Tag Archives: developmental skills

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 6

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 27,2026- Hana has two new skill projects: Reaching for everything and standing up, with assistance. The first one has us doing our due diligence on child-proofing. The second one is something I am more than glad to assist, She can stand, with my support, for about 15 seconds at a time. Then, she has to sit down, but will want to stand again, a few minutes later. She did the same with crawling and sitting, so I can see what our agenda for the next several weeks will be.

My granddaughter has a keen sense of humour and of mischief. While I was scuttering about, making dinner, this evening, she would reach up from her bouncy chair and grab the hem of my shorts, with a huge grin on her face. She also likes to take the cover of one of the recliner’s arms and cover her face with it. She does take correction, though, when her antics might present a problem. It is not necessary to raise my voice; I just explain to her why it is not a good idea. There will betimes, when she is a toddler, when reason will take a holiday, but even then, a firm “No” will hold.

Hana is slowly taking to the mimicking crab, talking to it and giggling at its copying her. Of course, it mimics the giggling, too. I will make silly noises or speak a detailed message. It copies those, also, which amuses Hana as well.

HANA’S NOTE- I woke up very early today. Mommy and Papa both came to my crib. Mommy took care of me. She always does. Then, we all went back to sleep, but I woke up for good, an hour later (what Mommy said). I sure took long naps today. Papa makes sure that I get a nap when I get cranky.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE- 1979 My Dad asked me, at the end of my month-long visit in June, “Are you going to be traveling the rest of the summer?” My answer was “Not all summer. Just a bit.” I caught a few Greyhounds. The first was to Frankfort, Kentucky. I looked around that capital city a bit, then visited Hodgenville, Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace,and Mammoth Cave National Park. After that, came a stop in Nashville, and a hitchhike westward, as far as North Little Rock, where I slept behind a gas station. The next day, a couple of sisters headed towards Las Vegas picked me up, stinking laundry bag and all, and let me have the spare bed in their hotel room, in Albuquerque. The next morning’s shower never felt so good. I went south, after doing my laundry in the hotel’s coin-op. A couple of rides later, I was in Las Cruces, where I caught another Greyhound to Casa Grande, AZ and from there hitched to Toltec. The rest of the summer was spent doing my Buildings and Grounds chores at Villa School. Evaporative coolers take a fair amount of maintenance.

My work year, both the Spring of Year One and Fall of Year Two, saw me carry on a bit more structurally in my teaching. I was better able to teach multiple skill levels and actually conveyed Algebra and trigonometry, in a coherent manner. There were a number of Iranian students who attended this school, especially after the Revolution. I made my first visit to San Diego, in March, as I had no Spring Trip assignment from the school. I ran into the Villa group at San Diego Zoo, but otherwise kept my own schedule. A couple of visits to Mexico also took place this year-Hermosillo and Puerto Penasco. The latter, under Villa auspices, was called the “Penasco Fisaco”, as a student and I were set adrift in the Headmaster’s boat. We weren’t far offshore, and managed to get back to the dock, but it incensed the boss, and i was never invited to go back to his cabana again.

In December, I hitched a couple of rides. the longest of which was from Kansas City to Syracuse. During that long drive, I found myself taking over for a toddler’s frazzled mother, rocking and calming the little girl until she wanted her mother again. That was about the longest drive without taking a room, or a campsite, that I have ever taken.

The long decade of personal struggle drew to a close, and the next ten years would bring one sea change after another.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 30

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 21, 2026- My little girl cried for nearly a half hour, this afternoon, before finally letting go and falling asleep on my shoulder. She sometimes is so tired that, like many a toddler, she fights sleep, while remaining miserable. She has a little way to go, before being a toddler, but her mindset is already there.

On either side of the meltdown, Hana was happy-with her lunch, with our little walk, with playtime and with the story I read. We went outside while it was still relatively mild (87 F). The temperature eventually hit 107. We didn’t have to face any of that.

This caps six months of life outside the womb. In that time span, Hana has mastered crawling with her body elevated, sitting up independently, eating pureed solid food, sipping water from a cup with a straw, feeding herself with a soft spoon and calling for her mother and father by title.

HANA’S NOTE- I was so tired this afternoon, I just cried and cried. Papa was patient and I slept in his arms for a long time. i heard him say it was one and a half hours-whatever those are.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1973 This was the second year at North Shore Community College. I had to leave the Beverly house, in May, because the owner sold the house and we all dispersed. After looking around at different options, I went back to my parents’ house. Work was at United Parcel Service, sorting packages by destination, in the wee hours of the weekdays. I also worked security at Crane Beach, in Ipswich, MA during the summer and in the stockroom at our local Sears, Roebuck, during the fall. This was a year for taking in the Winter Carnival in Quebec City, running a college tour to Montreal and taking a road trip to Prince Edward Island, in early June.

