Pre K Graduations

     For the past two and a half years, Esme has been attending the Rutland County Parent Child Center in Brandon while Tina and I have been working.  For the past year, she has been attending the pre K classroom program at Neshobe School.  On August 9, the childcare center held a graduation ceremony for the students entering Kindergarten in the fall.  They had songs, gowns, and tributes to the kids.

      

About a week later, Neshobe preK held their graduation ceremony.

     Now we are looking forward to summer: hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, road trips, music in the park, ice cream, musical barbecues with local friends, visiting family, and hanging out with friends from school, childcare, and the neighborhood.

Christmas Eve in D.C.

December 24, 2016

     We went down to DC to stay at Esme's cousin Jess' house for Christmas this year with lots of family.  At one point, I remember thinking that it would be a little crazy to come all this way and not visit The Mall or any attractions, but we were having a great time at the house.  I'd even given up on the idea as it was moving towards dusk, but that's when the crew rallied.  Before long a crew of seven were headed for the Metro.

     As we reached the Metro station near their house, there happened to be a group just coming out.  The were apparently connected with the Coast Guard or National Guard or Homeland Security, but they encouraged the youngest girl of their group to walk up to Esme, wish her a Merry Christmas, and give her a stocking filled with gifts.  Several in our group were brought to tears by the presence of the Christmas Spirit, which choked up a few in their group.  We parted filled with the joy of the holiday season.

     I explained to Esme about the ticket gates and the blinking floor lights on the side where the train is coming.  We waited with anticipation as the whoosh of air from the train arrives just before the train itself, and stepped on when the train arrived.  It was dusk on Christmas Eve, so the train was pretty much empty, but some of our group stood while others sat.  Esme decided to stand.  (To my knowledge, she has never sat down on the Metro.)  She loved the need to hold on tight as the train started and stopped, squealing with laughter and delight when she tried not to hold on but found she absolutely had to (nearly giving Jess a heart attack on several occasions).

     We took the time to stop off at Eastern Market and grabbed two bananas for a hungry Esme who had used up her meal walking to the train station and playing on the train.





     Then we headed the rest of the way into DC proper and walked around the White House block (which at this point was blocked off all the way around the Treasury Building, too.  Which ended up being lucky as Esme said she needed to make a pit stop.  The best place we could come up with was a fancy restaurant with 15 foot tall Nutcrackers on either side of the door.  Esme loved it.

     When we finally made our way to the Washington Monument side of the White House, we merged with the crowds.  Throngs.  (Melee may be too strong, but I swear I was in a rugby scrum at one point.)  After we made a circle of the state and territory trees, I tried to get another photo of Esme with the White House in the background.  She did not really want to balance on that fence, nor was she a fan of me stepping back while holding her hand to help her balance just to snap a photo.  But a picture is worth a thousand words (and I think several dozen of the ones this one's worth have been redacted).

     Time to head home and Esme's nothing but excited to get back on the Metro.  Most of the rest of us are excited about getting a taxi or an Uber and getting home to eat.  So we sent some home by car while five of us made the trek back to a Metro station and on to home.  On the way, a sketch artist started working on Esme, who was busy being the center of all attention as she played precariously with balance and grip strength on the train.






     A final walk home brought us back to fabulous food and family.  What a special day in DC, possibly with memories to last a lifetime for Esme.

She Plays with Me!

Mid-November, 2016

     I suppose one of the points of this blog is to share music with my daughter.  I mean, I did title it Daddy Plays Bass and all, so this shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone, but then this happened:

     You have to understand, she's playing a dog guitar (look close).  She can press on any of 8 buttons that run C to C (and the C chords are identical sounding, so it's not high to low or anything special -- it's just chords).  But she does a pretty damn good job of playing along, even though I'm too loud to let her be heard.  So I got quieter:

     So there she is, playing along with me, asking questions, and becoming a musical creature.  I'd say this is a parenting win at this point.  Life is fun, and kids keep you honest.  Be good out there world.

Swimming

August 11, 2016

     Another red letter day for us this week.  Esme can now float and locomote in water.  It's been a long time coming...

     She has long loved going to the lake (usually Lake Dunmore at Branbury State Park) and playing in and near the water.  She has used various floatation devices such as a life jacket (required by state law for kids when on a boat -- even a kayak), beach toys, inflatables, and, most recently, a water noodle left by her sister on a recent visit.  One recent favorite is a pair of inflatable yellow fish with a connector between them that she can lay on while either kicking or using her arms.  This has been a great tool for allowing her to observe her increasing ability to move in the water, usually by kicking.  I, being the former Red Cross Water Instructor (swim instructor at camp), have been taking every opportunity I can to teach her effective techniques such as the flutter kick, breaststroke kick (frog kick), and dolphin kick for her feet and, for her arms, the doggy paddle and breaststroke.  She's usually pretty open to my teaching for a period of time, then just wants to play or practice the skills she's learning.  I haven't pushed too hard because I want her to enjoy the water, not feel like it's a chore.

