We cannot let another day pass without writing of Lucy’s intense passion for bouncing. She insists on being bounced early and often. We have been contemplating changing her name to “Tigger”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigger, but completing the legal paperwork involved would take away time from bouncing Lucy, and she just won’t have that.
When Lucy is crying, often the only thing that will calm her down is being held in our arms and bounced, and bounced vigorously, on “The Big Blue Ball”:http://boydsnest.org/news/2006/must-have-hardware/. We purchased this exercise ball in preparation for birth. I found sitting on it so comfortable that it became my office chair in the last months of pregnancy. And it was definitely useful for sitting, rocking, and leaning on during labor.
Perhaps experiencing The Ball so regularly _in utero_ primed Lucy with a great love of bouncing. However, I do not remember bouncing quite so high and energetically in those final cumbersome weeks! No matter what the reason, we are glad to know that Lucy loves The Ball. We have been going so far as to bring it with us on our various family outings this weekend. Mockery was to be expected, but when our relatives heard the cries of our child and saw the power of The Ball, the joking was silenced and all sat in reverent awe.
We have also discovered that Lucy enjoys being bounced by hand. She has just enough control of her head to hold it steady while we lift her up and bounce her on our laps. I was delighted to learn of this early on in the weekend, as it gave me another, non-Ball option for calming Baby. I fully expected to use this trick during her “baptism”:http://boydsnest.org/news/2006/sprinkled/, but she surprised us all by being the perfect model of dignity and serenity during the service. And I was glad that we didn’t bring The Ball up in front of the church as a pre-emptive calming measure. (It was, however, ready out in the car.)
What does this affinity for bouncing mean for Lucy’s future? Will she grow to love gymnastics? Will we have terrible arguments about why she cannot have a trampoline? Should we buy stock in Pogo Sticks and Hippity-Hops now? No one knows, but we look forward to finding out!
I am so glad it went well and sounds like minimal stress. God is good. Have you tried the Fuzzi Bunz? If so how are the treating you?
That is great that things went well this past weekend… I wanted to come so badly, but alas Gabriel needed to nap right when we needed to be there. : (
ANN! I love Brigadoon! I love that you were Fiona! At one time I was going to name a future daughter Fiona. I have always been proud that, though it is my middle name and spelled differently, someone might one day think about coming to my abode as, “[going] home to bonnie Jeanne”.
Still waiting for those Joyful Child catalogues – that must be the downside to ordering them bulk? Anyway, do you sing in an exclusive group? I have always wanted to sing with a group… but I have only been able to find church choirs… and well… usually the theology in the church doesn’t agree with our relatively fundamentailst leanings.
Having said that, I would love to hear more about the bible studies you guys do at your “microchurch”… Geesh! Maybe after some more recovery time from the intro of Lucy I should just call and find out about this stuff?
Or better yet, you let me know when an okay time is and I will drop off the catalogues, check ont he recovering family, see the lovely Lucy AND find out about this stuff?
ahh the bouncing baby – Benjamin was the exact same way – nothing would calm him as a baby except bouncing (or eating if it was time to eat). Anyway – I’m happy to report that he did outgrow it and we are now a bounce-free household (well except for the fun bouncing we do now to make him laugh). I say – all that bouncing is quite a workout – especially when they get a little bigger!
Nicole, I think you are one of our bouncing inspirations — I remember you said how much Benjamin liked it, and that stuck in my brain one sleepless night!
Allison, I love the name Fiona too! it was on our list for girls names, but Lucy won. I’ll try to email you about the other stuff — fun!
Katrina, we have been using Fuzzi Bunz! it is going pretty well. Lucy is still a bit small and so we have occasional leakage issues by the leg openings, but she is gaining weight every day and I bet they’ll fit perfectly soon. Dr Diaper is washing them and having great success. I’ll have to learn what his tricks are sometime. :)