As expected, Christmas this year was a completely different experience than last year. Looking back at the pictures and, by comparison, very amateurish videos from last Christmas makes the change even more glaring than I remembered. Last year I wondered if Taylor was aware of her surroundings, this year I knew she was, the challenge was keeping her focused on the task at hand. Of course for her that is presents!
I touched on the subject of Taylor's play kitchen briefly during the "Twas the Night Before Christmas" post. Being as how it was assembled and sitting in plain view, it obviously was the first item she saw upon being toted into the living room. It would play a vital role in the recurring theme throughout the day. That being to keep Taylor focused and interested in the presents being opened instead of channeling Julia Child. Of course this incarnation of Ms. Child serves every dish in a cup, usually 4 cups and sometimes a handful of flatware. But I digress, let me stick to a somewhat chronological description of the day...
After the initial introduction was given between Taylor and her kitchen I retired to the real McCoy to whip up some hot chocolate. While the weather outside was too warm too even fake the need for a fire, (in previous years we have built a fire and opened the windows to let some heat escape) hot chocolate is still a requirement for Christmas morning. It's a law right? Well, if not, it should be. Upon my return we decided to start opening some of Taylor's presents. A plan of action that is still not an easy sale at her age. Being the quick thinking resourceful types, we drew her attention away from the kitchen with some mini-marshmallows which were on hand due to the aforementioned hot chocolate. You know, sometimes quick thinking is overrated. Often one is better served to employ the thorough, studious approach. I'm sure some of you out there have already discerned as to what I'm hinting... It seems one of the few items able to hold the attention of a 18 month old girl better than a new play kitchen is the mini-marshmallow. It didn't take long before I started having visions of Taylor sitting around watching Sesame Street and eating mini-marshmallows all day. (I'm assuming that is the 18 month old version of watching soaps and eating bon-bons) Luckily she is of age when I'm still able to convince her of such "facts" as magically disappearing bags of marshmallows ceasing to exist. After successfully wiping her mind clean from thoughts of puffy sweetness, we managed to get a few presents opened.
Our neighbor across the street came over to visit for a short while since her husband had to work. Taylor really enjoyed the visit as she is always wanting to go see Ms. Patty. She was more than happy to show off her new kitchen and dig through a basket of fake food (we opened it during her visit.) When Taylor was ready to lay down for her nap, Ms. Patty headed home but later brought back some delicious corn chowder! Somehow I need to convince her to bring some more so we can freeze it for a later date.
During Taylor's nap Linda and I opened our presents from family and each other. Hershey and Cocoa also appeared as if bears emerging from hibernation to get their toy from Grandmom and Grandad. Someday I will try to include them in this blog; frankly they just aren't the most interesting subjects. W.C. Fields famously said "Never work with children or animals." Obviously I've completely neglected the first portion of his advice, I guess I could stick my toe into the pool with the second. I'm just not sure how I could make a sleeping cat interesting. Perhaps I could get lucky and catch a moment of activity on film. I'll have to think on that one a bit...
Back to the task at hand. When it came to opening presents a pattern was clearly evident. Clothing items, while much appreciated by her parents, didn't hold Taylor's attention much beyond their initial unveiling. Books were hit and miss but usually garnered a quick flip-through before resuming other activities. I'm sure all will be read many times though. She seems to share at least one trait with her Dad. An obsessive personality where she becomes engrossed in one activity over a period of time. Just recently she was on a book binge. It seemed like all she wanted to do was indulge herself in literature. Toys for the car were replaced by books. Mornings in the glider demanded the reading of at least 3 books prior to changing into the days clothing.
And then there were the toys... Toys presented a entirely independent challenge. I never knew toy packaging was such a competitive industry. It seems every manufacture strives to outdo the other in creative ways to use any and every fastening device known to mankind in an attempt to secure their product. Some of the contraptions encountered would make Rube Goldberg blush with envy. Herein lies the task. I've noticed the attention of a little girl is at it's highest level upon the first discovery of a new toy. By my calculation, that attention begins to erode approximately 30 seconds after the initial introduction of the stimuli. That attention will continue to erode exponentially until either one of two outcomes are realized. You are able to free the toy from it's diabolical web of security, or the attention span is depleted wherein she will venture off to find another source of entertainment. Personally I think they should use situations such as this to train bomb squads to perform intricate tasks under extreme pressure. Well, it would be easier to explain if I provided an illustrative example... Plus it gives me a reason to play with my new toy. Presenting "Presents & Patience" starring of course, Taylor.