Lake Dunmore seen from Rattlesnake Cliffs.

     Two years ago, on a visit to North Carolina, she became comfortable jumping into a pool (as long as there was an adult in the water waiting to 'catch' her).  Last summer, she started being able to move herself in the water a little with the help of various floaties.  This summer, she has expressed interest in actually learning to swim -- at least partially due to seeing her friends do things that she could not do.  She's been listening to me much more and working to apply those lessons.

     Last week, at a visit to Sugar Hill Reservoir at the Goshen Dam, she joined me on a friend's paddleboard with her water noodle.  We were well off shore (in water that was at least 15-20 feet deep) when she wanted off.  When I started back to shore, she became very upset with me.  She didn't want out of the water, she wanted off the board -- to swim with her noodle.  I carefully helped her into the water and she kicked herself around a bit.  At one point, while trying to get back on the board, she let go of the wrong thing and ended up going under.  I was right there, but before I could get a hand on her she had taken care of things herself -- one hand on the noodle and one on the board.  I cheered her on for handling the situation herself and helped her back onto the board.

     I've been telling her for about two months that the next steps for her are learning to float and dunking her head underwater, but she's been very resistant on both counts.  Until this week.  We left Brandon just after noon on Tuesday and headed up to Vergennes, where we turned toward Lake Champlain and Button Bay State Park.  (You may have seen Tina's Facebook post this week with some pictures of our trip.)  One of the wonderful things about Button Bay is that it has a very
kid friendly swimming pool.  It is designed more like a beach with a gentle slope that starts at the level of the pool deck and deepens gradually to three & a half feet at the deep end, so kids can wade in to whatever level of water they find comfortable.  Fully planning to use this as a teaching moment, I entered the water with her and her purple water noodle, but we were immediately stopped by the lifeguard who told us that water toys such as ours were not allowed in the pool.  I was dismayed at first, thinking this was going to impede our learning and fun, but Esme had other ideas.

     We had fun frolicking about for a while with me swimming around the pool with her hanging on my shoulders.  I continued to let her know that floating and dunking were her next steps.  She let me help her float a little, but it didn't seem like we were going to make much progress.  Tina eventually joined us in the water and I took a break.  When I returned, Tina called me over and told Esme to "Show Daddy what you can do!"  Without hesitation, Esme pinched her nose
 with one hand, fully submerged, then started kicking -- moving clearly toward Tina with no support other than her buoyant little body.  I was ecstatic.  For the next hour or so, we played a game.  Either Tina or I would throw my goggles varying distances from Esme who would lunge towards them, then kick her way over to grab the goggles and bring them back.  (Yes, it felt a little odd to be playing fetch
with my daughter, but the girl was loving it and getting faster and more efficient every time.)  By the end of our time there, she was jumping from the side into the water and kick-swimming almost all the way across the pool.  Sure she's still holding her nose closed with one hand and holding the other out in front of her reaching for the goggles (meaning she's not using arm strokes to move), but her comfort level and skill in negotiating around other swimmers constantly increased throughout.

     Today we're headed back to Lake Dunmore.  I'm excited to see her swimming on her own in a lake.  I just wonder how long it will be before she knows how to go underwater without actually holding her nose -- so we can begin the process of coordinating arm strokes with legs to help her be the little fish she seems to clearly want to be.

First purchase

     Big sister Zoey is in town and while she and Tina were off hiking yesterday, Esme and I made a plan to go downtown:
     "I want to go to the bakuwrly."  (Sorry, but it's very hard to accurately transcribe just how she talks at times.  I'll continue to do my best.  Today was a beaucisul day, and we'll have anudy one toNAno.)
     Just on a whim, I asked her if she wanted Daddy to buy her something at the bakery, or if she wanted to spend some of her own money.  She wanted to do it herself so she started looking for her money.  She ended up finding four crisp, one dollar bills in her cash register.  And no matter how I tried to advise other possibilities, she would have none of it -- she was going to carry those dollars in her hand all the way.
     Which she did.

     When we reached the bakery, she let the kind woman know which cookie she wanted.  Even to the point of helping the woman pick out the exact cookie from the tray.  She handed over her money and took her change.  I tried to help by holding her change, but she would have none of that until I pointed out that, with a dollar in one hand and change in the other, she had no more hands left to hold her cookie.  So she kept hold of her dollar, took her bag of cookie, and we headed outside.
     As this was her trip all the way, I asked her where she wanted to sit.
     "In the shady parts!" she replied clearly.  She led us to a bench and sat.  I was a little surprised when she only ate a small portion of the cookie before declaring it was time to head home, but not nearly so much as when she offered part of her cookie to Tina and Zoey when they returned from their hike.

