Ahoj Slovakia

This entry commemorates anniversaries: it is the third anniversary of the “birth” of this blog. Daddy and Žofka were alone together for the first extended period: 48 hours, during which time Mommy had a vacation escape with her two sisters, Janine and Kim, in the little resort town nearby of Lake Geneva.

Daddy, who has been preoccuppied lately with his work for Educational Testing Service in Kentucky, and before that with the end-of-semester avalanche of activity, cleared off the planner, took a deep breath, and , gazing into the mirror, put on his game face, looking to go one-on-one with his daughter, throwing himself into it fully, and seeing what could be made up, what could be discovered.

Mommy, in her meticulous way with her child, left a minute-by-minute schedule of the day’s routine, and had also left the house fully provisioned.  Daddy is familiar with the park and the pool routine, the going to bed routine and the getting up in the morning  routine.  These things went with the custormary clockwork, and although mommy wasn’t mentioned, her shaping hand behind the scenes was indirectly revealed in all the great competence in our two year old: her ability to sleep well, eat well, and play in the moment: the fearless hear-and-now attitude as she goes through the day.  Mommy was never lamented, not once, but always manifested in the spunk and brio of our little girl’s engagement with everything in her world.  What makes an impression is that the toddler seems so well-adjusted . . . at least as much as you can ask from someone with just  29 months of experience on the planet.   Even during a brief sick period (breathing fitfully, our baby woke in the evening feeling hot, running a temperature) and despite her discomfort, she snuggled with Daddy and allowed him to do his best to console her.

            Daddy: „Ako  sa citiš, moja tepla zlatička?“

            Žofka:  „I‘m happy, Daddy”

Daddy pushed the envelope  a little to discover that his baby COULD drink white milk as well as chocolate, COULD eat bread crust with a peanut butter sandwich, COULD eat daddy oatmeal with strawberries and honey.  Daddy and Žofka watched four episodes of Matko and Kubko, then read the stories, and, when Žofka heard a new CD in the car on the way to the pool, she amazingly identified the musicians as the same responsible for her nightly lullabies, her „uspávanky.“  We danced together, listening to Prši Prši and Kolo, Kolo Mlynské, and Kukučka Kde si bola.  Hanging with Daddy, her language slipped into Slovak, even when talking to Mommy on the phone.

            Žofka: Ahoj Mamička, mam sa dobre!

Žofka teaches us daily new things.  We have learned that having a child can mean actually becoming a child once again . . . as the world becomes a new adventure in discovery.

Somewhat coincidentally, this issue of the blog corresponds with Mommy and Daddy‘s anniversary as well.  June 25, 2009: now we have been married 11 years.  I let myself think about what our daughter has to tell us in her way about our marriage . . . we have our roles that we vary and repeat and enlarge, and we learn, we stumble sometimes, and we get hurt, but, in the face of all the apparent fragility and vulnerability of life, we are prepared too and we overcome. . . . and we continually seize opportunities to reaffirm our love.