Monkey See, Monkey Do

Blogger is Having Problems. Sorry About the Videos

For whatever reason, the good folks who host this blog can't seem to make videos work. Kind of lame, but it seems they're working on it.

In the meantime, trust us that the headbutt and Christmas morning videos are Golden Globe stuff.

I love the Head Butt!

I got a Flip camera for Xmas to document things like The First Christmas as Three

I am not sure why I am speaking in a semi-baby voice here. Maybe because it was such a sweet morning.

Hale's first rite of passage: The return to Group Health

In December, Hale has his final check-in with the occupational therapist at Group Health. Babies born early are automatically signed up with a therapist to make sure their fine and gross motor skills are progressing as they should be.

Hale was given a test where he had to do things like pick up a Cheerio, follow a red ball with his eyes, turn a page in a book, etc... He passed with flying colors and is pretty much right on track as a full-on 11 month old. In other words, his preemie-ness isn't much of a factor anymore.

Alhamdulillah! Scott and I feel so blessed. We were never given much reason to worry. Hale came early. He had to live at the hospital for awhile and it was hard, and wonderful and when we returned to visit the nurses, Scott and I were struck with such sweet feelings of nostalgia.

"Remember?" we said to one another as we got in the elevator to the Special Care Nursery.

"Remember?" we said as we smelled the familiar smell of the halls--as we peered through the window and saw the tiniest of tiny babies with bored, anxious moms beside them.

I think Hale was Remembering too. He remembered Nurse Nancy. His eyes lit up so big when he heard her voice and ours did too.

Hale taking a tour of this first home.

On a side note, we think Hale might be a good test taker. During his time with the occupational therapist, he got full points in the area of fine motor skills for turning the pages of a book.

We had really only seen him do this once or twice at home, and not very skillfully. We think he might have just been performing this trick because he knew it counted. Maybe this means he will do better on the SATs than I did.

Christmas as three: This year we got a tree

Scott and I have not gotten a Christmas tree for quite a few years. They have seemed impractical. Expensive. We only have 3 ornaments and one is a petrified blowfish.

But this year, we went to a farm and cut one down without thinking twice about it.

As my dad says often and emphatically, I think quoting from The Fiddler on the Roof, "TRADITION(S)!"

Apparently I care about them.

New Year's Resolution: To Post

I heard for the first time tonight the term "the iGeneration" --to describe the generation of teens out now. That is right, as in iPod, iTouch, iPhone etc.

I am from Generation X, I am pretty sure. The Winona Ryder generation--known for being lost--drowning in our vast sea of choices--frozen by our options, dying for someone to tell us what to do.

I think we are doing okay. (Well, Winona has seen the inside of a few lock ups for her stealing problem, but I hear she has a new TV show this season.)

I wonder what the title of Hale's generation will be called. I can just see him and his friends seeing an iSomething from 2010 and saying, "Oh. Ma. Gaaa, is that seriously a personal computer? It is so huge and it doesn't even teleport? Lame."

( Teleport, is that ever gonna really happen? That would be worth signing on with AT&T.)

Maybe Hale's generation will be a the first generation to have a tech backlash, and they will be called Generation A. And they will be known for doing everything Analog style. They will use those big chunky day timers and bookmarks and stationery.

This blog is Hale's baby book, pretty much, but it could be more than that. I have got to keep organizing all this documentation. It is important. Who knows what the future holds? If we have to send Hale off into space in his own crystal crusted pod like Superman, he'd better have a complete blog to download.

Just think if Jor-El, Superman's father from Krypton (played by Marlon Brando in the movie), hadn't kept all the info for Superman to discover? Clark Kent would have never known why he could run faster than a speeding train. How confusing, right? He would of ended up just another freak like David Copperfield, not a superhero.

History. Where we came from--The Power of the Myth-- Joseph Campbell and all that. It is so important.

This is why I am going to keep my...

New Year's Resolution #14: To Post to Hale's blog at least once a week

(Yikes, it is out there now. Better do it. )