By Popular Demand

Although much of our attention these days is focused on le bébé, we have been getting some work done on our dissertations, too. Colin's been back to work since the first week after Jake was born, and I've been back to work since week six. Each afternoon I hand the baby over to Colin and head out to a café down the street with my laptop and type type type away. It's remarkable how much work you can get done when you don't have time to waste!

Funnily enough, although this blog has recorded Jake's babyhood rather than our lives as students abroad, my newfound role as a mother and interests as a scholar have certainly dovetailed. In the spirit of the original purpose of the blog, here's a short introduction to my dissertation topic:

“Mother Tongue: The Maternal Subject in the Works of Christine de Pizan” is a project that examines how, in her early works where she self-consciously constructs a female authorial persona, Christine grapples with maternity in order to elaborate an alternative discursive economy that both adequately portrays the embodied woman’s subjectivity and authorizes her own writing practice. In works such as Le Débat sur le Roman de la Rose (1402), Le Livre du chemin de longue estude (1402-03), La Mutacion de Fortune (1403), La Cité des dames (1405), Le Livre des Trois Vertus (1405) and Le Livre de l’advision Cristine (1405-06), the author represents various allegorical, historical, and mythological mothers, as well as women who possess a maternal morphology, such as lactating virgin saints; she also depicts her problematic relationship to her own mother, and portrays herself as mother of both her biological children and also of her texts.

Using Lacanian psychoanalysis as my methodological framework, I show how meaning is alternately conceived and transgressed on these bodies in Christine’s texts. I argue that in response to the misogynist literary, philosophical, and social context of her time, as exemplified by Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose, Christine posits a critical apparatus for the elaboration of female voice and speech, representing these as her ultimate desire and grounding them in the most marked sign of female specificity: the maternal body. I submit that, in the discursive economy elaborated by Christine de Pizan, strategies for self-empowerment and subversion of male dominance are figured as a maternal corporeal resistance, manifested through a plenitude that exists beyond the phallus and which stands as an alternative to androcentric models for subjectivity and signification.

So there you have it, although I don't know how much or how often I'll actually write about my dissertation here. I mean, really, who's cuter?

Jacques Lacan:



Jacob Blundell:



I mean, really, there's no contest.

Bassinet Success

In the past week we've actually gotten Jake to sleep in his bassinet. Now that he's got his own little nest, Jake's been sleeping better and longer. He usually goes down at around 9 pm, after his bath, a feeding and some amount of fussing. The poor little guy has a hard time falling asleep when he's tired. The great thing is, he wakes up just one time during the night, at around 3:30 am, and then wakes again at 7 or so. Having so many hours of uninterrupted sleep has done wonders for all of us! He also takes a couple of naps during the day. Babies have to sleep quite a lot. So do parents!

Jake going from this...



...to this.



Sometimes he smiles in his sleep. Sweet dreams for baby!

Playtime

Jake is really getting the hang of the baby jungle gym. When we first bought it, he was happy to simply look up at the toys dangling above him. Now, he likes to kick his feet and wave his hands, making the toys jingle and shake and crinkle. I also turn him over onto his belly so he gets some tummy time. Got to work those abs!

All Smiles

Jake smiled at us for the first time on July 11 at 2 pm. Here he is about a week ago, smiling at Colin. It makes my heart melt!

Sleepytime

For now, at least, having a baby means variations on a theme. The themes being eat, poop, sleep. Since it wouldn't be polite to post photos of the first two, here's Jake doing one of his favorite things: conking out.

(You can click on the images to see them in a larger size.)



Jake conked out in our bed.



Jake conked out in his stroller.



Jake conked out in his bouncy seat.



Jake conked out with his binky.



And his favorite, Jake conked out with Dad.




Jake NOT conked out in his bassinet. It is the one place he won't sleep!

The Education of Jacob

Comment se fait-il que les petits enfants étant si intelligents, la plupart des hommes soient si bêtes? Ça doit tenir à l'éducation!

How is it that children are so smart and men are so stupid? It must be education that does it!

~ Alexandre Dumas, fils

Between the two of us, Colin and I have spent forty-four years of our lives in school. We'd like to think this quote does not apply to us but we're humble enough to acknowledge that it just might do. We believe adamantly, however, that our little Jacob is a budding genius. To that effect, we've started him on a highly specialized curriculum called, let's have fun!

(You can click on the images to see them in a larger size.)





Jake's first books are: Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are, Barnyard Dance and The Hungry Little Caterpillar. He will be a literary man, he will.




About a week ago we went out and got him his very own little play gym and a sqeaky giraffe toy. Merlin was a leeetle bit jealous.



Of course, there's nothing like a little bit of real world advice and insight from The Dad. I believe that in these photos Colin is explaining to Jacob that burping is a manly art and should be practiced from a very young age.




Doesn't our little boy look like a smartypants?