I touched on the subject of Taylor's play kitchen briefly during the "Twas the Night Before Christmas" post. Being as how it was assembled and sitting in plain view, it obviously was the first item she saw upon being toted into the living room. It would play a vital role in the recurring theme throughout the day. That being to keep Taylor focused and interested in the presents being opened instead of channeling Julia Child. Of course this incarnation of Ms. Child serves every dish in a cup, usually 4 cups and sometimes a handful of flatware. But I digress, let me stick to a somewhat chronological description of the day...
After the initial introduction was given between Taylor and her kitchen I retired to the real McCoy to whip up some hot chocolate. While the weather outside was too warm too even fake the need for a fire, (in previous years we have built a fire and opened the windows to let some heat escape) hot chocolate is still a requirement for Christmas morning. It's a law right? Well, if not, it should be. Upon my return we decided to start opening some of Taylor's presents. A plan of action that is still not an easy sale at her age. Being the quick thinking resourceful types, we drew her attention away from the kitchen with some mini-marshmallows which were on hand due to the aforementioned hot chocolate. You know, sometimes quick thinking is overrated. Often one is better served to employ the thorough, studious approach. I'm sure some of you out there have already discerned as to what I'm hinting... It seems one of the few items able to hold the attention of a 18 month old girl better than a new play kitchen is the mini-marshmallow. It didn't take long before I started having visions of Taylor sitting around watching Sesame Street and eating mini-marshmallows all day. (I'm assuming that is the 18 month old version of watching soaps and eating bon-bons) Luckily she is of age when I'm still able to convince her of such "facts" as magically disappearing bags of marshmallows ceasing to exist. After successfully wiping her mind clean from thoughts of puffy sweetness, we managed to get a few presents opened.
Our neighbor across the street came over to visit for a short while since her husband had to work. Taylor really enjoyed the visit as she is always wanting to go see Ms. Patty. She was more than happy to show off her new kitchen and dig through a basket of fake food (we opened it during her visit.) When Taylor was ready to lay down for her nap, Ms. Patty headed home but later brought back some delicious corn chowder! Somehow I need to convince her to bring some more so we can freeze it for a later date.
During Taylor's nap Linda and I opened our presents from family and each other. Hershey and Cocoa also appeared as if bears emerging from hibernation to get their toy from Grandmom and Grandad. Someday I will try to include them in this blog; frankly they just aren't the most interesting subjects. W.C. Fields famously said "Never work with children or animals." Obviously I've completely neglected the first portion of his advice, I guess I could stick my toe into the pool with the second. I'm just not sure how I could make a sleeping cat interesting. Perhaps I could get lucky and catch a moment of activity on film. I'll have to think on that one a bit...
Back to the task at hand. When it came to opening presents a pattern was clearly evident. Clothing items, while much appreciated by her parents, didn't hold Taylor's attention much beyond their initial unveiling. Books were hit and miss but usually garnered a quick flip-through before resuming other activities. I'm sure all will be read many times though. She seems to share at least one trait with her Dad. An obsessive personality where she becomes engrossed in one activity over a period of time. Just recently she was on a book binge. It seemed like all she wanted to do was indulge herself in literature. Toys for the car were replaced by books. Mornings in the glider demanded the reading of at least 3 books prior to changing into the days clothing.
