so... i have been told i can no longer write on my own blog because my husband does such a fantastic job! however, i have a few things to say...
no one tells you that being a mom (or i am sure a parent for that matter) is going to hurt so bad. i hurt with worry. all the time. it's been a good lesson, again, in learning that i am not in control, but God is. and, i can't change a thing by worrying. nor will i add an hour to my life. i have to let it go and let God be in control... such a constant battle. the awesome thing is that He loves my baby more than i do (and that's pretty hard to imagine). thankfully, david worries a little less than i do and can calm me down. but, i worry that she's not eating enough... then that she is eating too often. and now she has a cold... so i feel bad and hate hearing her snuffle. i worry that i have let too many people see her... but i know it builds her immune system. all that to say, i love being a mom and can't believe that this little girl now depends on us for EVERYTHING! what an amazing responsibility! thanks mom and dad (and mom and dad haile) for the way that you raised us, and all the worrying that you did and continue to do! thanks for all the prayers... keep them coming!
as an aside, she seems to be getting over the cold, but i imagine it's a little frustrating not being able to blow your nose or clear your throat. and that sucky thing that we try to help out with just looks like no fun! i wouldn't want that shoved up my nose!
23 August 2007
22 August 2007
Baby Talk?
What is it about babies, pets, certain inanimate objects, etc that makes "baby talk" seem so appealing? Whenever I address baby Nora directly, it is almost never in the same manner that I would another individual; instead I descend into "baby talk," in which "l's" and "r's" are frequently replaced with "w's" and questions seem so indirect and nonsensical. A common example might be "Cute wittle Baby Nowa, why are you gwowing up so fast?" Why do we feel the need to address entities which cannot answer us in kind in such an unusual way?
I suspect it stems primarily from our fundamental need to communicate in some way or another with those things which are most important to us. We seem to classify the "intelligence" of a given thing- a person, animal, computer, weapon, etc- by how well it can communicate, and baby talk is a situation where we project the illusion of communication onto something which does not possess the same communicative skill set as ourselves. We must communicate effectively to maintain our status, livelihood, relationships- indeed, our very lives (for those who doubt this fact, I can suggest several excellent pieces of reading material, beginning with Hamlet). So when we talk in "baby talk," it would stand to reason that it is not so much for the benefit of the child (any voice recognition or formative language skills on the part of the young one could surely be derived equally, if not more precisely, from "normal talk"), but for our own justification. Since Nora cannot answer me back, then am I not in essence having a conversation with myself? And since such a concept outside of "baby talk" is frowned upon as ridiculous and occasionally dangerous in today's society, how then can I rationalize it except by making my very speech sound ridiculous? Thus, when I quote Yoda and ask my daughter, "Baby Nowa, how you get so big eating food of this kind?", I am in essence attempting to nullify the absurdity of my action by becoming laughable in content and delivery as well.
Well, I wanted to get that question off my chest- I hear Nora waking up, so I have to go, but for anyone looking for something fascinating to ponder, go to http://www.wikipedia.org/ and look up the entry for Norman Borlaug. I had never heard of this fascinating individual until my favorite columnist, Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN.com's Tuesday Morning Quaterback mentioned him in this week's column(to read it, cut and paste this link into your browser): http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/070821
However, after reading the impact of Borlaug's work on the world during his lifetime, it is difficult to disagree with Easterbrook that Borlaug is one of the three greatest Americans of the 20th Century (along with Franklin Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr.).
May God Bless you all!
-David
I suspect it stems primarily from our fundamental need to communicate in some way or another with those things which are most important to us. We seem to classify the "intelligence" of a given thing- a person, animal, computer, weapon, etc- by how well it can communicate, and baby talk is a situation where we project the illusion of communication onto something which does not possess the same communicative skill set as ourselves. We must communicate effectively to maintain our status, livelihood, relationships- indeed, our very lives (for those who doubt this fact, I can suggest several excellent pieces of reading material, beginning with Hamlet). So when we talk in "baby talk," it would stand to reason that it is not so much for the benefit of the child (any voice recognition or formative language skills on the part of the young one could surely be derived equally, if not more precisely, from "normal talk"), but for our own justification. Since Nora cannot answer me back, then am I not in essence having a conversation with myself? And since such a concept outside of "baby talk" is frowned upon as ridiculous and occasionally dangerous in today's society, how then can I rationalize it except by making my very speech sound ridiculous? Thus, when I quote Yoda and ask my daughter, "Baby Nowa, how you get so big eating food of this kind?", I am in essence attempting to nullify the absurdity of my action by becoming laughable in content and delivery as well.
Well, I wanted to get that question off my chest- I hear Nora waking up, so I have to go, but for anyone looking for something fascinating to ponder, go to http://www.wikipedia.org/ and look up the entry for Norman Borlaug. I had never heard of this fascinating individual until my favorite columnist, Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN.com's Tuesday Morning Quaterback mentioned him in this week's column(to read it, cut and paste this link into your browser): http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/070821
However, after reading the impact of Borlaug's work on the world during his lifetime, it is difficult to disagree with Easterbrook that Borlaug is one of the three greatest Americans of the 20th Century (along with Franklin Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr.).
May God Bless you all!
-David
21 August 2007
Nora's "Area"
Many have wondered where we are putting this baby... This is her "area" in our closet. It works perfectly for now, and is only five feet from my bed! She seems to enjoy it just fine! Don't worry, we don't lock her in the closet!
Funny Faces
So, Nora is now 3 1/2 weeks old, and weighs over 9 1/2 pounds. She is 21 1/2 inches long! What a good girl... She likes to make faces... and will stick out her tongue at her dad. This week was tougher, because she had a stuffy nose. Thankfully, she (and David and I) is feeling better. What a cute peanut!
The bottom picture is after a bath... all clean and happy! She's just not sure about the hat that her neurotic mother put on because of wet hair and air conditioning!06 August 2007
nora has LOVED having her aunts here! it's so amazing how she changes every day. i feel like time is just flying by. daddy went back to work today. he was dreading being away from us for so long... yesterday, we went out to dinner. nora slept THE WHOLE TIME! what a good girl. and so far, she doesn't seem to be minding mexican. that's good since it's my favorite! we went to play group the other day to just visit for a minute, and one of the little boys said "why won't she wake up??" all she does is sleep and eat! but she's such a good girl. we can't complain at all!
01 August 2007
trying...
okay, i am trying to figure out this blogging... some pics now!! the graves came to visit when we first got admitted! it was so fun and a good distraction.
baby nora
on saturday afternoon, my water broke. nora was born 17 hours later... after pushing for only 36 minutes! she weighed 7'5" and was 20 inches long. she is so beautiful!! we came home monday morning and have been back to the doctors twice. she was a little jaundiced, but looks so much better now! while we were at the hospital today, we picked up all of my final "get out of the navy" paperwork. now, i am just a mommy!!!
she is sleeping in my arms right now, and she curls her tiny little feet up under her butt. it's so cute! (okay, we have yet to find something about her that isn't cute...) thanks for all the phone calls! we turn our phones off when we sleep, so keep them coming. we will try to return them in a timely manner, too!!
she is sleeping in my arms right now, and she curls her tiny little feet up under her butt. it's so cute! (okay, we have yet to find something about her that isn't cute...) thanks for all the phone calls! we turn our phones off when we sleep, so keep them coming. we will try to return them in a timely manner, too!!
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