1st fortnight of Juny 2011 Barcelona. Montanyans 1 (Bº La Ribera)
A new dad’s first steps are always clumsy and imprecise. Luckily, babies, though have no patience, do not get frustrated with their caregivers (in that, they are clever from day one) and that’s the reason why they provide such broad possibilities: laughter mixed with weeping, calm and quiet moments mixed with anxious and hurried ones. Moreover, if your windows are wide open to the street, as the morning goes by the sounds of people passing by, of children playing in the park, of birds, of noisy shops (like the saw cutting at the butcher’s shop beneath), of people whistling, of the wind chimes on a neighbor’s balcony, of bells, of sirens, or the neighbor’s dog barking amongst others, configure a continuous flow of sounds that merges the public and the private, the articulated with the simple, the environmental sounds with those from specific activities, the meaningful with the mere anecdotal... and all this is spiced up with some music and other T.V. incursions. In the end, it all conforms a totum revolutum that involves and accompanies us in our daily routines, whether we pay attention to it or not: whether we take advantage of it or not.
English version: Noemí Aznar

Dancing, breastfeeding, sleeping. (2/6)



Music is not a bad resource. That’s the reason why I start the computer but, evidently, it’s more important to put some water in the bottle warmer first, and then play the music…
Despite my irritation after forgetting the water, Alea’s shouting in my ear, and all the stress, I manage to get everything ready and, at last, I get to play some music to dance to… That is very relaxing for her and it seems that she even forgets the hunger that a minute ago appeared to have been torturing her.
Vinicius de Moraes’ “Como e duro trabalhar” is the first song from the author’s compilation that I play and, following a slow tempo while little taps on Alea’s diaper mark the contratempo, we move about the room.

(03:40)When the water starts to boil I spin the bottle so that the heat of the surface reaches deep into the liquid of life (breast milk) and with the acoustic signal of the warmer… it comes a few more spins.

(04:05) I sit on the office’s chair in the living room and... let’s drink.
This is a crucial moment… if she doesn’t feed quietly, at her own pace, who knows…
This particular Vinicius’ compilation is her usual tune first thing in the morning. I think she likes it (or I want to believe it) and I play it nearly every day. I like it because one can dance to it more intensely and rhythmically, or gently and with a certain cadence which doesn’t keep one off from standing still or sitting while feeding her, just like now; that’s why I think it works well for us. This music also isolates us from the outside sounds that practically disappear, veiled.

If I am to trust her breathing rhythm and her sucking on the bottle’s nipple, she seems relaxed and calm… kids adapt to everything and it seems to you that they even like it.
I squirm in the office chair that I have in the living room because while she doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable, my arm and my back are getting achy. As she finishes the bottle, her eyes close softly and while she makes some effort to keep them open (it seems that her eyelids are made out of iron and her eyelashes out of lead), she finally gives in…

(09:20) With Alea completely asleep, I get up from the chair and accommodate her in the armchair, on top of her blanket, so she
can sleep for a while. I seize the moment to prepare a coffee that awakes me and to take a look at RTVE’s 24H Channel…
Cospe, in her investiture as the new President of Castilla-La Mancha o something like that… (what’s upon us!). Alea revolves inher blanket (I hope she won’t remember that wicked woman) but she doesn’t wake up…
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