In domestic news Dr. Mrs. Dr. F. Jr. (DMDFII) keeps gaining weight, but so far we have let it slide. Probably just an emotional phase that she needs to work through.
Find below video proof of her two new endearing habits. First, a genuinely awesome development: for some reason DMDFII has cut down quite a bit on her shrieking. Now when she feels disapproving DMDFII presses her lips together and makes farty noises. I think in all sincerity that nothing could increase our quality of life to a similar degree short of her sleeping through the night, or possibly photosynthesizing. Dr. Mrs. Dr. F. inexplicably does not support this and keeps insisting that DMDFII might have learned it from me. As if I would apologize even if that were true.
Second, and not quite as awesome, DMDFII has mastered an escape maneuver from her carseat, boppy or bouncer where she suddenly arches her back from heels to the back of her head and propels herself over whichever side has a longer fall. You can see her try this move several times in the video below. We understand a little better why bouncers and changing tables come with a seatbelt.
Max shows up around halfway through looking for table scraps.
dp
Babies are awesome (for people younger than me!).
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
Verily twee. Thanks.
ETA: Probably should have said squee. Super cute. Love it.
Yatsuno
Maxpuppeh sez: Y U NO FEED ME???
Mon Dieu she’s adorbs.
Pogonip
You think you got problems now, wait till she learns how to crawl. You won’t believe how fast she’ll be able to move.
Schlemizel
Our oldest pulled that ‘arch your back & fly out of the car seat’ trick for the first time when we had his car seat on the kitchen table and had not strapped him in yet. We assumed we had just killed out baby & were panic stricken. He cried for a bit (we did have very cushy carpet thank pasta) but it is something we were very aware of after that & even warned him about when he had his own kids.
WaterGIrl
Yay on the no shrieking! And very cute baby. Smart, too, wonder where she gets it?
It’s been a stressful day, and I didn’t quite realize how wound up I’ve been until I saw Max’s regal front legs come into view, and I felt myself completely relax. Apparently even a partial-Max sighting has a calming effect on me. :-)
beth
Baybeee footie peeyamas!!!! It’s been so long since I had a little one around here. They’re so precious.
danielx
Cute, yes…but what inquiring minds want to know is whether she’s managed to get her diaper off while in her crib. While said diaper is loaded with a Fukushima-type load – you know, that glows in the dark.
“O my gawd, it’s ON THE WALLS!”
Good times.
BGinCHI
So cute. Cute cute cute.
Also, cute.
Ash Can
Lulz! I recall that, back in the day, it was considerably more difficult to change Bottle Rocket’s diaper when I didn’t have a second person in the room, to provide entertainment. Pictures, mobiles, toys etc. didn’t cut it. It had to be real-time interaction, or else the kid wanted to be Somewhere Else, Right Fucking NOW, and didn’t care if the people in the next county knew it.
aimai
That hair is impossible! Absolutely impossible. How did you get her to grow that teeny tiny mohawk?
Big R
Seen in the NoiseMax headlines:
“Dick Morris: Boehner Eats His Young.”
And I find myself thinking, “You are one to talk, sir.”
Comrade Mary
Totally adorable! But should we start a pool now on what sport she’ll turn out to be a total superheroine at by the time she’s in high school? Put me down for wrestling, or maybe gymnastics. I bet she has some awesome Iron Crosses in her future.
FlyingToaster
@Ash Can: We put an acrylic mirror right next to the changing table so Warrior
BabyGirl could amuse herself. It became one of the few places she didn’t actively try to fling herself from.That’s now her “comb my hair” mirror.
SiubhanDuinne
Jeez. I keep saying I don’t even like babies that much, and then I go and fall totally in love with BJ babies (RedKitten’s two, Cole’s godson, DMDFII, and the rest) and end up just besotted.
What a cutie-patootie she is.
Also, too, MAXPUPPEH LEGZ!
Tommy
@SiubhanDuinne: Amen. I don’t have any children myself and used to say I hated kids/infants. Then my brother had one and for the first time spent I a lot of time around an infant. Became a huge fan. What blew my mind what how much was going on in that little head of hers.
Maybe at the top of the list, before she could speak, her daycare taught her a few signs (sign language). She understood the concept of “thank you” and “please” before she could say those words.
NotMax
In line with previous thread, a properly dotty compilation of Peter O’Toole scenes from a P.G. Wodehouse vehicle.
Guarantee a smile.
Yatsuno
@SiubhanDuinne: Thread will need moar Maxpuppeh. Also. Too.
@efgoldman: Embouchure embouchure embouchure. Yes tubas need one too. Interestingly enough the best thing I ever did for mine is take up a double reed.
And yes, she WILL be a tuba chick.
