Stealth Moves, or is that Movies?

We've (mostly I've) been trying to capture Violet's antics on camera for weeks now. Before we got the new camera with video capabilities, I was just trying to catch a big, enthusiastic smile or a shot of Vi with her tongue out - something cute to share with everyone. But now that we've got video capability, we're trying to catch her making noise, squirming around, trying to eat her fists, chewing on her toys, and so on. What we learned, however, is that Vi is incredibly enthralled with the little red light on the front of the new camera. Whenever the camera is on, the red light is on, and she will stop whatever she's doing to stare at it, ignoring everything else around her. That certainly doesn't make for a very exciting video. I tried covering the light with my finger, but low and behold, it just makes my finger glow red, and Vi still thinks that's pretty neat to stare at. So Mike got the bright idea of covering the light entirely with electrical tape. I knew I was attracted to him for some reason...he's a pretty good problem-solver!

Here's what I was able to capture this morning, as I took a break from writing program notes for the Mid-Columbia Symphony. You may hear some crickets, birds, and frogs in the background - those noises are coming from her awesome baby-size jungle gym. I felt vaguely like I was on safari, trying to capture shots of some elusive creature whom I had to stay out of sight from...The Elusive African Violet.




Also this week, Violet started going to Ellen Dolny's house for a few hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays while I'm teaching saxophone lessons at USU. Violet seems to like it, and Ellen certainly seems to as well. She used to teach parenting and mother-and-baby classes at Gritman Medical Center (the hospital) in Moscow, ID. She also directed a Success by Six program in Moscow, and still gives talks at baby seminars around the country. We thought she'd be a great person to entrust Violet with, and were thrilled when she suggested that she could watch her as an alternative to full-time day care. I'll have to remember to take the camera over to Ellen's this week so that I can get a picture of the two of them together. If I do remember to, I'll be sure to post the picture here.

Just for fun, here are a few other pictures:

My brother and I with Violet.

Mike introduces Vi to Red Ferrari.

Mike introduces Vi to Willie, the old man at age 32.

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