were greater developmental advantages to be gained by having parents who are not nuts.

Today's other project is to mount personal speakers on his car seat so that he can hear the video soundtrack. I also have high hopes that this might permit me to hear fewer Wiggles tunes myself in the car. For 700 miles there and 700 miles back. That's a lot of Wiggles.

OK, it's almost 7am, better post and get to work. We are also expecting a flying visit from Paula, Dennis, and Simon, driving past on their way to someone else!

self feeding (well, sort of.)

Yesterday was Peter's 9-month birthday. I gave him a bowl of yogurt to celebrate-- then, I stripped him and hosed him down. And the deck. It's lucky that this stage of development happened to coincide with summer.

Now Peter has been on the outside as long as he was on the inside. And he's not the only one who has been growing and changing. I've lost huge parts of what I considered to be me. I thought of myself as a type-A person. Always on time. Always the over-achiever. All of that is gone now. I believe it's part of my journey to have that all taken away from me. The latest thing is that I see the boy has inherited big parts of my personality. Now that I see them on someone else, I can see how these traits are NOT going to make him happy. But, he's mostly happy now. So, maybe he'll be the new-improved version.

For more pics and a little movie click here. I tried to capture him in the act of eating, or even playing with the utensils. However, as soon as Peter sees a camera he has to pose. Candids seem impossible. Every movie that Peter is not strapped down for ends with Peter crawling towards and grabbing for the camera. Already moving away from the tao. Poor guy.

wheels for sale

For some reason I have been hoarding wheels and tires so we will see if craigslist is any use out here in the country. You want Scion, you want BMW, we got 'em.

Will trade for mini tires, the bomb is still running on the ones I fitted back in '00. And at the moment it's got more scoot than grip, which is unusual for a mini I suppose.

I feel a little guilty that I am using my child for commercial purposes, but here's the picture I posted for the BMW wheels:

Big job update

It's morning again, the boy is napping on my back in the ergo sling. Great device. He had some green beans and peaches for breakfast. Chunks, he will basically not accept "baby food" anymore.

Spent yesterday getting some yard supplies from a kind family who are moving to a condo. We got a deck furniture set and a grill that hooks up to the natural gas supply on our deck. So that was nice. Also a pitchfork, adze, maul, and mattock. Just in case we ever need those.

We are also trying to get an 8x10 potting shed from Mendham to here. It was prefabbed in Vermont and is very well built. It comes apart easily into sections but I think we all underestimated the mass of an 8x10 wall made of 2x4's and plywood. It's in great shape, but we discovered an incipient colony of carpenter ants within the structure so much of the day was spent in removing them. Watching them frantically trying to evacuate their egg cases made me wonder what kind of a karma burden I was taking on. Oh well, circle of life and that stuff.


Boy is stirring. Must post n scoot.

Busy lazy summer

Me and the family have been working hard on all kinds of things. Dad and unk helped modify the van to accomodate a family of three. We made space for his car seat and repositioned his mom's chair to keep him company. I replaced the house battery and the linoleum on the floor, and made a new deck that can double as an emergency daddy-bunk.

The boy likes the van a lot. The rear bed section works great as an infant-containment system, although he managed to put his chubby little fist through the screen on the passenger side. Not his fault of course. I think that having the van will be a big help for us on a daily basis, it's great to have a little house to bring on day trips. And if he falls asleep and we need to park somewhere we have a bed and bathroom and pantry. Soon we will have a fridge again as soon as I manage to order a remanufactured cooling unit.

So I have posted some new pictures on Facebook. Anyone can see them. I've been having fun with that service lately, a bunch of friends are using it and it's fun to see what they are doing with it. So, if you're my friend, go ahead and try it out too!

This morning I am watching the baby while G gets a few extra z's, the boy has a cold and he was snotty all night, poor little bug. Poorer mom, who was stuck with primary care duty. Whenever he is really unhappy nothing will do for him but his mom.

Later this morning my ever-useful father and uncle will help me move a ton of garden supplies, including an 8x10ft shed, to our house. It will be a lot of fun, and I'll try to post some new pics.

OK I better post'n'scoot. Seeya.

