"no one knows except the both of us / and i have only your request for silence"

[larryhammer]

A cold snap this morning: no frost pebbling the car roofs, but only because it's too dry to condense. The austerity of winter approaches, and TBD objects to this, at least at night: a blanket is Unacceptable and we're still figuring out what PJs doesn't cause overheating at bedtime and shivering at the mercury dip of 5am.

Words, words. TBD is working on this again: fourth word is dog, and we're working on cat and Totoro. This last is currently said only during the ending theme song for My Neighbor Totoro and comes out as "to-to-to" (or "to-to-to-to-to-to-to"), often accompanied with index-fingers-in-the-air gestures. TBD recently recognized a request to bring me a dustpan made without gestures: first puzzledly pointing me to where it's usually kept, in the corner next to me, and when I showed it was across the room (where it'd been left), TBD walked over and brought it to me.

Drawings are recognized, even very cartoony ones, with dogs, cats, and birds as beings of interest -- sometimes naming the dog. TBD claps hands after accomplishing a task that's been worked on, such as finally figuring out how to get a triangle or square through the shape-sorter. Books as complicated as Goodnight Moon can be sat through, if there's enough interest in the pictures. Other good toys right now are wooden blocks and Mega Bloks, especially if an adult plays with.

Bonus link on account of the cold: flyover of the frigid hydrocarbon lakes of Titan, based on Cassini radar data. (via)

---L.

Subject misquoted from "Hands Clean," Alanis Morissette.

Comments

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Totoro is the best movie ever!

[larryhammer]

It is!

We finally "fixed" the TV so that it now shows more than just Totoro -- every once in a while, we manage to tune in to the Kiki's Delivery Service channel.

---L.

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

I need a Kiki's channel!

[larryhammer]

As much as you need a Totoro channel? Confess, now.

---L.

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

Actually, I like Kiki better. It's so wrong of me. I'm reminded of this all the time, for everyone else adores Totoro more.

[larryhammer]

Totoro is squarely aimed at children between Mei and Satsuki's age, while Kiki is a coming of age story for tweens/teens and up. Nothing wrong with being an adult.

(Though I will say it wasn't till I'd seen it a half-dozen times in a row that I realized how tightly constructed Totoro is -- until then, it seemed entirely episodic.)

---L.

[kate_nepveu]

The kids took forever to believe in blankets at night, too; this is almost certainly because you're not supposed to use blankets in cribs any more and so they weren't used to it. Unfortunately we are able to keep the temperature in their rooms fairly constant so that doesn't help you much. But, sympathies!

(Sadly the Totoro blankets I am finding online are pretty expensive.)

[larryhammer]

She's currently sleeping in what is, in winter, always the coldest room in the house -- the furthest along the ducts from the furnace with bad insulation on the windows. We're seeing what we can do to hack that last, but actually replacing the single-pane windows with something more energy efficient has always been more expensive than we can take on (the entire back wall of the house is a picture window extending across three rooms, including this). Once she moves to her own room, it'll be better -- that's right next to the furnace -- but that likely won't be this season.

(They are! So are actual Totoros, but at least we already have one.)

---L.

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

Is that sticky stuff you put on windows in lieu of double glazing affordable, or have you already got it? Would it help enough? (I'm thinking about it to summer-proof my windows, for it's going to be a bad season, but then I ran out of money. One of those years for too many of us!)

[larryhammer]

The neighborhood department store didn't have it, and we haven't had a chance to range further afield to the closest large hardware store.

I'm also seeing if I can close or block off some of the vents, to force more of the air into the back of the house.

---L.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

They still make trundle bundles, right? I zipped my kids into those, as neither would tolerate covers for years and years.

[larryhammer]

That's what she's wearing now. We need to get a couple with thicker/warmer fabric, though (and presumably adjust the zipper as needed?).

---L.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Yes--they make some sturdy ones. Those will keep kids toasty even when they kick off covers. My kids both slept in them until they were about eight years old.

On real cold nights, they wore pajamas inside. They looked like little sausages, but were cozy. Cool nights, the trundle bundle was sufficient. The best thing is those feet in--nobody gets cold feet.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

I had to look up "trundle bundle." I figured something with a zipper but I didn't know if you meant an envelope or a suit. Looks like what we used to call Dr. Dentons. Do they still have drop seats?

Nine

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Nope. Basically these are really sturdy PJs that zip up the front, with feet in.

[larryhammer]

We call them feety-pajamas or bodysuits, for lack of a better name.

---L.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

My kids called them baggies.

[larryhammer]

Heh.

[larryhammer]

Last night she wore a pair of oversized fleece PJ bottoms over the bodysuit, plus a onesy underneath up top -- looked a bit silly, but she was comfy through the night, as far as we could tell.

---L.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

I love her joy in exploration and accomplishment. May she keep that always.

Nine

[larryhammer]

We hope to keep cultivating it.

---L.

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

:D

[larryhammer]

Which part?

---L.

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

Book and toy expansion, and sense of stability (dustpan is usually here requires a sense of "usually") permitting sense of discovery.

[larryhammer]

Yes, about stability. I was so focused on the English understanding it all involved to notice that till later.

---L.

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

Another friend is in the process of gaining legal guardianship for a young relative, a medium-sized child (bit older than mine) who was abused by the blood parent with whom the child previously resided. In the occasional notes and updates, the child's ability to register personal stability really seems to be the grounds for everything--acting out and yelling, yet also feeling joy or satisfaction. I mean, children learn as they can, under whichever circumstances, but it seems that TBD is feeling comfortable enough to branch out.

That's the expansion of ":D" that I'd have typed first time around had I had the time that day....

[larryhammer]

TBD is coming along amazingly well. Still reserved in public, but comfortable enough to, e.g., wander around the restaurant after she has finished eating and is getting bored.

:-( about that young relative.

---L.