Hill Dweller
Joan Fontaine has passed away.
geg6
Although I am not very besotted by children, I really like babies. And she’s a keeper, Tim. I like them right up until they hit school age and then I’m not too interested in them until they’re teenagers. It’s why I never had any of my own. But I’m the coolest aunt ever.
satby
Adorable.
Watch out for that flip maneuver, though. My ex didn’t believe me when I told him to keep the bouncer on the floor, not on the kitchen counter and my son flipped himself, seat and all, to the very hard floor. We ended up in the ER and his tiny jaw was so sore he had a hard time nursing for a few days. I wanted to kill his father. No long term damage though, kid’s 31 and fine today.
Citizen_X
Kid’s sporting a nice mohawk! Looks like she’s adapted pretty well to Max, too.
@Comrade Mary:
She’s going to join the German Army?
gogol's wife
I love this video. The baby is so cute, and then Max’s legs add just the right surreal touch.
@Hill Dweller:
There better be a thread for her (although I’m going to bed). She was in some of the best movies evah. Constant Nymph is her best performance, followed by Suspicion.
spudgun
Okay, the raspberry-blowing is killing me with the cuteness…
madmommy
She is adorable! My oldest was a champion flipper and climber-managed to get himself out of his crib and onto the floor once and I still can’t figure out how he did it. Today we got the results from his honor band audition on Saturday. He made 2nd chair tenor sax! When I told him he said “Cool! I’m the worst of the best!”
Tommy
@Citizen_X: Max is wonderful in that video. My brother and his wife were not so sure how an infant and an 85 pound dog would work, Funny thing perfectly. Didn’t have to worry for a second. Seemed the dog knew Katie was this little thing and played nice with her. In fact protected her.
Central Planning
That’s one cute baby.
We had 5, probably because they are cute at that age. And, it’s fun making them
We taught all of our kids sign language. It was fantastic – I think “more” and “eat” were the ones they used the most.
And for sleeping through the night, Mrs. CP was up and breastfeeding every two hours. It was like clockwork. With each kid. Good thing she didn’t have to go to work :)
beth
@gogol’s wife: As a kid watching Rebecca I always wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her. My sister would yell at the screen “show some spine woman!”. It wasn’t till years later I realized she was just a good actor and not a spineless simp.
scav
Alert and figuring ways to blow this popstand already! Synchronize those bounces with a little more heft to her and she’ll be able to start hopping to places, with a little extra propulsion from the farty puffs.
PhoenixRising
@beth: My kid is currently eating a bowl of posole while wearing the size XL footie PJs. They’re the best thing for growing teens who need to get back out of bed to eat another meal.
My sympathies for the fishtailing, Tim. My baby pulled that one, when we’d known her several weeks, off the bed onto the hotel room tile floor. This incident, in addition to scaring both new parents witless, resulted in the dumbest thing I’ve done so far.
No matter what seems to be happening if you fly in the next few days, she doesn’t have brain damage, so don’t wake her up if she falls asleep on takeoff.
Tommy
@Central Planning: Is the sign language thing new? I mentioned my niece (I have no kids) was taught it in day care. I just guess I thought a little kid just eat and shit. When she could say “please” or “more” I realized there was complex thoughts going on in her little head. Made me like kids a little more.
She is four now. I am close with her. I like to joke that my favorite video game on my phone/tablet, well she turned me on to it. Heck at Thanksgiving we were playing it and all the adults in the room (which I am one) were like how is this possible?
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Hill Dweller:
As noted in the thread below, her older sister, Olivia de Havilland, is still alive, if you can believe that.
My favorite Fontaine movie is “Letter from an Unknown Woman,” which is finally available as a Critereon DVD.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Australia’s up by 465 runs before lunch on Day 4 of the Perth test. It’s now just a waiting game for Clarke to declare and send England in for the execution.
Debbie(aussie)
She is most definitely a keeper, Tim. Too cute!
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@geg6:
I’m not a big fan of babies, but kids love me. I think it’s because I try to listen to them and have a conversation, even if it’s about “Blue’s Clues.”
On the communication front, it took my nephew a long time to talk (vocal older sister + Asperger’s), but when he wanted to watch “Blue’s Clues,” he would pick up his Handy Notebook and sit in his Thinking Chair and that was supposed to be our signal to turn it on.
Yatsuno
Dome of the Rock. In snow. Yes it’s fecking gawjuss dammit!
Tara the Antisocial Social Worker
Illegal quantities of cute.
Our kid was 14 when we got her, so we kinda missed this phase.
