Here's the big "step" Tootsie took last month:
And, of course, such strides result in frequent bangs into furniture and bonkings of her head. She otherwise crawls at warp speed toward the dog food, giggling mischievously en route, or finds tiny objects to put in her mouth to scare the bejeezus out of us.
Instead of the 'ooo' face of wonder she adopted as a tiny baby, she now makes a serious "ohhhhhh" sound and expression when she's truly captivated or curious about something--dogs, animals, and other babies in particular. She loves her cousins.
Her favorite song is Pharrell's "Happy," which Big Sis sang at her choir concert last month. Her favorite books are Hug, Hush Little Baby, and On the Night You Were Born (though she was born in the AM). She likes the Hairy Maclary book, but only until the page with the scary cat, Scarface Claw. Then she cries. She doesn't like the Elmo character at Sea World either.
When her sisters ask her questions like, "Do you want to help me with my homework?" she shakes her head vigorously with big grins. Her vocabulary includes "blah blah blah blah."
She loves to swim and take baths, and we've spent some good times with the cousins in Mammom's swimming pool.
As far as nursing goes, it's like breastfeeding an octopus or wrestler. And she uses her free hand to pound me on the chest.
But she made an apt subject for my first commencement address as a high school principal. Here are Tootsie's Tips:
Last summer I was a pregnant new principal who planned to start
the school year and then take a little time off when our baby was born in
September. But next thing I knew, I was having my baby early, in the
wrong state across the country, and we were in the hospital on your first day
of school. I wound up missing the fall semester of your senior year, and
you can go ahead and blame it on the baby, Faera, or as she became known to
many, Tootsie. As school has come to a close, I’ve been thinking about
some of the lessons Tootsie taught me this year, and I want to pass them along
to you.
First, accept
life’s vicissitudes.
There’s a tendency, a normal and natural and wise
tendency, to plan out your life. And I suggest you do. But this
year I’ve had to recognize what parts of life are in and out of my
control. Tootsie has helped me accept that life is messy, unpredictable,
scary, and mysterious, but also beautiful and surprising and serendipitous. You
may invest time, work, and hope, only to experience a disappointing
outcome. Practice facing the
circumstances before you and renouncing regret for what couldn’t or cannot
be. Tootsie would endorse what your classmate Ines Cruz wrote so aptly in
her Identity Project in art: “I want to fearlessly go, and see what
unfolds before me. If I mess up, I want to know it’s okay; it’s part of
the journey, part of the design of my life.”
Second:
Embrace the new and unfamiliar
During babies’ first months, every experience, every place is
brand new. I watch Tootsie wake up sometimes and I know she’s thinking where
the heck am I now? Here you sit before us, about to depart the
familiar—your daily routine at home and at CHS with the people you know—for an
adventure of the unexplored. You’re going to cry about it
sometimes—Tootsie does—but we don’t bail her out every time she wants to eject
from a seemingly scary place. Recognize that this is your mission:
to explore the new, and to exploit the opportunities that adventure brings. From
Ines Cruz: “I need to walk on warm sand,
not on hot concrete, under stars, not street lamps, over miles and miles of new
places with new people, not standing stagnant in place.”
Third: Make the
most of where you are:
Tootsie only recently started to crawl. She has spent most
of her short life stuck where we put her—in her carseat, stroller, crib, or
front pack. But from flat on her back or sitting up she finds the world
an amazing place and the people around her fascinating. Ever been stuck
in a long line and noticed the adults looking anywhere but at each other?
Babies seek out and gaze right at fellow humans with wonder. They grin,
coo, and engage with anyone who catches their eye, no matter who they are.
You, too, can make the most of where you are, and even make someone’s
day, on planes, in traffic, at jury duty, in your dorm with assigned
roommates: entertain yourself, enjoy the view, bring your best attitude.
Get to know the person next to you.
This one is for the
parents too: Accept your own and others’ evolutions
I always wanted a third baby. I love babies (almost as
much as I love teenagers). But a baby is a growing person, and however much we
want our babies to stay small and cute and cuddly, they grow and change.
Every day my Tootsie is a newer version of herself. And so are you.
You haven’t discovered all of your own strengths, skills, and
vulnerabilities. Future experiences and relationships will bring out new
facets of your self. You don’t have to be whom you have always been or expected
to be. By next summer you may have adopted different interests and
aspirations, hobbies and habits. Be prepared to find your high school
friends and family members have, too. Let yourself and others shed dead
skin and emerge anew. Graduates, parents, friends: pledge to
reacquaint yourself with your loved ones in their present.
Just a few more tidbits
from Tootsie:
Dance, sing, laugh, or act goofy. Every day.
When you perceive an injustice, holler about it.
And finally, Tootsie has this look she gets on her face when
she’s particularly proud of herself. It’s okay to think you’re hot stuff,
especially when you’re making a huge developmental leap. So, high five,
graduates; swagger on down that carpet. You did it. Congratulations.
