Awakening
Freshly diapered, sippy-cup in hand, Coco toddles to the television and waits for permission to press the Play button. The default L-O-A-D-I-N-G sequence elicits a shiver of delight, the FBI warning screen is accompanied by a chortle, and the magic wandful of Walt Disney fairy dust triggers a dance of anticipation. She drops to the floor, swaying rhythmically as Baby Noah begins. Daddy showers in the first floor bathroom, Mommy checks today’s client schedule at the computer, Felix catches a few final dream moments upstairs, but Coco is mesmerized by the classical music, gentle voiceover, and alternating National Geographic style nature footage and engaging wind-up toys of this new installment in the Baby Einstein video line-up. At 14 months, she is already well acquainted not just with the usual menagerie of nurturing elephants, graceful giraffes, and comical penguins, but with wombats, dolphins, and caribou (“Let’s visit the polar regions!”). Grandma tries without success to seduce her with library videos—the sweet Is Your Mama a Llama?, the bouncy Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!--but it is Baby Noah that has captured her early-morning heart and mind. For the rest of the day she will play contentedly and read her books, ignoring the television until tomorrow dawns.