drenched in splashes and laugher
october 4th, 2000

remember when you were a child and fog was all just big clouds close to 
the ground? it's especially apparent in the mountains. i was driving down 
11E this morning and it just felt as if i were being immersed in 
fogginess, driving out of one cloud and into another. which was, 
essentially, what i was doing.

i love my daughter. i was giving her a bath the night before last, and 
she'd start splashing the water and laughing hysterically, which would 
cause me to laugh hysterically, and for her to splash more, and it was 
just this cacophony of loud splashes and strong laughter, drenching us 
both. it was great. she imitates sneezes, too. she's still not talking 
much at all, but she'll say "hi" and wave bye-bye, and jabber on in her 
own personal language. she's also beginning to listen to me when i tell 
her things. when she gets into stuff, i'll come over to her and say, very 
plainly, very firmly but gently, "no, honey, don't do that." and i may 
have to say it two or three more times, moving her away from whatever she 
is exploring, but she'll look at me and jabber something back at me (i'm 
sure just arguing her case) and then go off to find something else to do. 
it's a breath of fresh air and a sigh of relief in the aftermath of the 
television wars (she touches the television, mommy doesn't want her to 
touch the television, she touches it anyway) that had me firmly convinced 
that getting her to listen to me was going to be the most difficult part 
of motherhood. of course, i am sure that this will all turn around yet 
again, and she will become obsinate about things she wants to do. but at 
least by then she'll be able to understand everything i tell her. even if 
she does respond in temper tantrums. ;)

one more thing before i return to the novel i'm reading for class (white 
noise by don delillo) - i just want to say that my brother totally rocks. 
this weekend his band participated in the knoxville BandWar, and they 
scored second place! keep in mind this is a band of 15-year-old kids who 
have not as of yet performed a gig anywhere else. i was completely 
impressed. my brother has a lot more guts than me!

so yeah. anyway. more later.