Cleo's First Show: Cleo Rocks Out, Right Outta Heah!

Posted by: Cal



On Friday Cleo went to her first live show: Visqueen performing live at Easy Street Records on Queen Anne.
Cleo threw on her best "Johnny Cash Folsom Prison" onesie and black corduroy leggings to get ready to rock out for the evening.
It was running dangerously close to her bedtime (7pm) and the band hadn't gone on yet, but Cleo powered through because she's that big of a Visqueen fan.
Finally the band comes onstage, and Cleo's clapping her hands in that almost-clapping-more-like-finger-crunching baby-clap kinda way. Visqueen goes into their first song, and, um, it's pretty loud. Stacia's holding her hands over Cleo's ears. But Cleo wants none of this. She wants to ROCK! R. O. C. K. Exclamation point. She's shoving Stacia's hands away, but me, knowing that she needs to have the sound muffled, and, slightly nervous that she'll leave this show with permanent hearing damage, am adamant about covering her ears. She's still pushing our hands away. So we give her a few seconds of pure Visqueen bliss, until we cover her head-holes again. And then she pushes our hands away, and so on and so forth for the course of the next three songs.
As we figure out that she's less likely to throw fists if we just plug her ears with our fingers instead of cupped hands, a nice couple, who's also brought their kid to the show, brings over their chopper phones for Cleo to use. We feel like since it was such a nice gesture, we need to try. And we know what's going to happen, and, yep, the phones get yanked right off. And now it's 7:30, Cleo hates us and her ear distractions, and she wants to go to bed. So, we go.
She'll have plenty of other chances to see the band

Lullaby

Cleo -

Singing to your baby is a natural part of parenting. Over the months we've developed our own lullaby. In case you're curious when you're older, and in case I've forgotten by that time, I thought I'd write down the lyrics for posterity. The verses vary according to guests and who we've seen each day, but these are the most consistent ones.

Sweet lady baby don't you cry, you're in mommy's arms.
Sweet lady baby don't you cry, it is time for bed.
Sweet lady baby don't you cry, all you need to know is that mommy loves you so.

Sweet lady baby don't you cry, daddy's arms are strong.
Sweet lady baby don't you cry, daddy loves to hug.
Sweet lady baby don't you cry, all you need to know is that daddy loves you so.

Sweet lady baby don't you cry, Dan is standing guard.
Sweet lady baby don't you cry, he'll eat up your mess.
Sweet lady baby don't you cry, all you need to know is that Dan loves you so.

Sweet lady baby don't you cry, Eli is your friend.
Sweet lady baby don't you cry, he loves to play.
Sweet lady baby don't you cry, all you need to know is that Eli loves you so.

I love you Babs!
-Mommy

Seattle Baby

A few weekends ago Cal and I decided to take Cleo for a nice afternoon walk to get some coffee. Half way to the coffee shop it started raining heavily. The kind of rain that Seattlites rarely see. For the record, we tried to put Cal's hat on Cleo, but she's not into hats these days.

Now that we're officially into fall, Cleo may need to reconsider the hat issue.

Eli Attacks!

Cleo and Eli spend a lot of playtime together, especially now that they are neighbors. We figure they need to learn to play together, so eye gouging is generally the only prohibited activity. One day, there was an accidental tackle combined with some teething discomfort that led to Eli crying and attempting to suckle Cleo's face. She seemed to find it amusing, despite the trail of drool on her cheek.

Ahh, the things kids do!

Nine Months - Kapow!

Babs -

You are now nine months old. You are active and tenacious. I love watching you push yourself to do new things. You make me laugh and you make me happy.

Stats:
16lbs 9oz (12th percentile)
28.5 inches (85th percentile)

Due to your slender status, Dr. Hadley has recommended we start putting butter on all of your food. Auntie Margaret says you are the reason people say, "light as a feather, stiff as a board," because you are so slim, and you prefer to stand. So if someone is setting you down, you refuse to bend at the waist. It's cute and charming.

You are on the move! As you recall from your eight month update, you started crawling. Now you've graduated to pulling yourself up to standing and "cruising". To me, cruising sounds like a teenage activity that is generally frowned upon by adults. However, in baby lingo, cruising refers to walking along items of furniture, tightly clutching on for dear life to avoid falls. You my lady, do not clutch in fear, but instead bravely move about the house.

You've continued to enjoy swimming with friends.


And swimming in the tub!


You've even started feeding yourself.

We've ended up with new nicknames for you again, and Babs is our current favorite. I still call you Nugget and often call you Chicken. Whatever we call you, you remain awesome!

Lady, you are so much fun. You are bright and beautiful, sweet and incredible. You teach me so much. Thank you.

I love you!
-Mommy