where's a noodle when you need one?

From:

http://www.bhsi.org/little1s.htm

"Children are just learning to sit unsupported at about 9 months of age. Until this age, infants have not developed sufficient bone mass and muscle tone to enable them to sit unsupported with their backs straight. Pediatricians advise against having infants sitting in a slumped or curled position for prolonged periods."

Yeah. That's why we put them in hard plastic baby buckets and drive them around in strollers and cars. Come on. Why is it okay except on a bicycle?

Also, "just learning to sit unsupported"? Sure. T. was walking at 8 months (cruising at 7). Definitely not enough muscle tone there! I didn't find out about the Wee Ride until the end of June 2006, which implies T. was 10 months by the time he was in it. I'd _like_ to go out with A. before that, but we'll have to see how things go. There's a Bobike Mini on the way, and the WeeRide is buried in the basement somewhere.

library! and play

I went to the local library here in Acton and R. and I got library cards. A. was fussy, but perfectly willing to ride on my shoulders and give my neck a workout while she attempted to reach signs on tops of bookcases. No way she was going to reach the sign, but apparently it was fun to try. I checked out three books. I don't know whether I'll actually read any of them. Here's why I might not read one of them:

_The Case for Make Believe_, Susan Linn

First (and I knew this when I picked it up), there is the Raffi rec on the back. Not a good sign, especially in a 2008 printing. Basically, anyone in 2009 who thinks that Raffi is a reasonable source of kid advice probably has teenagers. Or possibly is one, I don't know. (ETA: Or is Canadian?) (ETAYA: Or, possibly, is about 10 years younger than me and raising very young children listening to the music of their childhood.)

Second, there's the whole puppet thing. This woman is obsessed with puppets. Go her, after all, anyone who can build an entire career around puppetry has truly got something going on. But you do have to sit and wonder about what someone that obsessed with puppets means when she thinks play = make believe.

I picked it up knowing that, and knowing that the anti-consumerist stance would annoy me (hey, I'm one of those people who thinks you really can spend money to make your life better in meaningful ways. also, that romanticizing poverty and childhood of the past is probably a bad idea). Here's where things really start to break down for me, on page 15:

"That funny, frustrating period when babies repeatedly and deliberately drop toys, spoons, and everything they can get their hands on is really an exploration of gravity."

Yeah. The kid doesn't expect that new thing to hit the ground. That's why they look so shocked every goddamn time it does. Not. No, dear, babies drop things to make adults pick them up. That's why they laugh when you do, laugh harder when you complain about it and act disappointed and cheated when you leave it on the ground. Dropping has virtually nothing to do with gravity, other than that they have the physical capacity to drop and do not generally yet have the capacity to throw. Dropping toys is a way of interacting with people.

Here's what's really going to annoy me about this book: in my world, with T., play is about moving one's body and things through space in new and interesting ways (ideally on or in wheeled vehicles, secondarily on swings and bouncy surfaces). In my world, as a child, a lot of my play involved building things, with legos, lincoln logs, erector sets when I could get my hands on one. I'm reasonably certain that Linn's definition of play does not extend to either of these. This makes me cranky, in part because of the B.'s story about the Waldorf school getting all over their son's case because in "free play" he did not engage in "pretending", but instead used items from the natural world (rocks) and created games which he then played with another kid (hey, at least it was sociable).

why I'm glad the Zigo Leader slipped its schedule

Back when T. was very small, and I was lusting after moederfietsen and bakfietsen, I couldn't find any in the US. Apparently, in the interim, Portland, OR has gone absolutely nuts.

Check out this blog for serious linkage and name dropping:

http://totcycle.com/

If you just want to go all cargo and kid transport lusty (I'm sure you already know about the Xtracycle cult), check out Madsen (the bucket bike! I wants one), Metrofiets (ooooooh, I waaaaants one. . . but R. has a lot of reservations about load-in-front), Joe Bike (ditto, less cool -- and a lot less money).

The Veltop is also on my wish list. Yummy.

ETA: Earlier today I called Belmont Wheelworks and ordered a Townie 8 to go with my Bobikes Mini and Maxi which should be arriving this week from CleverCycles (more Portlanders). I'll have my very own mother's bike!

After seeing Totcycle dad's post about ripping apart an old hard tail and tricking it out for around town use, R. and I took a hard look at his old mountain bike. Unfortunately, he is convinced that we can't put an internal hub on it. And I know from past experience that if it has a derailleur, I won't get on it. Speaking of which, I've got e-mail out to Madsen to find out if they'll put a Shimano Nexus on it.