Baby Faces Blogfest! & NaNo Luddite Photos

Baby Faces Blogfest is here! Hosted by Trisha!
"What are the requirements?
Between December 2nd and 3rd, post a pic of yourself as a baby, and/or;
Tell us a story about when you were a baby (no doubt you can't quite remember it yourself, but you've probably heard some stories from other members of your family).
You can choose to do one or the other or both, depending on your mood on the day(s)."
Now this is embarrassing. I thought I had the perfect photo, me with chubby cheeks, in pink pyjamas with feet, lying on the sofa, but I can't seem to find the scanned version. So instead, here's toddler me, and I'll do the second half of the blogfest properly.


I wonder if any of you can help with this: When I was a baby, learning how to speak, I went up to my mom one day at the park and said something that can roughly be spelled as "Demisi vu vu children." To this day no one in my family has any clue what that means.

I also got my first and only stitches as a baby, when my mother was on the phone and I found the nail scissors, thought I'd cut my own nails, and sliced off the side of my finger. Ouch! As far as I know, today's stitches don't scar, but back then they did. I've got the ghost of two stitches on my right index finger.

Speaking of babies and childhood, I still love colouring books. I think I'll add these Dover Publications to my wishlist: historic sailing ships, Rackham's fairy tales, Celtic animals, and sea monsters.

And in adult news, NaNo is over!


I invoked the Luddite clause and validated at 52,000 words! Thank you very much to Zan Marie for being my validator!

Three notebooks at 60 sheets each, double sided

I average 10 words per line * 24 lines per page, which I round down to 200 (based on experience). The first notebook has 20 sheets of Druid's Moon and the last notebook is only half full so...

260 pages * 200 = 52,000 words

Let the typing begin!

I can't wait to get back to my regular schedule, and to read without feeling guilty that I'm not writing.

What are your December plans?

Comments

Congratulations on beating NaNo! And what on earth is that on your head?
Hi Deniz .. well done on finishing Nano .. and all the accreditation attached to it ..

Baby pics .. mine are still packed away - they'll be out this year .. ready for the next baby fest -

Love your photo .. Vikings ahoy? I've no idea what you were trying to say .. probably text speak before due time?!

Cheers Hilary
Trisha said…
HAHA. Love the pic, and the comments so far ;) It reminds me of a helmet I created in high school - pasted stuff over a bike helmet, but it became a silver viking-style helmet. ;)

That is an oUCHY story! The thought of a baby with a nail clipper doing damage makes me shudder. Yech. I think I have a slight phobia of anything bad happening to people's fingernails (or toenails). Glad it wasn't a worse injury though ;)

Demisi vu vu children? Hmmm, sounds like part of it could be a different language, but of course the 'children' part is English... Sorry, no help here :D

Thanks so much for participating!! :)
Tami Von Zalez said…
Yikes, that is a lot of handwriting - I would get hand cramps!

Visiting from the Baby Faces Blogfest.

Give me a visit at my Countdown to Kitschmas hop -

http://thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com/2012/12/countdown-to-kitschmas-day-2-nom-nom-nom.html

My December plans? Whatever happens, happens.
Mina Lobo said…
Hi, stopping by from the Baby Faces blogfest. I HEART this pic!!!!! That helmet is the grooviest. :-D

As for the phrase, could vu vu maybe mean boo-boo and you'd just seen some kids fall and get hurt?
Some Dark Romantic
Danette said…
You sound like you kept your mother busy keeping you out of trouble! Cute hat! Cheers!
Jeff Hargett said…
Between "vu vu", NaNo and that helmet, you were probably reciting lines from Mork and Mindy. ;-) Congrats on the NaNo!!
dolorah said…
My older sister was the only person who understood me at 3 years old. I had a few words/phrases even she scratched her head at.

Congrats on NaNo.

......dhole
Julie DeGuia said…
Stopping by from the Baby Faces Blogfest. Ummm, cute hat? And look at those short, shorts... how stylish were you?

WOW that is a lot of writing - congrats on finishing and happy typing!
alberta ross said…
cant help on the translation I'm afraid:) well done on the nano - impressed with how neat the handwriting looks.

are you going to do anything with the stuff I sent or shall I pass it onto the next person?

all the best for coming week:)
Susan Fields said…
Congrats on finishing Nano! And sorry, I can't help on your baby talk question, but my son used to walk around saying "Imma hippopotamus" for no reason at all.
Anonymous said…
Yes, congrats on the NaNo win. And I second Alex's question about what you're wearing on your head.
Love the hat!! Wish I'd have thought of that when my kids were little. (I still love to color too...the closest thing I have to being artistic!)
Hart Johnson said…
I love that picture! You look like a knight! And congrats on NaNo! I'm impressed that you did it all longhand. I've done a combo, but not whole books for a WriMo. (my early books were all longhand, but I really can only do about 1500 words a day that way)
Deniz Bevan said…
No idea, Alex! My parents might just have watched Holy Grail or something...

