Baby O2:

Monday, August 1, 2011

The Bachelor

Shawn and the girls are away this week in North Carolina and I am here at the house in Florida playing the bachelor. It is quiet without them. The normal activities of my day are dictated by sound, and so it is odd to notice parts of my routine -- softly closing doors, creeping into bed, laughing with restraint -- which remain even when there is no need to be quiet.

In short, I don't have to worry about not waking the baby. I don't have to worry about the creaking hardwood floors or my cracking joints. I have only myself for which to be responsible, and I take this opportunity to be somewhat irresponsible.

Of the sounds around me, I hear myself most: with all of the music of my daily life stripped away, all I have left is to think. I enjoy, and do not enjoy, the time to think.

There is more lack in the house than life, so to fill up the absence of the girls, I find ways to make noise -- I turn up the radio, I shut the doors with abandon, and I create noise where it is normally organic; I manufacture the sounds of a full house and I drown out the silence of an empty home.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

5 Things

In keeping with an old tradition, here are five things you might not know about Maeve:

1) Maeve loves to dance. Her dancing starts at her head with some back and forth wobbling, works its way down to her torso, with some hands in the air, and finally ends with her best attempt at jumping around. She has yet to leave the ground. Her musical preferences are totally different than her sister’s. Whereas Reilly loves her Jackie Evancho, Maeve likes to rock out to Justin Bieber. (Reilly loves Justin Bieber too, but not for his music.)
2) Maeve loves her Italian food. Pizza, lasagna, pasta – pretty much anything with red sauce on it. Red sauce is to Maeve what ketchup is to Reilly.
3) Maeve can identify her eyes, nose and mouth when prompted. She will point to her eyes and nose, but when we say, “Where’s your mouth?” She will move her tongue back and forth across her mouth.
4) In addition to the words eyes, nose and mouth, Maeve also can say: no, Rah-Rah(for Reilly), wa-wa(for water), bird, ball, bubble, woof, nana, dada, mama, ow!, wow, uh-oh, more, and all done. The last two words she also knows in sign language as well.
5) The things she carries: Shoes and flip-flops, play-dough, and mama’s cell phone. Her favorite thing to carry around the house is a washcloth. She will walk into the bathroom, open the door, pick out a washcloth, and then walk around the house with it for quite some time, maybe up to an hour. And don’t you dare try to take it from her.