A few more from Beatrice

Today was a prime day for Beatrice quotes:

1. Beatrice is a little afraid of garbage trucks.  She watched in nervous silence as one passed our house today; then when it was gone she turned to me and said, "Mommy, you silly goose, a truck doesn't have a mouth, it can't bite you!"

2. On the subject of careers, Beatrice said, "When we grow up, Arthur is going to be a pilot and I am going to be a horse."

3. I told Beatrice that her grandparents Nana and Nani were coming tomorrow.  "I'm excited!" she said.  Then, "And I won't scratch them!"  Um, good, I guess?

All day long she has also insisted on being called "Peedie," after a character in one of her favorite books.  She calls me "Mama Goose," after the name of Peedie's mother in the book.

Well, this is a little hard to explain,

"It is your birthday."

but here goes.

On Friday, I threw Dev a birthday party.

With help from Travis, Aubrey, and Zac, I planned a party whose theme was The Simulacra, or as Aubrey so eloquently put it, "a hollow, ersatz version of a birthday party." Basically, replacing conventional party elements with abstract signifiers of those elements, and the resultant dissolution of the implicit connection between signifier and signified.

A good way to consider it is to imagine, as Aubrey said, "It's the post-apocalypse and we've decided to throw a birthday party, but all we have is some vague half-memories of what birthdays even are and some torn out pages from a party supply catalogue. So we cobble together this cruel caricature of a birthday party using the limited supplies we have and shuffle around amidst the smoldering ruins."

So, what does this mean? I was trying to create a party that felt simultaneously boring and menacing.

First, I posted an ad on Craigslist seeking actors to play the parts of Dev's absent friends. Four actors attended the party, representing Travis, Aubrey, Sam, and Monty. The presence of total strangers at a small gathering created a nice undercurrent of awkwardness and tension.

"Monty"

"Aubrey"

"Travis"

The party was held in the L.A. River (a fake river).

The party was held in total silence, strictly observed - everyone (except the actors) was wearing headphones and listening to the same prerecorded audio file of sounds and instructions. You can find the recording here. The party began with 17 minutes of no activity, just silently standing and listening to the recording. This did a good job of putting people on edge.

Everyone wore matching white jumpsuits, name tags, and temporary tattoos with the number 33.

Decorations included translucent balloons, translucent streamers, and flat facades of traditional birthday party elements like decorations, presents, and a cake.

Refreshments were water, pure grain alcohol, and cake and ice cream served in pill form.

Making the cake pills

Cake pills

Ice cream pills

The bar. Choices are blends of Everclear and water labelled as 0%, 5%, 10%, 50%, or 100% and served in the appropriate glass for each concentration (tumblers, beer glasses, wine glasses, martini glasses, or shot glasses, all made of translucent plastic).

Dev received four gifts: three empty boxes and one containing a tie he already owned.
We enjoyed some classic party games like Musical Chairs, Spin the Bottle, Twister, and Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

"Twister" where every circle has been painted a uniform shade of gray.

Playing Spin the Bottle with a bottle that has been glued to the ground and cannot spin.

Waiting in line to Pin the Tail on the Donkey: no one is blindfolded.

A large photo of a donkey's tail, into which people placed clear pushpins

"Now is the time to destroy the pinata."

The pinata was a featureless gray sphere, totally empty.

Happy Birthday, Dev!

Instagram photos courtesy of J. Ryan.

Arthur, Month Eleven

Month Eleven was a slow one for Arthur. Much like his sister at around the same age, Arthur seems to have temporarily stalled out on his walking. He can stand unsupported and take two or three quick steps, but that's about it, and every day he repeats that same experiment again and again without any new progress.

Likewise, he has added a few new words, but mostly repeats his regular favorites - he can now say "hi," "mama," "Arthur," "baby," "duck," "dog," and "airplane," but mostly he just points at everything that interests him and shouts "dada!"
He continues to love airplanes - even when he is indoors and hears one fly by he points to the sky and shouts "airplane!" - and birds. He also still really likes tablecloths - I bought a new one and he noticed it right away.

Arthur watching an airplane

But if not much happened on the developmental front, this month did give us more glimpses into Arthur's personality. As we've mentioned many times already, Arthur is extremely friendly and outgoing, and seems driven by a need to capture the attention of everyone in a room. He also tries to share whatever toys and snacks he has with others (often by placing a piece of food directly into someone else's mouth). He's also obedient, and almost always listens when you tell him "no" or "come here."

Arthur discovers a pebble he wants to eat

Arthur considers me telling him "no"

He's also extremely affectionate, loving, and excitable - it's almost heartbreaking to see how happy stuffed animals make him, as soon as you give him one he goes into paroxyms of delight, laughing and cradling it and kissing its face. Far and away his favorite is the rabbit that he sleeps with every night, chewing on its ears or rubbing it gently against his cheek.

He's quite emotional, though, and not all those emotions are happy. Whereas Beatrice was always on a pretty even keel as a baby (and still is now, at least by toddler standards) Arthur swings quickly from delight to outrage, and small setbacks leave him beside himself. Which is all a long-winded way of saying he cries a lot.

Even as an infant, Beatrice was always a real trooper - she'd fall down on the playground and jump right back up again, get sick and not even slow down - but Arthur responds to illnesses and accidents like the world is ending. All this month he had a runny nose and he didn't exactly shake it off. At one point he was so upset over a minor cold that I took him to the doctor, sure that he must have a more serious underlying medical problem. "Nope," the doctor said, "it's a cold. He's just really upset about it."

Happily Arthur is so cute, loving, and charming when things are going well it's easy to forgive the way he acts when he stubs his toe or drops a cookie.

Next month promises to be an exciting one, as Arthur starts swimming lessons and a music class, visits with his grandparents Naresh and Suzan, and prepares for his first birthday! And finally learns to walk?

A New Resident

A mourning dove has set up a nest in our backyard.

Beatrice is very excited, as you can imagine, and goes to check on the bird every afternoon. She was also inspired to turn the teepee in her room into an elaborate "nest."
The dove's mate hangs out with her much of the day, walking back and forth along the rooftop.

Not quite as exotic as the owl that lives in Mina and James' backyard, but still pretty cool.