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October 19, 2007
Movie: Felix the Cat
This shows his increasing focus and ability to play games. We plan to give him a little more time with the bat-the-colored-cup-around game and then we'll start bridge lessons. Get that cup!
Posted by talia at 7:37 PM
Movie: Fish For Felix
We keep a very careful list of FM's new foods and introduce them according to a strictly spaced schedule, the idea being that if he is allergic to something we will be able to identify the culprit right away. Yes, we keep the list, but a certain amount of off-list activity does take place. The reality is if you're out somewhere and he is hungry (or, like as not, realizes you are eating and he isn't) he is probably going to get a bit of whatever you're having. And since stuffing bits of things into his face is so gratifying, chances are he'll get some more bits after that. That accounts for introducing him to fried fish (fresh, we swear) and french fries (a different occasion) at such a tender age. I do regret exposing him to that music, but there was nowhere else to sit. One day he will forgive me, unless, of course he turns out to be allergic to dueling accordions.
Posted by talia at 3:34 PM
Movie: Felix Loves Felix
We love Felix, his grandparents and other relatives love Felix, his babysitter loves Felix, Johannes loves Felix, the Noordermarkt loves Felix, Japanese tourists love Felix, but most of all I think Felix loves Felix. Or maybe just Felix loves the oven.
Posted by talia at 2:36 PM
Movie: Ba Na Na
Felix's early encounters with bananas were not promising. Why, he seemed to say, are you putting this in my mouth? Pleasant enough, but being naturally slimy banana pieces were especially quick to slide out...that is, before he learned they could be swallowed. Now there is no escape for his prey, and little enough pause between one bite and the next.
This movie also provides evidence of a nice range of new tricks, for example the lip flip thing he now does a lot. Flip flip flip goes the lip. And that huffa huffa sound he makes. Careful, boy, your face may freeze like that!
Posted by talia at 12:33 PM
Movie: Ricecake
The first in a no doubt long series of Felix-eating-stuff films. Perhaps not the best one to start with though, it's not exactly action packed (unlike the forthcoming Ba na na epic), but he just so looks like a squirrel, it's adorable. Less adorable is the fact that inevitably bits of ricecake end up stuck to his various parts and thereby migrate, like so many fleas, to the furniture and rug and bathtub, where they assume new and horrible forms. So consider it a horror movie sans dénouement.
Posted by talia at 12:29 PM
September 19 - October 19
Dear Mr. Tooth, I mean, Dear Felix Milo,
That's right! you have a tooth. One single barely visible highly audible tooth. Huh? Wha? I was oh so busy at work when it happened and I confess to the great joy I felt all over when your father rang me with the news. Yes, and well, you've take to crouching down along any of the wood edges around the house and scraping alongside it as though your were building a dam to heal yourself of I guess the pain and discomfort that causes you..
With this new tooth there are big responsibilities. Responsibilities involving spoons and bibs! Yes, Felix Milo, you have finally agreed to eat. Actually allow food to go past your tongue and into your belly. You've come around so well and so all of the a sudden on this point. For a solid and relentless month and half we tried to feed you daily. Until one day you heartily and most greedily accepted the banana bit off my finger. You went on to consume pots full of cooked apples, rice porridge, avocado, rice cakes, beets, turnips, potatoes.
With no small amount of humor I went to buy you a teeny tiny tooth brush on the recommendation of the nurse at the Baby Clinic. And while not even a millimeter tall we started to brush your witsy bitsy tooth after your last bottle.
Responsibilities involving extra frequent diaper changes! I'm fairly sure it's neither this new tooth nor the loads of varnish you've scraped up that has caused the, how can I put this delicately, the marked change in your diaper. And speaking of diaper changes, how about staying a bit more still during the process. You've taken to doing Extreme Yoga while i desperately chase you around the house to wipe you little tushie.
While I hardly feel like we are on easy street considering how you've turned the Most Excellent Sleeper, that would be me, into one who barely gets more than 4 hours in a row, you are each day a bit more fun, a lot more adorable, and a better beat boxer than the day before. You are so good at beat boxing that I suggest you take one of your too small hats and collect some money in the park with those mad musical skills of yours.
I've tried to teach you a few things this month, most notably how to be gentle. You've take as well to that as you have to the sippy cup, which is to say, not at all. I try to take the fists full of hair and to show you how to pat my head. I guess it serves me right considering all the boogers i try to pluck out of your nose (i'm obsessed,sorry). I try to raise my voice, but seems that just makes you laugh. No..Let Go...Stop That...You are hurting me...you turn and smile and sometimes dare even to laugh as I'm being serious. All I ask is that you pull my hair gently, poke out my eyes gently, eat my chin without so much tooth scraping. Felix, I'm being serious. No rainbow suspenders, no watermelon into the crowd, I'm not Gallegher, I'm Serious. Stop laughing because then I laugh and then No becomes something cute. No is not cute.
You understand, right?
Love, Mama
Posted by talia at 5:58 AM
October 14, 2007
A Sunny Sunday
It was a sunny and warm day in Amsterdam so we decided to pack a lunch and head to the goat farm in the forest. We are most pleased the Felix likes to chill out as much as we do!
Posted by talia at 7:27 PM
October 7, 2007
Movie: Small but not defenseless
As some of you may recall, I used to have a horror of baby drool. One gets over such phobias quickly, but watching this movie brings it all back.
The worst is when he gives you the old one-two-three: a couple of fingers up your nose, another hand clenched in your hair, mouth on the ear, copious saliva stream entering your aural canal.... I still have nightmares. As you can see, Talia is less easily perturbed by these things, but even she has her limits.
Posted by atshuldiner at 10:16 PM
October 4, 2007
Movie: Too clever by half
Parenting is so bittersweet, or perhaps funirritating is what I mean. You are always happy and often entertained to see your child figure something out that previously would have puzzled him (or, as likely, would not even have been remarked upon as a potential puzzle)...and then seconds later you are annoyed as he puts his new-found knowledge to use for EVIL.
This movie also illustrates well Felix's increased focus: now, when he wants something, it is not so easy to divert his attention. This is an important step as it forces him to figure things out. Unfortunately, it also means that he constantly returns to any puzzle he has not been allowed to finish, for example, opening all the drawers in the Japanese cabinet in the dining room. He learned that the metal handles can be used to open the drawers. Foolishly, I had hoped we could teach him right from wrong before he figured out this chest of treasures.
Posted by atshuldiner at 7:32 PM | Comments (1)
October 1, 2007
Movie: A Tooth Unrevealed
OK, a bit anticlimactic for you, dear viewer, but for us a simply enormous thrill. Why this milestone more than many others? I guess because we've waited so long for it--we thought he was seriously teething for more than two months now--and because while it is in reality a gradual process, from the outside it seems sudden: no teeth, then one day BOOM there it is. Also exciting--though we should try not to get our hopes up--is the possibility that this explains his frequent waking the past several nights.
Posted by atshuldiner at 9:07 PM | Comments (1)