Beach Bits,  Bug,  Poems

My Little Beach Girl

August 31, 2006 /

My Little Beach Girl

Baby Bug and I walk down to the beach nearly every day. Most days we just stand there at the water’s edge and sigh. We watch the waves crash for a few minutes and then we head back up the hill to home because it’s almost her bedtime. But lately when we stand on the beach, she has been waving her arms up and down excitedly. She jumps up and down inside the carrier by pushing off me with her legs. Since I’m a sucker for a happy baby, I’ve been taking her out of the carrier and letting her “walk” on the wet sand.

She loves it! She just plain loves “walking” in general. She can’t really walk, she doesn’t have her balance yet. But she loves it when I hold her hands and she can use her legs to take steps. She take high steps like a soldier. It’s very funny to watch, just ask Whoorl. She walked a bunch when we were over there visiting Anders the other day.

When we’re at the beach “walking,” Baby Bug leans forward in eagerness and sometimes backwards because her legs are going faster than I can keep up. She loves the waves. She has no fear. She just wants to run out into them. Today I let her go all the way to the frothy small waves lapping on the shore. She squealed in delight. She is so joyful right now, it’s contageous. I love this stage.

I love it that she loves the beach. She really is my dream baby come true.

* * *

Since I promised, here is my attempt to write a pantuom for my Grandma. I usually like writing poetry but for some reason I’m not getting the trick of this form. I think I must be misunderstanding the rules. By the last quatrain I’m forgetting where I am. But I also read that you shouldn’t try too hard to make it work, so this is me trying hard not to try too hard.

The ocean waves glisten in the golden sunset air
Foam decorates the water’s edge like lace upon a dress
My daughter smiles from ear to ear as closer we draw near
Her little toes wiggle back and forth in blissful eagerness

Foam decorates the water’s edge like lace upon a dress
Reminding me of summer days from many a yesteryear
Her little toes wiggle back and forth in blissful eagerness
Laughter blows into the wind like whispers in my ear

Reminding me of summer days from many a yesteryear
I think of white sundresses with spaghetti straps or less
Laughter blows into the wind like whispers in my ear
Taunting me with stories and secrets to confess

Her little toes wiggle back and forth in blissful eagerness
She is looking at the water, unlike me she has no fear
She kicks me as she’s fastened in her harness on my chest
The ocean waves glisten in the golden sunset air

19 Comments

  • hazelblackberry

    September 1, 2006 at 12:17 am

    That was a lovely pantuom, which I’m sure your grandmother will appreciate even more because she knows the Baby Bug & you.

    It’s so lovely to read about the joy your baby brings.

  • jP

    September 1, 2006 at 7:18 am

    I love how you frame a picture. You can take a simple idea, toes for example, and…it’s truely art work. To coin the phrase of the day…lovely. j

  • Gramma

    September 1, 2006 at 8:26 am

    Hurrah. This is a very noble effort. You did an amazing job but pantoums do not have to rhyme. Even the metre is good. First off your try is overwhelming. I’d like a hard copy…but I don’t know how without doing 12 pages. Thoughts are wonderful.

  • josephine

    September 1, 2006 at 8:34 am

    I’ll email it to you. Grandma, you should post about this on your blog, the rules and such… so if anybody else is interested they can be inspired by you.

  • Tonya

    September 1, 2006 at 11:13 am

    I loved those pictures of Baby Bug at the beach! Seeing the lighting made me wish I could go sit on the beach and watch the sunset. I’ll be on a cruise in January, so I guess this landlocked girl may get her chance then.

  • Jennifer

    September 1, 2006 at 12:13 pm

    Wonderful pictures, wonderful poem. I love how happy Baby Bug looks at the beach. The idea of having a walk like that every evening sounds like a dream. This post makes me want to seriously try to figure out how to move closer to the beach.

  • Susan

    September 1, 2006 at 1:25 pm

    SAJ,I remember those days. Be stingy with that ‘walking’ or she will get addicted and make you do it ALL THE TIME! and you will be bent like a crone, or at least I was, until she can take steps on her own. My sister’s baby girl was addicted to the backpack-did you get one of those? SHe used to drag it over and hit my sister in the leg with it until she put her in it.
    Ahh, memories!

  • Dad

    September 1, 2006 at 11:02 pm

    Punkin dunk1… that was a great blog. I loved the pic’s and I loved the poem. I don’t know how you do it. I can’t make anything rhyme!
    I remember somewhat, when you were BB’s age. I don’t remember taking you to the beach in Eureka though. We should have. Mom says, “it was too cold to take the kids to the beach” Yea, I guess that was it.
    The picture that comes to my mind (we really have to convert those old super 8 movies into DVD’s so we can remember…) is walking home from meeting on Sunday, Mom has that heavy brown cape on and you are looking through one arm hole and Shawn is looking through the other! We have to find that picture.

    Oh… another picture I remember… you got hold of a camera and are trying to take our picture with it. The camera is upside down and backwards, but that didn’t matter… we loved it!

    Then… I think about your antics at Aunt Janet’s wedding… I wish I would have capitalized on that. Apparently I stopped the camera when I saw your legs in the air (you were supposed to be the flower girl but there you were on your back, legs waving in the air)… we didn’t appreciate those precious moments at the time, but I think back on them now and I wish I had captured them better. You are doing a great job of capturing BB’s precious moments, someday you (and all of us) will be better able to remember them.

    Glad I’m home now, I can keep up on your blogs now!

  • Gramma

    September 2, 2006 at 9:12 pm

    SAJ I want to respond when I have more time. On my blog I’ll do a description. Usually a panatoum has 10 lines that are repeated once. Formula is:
    1 2 3 4
    2 5 4 6
    5 7 6 8
    7 9 8 10
    9 3 10 1

    I try to write 10 lines around the same theme, then fit them into the pattern.
    It’s really amazing to see it all go into place.

  • Marilyn

    September 4, 2006 at 7:15 am

    I really must start focusing less on this silly job…and more on what matters in life…like looking at photos of your beautiful girl. I can’t believe how BIG she’s getting!! You seem so happy, B, and it makes me all tingly happy for you. Mommyhood suits you so well.