     How many of you can say the first thing you ever purchased with your own money was a chocolate decadent cookie that you offered to share with others?

It's the Little Things She Does (part IV)

     I don't even know where to start.  This girl is learning and exploring so much, it's hard enough to try to keep up with her -- when am I supposed to find time to blog about it?!  But fear not, intrepid explorers, she's going to bed with mom tonight and I'm going to steal a few minutes for writing.  (Which means I'm not planning for school, grading, playing my guitar or bass, practicing Aikido, planning Aikido classes, gardening, or reading (gasp!) for pleasure.)

     One of the biggest moments for me recently was about a month ago at Good Earth Farms, where we have a seedling CSA.  We'd stopped by to pick up our first tray of frost resistant plants and had a great time exploring while we were there.  At one point, Esme was a little tired and was in my arms, with her head on my shoulder.  I'm busy talking to the folks that run the place about gardening and music when I hear, over my shoulder, Esme clearly say, "N - E - S - H - O - B - E, F - A - R - M, S - T - A - N - D.  What does that say?"

     I turned around and realized that, on their red barn, they have written in white letters 'Neshobe Farm Stand'.  (The Neshobe River runs through town.  Esme's eventual school is Neshobe Elementary School.)  Somehow, this little 3-and-a-half year old is recognizing letters out of context.

     She's also listening closely when we try to teach her that "an-uhn-uh" is actually pronounced 'another' (which she worked at to reach "an-uhd-er," so there's that), and she doesn't actually need her toy binoculars to watch the birds (and squirrels) at the bird feeders outside our kitchen window.  Perhaps not listening so closely when we try to teach her to only water the plants (not the driveway, or the house, or the garage) and that Daddy is not always a climbing apparatus.

      She's entering the arena of imaginative play, whether with her imaginary friend, Flower (who has an amazing capacity to be large or small, here or there, whatever the situation requires); her stuffed animals (which require medical attention at an alarming rate, or at least they did the first few months after Esme got her doctor's kit -- does that mean she's got a limited attention span or that she's an amazing physician?); her kitchen (which sometimes requires one to promise to finish cooking the food in order to get her to go to bed); or with her imitation of so many of the daily activities that happen around our house (and you should see the girl fold clothes -- you never thought of doing it that way, I guarantee you).

     She captures hearts wherever she goes, especially at the Brandon Free Public Library and the local bookstore, Book & Leaf.  We go to the library at least once a week, for books, movies, and music.  It seems she never fails to step up to the counter at some point and engage one of the three librarians.  At the book store (where both my books are on the local author shelf!), she bounces back and forth between her parents and seeking out the woman who runs the store.  (Yes, they sell coffee and tea and some incredible cookies.  We rarely leave without at least three items, whether they be literary, gustatory, or coffee-y.

     She continues to 'play' instruments, though I must admit to being a bit worried when she came over to the door really upset one day with my guitar in her hands.  She had perhaps knocked it down trying to get to the window?  Mostly she strums or pounds, but her whistling is developing past a single note and her capacity to sing a melody (whether or not she kept the words from the original song) astounds me.

     And now my writing time has expired for the evening so I'm throwing a few photos your way to make up for the past few months of no contact.  There are so many more stories to share.  Until next time.

Esme with the first section of her strawberry garden.

Love and kisses to all!

Emergent Musician

     I have been meaning, for some time, to compile video of the various instruments Esme 'plays'.  Thus far, she owns a kazoo, two shakers, a drum (featured in the latter three videos), a xylophone, bells, and any two objects she can bang together to create sound (and sometimes, rhythm).
     She also enjoys playing her daddy's bass, guitar, drums, and has been experimenting with her mama's pan flute and her sister's keyboard.  (She even dragged me from the very out of tune upright in our living room to the keyboard upstairs, indicating along the way that she doesn't like how the upright sounds and prefers the better sounding keyboard.)  She's certainly not yet making what most would call music, but she is showing interest in playing and caring for the instruments.  Today I grabbed three videos of her musically multitasking, and it seemed like this would be a good time to start the musical posts.  Daddy may play bass, but Esme plays everything!

In this video, Esme find a way to use a Lincoln Log as a bow to play Daddy's guitar.

http://youtu.be/a-Z9DStirTQ

And for these next three, she's playing both her drum (Thanks, Cathy!) at the same time that she plays guitar, whether strumming or as another percussion instrument.

http://youtu.be/WDnIEpxClgg

The 'Weather Watcher' song featured in this video comes from her child care center.

http://youtu.be/zA1aDlMLPC8

http://youtu.be/wvJ1VFQYbf0

     I hope you have enjoyed our little emergent musician.  I look forward to being able to play actual songs with her in the not too distant future.