Thursday, April 29, 2010

Every Picture Tells a Story

There's so much I could say about this photo. It speaks volumes to how my life has both changed and stayed just the same.


Also, I have been informed my blog is full of great stuff to plagiarize. I suspected this, but the kind people at Term Papers just let me know. Great..... so I don't know what to do about that besides put a warning up on my most-trafficked posts and hope profs can catch plagiarists.

Argh.

Maybe since I don't have a lot of spare time, I'll just have to start plagiarizing myself. I have a lot of really good, but old, posts buried on this blog after all.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

A Huge Week: Developmental Milestones Galore

Phew! What a week. Baby Field Notes must have finally flipped whatever switch gets flipped when a whole new cognitive system comes online. All in the last week we saw some big developmental milestones.

It started with sitting herself up from lying down on her back and then later that afternoon I felt her first sharp tooth emerging from her gums. The next day she took her first steps while holding onto my hands. Previously she only 'walked' by me moving her legs for her. She seemed to like the sensation and accomplishment of moving forward in spite of the great physical exertion. Physical therapy is hard work! But no way did expect that in just days she would be stepping forward on her own. The first time she bent her knee, lifted her foot up and set it down in front of her I was surprised. I thought it was just a fluke, like the day she said BIG, but then she did it over and over again, for twenty feet! And then she kept stepping — more that night — and has been doing it ever since.

And then just today she clapped her hands together. When I noticed I exclaimed to Mr. Field Notes who told me she had actually done that yesterday while we were all out on a stroller walk. Yesterday. It has been very exciting around here the last several days!

It is amazing to me both how slowly — and how quickly — human development progresses. Being a primatologist, I am anxiously awaiting her first attempt at grooming. That will be super exciting. No one, as far as I know, has cared to note when that starts happening for humans, and it's not something I've looked into much for other primates, but I do recall somewhere that either Jane Goodall or Anne Pusey has noted when young chimpanzees first start to groom others. I see signs that Baby Field Notes is getting ready to groom. She notices smaller bits of stuff on the floor and has the fine motor skills now to pick up small things, like a tiny leaf, for example, so I know physically she could do it, but I am not sure she yet has the cognitive capacity to intentionally 'clean' something.

Her babbles are getting more prolific now too:
n-n-n-nay
mmmmmm
g-g-g
th-th-thuh
b-b-bah
puh-puh-puh-up
d-d-d-dah-dad

We've heard some ma-mas and some da-das but not for the specific parent. I half expect her to say Yuki or Katy before Mommy, honestly. Those dogs continue to entertain her, and her them. Yuki, the slightly smaller, younger Newf is her BFF. Katy is interesting too, but not nearly, and I think isn't nearly so because she is more stand-offish. Big K is just harder to get to know!

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Best Bunny Ears Photo, So Far


This is the best I could do given the time; it was a tremendously busy week! What worked out... taking the dogs for a big walk, making them wear the ears, even if only for ten seconds at a time, repeatedly for the last couple of days — and dangling pancakes as a reward. They'll do a lot for a pancake! Making them tired first was the biggest help.