I’m dodging this blog like a phone call from a longtime friend. I’ll get back to you tomorrow is what I think with the friend and the blog, but tomorrow quickly devolves into at least three days. There’s so much to discuss its daunting. But it always feels good to get the latest news off your chest and into the world, so I’m here. It’s just that with this small hiatus, I’ve found myself stuck and unable to do justice to the beauty of what is unfolding before me, and then I turn into this tragic irony – an idle blogger with mounds of material. I’m trying to break that chain.
To be fair to me, we’ve been really busy – Cal went to his first Tomales, which happened to be a very memorable one. I’m going to dedicate an entire blog to our adventures there. We also picked blackberries along Scout’s creek the weekend before, for Nana’s birthday. And especially in the last few weeks, I’ve felt like a single parent with Shaun’s hard days and late nights at work, leaving me the sole evening and nighttime parent and only resident housekeeper (thank goodness from some outside help from our nanny). I can’t imagine doing it like this forever. I am grateful for our support systems. And finally, work has been busy and I’ve taken on a handful of new writing commitments to quiet that little voice in my head that says: write! So far so good.
Lately I’d say the theme to Cal’s evolution is boy on the move. Cal pounces on his prey, which is usually some form of kitchen utensil, without a speck of hesitation. From a sitting position, he lunges forward and ends up on all fours then grunts and whines with furious frustration at his inability to really get going. If you are sitting beside the little man, he uses you for climbing architecture. Cal becoming mobile will surely be a heralded day, but we are waiting on bated breaths for when he can sail across a room because then we’ll have to get off our butts ourselves.
In addition to his menu of breast milk (he has gone on a permanent strike from formula, which he’s only accepted a handful of times before), our little buggy eats regularly now, mnostly backyard squash and a little farmer’s market avocado. But his newfound food fetish is wonderfully spiced and beautifully tart tomato soup, as discovered by happenstance at Tomales. His Uncle Ry made a tasty soup to pair with our grilled cheese and, on a whim, Nanna Anna gave him a lick. He wanted like 20 more licks. We had to move him to basically prevent him from licking the bowl clean. I made him a soup yesterday from our Romas and Big Beefs that I hope he’ll enjoy one inch as much.
He was seven months old Sunday. This sounds way older to me than six, so I have to gather myself up a little because I’m already mourning Cal’s babyhood, which is far from over. And of course Cal seems like a toddler, tenacious and big for his age as he is. Now that he’s older, he doesn’t always smile when I do, and I have to be much cleverer to get him to laugh. Although, when he’s really tired he’ll laugh when you just stare blankly at him. Cal’s also way more absorbed with the world than my face (OK that was bound to happen) and is only happy with peek-a-boo for a few rounds. On the flipside, his awareness makes him sensitive to sounds and movement (he cries when I drop things or when the little dogs bark) and he still requests to be held most of the time, and knows who’s doing the holding. So although I’m not his whole world, I’m an integral stage hand, which works.
“Dada” is by far Cal’s favorite phrase. He says it as a song, a question, a statement, and a monologue. My favorite is when he whispers it into the breeze and you can barely hear him over the hum of life. You can tell the “dadadadadaaaaa” has different meanings depending on context and tone, but the two letters used is constant. To say the least, the resident dada likes this.
Cal definitely has teeth now. Two kernels on bottom – they look like little nubs of corn. He’ll only show you when he has the hugest most wonderful grin on display, which completely melts my heart like butter.
That’ll have to do for now.
Food Matters!
7 years ago