And then there were the toys... Toys presented a entirely independent challenge. I never knew toy packaging was such a competitive industry. It seems every manufacture strives to outdo the other in creative ways to use any and every fastening device known to mankind in an attempt to secure their product. Some of the contraptions encountered would make Rube Goldberg blush with envy. Herein lies the task. I've noticed the attention of a little girl is at it's highest level upon the first discovery of a new toy. By my calculation, that attention begins to erode approximately 30 seconds after the initial introduction of the stimuli. That attention will continue to erode exponentially until either one of two outcomes are realized. You are able to free the toy from it's diabolical web of security, or the attention span is depleted wherein she will venture off to find another source of entertainment. Personally I think they should use situations such as this to train bomb squads to perform intricate tasks under extreme pressure. Well, it would be easier to explain if I provided an illustrative example... Plus it gives me a reason to play with my new toy. Presenting "Presents & Patience" starring of course, Taylor.
Thus providing a perfect segue to discuss my new toy, CyberLink's PowerDirector... Oooh, shiny. I touched on it a bit on my last installment to this blog. The new video editing software. After a year of making videos with the program provided in Windows I felt it was time to expand my horizons a little bit. Nothing on the professional level, as those programs cost anywhere from $500 to $2,500. But, still some nice hobby level software that would allow me broader control and the ability to be more creative in my presentations. I still have a lot to learn in order to use this software to it's fullest potential, but just playing around with it this past week has gotten me excited. I don't fall under the illusion that I'll be producing any Oscar worthy works, but hopefully my little "movies" will improve. At least in their production value, if not their content. Thankfully, I think the issue with the constant crashing has been solved. At least I was able to make a couple of short movies without the breaking of any bones or blood vessels. My second attempt (I don't count the "Holiday Lights" movie, as it was more of an exercise in determination and stubbornness) was a short compilation of the day as a whole. I ended up with about 57 minutes of video shot throughout the day. My initial idea was to pull all the parts with Taylor talking out and make a short video titled "In Her Own Words". After going through the clips I realized that she just didn't say very much, there was a lot of gesturing and the odd word here and there, some discernible, some not. So, the movie morphed into into a collection of moments that I thought summarized the day. Therein lies the task of making movies out of home video. You see, I've found the attention level of viewing home movies by the average person is at it's highest level upon the first discovery of said movie. By my calculation, that attention begins to erode approximately 30 seconds after the initial introduction of the stimuli. That attention will continue to erode exponentially until either one of two outcomes are realized... Well, anyway the finished product ended up being titled "A Very Taylor Christmas". Here it is, I hope it you enjoy and it holds your attention. Don't worry, it's not too long.
Well, that pretty much summed up Christmas around this household. I'm sure I've left out a few details that I'll remember after pressing the button to publish this post. Hopefully they aren't drastic omissions. Even if they are, only a handful (namely 2) people will know of my mistake. I guess I can live with that. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season that found you content and in good health. Our thoughts were with you all.
On a side note (speaking of short attention span theater, I'm beginning to wonder to whom the title of this post refers) I've got to add just one more quick video here. It's only relevant in the fact that while making one of the movies above, I was watching this on TV. And also when "Not Too Bad.." was initially launched, it's description included a collection of what's happening in my life and other random thoughts. It seems like lately it's morphed into a blog version of "The Truman Show" with Taylor assuming the role of Truman. (A fact that surely pleases a large portion of my audience) I'd like to share this clip because it played a big part in my day, nothing like experiencing "The thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat."
On a side note (speaking of short attention span theater, I'm beginning to wonder to whom the title of this post refers) I've got to add just one more quick video here. It's only relevant in the fact that while making one of the movies above, I was watching this on TV. And also when "Not Too Bad.." was initially launched, it's description included a collection of what's happening in my life and other random thoughts. It seems like lately it's morphed into a blog version of "The Truman Show" with Taylor assuming the role of Truman. (A fact that surely pleases a large portion of my audience) I'd like to share this clip because it played a big part in my day, nothing like experiencing "The thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat."
Until next time... Go Gators!
2 comments:
Wow again. I know I'm prejudice since the star is my granddaughter, but I thoroughly enjoyed the whole posting. Great work! I think you loved the present Linda gave you. We will enjoy your posts.
Great videos. I still cant get over that shot. Anyhow; I enjoyed your Christmas blog very much. The music behind the videos match the settings very well. I think you should be producing videos as a sideline profession.
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