Lawrence Park

The about-to-be-new-parent can’t help but visualize what the new baby is going to look like and how she’s going to act. There are often explicit images that dance before your eyes of faces and actions. Somehow we extrapolate these images into an overall idea of what the child will be like.

As any seasoned parent knows, these images only rarely intersect with reality or it takes awhile for the baby to grow into the image (e.g. one of us kind of skipped the Baby Penny stage in the imagination, choosing instead to visualize Toddler Penny).

Now this is not to say that this is disappointing. On the contrary, it’s fun to see how our dreams of Penny are shaping into the reality. It’s just that before the arrival, no parent visualizes Poopy-Diaper Penny or Target-Vomiting Baby.

The new parent trudges through these stages, eventually arriving at an intersection of dream and reality. And these few occasions are enough – much like that rare but perfect golf stroke or perfect bowling game – to keep you dreaming about the future.

We were lucky to have had such an intersection last weekend, when the weather and state of the yard permitted us to go out back for a picnic. Pictured above, the scene was reminiscent of an English Romance novel (more Jane Austen than Emily Bronte). Penny—clad in a cheerful floral print skirt and floppy pink hat—enjoyed playing on the grass as the wind gently blew apple blossoms to the ground. Newman playfully chased birds and squirrels, pausing to rest occasionally in the herb garden. And mom and dad stretched out on a blanket under the warm sun, listening to baby chatter and coo.

Next point on the Imagine-Penny Timeline: pigtails.

Just Like Her Brother

In 2001 when we adopted Newman from the SPCA, we stocked up on food, prepared his sleep area and bought him some great new toys. He was with us for about a week before we learned that his favorite toy was an empty plastic water bottle. He loved the crunchy sound it made when he chewed the bottle’s round middle, and he had fun chasing it around the room when it slipped out of his jaws. He gnawed and gnawed on the cap until, triumphantly, he removed it from the bottle’s neck.

So imagine our surprise (you know where this is leading) when one recent afternoon Penny was playing on her tummy and saw a (clean!) empty water bottle across the floor. Never before has our little girl been so determined to propel herself forward. She reached towards the bottle with resolve, and with mom and dad’s help, she got her little butt forward and grabbed the bottle...and she started chewing on the cap.

As it turns out, this isn’t her “brother’s” only trait she’s mimicking. She’s enamored with her fluffy pal, and likes to watch him bark. She’s even started to make her own little “woof-woof” noise, sounding something like, “uhh-uhh.”

We’ve even had a major communication breakthrough regarding the canis lupus familiaris. During Easter weekend, we asked Penny, “Where’s the dog?” Held aloft by a parent, she looked toward the ground and searched for a four-legged friend.

What is/was your child’s favorite toy…really?
	Any kind of paper, especially tissue or wrapping paper
	The cordless phone or my cell phone
	The remote control
	Anything I'm holding
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