You're right, Hilary, maybe it was text speak!

Thanks for hosting, Trisha!
Deniz Bevan said…
I like your December plans, Tami!

Ooh, that's a good guess, Mina! I'll have to tell my mom that one.
Deniz Bevan said…
ha ha! You could be right, Jeff!

Thanks, Donna and Julia!

Can't believe I missed your stuff, alberta! Will definitely post on Wednesday.
Deniz Bevan said…
Aww, that's cute, Susan!

Who knows, Joshua? What movies came out c. 1984 that my parents might have gotten that from?

Thanks Elizabeth and Hart!
Aww, look at you! Your nail story made me cringe!

Congratulations again on your huge accomplishment. Happy to see the photos.

This December, I've started querying an old middle grade and I'm not going through my critique partner's edit suggestion on my new YA.

Happy December!
PK HREZO said…
yay congrats on Nano!!

Your pic is too cute. And the only thing i can guess is "Let me see something something children." lol :)
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks Theresa and PK!

You mean now, huh, Theresa? Not 'not'? [giggle]
cleemckenzie said…
That is one amazing piece of headgear! I want one. Congrats on NaNo survival.
Deniz Bevan said…
Thank you! I wonder if my mom still has it in the basement somewhere...
L. Diane Wolfe said…
I'm surprised I didn't have a hat like that when I was a kid. My parents homemade everything.
Deniz Bevan said…
Maybe you did but there's no evidence of it! :-)
Carrie-Anne said…
Congratulations on winning longhand! There's really something special about writing a book longhand and having notebooks and handwriting instead of impersonal screens to look back over.

The stitches story sounds painful. It reminds me of when I accidentally stapled my hand in first grade.
Deniz Bevan said…
You're right, Carrie-Anne - I love that feeling when I've typed it all up and can set the notebook aside in the "done" pile. Staples, ouch!
LTM said…
eye yi yi, Deniz! Slicing off your finger--eeep!!! :P But you know, I had my first stitches at 3 yrs, too. Trying to keep up w/my older brother, got a bad cut on my head. I just can't imagine.

No idea what your baby talk was! But that picture is hilarious. You're a little teapot! <3
Congratulations on NaNo! Cute pic! Interesting hat, for sure.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse
Anonymous said…
Your pic is adorable! Reminds me of that song "Red Balloon" from the 80's. :)

I'm impressed that you hand-write your drafts. My hand gets a cramp just looking at all of those pages!
Love the stories . . .I understand about the stitches - I have a few from preschool days and they definitely scarred.
December plans - fest, fest, write, fest, write, read, read, read . . in that order. the week after Christmas is my unofficial Reader's Delight week.
Al Diaz said…
Congratulations on the NaNo. It's amazing! And a beautiful picture :)
Anonymous said…
Glad you finished NaNo. You sound like you're still smiling!

Thanks, Deniz, for stopping by and welcoming me back to blogging. When I came over here, I realized I've missed your wonderful header photo, and your beautiful smiling face.

Have a very happy December! And thanks for your friendship.


Megan Hand said…
Congrats on the NaNo Win!! That's crazy you write in notebooks. I could never do that! My December plans are finishing my 100book reading goal, write, write, and write some more. And enjoy my fam :)
Arlee Bird said…
Congrats on the NaNo win.

Glad the finger injury was relatively minor and you didn't cut your finger off. The helmet is definitely strange.

Lee
Wrote By Rote
Talli Roland said…
Congrats on NaNo, Deniz! And awwww! Weren't you cute as a young one!
Nick Wilford said…
Congrats on NaNo! I'm very impressed at handwriting 52k in a month. Can't imagine that. Hope you didn't get cramp!

Great photo - my first thought was that you were dressed as the Tin Man, even if just your head!
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks LTM! Ouch, a cut on the head sounds bad!

Thanks, Shannon!

Hee hee, so that's where you got the FB post from, Liz! :-)

Love all your reading plans, Tyrean.

Thanks, Al!

Thank you so much, Ann. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

Thanks, Megan and Arlee and Talli and Nick!
Anonymous said…
I love the hat. Cute pic.

That's awesome that you handwrote. Congrats on finishing.
Deniz Bevan said…
Thank you, Medeia!
Unknown said…
I don't have any photos of me as a baby, and what's on your head?? :)
Deniz Bevan said…
Ha ha! I don't remember Wendy! Maybe I was meant to be a knight? A princess knight!