Pinky & the Brain

There are probably eight or nine other people like me, who will think this is hilarious.

more about where we are now

Peter started clapping on Saturday. He recognizes all his family members and claps when they enter a room. Somewhere in the last month he stated crawling up stairs. He cannot crawl down stairs.

He offers his food to other people (and random inanimate object). The other day after he offered my breast to his toy monkey and then to me. On the other hand, while we were at the library one day he pushed another baby down and took his bottle. And this Saturday at a picnic he crawled onto another family's blanket and ate all their baby's puffs. So much for sharing!

He's always very active. He tries to stand on his head while nursing. He also sits up and crawls and throws himself around in his sleep. I've been taking him swimming at the Y since he was 4 months. He LOVES this. He gets really excited when we start walking down the hall for the pool. He can stand on his own for longer in water then on land. He's not at all afraid of getting his face wet. They have a bunch of cool squirty elements in the pool, which he loves to play with. He's extended this "fun with fluid mechanics" play to his bottle, and breast milk. Funny: I can barely pump him a bottle with a pump. I can't express ANY milk manually, but Peter can work me like a cow.

We are trying to teach him simple signs. A few times he made the "milk" sign, tho he usually just tries to pull my shirt up. Not ideal -- but, at least it's clear. He does repeat simple phrases like "all done" and "bye bye." And he waves. He knows that he's "Peter" and I'm "Mommy." He knows if he says "Mamamama" in a pitiful voice he can get my attention.

perpetual motion machine

You may have noticed that there hasn't been a lot of blogging since Peter started to crawl. This is because in the moment that Peter first crawled, life totally changed. I have been feeling like Roger Rabbit in this cartoon. You read in science fiction and fantasy books about "magic doors" -- where you go through the magic door and life on the other side is totally different in an instant, and there's no going back. Baby learning to crawl is a real-life magic door. (Auto accidents are another, but that's a different story.)

Peter has started inquiring about the world around him. If he hears a sound (we have live near the train and the fire house, so there are some big sounds that interest little boys) he indicates the sound as if to ask about it. Also, if he sees a creature move, he points and makes inquisitive sounds. Taking him to the zoo is FUN now. He gets sooo excited. Hearing Peter laugh is the best sound I know.

Peter also has started feeding himself. It's a giant mess -- but I get to feed myself at mealtimes now. :)

This week Richard Grunn ( a fellow member of Zuppa del Giorno) and I had to busk at a conference. So, Peter got dragged to his first theatre-related event. He had a big time. He thought the juggler was about the coolest thing he ever saw and laughed heartily at the stupid sounds that Rich could make with his face (Rich is also a foley artist).

Chris' last day of school was Monday. So, now we have a lot more Daddy in our life. This is a wonderful thing! Pictured right are Chris and Peter taking a nap together. I actually got something accomplished that day -- tho, I don't remember what because my brain got left behind somewhere in the birthing process...

Mystery resolved

Introducing Dracunculus vulgaris!

(Thanks to the nice folks at carnivorousplants.org)

Garden mystery

This thing has been growing by our deck for a month. Last week two big spears started growing. This morning one popped open to reveal what looks like a giant fly-trap! Flies are swarming around it now. There is a big bulb at the bottom of the "blossom" that looks like a digestive organ. There is a faint not-pleasant odor, and the thing seems intent on pretending to be carrion.

What the hell?? A giant carnivorous plant in Bernardsville? Can anyone identify this?

 
 
 
 

Self-propelled!

Because I was home sick I avoided a "Cat's in the Cradle" moment: I saw his little butt the very first time he did a real crawl across the floor.

He scooted in four-wheel drive without even thinking of it in order to capture the cat toy from the other end of the room. Having grabbed it, he whipped it around to the evident delight of all the floor-dwelling creatures in the room.

So, we are one step closer to my dream of having a child and cats that mutually amuse one another.

When I went to change the child earlier I found our big cat on the changing table. Normally she will not tolerate the boss's proximity but this time I put him down and she hung out. He grabbed several double handfuls of cat and she was very calm until she decided she needed to be somewhere else.