Miru

Fragments written for my daughter Miru, born January 2013. Observations about her life, her learning, her loveliness. I share stories about how she grows up as a bilingual child dividing her time between different continents. There are also reflections about parenthood, as well as letters that I write to her.

Miru also has her own website at miru.creativechoice.org

A Digital Genius
We live with a digital genius of 011001 months old. When any object with keys or buttons is within her reach, it's hers and all the buttons get pressed in an order that to me, her father still with one foot in the analog age, appears as random. Her fingers fly over the keypads from ...
Do you have that too, dad?
Recently, I purchased a used Konica Hexanon prime lens with an aperture of 1/1.4 and I am enjoying the amount of light that it can take in. With such apertures, the field of focus becomes very thin, and objects really stand out. Because the camera takes over some of the routine work of our eye, ...
Drawing cows for Miru
Miru loves cows. When she sees a cow, or any animal that looks like a cow, she touts her lips and utters a long "mooo!" I don't know where her little obsession came from, but cows are the largest animals she knows thus far, and her first bovine encounter had been overwhelming. She fled into ...
Pfffrt.
[series-miru] Pfffrt. Miru is now sixteen months, and she's adorable. I think I can't find the words for it, which is a wonderful irony because she is getting more expressive every day. I've been meaning to write this for a long time, and I have the feeling it might already be outdated because Miru is ...
Let her do the talking
[series-miru] Miru gets more expressive every day. Her vocal range resembles that of ever more extraordinary songbirds, she can stick out her tongue, pick her father's nose or anything else that fits her fingers, she can stand for several consecutive minutes, smiling proud of her accomplishment, eat with a spoon, decorate her surroundings with food ...
New Year’s Resolutions
[series-miru] Dear Miru, Three days ago, you turned one year old. We had a great time in Luxemburg, together with our couchsurfing hosts and their wonderful children, who gave you a cake with one candle. From there, we traveled to the Morvan in France, where your parents are doing helpx for the first time. It's ...
Sharing
Let me come on with an attitude and say I'll debunk a myth today. Inspired once again by our baby daughter Miru, I started questioning the common belief that babies don't share. A quick look-up on the BrinPage machine (i.e. Google) confirmed that this is indeed what our experts think. Why? Because "So basically what ...
Bed time
[series-miru] Miru normally falls asleep when her mother lies next to her and hums soft and soothing melodies into her pillow while tapping her gently until her cries turn into sobs and then silence. I admire my wife's skills and patience. And I envy it: Isn't it something unique between mothers and their children, a ...
Applause
[series-miru] Miru is now clapping her hands. At almost nine months, she is a very happy baby, and the occasional bouts of crying are interspersed with laughter and endless joy - for her as well as for her parents. She's a perfect baby, and if you a) don't believe me and b) read Korean, my ...