I ended the year by preparing to transfer to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. I did credibly at NSCC, earning an Associate Degree in General Studies.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 4

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Posted by on in children, Education, Family, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Striving

June 25, 2026- Hana sat up twice today, on her own. She called to me, both times, so that I knew she had reached her goal. Of course, she will build on this and be able to sit without support, for several minutes at a time, well before reaching 7 months.

In setting tasks for herself and practicing diligently, until she completes the task, Hana is a mirror of her grandmother. Penny always had a project or mission to accomplish. In many ways, Yunhee,, always doing some work on behalf of her daughter, is likewise setting the example. Hana notices what is being done on her behalf and part of her already wants to emulate purposeful activity. In her large playpen, my granddaughter is always on the move.

In my own sphere, any thoughts of slowing down have been quickly disabused. In keeping watch over this dynamic little girl, I will be just as occupied as in the days of community service and travel. Then again, slowing down was never my intention when I came here. Whether there is one grandchild, two or three grandchildren, the joy of passing the baton will be long in playing out.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 5, Day 30

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Entertainment, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

June 20, 2026-

The play pen doubled in size, this afternoon, an advance gift to Hana as she reaches six months. Her mom and dad worked hard on this, and she appreciated it on a certain level. She will have a lot more room to exercise and is very close to being able to sit up. without assistance. That would be a fine gift to Aram, for his first Father’s Day.

She has also resumed sleeping on her back, which will be more restful for her spine. It could be her body’s cue for both sitting and trying to stand up, but we’ll see. Solstice energy may also be coming into play here.

My day was fairly quiet- a trip to Farmer’s Market and over to Staples, for photocopying in advance of my hosting of a devotional tomorrow. We looked at our two trees in front. One of them will at least need to be trimmed. The days of yours truly going up on a 12-foot ladder, saw in hand, are most likely over- if only for son’s peace of mind. We will hire a tree specialist.

As we took a brief stroll, this evening, the strains of South Asian music-either Indian or Pakistani, could be heard coming from the ramada at Hoblitzelle Park. This bodes well for the summer nights ahead. We could go over and sit for a while, as Hana gets older. For now, though, it’s bedtime at 7 or 7:30.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 5, Day 20

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Education, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

June 10, 2026– Hana and I both understood that this would be a longer day than usual. Her parents took one vehicle to work, meaning that her Dad would have to wait for her Mom to get off work, at the mandated time of 5:30, before they drove back together. That adds an hour to his workday, but in the face of the inflation that is so cherished by some of the nation’s elite, people do what they must.

My granddaughter studies the faces of clocks and watches. She knows that my watch says 6:10, on most days when her father walks through the door. She saw that it said 7:10, when they walked through the door this evening. What that means to a five-month old child is beyond my grasp, but she is fixated on numbers.

For all that, she devoted her day to practicing the upper body support exercises that will lend support to sitting upright without support and to walking. Children just go through this process naturally. Hana has a single-minded devotion to it.

She is also showing two other aspects of her personality: Wardrobe preference and neatness. When I gave her a choice of what clothing to wear today, she chose a red and white polka dot onesie, with a green frog emblem. The emblem is to be worn on the back, but Hana wanted it on the front, so who am I to argue. When her bib got messy, during this morning’s solid feeding, she kept trying to pull it off, though we were not finished with the meal. She was much happier when I put a clean bib on her, and her face was cleaned.

She likes several musical selections, and was delighted by Harry Nilsson’s “Me and My Arrow”, from his recording, “The Point!”, which I played for her this evening.

Meticulous

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Family, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Striving

April 13, 2026- The semiannual check-up began an hour late, and lasted two hours. The late start was due to the doctor spending an extra hour with the patient before me. When I came in, he spent the first hour going over my experience with Prescott VA, then spent an hour going over my recent lab results, and explaining his position on a certain medication. During that time, we each ate our lunch items, while he meticulously went over my vitals, which he found quite good. The one area that he found could improve, is the focus of the medication he is prescribing. Otherwise, he feels I am on track for a reasonable longevity. Suffice it to say, this physician is easily the most thorough and knowledgeable medical professional I have consulted since I left Phoenix.

Hana had a surprise of her own, this morning. I had to answer Nature’s call, while I was working with her on her army crawling, so I put her on her back, on the mat, did my business and came back a minute later. She had turned over and was back to army crawling, on her own. She repeated this same action, this evening, when her mother set her down and put something in the next room. The little girl has a very strong drive to build her developmental skills. She is also quite systematic, already, in how she goes about her activity.

Aram went around the house, this evening, and catalogued all the points that I will need to go over, with some workmen who will be here tomorrow, regarding the heating and cooling system, and a few peripheral issues. He is getting out in front of the potential heat waves that are bound to come in a month or two. My son has grown into a meticulous man, though I saw the seeds of that early on, even when he was a middle school student. He would want to go back over certain material, two or three times.

I am getting the sense that now the key to good health and well-being lies in careful attention to detail. I find that most gratifying.