A Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night…., originally uploaded by tadnkat.

The video above is from almost a year ago, when Mackenzie was only 3 days old, and on our first night home I was singing to her in an attempt to put her to sleep.  She instead was watching me interestedly, and didn’t end up going to sleep until much later, but we at least got to share a pretty precious moment together as father & daughter.

I unfortunately got the idea in my head though, that she doesn’t go to sleep when I sing to her, so I’ve barely tried to sing her to sleep since then.  But tonight, she was climbing all over the bed (climbing on EVERYTHING, really) so I gave it another whirl and sang her “A Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night“.   She fell asleep during the last verse.  It was just too precious, and was another one of those awesome father-daughter things where she was beaming at me all the way until her eyelids fell down and she went to sleep.

Now, while that was indeed wonderful — I’m in a bind.  What other great songs are there that a daddy can sing as a lullaby?   Good, memorable folk tunes would be best — i.e. not just Metallica’s One sung softly.  :)   Definitely am open for suggestions.

This course is one of a whole plethora of basic courses of study which can be done in any Church of Scientology in the world, and are based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard and center very specifically on various areas of life where Scientology can be of assistance.  This one, of course, deals with how to make a happy baby – both before and immediately after the baby is born.

The course isn’t meant to replace medical training or texts on the subject, but rather gives simple basics in areas that I’ve found are seriously lacking in other gigantic and ponderous texts that I’ve accumulated in my first year of parenting.

Here are some of the things included in the course:

• How disagreements, anger, and stress in the workplace of the mother can affect the child, and what to do about it.
• Simple basics on nutrition and medication vital for the expecting mother.
• How making a happy, healthy mommy affects the production of a health, happy baby.
• What daddy should be doing immediately after the baby is born.
• How to help mom recover quickly from the effects of childbirth.

There are tons of other things, but that’s a quick few things just off the top of my head.  L. Ron Hubbard had an intense love of children and intense care that they be raised well, and as such wrote continually about how various aspects of Scientology should be applied to children and childbirth – both to help the mother, and the new child.  So, it’s quite amazing to see all of these data come into play in one package in this course.  I’ve even read a number of these before in various books and essays, but as my mind was not on having a baby when reading them at the time, it’s really quite a different experience to get them all as compiled in this book.

One quote which I particularly liked, that I read today, is this one on Welcoming the Newborn:

Scientology parents make the baby part of the family at once.  They start talking to the baby.  They usually make very, very sure that the baby didn’t have a rough passage prenatally and that the baby had a decent and easy birth.

When a child arrives, the normal thing they tell the child is, “Well, how are you?  Glad you’re here.”

And you’d think offhand that this would simply be fond parental belief that the child was answering up, but it isn’t.  It’s amazing.

You tell a little baby, if you’re its parent, “We’re going to keep you.  It’s okay.  We’re going to keep you.”  And you always get a sigh!  They’re so happy about that.  It’s such a relief to them.

– L. Ron Hubbard

Really, my hat is off to Mr. David Miscavige for persevering through the work to restore the Scientology Basics, as that’s what allowed all this compilation work to take place in the first place.

If you haven’t checked out any of these new Scientology Life Improvement courses, I’d definitely give them a look!  Even if you aren’t in the market for a happy baby like we are!

Now She’s Walking!! | Ready, Steady, GO!!!, originally uploaded by tadnkat.

After she took her first steps a little over a month ago, Mackenzie has been toying with the idea of independent walking, but mostly has stuck to crawling as her primary means of motivation. However, that all changed this week when she all of the sudden just picked up and started walking around the house. It was just BLAM – next thing you know she’s walking.

And for the first two hours (where this video footage was taken) she was just learning a new skill regards walking about every 10 mins. When she first started, she couldn’t turn. Then, 10 mins later, she was turning on her own. Then, she learned to stop & pick up something & stand back up on her own. Then she learned to do it without holding on to anything. It was just bam/bam/bam one after the other.

So proud of her!

Video: Playing in the Fountain, originally uploaded by tadnkat.

Mackenzie wanted to individually and repeatedly sample all three of the fountains in front of the Washington Monument when we were out on a walk yesterday.

Day 303 | Gymnastics Practice, originally uploaded by tadnkat.

We’re in the midst of moving, and so took apart the crib to put it into the truck. When the mattress went on the floor, Mackenzie thought it would be great fun to start playing on it and doing practice somersaults. This picture was taken right after she was trying to execute a somersault by sticking her head between her arms — just didn’t quite have enough oomph to roll all the way over.

Day 298 | She’s Officially Walking Today!!, originally uploaded by tadnkat.

Unfortunately, this video is right after her historical walking event – as I wasn’t quick enough on the draw with the camera to get the magic moment, and she wasn’t into doing an instant replay.

But this is how the event happened: after mommy and I had been doing some practice walking runs, with the two of us sitting about 5′ apart and Mackenzie taking a step or two on her own, walking between us (like this video here), Kat & I went to do some other work around the house and Mackenzie crawled off to go investigate something in the kitchen. Then, she just pulled herself into a standing position against the oven, propping herself up with one arm, and then got interested in something else. So, without hesitating or thinking, she just started walking away from the oven, and took four good-quality steps before stopping and then pitching down onto her hands & knees to crawl away. Both Kat & I witnessed it – it’s official! 9 1/2 months, and she’s a-walkin!

Out kicking tires at the Subaru Dealership, originally uploaded by tadnkat.

Mackenzie was here examining the rear-seat legroom on the 2010 Subaru Forester.

Helping People with Differing Religious Beliefs at the Scientology VM Tent

At the Scientology VM Tent , originally uploaded by tadnkat.

This weekend, Mackenzie & I spent some time helping out at the Scientology Volunteer Ministers tent, down by the Washington Monument in DC.

Mackenzie loved helping me tour people through the tent, speaking up with “Da dah dah dah dah!!” while I was explaining the works that the Scientology Disaster Response corps has done in Haiti, etc. People found it very entertaining.

Nearly all of the people we toured through the tent were from outside the US – usually way outside the USA.

One couple that I toured was from Saudi Arabia, and they were very interested in the translated materials we have available in Arabic. It can sometimes be very difficult for people in Saudi Arabia to get materials that have any kind of religious background different than that of the ruling Islamic state.

Another girl that I talked to who contacted me via my website is also from Saudi Arabia, and desperately was trying to get hold of materials from the Scientology Handbook. Her parents were shunning her and preventing her from even leaving the house, due to her interest in what possibly could be another religious belief, so she was having a bit of a rough time. The first piece of Scientology technology which she was able to use was simply using the Affinity-Reality-Communication Triangle. Simply findihg a point where she and her parents agreed (reality) and then communicating about it brought about increased affinity and ability to further bring their varying beliefs to a discussable level of parity.

Sometimes the very simplest of things can make all the difference in a person’s life!

Day 258 | New Passion: Climbing Stairs, originally uploaded by tadnkat.

Mackenzie has a new passion: climbing stairs.

We went out to the park on Saturday while mommy was at the Alexandria Mission, and more than anything else, MV wanted to continually tackle stairs of any sort. First, she wanted me tl lead her over them in a standing position several times, and then she’d want to try them on her own, crawling.

As anyone who was then at the Dianetics Anniversary event at the Scientology Church in Washington DC can attest, Mackenzie was then, again, scaling the stairs non-stop until she ran out of gas.

I can’t get over this photo. Yes, I know I’m the daddy, and I’m meant to think my daughter is cute, but honestly!!! She was just around the playground hanging out on the bars and doing these supercute baby poses. Should I be considering getting her into baby modeling?