catching up

Every time I think of something to write in here I dismiss it as "is that what comes next after a hiatus of several months?" And then I forget in about 5 minutes what it was I meant to write down.

Eliza has words. Many of them sound like dada. But she is understanding sentences and using them. With a sense of excitement and enthusiasm. She spits them out as she walks, usually carrying something stiff armed, shouting as if it's important that everyone know she has a baby in her hands. "Baby! Baby!" She very determinedly positions baby dolls in the stroller. She pulls pots and pans out of cabinets and carries them around.

On the subway two weeks ago to have Max's adenoids checked (they're coming out): Want cup. In the waiting room that same day, when a child was having a melt-down (about an hour and a half before Max's meltdown): Baby sad. Yesterday I said, "If you want to eat salami go sit in your high chair and Daddy will give it to you." (You talk this way to your children even when you're pretty convinced they're not going to understand. You talk this way to yourself if you're alone long enough. But she walked over to the high chair and put her arms up for Rick to put her in.

The talking comes partially from Rachel - She is primarily learning to speak the language of Rachel. For example, in our house, we say sippy. Max called it Fifi. Eliza is very excited these days to see dogs - a Rachel interest.

She is a fish - spending a lot of time in the last few hot days getting wet. Yesterday she was at first a little shy of the sprinkler at the playground, but after a few minutes she was walking under it as comfortably as if it were air. More fun, cooler air.

As I write these things, I'm glad to be getting them down but also interested in the fact that I feel like I could be describing any baby. There's this feeling I've always had of wanting to capture the things that aren't necessarily worth remembering, but are particularly unique - of valuing what's unique. A challenge, no? And also a disservice - because if you can find those things to record, great, but if you don't, you're forgetting to write down the actual things. Or maybe not- maybe the challenge is to see beyond the expected. Or through the expected. I think this is what TV - the ever present narrative - has done to me. It's trained me top spew cliche, but also made me aware of the cliche as I spew them such that occasionally I can find something different, but mostly I'm stunned by my lack of originality into silence. Silence? Well, OK, I've gone blog-silent.