I thought this one was cute, because he’s clearly unhappy and since he was looking right at me while I filmed, it was almost as if he was trying to tell me why:
This entertained us (and apparently Toren) for hours):
As I mentioned in the last post, Toren’s talking is too cute not to film. I have quite a bit of footage of him doing this (you’ll see a bit more, lucky you). Here he is not wrapped up just chatting with his mobile.
On a different note, I should explain the fact that the title includes the word “caged.” Obviously we don’t keep Toren in a cage – it’s a crib. But it kind of looks like a cage. And since he can’t climb up and out, for all intents and purposes no ceiling is required; ergo, it’s a cage.
Now, since I’m mildly insane, I like to call things what they are. Toren’s “crib” is really a “cage,” just like his play-yard will be a cage once we put him in it. The other labels are certainly cuter, but they don’t reflect the real intention of the furniture – cribs are designed to keep babies in, as are play-yards. If the goal of a piece of furniture is to trap someone inside, I call it a cage, not a bed or play-yard. What can I say; I’m weird like that.
On a related note, do any other parents out there openly suggest things that are clearly bad ideas for your children? Or is this just another reflection of my insanity? For instance, a few weeks ago I kept picking up things that I thought would make particularly “good” toys for Toren. It started with the plastic bag that Toren’s new walker shipped in. When I finished putting the walker together, I put Toren in it and was left with the large shipping bag. Printed all over it were warnings about keeping it away from children, but I couldn’t help but suggest that it would be a fun toy for him (much to my mother-in-law’s dismay). About 20 minutes later I was modifying Toren’s Johnny Jump-up and had my razor blade in my hand. I proceeded to suggest that, too, would make a great toy for Toren. A few hours after that Debi cut my hair while Toren watched. As I swept it up afterward I thought out-loud, “Now this pile of hair, that would make a great toy for Toren.” Obviously I’m not insane enough to actually let Toren play with any of these things, but I get a weird pleasure from suggesting these would make good toys.
As I was shooting Toren talking in his crib, it dawned on me that I shoot a lot of footage of Toren from my perspective, but I never shoot footage from Toren’s perspective. So, here’s what Toren was seeing:
Debi’s Mother, Rosemary, sent the mobile. Initially I thought it was going to be creepy and that it would scare Toren, but he obviously really, really likes it (he talks to it all the time). That said, if I were laying in bed and looked up to see a frog that appeared to be falling toward me, I’d probably freak out. I’m glad Toren digs the mobile, but it still creeps me out. Babies are weird!
Lately I’ve been telling everyone who asks about Toren that he has started to “talk”. Of course, by “talk” I mean he vocalizes. I’ve heard other babies babble and coo, but not like Toren. This is the first footage we shot of him doing this (it isn’t the last though). In this one he has the hiccups and is talking to his mobile (I figure he’s telling the animals on his mobile how bad the hiccups suck):