SiubhanDuinne
@Tommy:
That makes me very happy.
esc
My son, code name Wiggles, managed to roll over when he was three days old, scaring this shit out of the nurse who was prepping him for a lumbar puncture at the time. He also managed to bend the frame on his bouncer trying to escape from it. He is still on the move almost 14 months later, with all the bumps and bruises to prove it. I miss being able to strap him into things.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yatsuno: Wow, those pictures are beautiful. By far my most favouritest building in Jerusalem, and it is stunning in the snow.
I saw pix a couple of days ago of pyramids and camels all covered in snow. Xtreme Weather iz photogenic.
Dead Ernest
I KNOW, and couldn’t agree more – however, the last time I employed this clear & useful expression at a medical staff meeting, the hospital administrator I was trying to communicate with, didn’t seem to either, understand, or think it was charming.
Best keep her away from them. I suspect some serious antibodies need to develop before their type is even moderately safe to be around.
She is Most charming.
Good for all y’all.
Dead Ernest
I KNOW, and couldn’t agree more …however, the last time I employed this clear & useful expression at a medical staff meeting, the hospital administrator I was trying to communicate with, didn’t seem to either, understand, or think it was as clearly understandable as you & I know it was.
Best keep her away from them. I suspect some serious antibodies need to develop before their type is even moderately safe to be around.
She is Most charming.
Good for all y’all.
burnspbesq
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
Bailey’s 28-run over was one to quit on. England needs 504 to win. Not happening.
ETA: Apparently, Baileys 28 runs in a single over ties an all-time Test cricket record, held by the legendary Brian Lara.
Dead Ernest
And farty sound to you too WP.
You wouldn’t publish the 1st edition, I eliminated the hyphen… And now I can’t delete either of them.
PFfffttttt!
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Also, too, we saw “Saving Mr. Banks” today, and it was pretty good. Emma Thompson was great, Tom Hanks was plausible though not perfect, and Colin Farrell almost makes me angry when he shows he really can act when he feels like it.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
And Alistair Cook is out on the first ball of England’s second innings. This sucker is over.
Nutella
Those eyes!
You can just see that she’s thinking and working it out in her head about how things work – her body, the bouncy chair. And planning for future escapes.
Belafon
@Tommy: Caramel, our 35ish pound dog, treated our oldest two as siblings. When our youngest boy was born, Caramel became his other mother. She would run to him when he was crying, and would let him crawl all over her.
ranchandsyrup
Awesome, Tim. She may be too big for the seat. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@Tommy:
What all my grand babies learned was the sign for “more”. I knew with the first one we were in trouble.
Ruckus
What are you going to do when she learns to make that noise with her armpits?
Think she’ll be as adorable then?
Jane2
That baby is absolutely adorable!!
Ruckus
@Tommy:
Used to say that I didn’t want to inflict myself upon kids. Thought that my upbringing was bad enough didn’t want anyone else to suffer from it. Had younger cousins and changed many of their diapers and all that so really wasn’t looking forward to kids. Then met a lady with a very young daughter. Was I ever wrong. Yes it’s hard work, yes it’s tiring work. But it’s worth every minute. Of course mom and I didn’t work out. But even being a step dad of sorts for a few years….
xenos
@ranchandsyrup: Soon. They outgrow those amazing bouncy seats in about four weeks. We had five kids and the damn ting is still was good as new, but we had to throw it out as it was too old for the Goodwill to accept it.
The exersaucer got a lot more use.
Origuy
Little girl shrill shreking is the sound demons in Hell make when mating.
Violet
So cute.
YellowJournalism
I think my heart just went “Awww” at the cuteness.
Central Planning
@Tommy:
Well, our oldest is almost 17 so it’s been around that long. My wife and I (both hearing) worked at NTID, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, here in Rochester. I’m sure my wife read about teaching sign to babies in one of the parenting books she had.
But when you think about it, babies have the motor control for basic signs before they have language (in words that we can understand). My daughter made cooing sounds and vocalizations since she was born. So far she tends to be the artist and author of the bunch.
I also like sticking my tongue out at babies in stores. Mostly when their parents aren’t looking. Every once in a while I get one that mimics it :) My only hope is they continue to do that after they’re gone.
Finally, the University of Rochester Medical Center has volunteers that come and sit/hold/snuggle with premies if parents can’t be at the hospital. I’m trying to convince my wife to do that (she would love it… I probably would too) but she has this weird sense of loyalty to her current job :(
IowaOldLady
What a sweetie.
When my son was a baby, sleep was to me what I imagine sex is to a 16-year-old boy. I thought about it all the time. I wondered what it would feel like. I plotted how I could get some.
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
That kid sure can make hands look tasty. Now I’m hungry.
matt
This video makes me sad. That baby should be on a flat surface, learning to move herself.
She’s clearly trying to escape.
See also
http://www.janetlansbury.com/2009/09/set-me-free/