No Go, Stay Zoo

Mila's first four-word sequence was attained yesterday as I was attempting to round up Mila and Silas at the end of a trip to the Maryland Zoo. Combined with several emphatic ASL signs and a desperate tone of voice, Mila's demand of "No Go!! Stay Zoo!!" became a great theatrical performance, ending with the act of going limp as I tried to hold her hand and walk toward the exit.

Today Mila has demonstrated her love of telling a story, re-enacting yesterday's scene in our kitchen as I made lunch. I imitated her, and she would crack up laughing before repeating the four words again while additionally hamming up the performance. We kept cracking each other up with this acted-out phrase for maybe five minutes, going back and forth. Great fun!

Mila at art opening: "My Life In Fiction"

Mila was a favorite photo subject at the opening of Kianga Ford's exhibition, "My Life In Fiction" at the Contemporary Museum. In this picture, Mila is reclining on one of four inflated cushions with some of Kianga's site-specific narratives in the "Story Of This Place" series playing over sets of headphones coming from the center of the cushion.

My collaboration with this artist, "The Story Of This Place: Charm City Remix", is available at the front desk of the museum, by borrowing an iPod and a taking a special map to follow while walking in the neighborhood outside the museum.

New Job And A Babysitting Exchange

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the head of the video department at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art), asking if I was available to teach a sound class starting the next week. I had contacted him in the spring asking about part-time teaching, and although there was nothing available at the time, luckily he remembered me when they had a last-minute opening. So, I am now teaching Sound 1 (a once-a-week class that meets for 6 hours at a time) at MICA, and it seems that they want me to continue teaching that class, plus Sound 2, next semester too!

I am incredibly fortunate that my friend Ben, another stay-at-home dad, was open to a weekly babysitting exchange that gives us both time to get in our work. Ben's son, Silas, is Mila's best friend so it is working out great. We are all part of a playgroup organized through BaltAP (Baltimore Attachment Parenting). Marie met everyone in the playgroup first, while I was teaching full-time in the charter school last year. It has been a great network to inherit as I have become a stay-at-home dad. Gradually, working and parenting life is beginning to find its patterns and balance.

Two great video clips from last week: the first is Mila interacting with Silas while he plays melodica. The second is a pretty cool turntable duo improv session between Mila and Naftali, another great kid from BaltAP. Mila's turntable has Bach cello, Naftali's has DJ Vadim, with delay effects via my Korg KP3.

Vocabulary

It just occurred to me yesterday that I really need to document how Mila is developing her vocabulary. She is now understanding a huge amount of what Marie and I say, and is really picking up speed with her ability to repeat sounds and words that she hears. We were all having family lounging time this evening, listening to Bjork ("Aurora", from Vespertine), and for the first time I heard Mila repeat back words that she heard in the lyrics (and singing imitatively). This was really amazing to hear. It definitely makes me feel the need for a new level of consciousness about speech in Mila's presence, and about some of the other lyrics-based music that I listen to. Ahem.

I have tried putting together a list of vocabulary words that Mila currently says and understands. I know I'm forgetting a lot of them. She can understand, but not yet say, probably at least double the number of words listed here:

Babu, Baby, Ball, Bibi, Boat, Book, Boot, Bounce, Bug, Bye, Car, Cat, Cracker, Cheese, Daddy, Dog, Doll, Duck, Ear, Eye, Feet, Fish, Flower, Gator, Go, Goat, Hat, Hi, Home, In, Juice, Jump, Mommy, Moon, More, Mouth, Nani, Nemo, No, Nose, One, Out, Papa, Paw, Play, Please, Salsa, See, Shoe, Shy, Sit, Stay, Three, Too, Truck, Two, Up, Water, Yes, Zoo.

She can say most of the letters of the alphabet, not in any particular order, and is now getting "A, B, C" in the correct sequence. Same for "One, Two, Three". Pretty cool.

She also has ASL signs for many more words that she is not yet able to say.

Farewell Layla

As the outer bands of Tropical Storm Hanna hit Baltimore today, our family had make a sad trek to the Light Street Animal Hospital with our dog Layla. Our beloved coonhound that Marie and I adopted in Ithaca NY had a heart condition that had reached its breaking point in the past several weeks, with a leaky valve wreaking havoc in her abdomen and lungs, preventing her from being able to breathe properly or keep food down. We got the bad news from the vet a few days ago, and were left with the options of either doing nothing, spending thousands on heart surgery for uncertain results, or putting her down. Layla's condition worsened rapidly in the past several days and we were ultimately left with the last choice.

We did not think that it would be right for Mila to be present, since she has to get shots at the doctor's office and this could be confusing and frightening. So after saying goodbye, Marie went down the hall with Layla while I stayed out in the lobby with Mila (who was her normal self, trying to have fun on the scale-- she weighs 27 pounds).

Layla was definitely a tough and soulful dog, living life to the fullest when we were out in the woods. I'm going to miss our hikes. She was adopted in 2003, when she was about 8 months old. She has been in one film (a documentary about my multimedia collaboration "Charm City Remix") and in a song ("HGP Anthem" by Hybrid Groove Project).