What Jonathan looks like now

Today was free day at the Louvre! Tristram was a very good boy, although we didn't stay long--it gets so crowded, he gets so tired, and there's the whole trip back home to consider. He really likes looking at bizarre and fantastical creatures like angels. He stares and stares in curiosity and finally signs "bird" as if that's his considered verdict. But he thinks the bird-men are more interesting than just birds. Also, he found a statue of a lion playing with a ball that he loved.

One could plan a whole museum-going schedule based on a baby's age. First they like black-and-white, or at least really high contrast, stuff, with special favor to human faces. Then they like bright colors, again with faces getting special attention but other than that no interest whatsoever in representational art. Then they gradually develop a desire for representational art, the more realistic the better, especially of animals, and ideally sculpture because that's what's easiest to place as an actual recognizable thing in the world. Now he's starting to really like strange combinations of creatures, like Pegasus and hippogriffs and angels and sphinxes. I suspect that will last a long time, and will gradually be combined with a preference for art that tells stories.

So, start your baby in the MOMA looking at the paintings; modernist art is ideal for newborns & infants. (Though the Louvre would also be ideal for a newborn; since there are so many lovely nursing nooks you could rest in to tank up your kid you could easily spend a whole day walking through with a baby on your chest.) Mix in some portrait galleries for variety. As your kid approaches toddlerhood, shift over to photography and sculpture as the favored media. Then start working in some Renaissance paintings, since there is so much Greek myth that you'll see lots of strange beasts and so much religious art that you'll see lots of bird-men and bird-babies. When he's old enough to be interested in listening, tell him the stories that go with the paintings. I wouldn't be surprised if that leads to hours of museum going, especially if he can get books to take home with copies of the pictures and the stories that go with them.

We'll see how that pans out.

You will also soon see photos of my first foray into patchwork--I made a play rug for a woman we know here who's 8 months pregnant (and still smaller than I was at 6). Well, really for her baby. I was pretty pleased with it, and I learned how to do mitered corners, too. I am going to finish binding off my skirt tonight, and then I just have to line it and I will have my first knitted creation. Technically I don't have to line it, but I think I'll like wearing it better if I do.