Michelle, Pete and the Birth of Imagination

We first met Michelle and Pete a few short hours after Hava’s baby naming ceremony. They were with us at the ceremony as well, although at that time they were just two nameless stuffed animals in one of Farla’s inimitable centerpieces. The main character in the centerpiece was one of those lifelike baby dolls, one that laughed somewhat ominously when you pressed its belly. (I should add, since we’re on the topic of imagination, that the way my imagination works, those lifelike dolls are creepy – for whatever reason, all I can think of is “Chucky,” if you know what I mean.)

In any event, after the ceremony, Chucky – um, I mean the lifelike doll – said stuffed animals, and the rest of the centerpiece came home with us. And Jonah took an immediate liking to the stuffed animals, which by the way are a pink and a blue giraffe. “Who’s that?” Jonah asks Nan Rossiter, pointing to the pink giraffe. Nan was at a loss, but when Jonah asks “who’s that” he is not to be denied – he can use that phrase like a club, and will beat you into submission with it, so it’s best to come up with some kind of response. Eventually Nan comes up with “Michelle.” Why Michelle, who knows, but it stuck. And when I later asked Jonah who the blue giraffe was, he gave the only logical answer to that question: “Pete.”


And so that’s how Michelle and Pete came into our lives. Since then, they’ve become part of a growing entourage of characters whose imaginary lives sometimes intersect with Jonah’s. You’ve already met another prominent character in this entourage: baby. Baby who nurses, gets burped and needs a diaper change. The other day baby wanted to sit in the swing that Hava was in – what was that about, I wonder? – but eventually settled for sharing breakfast with Jonah in his highchair instead. There’s also Koala and Duckie, and a host of other secondary characters, all of whom occasionally show up to play a role in our days.



But these new changes go broader than just imaginary characters. I’ve often asked Jonah “what did you do today?” when I come home from work. But it’s only recently that’s he’s become proficient at answering that question. And I have to say, the answers often leave my jaw on the ground. It’s not that there’s anything particularly breathtaking about hearing that he saw a fire truck or played with Ivan. But there’s something mind-boggling about watching him give answers that remind me that he’s become a little person – a person with memories, desires, fears and fantasies that will only continue to grow in breadth and depth as the toddler years roll on. On one level, our little exchanges about the events of his day are totally mundane. But on another, I recognize them as the leading edge of a world of changes that will carry him from the corporeal world of infancy into the complex and confusing world of adulthood. It’s fascinating and bittersweet.

This morning in the kitchen, Jonah announced that he was a “baby cow.” (For whatever reason, in Jonah’s mind there are currently no other varieties of cow – these days all cows, large, small, black or white, are babies.) “I’m eating grass.” “Moo!” Around and around the kitchen he lumbered, until the french toast was finished. Then he climbed up in his chair and sat with me at the dining room table for breakfast.

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As many of you recall, Michelle and Pete – Hava’s godparents, not the pink and blue giraffes – spoke beautifully at Hava’s baby naming ceremony. We finally managed to wrest the words to the poem they read out of Michelle, and wanted to post it here to share with all of you. We were touched by the poem, and are all the more touched to have such loving godparents in our daugher’s life.

Sweet little Hava,
the day before you were born
your family went to Stinson Beach
in the misty rain.
They ate brunch
& napped.
Matt cooked dinner.
Jonah learned how to jump.
Your mom looked so great that night.
I told her so.
She said "a woman gets a groundswell of energy just before she gives birth."
8 hours later contractions started.
8 hours later your parents were in labor.
8 hours later you came into the world.
We brough by chicken cacciatori & meatloaf,
pink gerbera daisies to match your skin.
Your hands looked ready for finger painting.
7 pounds of you.
Skin to skin with your mama.
Swaddled with your papa.
Sleeping.
The full moon rose that night.
You came into the world in the space
between high tide and full moon.
A water baby for sure.
Sweet little Hava, we wondered who you were.
Sweet little Hava, we welcome you.
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Since you’ve made it this far, I’m adding one bonus feature: a little video vignette of Michelle and Pete. Before you watch, you need to understand that taking videos has gotten much more difficult lately because Jonah – little narcissist that he is – insists that I turn the monitor on the videocam around so he can see himself while I film. This, unfortunately, leaves me with no way to see what I’m shooting, so I’m left to point the camera generally in the right direction and hope for the best. As you’ll see, it doesn’t always work out perfectly…