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.

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.

Visit to a Friend's House

Talk about a play date! Esme, as you can likely tell, was midway between heaven and disbelief. I really don't think she could have imagined herself actually riding a horse...









And the scenery. The Green Mountains off to the east, the Adirondacks to the west, and a little girl, jazzed on life.





(Please bear with me while I try out a new blog app. I may have to go back on the computer to edit, position photos, and add more text.)

Our Trip to Atlanta

 

It was a ridiculous idea from the start:  we'll get up at 3AM, get to Burlington airport by 5AM, and be on a flight to Atlanta by 5:45AM.  We did get to the airport in time to grab muffins and yoghurt for the flight, but only barely.  Here we see Esme on her second airplane trip.  (The first was a two leg journey from SE Michigan to Burlington in June of last year when she and Tina flew together after I'd packed, driven, and unpacked the U-Haul.)
All things considered, a moment of crying when she had to take off her shoes and her stuff went through the scanner is a great outcome.  The remainder of the trip to John and Raney's place was essentially smooth and painless.  (Aside from the aforementioned getting up at 3AM and the accompanying sleep-depraved weirdness.)

Atlanta airport provided us with several nice situations, such as the opportunity to point out that Esme had been in a plane, then a train (the Plane Train at ATL), and would soon been in an automobile.  This gave us more amusement than it did her for some reason, but she's never seen a John Candy movie, so that can be forgiven.

Upon arrival at Camp O'Keefe, Esme was shown every avenue towards fun and excitement.  It only occurred to me much later that I never did get a photo of the actual reason we went to Atlanta in the first place.  No pictures of my sister's Rehearsal BBQ at the park.  No pictures of the wedding, nor the ensuing party.  There were certainly photos taken at those venues, but not by me.  I was having too much fun then to bother with such frivolities.

This is JohnO, driving Esme off-road through the leaf piles.

On Saturday, while Tina and the female side of the event were having the Bachelorette Brunch, Esme and I went off to Home Grown to have lunch with my dad, who happened to be passing through on his way from NC to MS.  (Note to those who don't know my family very well.  My dad is not my-sister-getting-married's dad.  I'll leave it there, because to start trying to explain the various relationships amongst the two individuals getting married would require knowledge and effort.)  This particular photo was actually taken for Cheer and Trevor's sake, or at least their panda.

What can really be said about this photo?  Irish tomfoolery.

Esme led Tina and I, on our last day in town, to a nearby park that JohnO and Raney had taken her to the previous day.  I was really impressed that she did so, since I'm not really aware of her having ever given directions before, nor having memory of how to get to a place after having only been there once.  I choose to see this as a sign of intelligence, spatial awareness, and personal interest.

The little pink car that Esme drove around herself when no one was able to push her in the other pink car.

I don't even know how to start to describe this situation.  "There was a toilet being used as a planter..." doesn't seem like a good way to start a caption for anything.

Heading home after a fun weekend.  And Morgan, I'm not sure at all how R's hat made it into E's possession, but we'll get it back to you sometime.

Back home, with Esme swinging in the crabapple tree while I climb the red maple.  Esme was inspired, and she climbed our two apple trees later this same day.

Thanks to family, friends, and other relations for making it a special, poignant, joyous weekend.  (And I hope I don't have to fly with a 3 year old again any time soon.)

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

I realized recently who the true audience for this blog is.  This is for Esme.  I don't know if she'll ever want to read it, nor do I really care.  But if she wants her daddy's perspective on the early years of her life, or finds the writing compelling, she'll have access to it.  (I love you, Boo.)

I'm in my fourth week of school.  Or is it fifth?  Fifth, I think.  (Ahh, a peek into the mind of a teacher...)  This has meant great changes in my relationship with Esme.  After spending whole days of her life exploring the world through her lens, seeing what she saw and noticing the little moments of exploration and joy, I now see her awake for, at most, only five hours a day.  At times I feel energetic and full of joyful love and I want to chase her around, toss her in the air, and play for an hour or more.  We walk down to the park behind the library and she hangs from bars, climbs stairs and slides (I condone climbing slides as a parent and when I'm playing, but disallow it as a teacher), swings, and rocks on the horse (or frog, or lion).  We walk the balance beam when it's almost time to go.

Did I mention she's climbing?

She'll push her doll stroller down the sidewalk on the way there, getting distracted by sticks, grass, leaves, and passing motorcycles and trucks.  Frequently, the stroller is abandoned on the side of the walk, and Esme will carry Fanette (or baby, or other baby) the rest of the way to the playground.  When she sees it on the way back, always from a great distance, she squeals and takes off running to get it (as if she had no idea it would be there and "isn't this just the best thing ever?!  I love that stroller!").  She'll proudly and carefully put her doll/baby in the stroller, almost tucking them in at times, then start strutting down the sidewalk full of purpose and spunk.

