Personality Goes a Long Way

Penny turned 11 months old a week ago, and mom and dad are still coming to terms with the realization that she’s been with us for almost a year. It’s hard to imagine that in June 2006, we lazed in front of the TV, mom hugely pregnant on the couch and dad chillin’ on the floor, watching World Cup games. We had NO IDEA what our lives would become and could scarcely conceive Penny’s face, her ears, her arms and legs, and most of all, her personality.

Except when teething, she is a lot of fun these days. She mimics like a monkey and babbles like a brook. She sprints (well, sprint-crawls) for the dishwasher when mom or dad opens its door and likes to stand wherever there’s a crib bar, baby gate, coffee table, cabinet, chair.... And when she’s playing or eating—it’s often hard to distinguish between the two—she assumes one of three personalities that mom and dad like to call little monster, little bear and little prospector.

Little monster

Little monster Penny appears most often on Saturday or Sunday mornings when mom or dad has gone to grab little Penny from her crib and bring her to the big bed so mom and dad can stay in a reclined posture for that much longer. Little monster Penny likes to crawl from head to foot of the bed, trampling over all in her path (to include blankets, pillows and dogs), working up to her knees, and then shaking the bed frame while crying out, “RAAAAHHHHHH!” Now that she has a single, sharp tooth protruding from her bottom gum, the little monster roar is that much more impressive.

Little bear

Little bear Penny often emerges during mealtime. When presented with finger food, Penny likes to shove a few (or ten) pieces in her mouth and then swat at the remaining pieces on her tray…as if she is a big grizzly bear, waiting for a trout to come within her grasp, she swats at the food, proud of her kill. She also often smacks her food two or three times in a playful way to make sure it’s dead before eating it. This behavior could also be described as little kitty Penny.

Little prospector

Little prospector Penny is our favorite personality. When Penny is playing on the floor, like many children she crawls from toy to toy, as one becomes more interesting than the next. Each time Penny discovers a new toy, she turns it over in her hands two or three times and then gives it a good chomp. Is she checking for purity?

We were going to dress Penny up as a nickel for Halloween this year, but now we’re thinking that a little beard, a plaid shirt, a weather-worn hat, and a sifting pan would look just great!

Baby on Board

Remember back in the day, when the model Volvo you drove marked your status as a new parent? And, of course, your safety concerns were punctuated with a little yellow diamond proclaiming, “Baby on Board!”

These days, status is determined not only by choice of car, but also by choice of stroller. The next time you are in a target rich environment, like a shopping mall, notice the sideways glances new parents cast to see what make and model of stroller others are pushing. The top contenders: Bugaboo ($700-900), Maclaren ($300-400), and Peg Perego ($200-300). The A-types among us will even scoff if they see you with an Evenflo or, horrors, a Graco (although, the new ultralightweight and portable Graco system has recently been spotted hobnobbing with the hoity-toity!).

We’ve fallen into the trap ourselves: on a recent outing we pushed Penny around in a borrowed, late model American-made behemoth with cup holders for days. The white molded plastic looked dingy, and the dark blue pen striped fabric didn’t even match her outfit! We had to chuckle at a few of our fellow, snobby new parents who briefly looked down their noses at the unfashionable thing.

Which brings us to our own confession of snobbishness. The stroller we plop Penny in is so elite it’s not even available for purchase in the United States! That’s right, it’s an imported Quinny Zapp, which, when collapsed, is the smallest stroller on the market (perfect for the boot of a Mini). Dad picked it up in Montreal while on business and smuggled the contraband south of the border.

The Zapp throws a wrench in the pecking order. Since nobody knows what it is, how do you know its relative level of elitism? Where does it fall in relation to the big boys?

With luck, our relative coolness is enhanced by the Zapp’s novelty. After all, what better way to build our bourgeois, yuppy street cred than to have discovered the next big thing in infant/toddler, non-motorized, parent-propelled transportation! That's how we roll.