Genevieve's First Law of Motion Picture

What do you mean you're supposed to go down the slide?!?

Who wants to have a tea party?

Wait for me. I'm coming.

I'm totally ripped.

Genevieve's First Law of Motion

We took Genevieve to the New York Hall of Science this weekend and she had a great time. We weren't sure if she was too young for the place but there is a section specifically for children her age. While it isn't much different than her play pen at home it does have more toys. After we (read: Carrie and I) grew bored of the children's area we decided to explore the rest of the museum. Genevieve didn't really notice much about the change of scenery except maybe the fact that the "toys" in these exhibits were not easily ripped out of their mountings. She had a great time pushing buttons, flipping switches, staring at lights and pulling levers. I think she probably could have had just as much fun at Home Depot.

I assumed she didn't learn very much at the science museum but apparently I was wrong. Over the last few days she has taught us that a Genevieve in motion likes to stay in motion. She has exhibited this in two distinct ways.

1. Oftentimes we bounce G on our knees while singing a nursery rhyme or in our arms while playing. As soon as we stop bouncing her she will look at us as if we are broken. If we don't resume the bouncing she'll try to kick start us by bouncing up and down herself. If this ruse fails she starts to whine.


2. Genevieve is starting to learn how to jump. I didn't realize this was a learned skill that came in phases. I expected that after a few go's she would be quickly bounding off the ground and landing on her feet. Apparently not. She hasn't even quite mastered the bounding off the ground part. Instead when she attempts to lift off she only manages to unbalance herself so that she falls on her behind. This however is enough for her. She thinks this is the funniest thing ever. I watched her fall on her butt for 40 minutes last night. Fortunately she only does this on the bed or the couch because 10 percent of the time she'll fall on her face. She didn't grow tired of it but it was bed time. I told her no more jumping and took her off the bed. Of course, I violated the first law and as soon as I made her stop she started bawling.

Clearly, one shouldn't try to stop a moving G.

Oatmeal

Genevieve's class finally got to play in oatmeal yesterday. Thankfully it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. They put dry oatmeal into a wide box and placed it on top of a sheet. The kids were then given shovels, buckets, and rakes. Genevieve loved filling up her bucket and dumping out the oatmeal on the floor, just outside the coverage of the sheet. She relishes in the fact that she can almost always find ways to circumvent any attempts to defy her destructive abilities. She really does have a talent for it. Genevieve also has natural leadership skills. Several of the kids liked her idea of putting oatmeal on the carpet so much that they soon followed suit. The children even demonstrated cooperation by having one child lift the sheet while others would sweep the oatmeal underneath it.

The craft for yesterday was a paper umbrella refrigerator magnet. Genevieve helped by stealing paste, eating paste, and attempting to eat the magnets. As far as we know none of the kids managed to swallow any of the magnets, but there were many sticky mouths and fingers at the end of craft time. Maybe the next craft will involve drywall and a nail gun.

Too much of a good thing

In the past I've complained that Genevieve doesn't help me when dressing her. I've had to chase her across the floor attempting to catch her squirming appendages with her outfits as nets. This is no longer the case. Genevieve is fully aware of the concept of getting dressed. She doesn't always want to participate as she might be busy playing with a toy or trying to break something of value but sometimes she can be very helpful. I will hold out a shirt and she'll place her arms in the sleeves. I can lay her on her back and she'll put her legs through the waist band of her pants. More often than not she'll end up with both of her legs in one pant leg. Comical as this may seem, it is wise not to leave her this way as Carrie will yell at me.

A little help is certainly appreciated but as she has gotten older she has become more assertive. When putting on her shoes she insists on helping. I lay out her socks and shoes on the floor and she'll sit right next to them. Well, sometimes she'll sit completely across the room but at least I don't have to chase her. After repositioning myself and the shoes within range of her feet I begin the delicate operation.

Like a good surgical assistant G will hand me items one by one. Sock! sock. Sneaker! Sneaker. Scalpel! scalpel? However, unlike a good surgical assistant she is incredibly impatient. I can be in the middle of putting a sock on her foot and she'll grab the other off the floor and hand it too me. "Thank You," she'll say proffering the sock. I try to ignore this and finish the task at hand. "Thank You!!!" she adds impatiently. Her pitch rising; the sock waving frantically, "THANK YOOOUU!!!!" Even though I'm not done I cannot ignore her any longer. I take the offered sock and place it in my lap as I continue to struggle with the one I've got. Genevieve is not so easily appeased. She'll point at the other sock and whine as if to say, "Daddy, what is wrong with you?!?! I gave you a perfectly good sock to use and you've just cast it aside. Don't you love me? If you loved me you would have used the sock that _I_ gave you." Maybe I'm reading into it but she sure does whine. Eventually I'll get the first sock on her foot and begin with the second. However by now she's moved on to the sneakers and the cries of thank you have reached a feverish pitch. "Carrie!" I bellow, "Can you put on Genevieve's shoes?!?!"

Three Things

(1) Instincts
We are born with various instincts to help keep us alive and out of trouble, such as pulling your hand away when you touch something hot. Unfortunately for Genevieve she was not born with the instinct to NOT rub garlic mashed potatoes into her eyes.

(2) The Army
Genevieve is like the army: she gets more crap done before 9AM than most people do all day. I've changed her diaper 3 times before noon for several days now. Must be all of the extra fiber from the paper and dirt that she's been eating...

(3) Fear
A friend gave Genevieve a pair of shoes that squeak like a doggie chew toy when you step on them. The first time I put these on Genevieve she cried until I took them off. Now she cries whenever she sees them, and will wail if they come anywhere near her. Unfortunately for Genevieve her parents find this amusing.

Sick Baby

Genevieve had a bad virus last week. She threw up and had a fever around 103 for several days. She is feeling much better now. It's probably because of the tasty chicken soup that her loving Mommy made for her.