[this was originally written on LiveJournal by Juliet's Papa]

Hello all,

I am going to write in this journal roughly once a weekend. This is not as often as I would like to, but it should allow me to cover the most important things before I forget them. Here's a rough recap of the week just passed.

Monday: Cassandra wanted to paint a sign for her store, but also didn't want Juliet to be too close to the paint, for obvious reasons. I suggested that she use the camera setup so that Juliet could be in the next room, but she could still watch her via the laptop and its wireless connection to the camera. Cassandra looked at me as if I had suggested appealing to space aliens for help. I don't think she likes technology too much.

Tuesday: At night, when we were getting ready to put Juliet to sleep, I made faces at her and she grinned back. Cassandra, who had been trying in vain all day to placate Juliet's teething pain, said something to the effect of, "Why does she only smile at you?" My prompt answer was, "Because she loves me more." This was, I realized upon reflection, probably not the most reassuring answer to give. Sometimes I am not as much the Sensitive Dad as I should be. More likely, it was simply because Juliet had seen Cassandra all day, and thus she was old news, whereas I was a more rare sight, and thus more exciting.

Wednesday: Juliet discovered her hands. Not that she was entirely oblivious to them, of course. But she seemed to notice for the first time that there was something special about them, compared to the rest of the world. I had often pondered the fact that she seemed to have more control (via her voice) over Mom and Dad than over her own hands, and how that must have made it difficult for her to figure out where she stopped and the rest of the world began. So, discovering that she has some control over where her hands go, might be kind of like an adult discovering they have telekinesis, and can move objects by thinking about it. Anyway, she frowned in concentration and looked at her hands a lot.

Thursday: We have two of a device called a "Gymboree", which is an example of the insufferably cute and too clever naming that besets the baby accoutrement industry. It's a padded surface to lay the kid on, with some arcs going across it from which are attached hanging toys that the kid can play with. Juliet can only be on one at a time, and obviously they are no use to anyone other than Juliet (though if the toys were changed I suppose they could be made into cat accoutrements). So why we have two, I'm not sure. Whatever the reason, Cassandra found a good deal on a third one, so now we have three. This one has a netting roof over it so it's a bit like an igloo. I don't get it, but sometimes you have to pick your battles.

Friday: After the store closed, Cassandra and I went to the apartment of a friend of ours named Magda. There the women swarmed over Juliet. She seems to be okay with this. Now it was my turn to be old news, and they were the new, interesting, exciting faces to smile at. Plus, let's face it, they have physiques which are more appealing to a six-month old's interests.

Saturday: My first time feeding Juliet "solid" food. The food is actually so pureed and filtered that it might as well be liquid, but anyway it's more viscuous than formula, and not based on milk. Juliet is not too good at working with spoons, yet, and doesn't understand that it calls for a different technique than the nipple on a bottle of formula. However, when she is upset and crying, she does open her mouth very wide. This makes it easy to spoon that stuff in. Two minuses make a plus! She also stops crying for a few seconds when she's got food in her mouth. It's a win-win situation.

Sunday: This just in; Juliet is ok with Fry's. It's a gigantic electronics store with feng shui that makes it anathema to many women, but Juliet finds it relaxing. So I wandered about it for half an hour and she slept nearly the whole time. Perhaps she will grow up to be a nerd? The father can only hope and wait.

Current Mood: fussy

a couple new pictures

Looking at me

very tiny

Looking at her mom over my shoulder

very tiny