Get out the way, Bo!  Here comes Esme!

In full-on power-walking mode

I love her for keeping me in shape.  I haven't really trained on a mat since July, though I did make a point of doing 40 handstand pushups on my 40th birthday (with all the associated build-up and training), but I find ways to include Aikido training in my walks and playing with her.  There's the obvious physical workout of picking her up, tossing her in the air, and catching her to set her gently on the ground, but there's also the attentiveness training of taking a walk with her.  I try to move when she moves and stop when she stops.  And she's highly erratic.  She'll go from a casual stroll to a full run to a dead stop within two sections of sidewalk.  (It gives me some hope that the next time I'm Uke for Sensei that I'll still have some chance of following what he wants me to do -- not much, of course, since I've never actually followed exactly what Sensei wants me to do, just had some chance of getting there.)

She continues to be enthralled by music.  She dances in her highchair, in the kitchen, out in restaurants -- all it takes is for a song to be playing with a clear rhythm.  [Her current musical collection includes two drums, a harmonica, a recorder, a xylophone/bell spinny-thing (which I'm sure is the exact brand name of the thing), an electric-acoustic-howly dog (which you'll have to come visit to really appreciate), a kazoo, a water-bird whistle (which also has to be encountered to be appreciated), and any object that makes a noise if you hit it against another object.]  As far as I can tell, her sense of rhythm is better than mine (and that's the only compliment about music I got for the first 8 years I played -- you've got good rhythm) and she's very able to hear and repeat sounds.  Couldn't tell you if she's on pitch -- if I could do that, I could do it for myself, too, and both my singing and bass playing could get better.  There's still one song of mine that she seems to dislike, but most of them she'll happily dance along if I engage her while I'm playing.

She also has a cow in the neighbor's yard that she likes to let her baby ride.

That's my girl...

Weekly activities

November & December 2012

     We've been busy this past month and a half since I last posted.  Our main excitement has been making our weekly rounds.  Esme and I have several specific things we do every week -- 

going to the local library branch's Toddler Hour on Tuesday mornings, 

going grocery shopping once or twice, and stopping by the pub for snacks before or a, 

walking up and down the sidewalk in the neighborhood, 

and now that it's gotten colder, we've added trips to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum.

     

On a cold day in early November, Esme went to her first presidential election.  (It was actually her fourth time at the polls, so she knew the drill.  We weren't really prepared for the lines, though, so a really nice mother and daughter pair pushed our stroller forward holding our place in line so Esme could run around inside and outside for most of the time.  So many things to vote for this time, and it was hard to juggle with her still wanting to roam.)

Mornings are sometimes slow around here, with a sleepy Esme eating breakfast, or sitting in her chair at the base of the tree of life.

 Esme has started trying on several hats lately.  She never liked to wear hats, so this is a welcome development as Michigan's winter will be upon us soon.  (Theoretically)

 

 We enjoy naps together sometimes, though I usually take her nap time to get other things done.  (Today I cleaned the bathroom, and I'm writing in this blog.  I like a sense of accomplishment.)

 As I mentioned, we've been going to all the AADL's Toddler Hours.  (Not every one every week, but we've made it to all of them as of this morning's trip to the Downtown Main Branch.)

Downtown:  Mondays

Mallett's Creek:  Tuesdays

Pittsfield:  Wednesdays

Traverwood:  Fridays

Our local Mallett's Creek Branch...

The Traverwood Branch on the north side of town...

And also at Traverwood, where she first started pulling a wagon.

And the day after the Traverwood wagon, she started pulling Jim's old wagon around the porch.
(Quick learner, that girl.)

      When we're not out and about, we tend to hang out in the living room and play with various toys.  She's been pretty happy knocking down any block towers I build, but lately she's starting to build a little of her own.  She also likes to 'share', which means she tries to give you something.  But with Esme, you'd better take it or she can get more than a little bent out of shape.  (I like to called it 'forced sharing.')  Though I was talking with a parent of an 18 month old who's just turned the corner into the world of 'mine.'  Ahh, the things we have to look forward to!

We play games at home for most of the day.

When Mom gets home, it's time to play a whole new set of games!

And perhaps my favorite new activity:  Cheers, when we're eating
the same food item.  (And it only happens then -- no other food toasting allowed.)

So these are the ways we fill our days.  I've got several videos and many more pictures of various activities, but this is already a long enough post.  And I can hear the little one stirring in her room down the hall.  Thanks for reading and sharing in the joy that is Esme!