Dear Nora,
They say you learn something new every day, but this month I think you've been learning new tricks by the minute. Probably most notably, you learned how to spit ... and you thought it was hilarious. We thought so too, until you decided to do it while you're eating. So feeding you has become like a Gallagher show. Except instead of being covered with watermelon, we're constantly picking puree of green beans, carrots, apples + blueberries, etc. out of our hair and off of our clothes. Most importantly, we are NOT laughing at this. Because it is NOT funny. (Tee hee.) Not at all funny. (Hee.)
Some other tricks you've picked up are much more fun for everyone involved, as well as less messy. You like to clap your hands together, especially when we prompt you by saying "clap clap hands!" and making ridiculous faces at you. You also like to gimme five, cool kid that you are. Generous, too -- we ask for five, but you generally give us 10, 20, 45 or 275.
As you've gotten more adept at feeding yourself puffs, you've also gotten more generous about sharing them. Murray is the main beneficiary, but sometimes you slip one to mom or dad, too. When you're playing, you like to pick imaginary puffs out of a block or cup (or sometimes, if we're really lucky, out of your diaper) and hold out your hand to us until we "eat" them.
All that puff-eating was probably made a bit easier by the arrival of your two top front teeth. One is in and ready to roll, but the other is sort of on deck, I guess -- through the gums but only just. But the asymmetry doesn't seem to be slowing you down, and it certainly does nothing to reduce the cute. We thought we would miss the toothless, gummy grins you gave us when you were five months old, but the jack-o-lantern grins we get now are pretty wonderful too, as it turns out.
But can we talk about these puffs a little more? You always liked eating them, but for the longest time we had to put them in your mouth for you. If we handed them to you, you'd shake 'em around for a while and then throw them. Every time. After a while, you caught on that you could put them in your mouth, but you needed an invitation. First we guided your hand, with a puff in your fingers, to your mouth. After a while, all you needed was for us to tap your hand as if to say "OK, time to put that in your mouth!" and you'd do the job. Finally, you figured out that you're in control here. And instead of carefully grasping one puff at a time off your high chair tray, you scooped up as many as you could and shoved them all in your maw. So now we're back to handing you one at a time, but, finally, you know just what to do from there.
It's hard to know what the future will hold, you're changing so fast. But we did get a small glimpse of the next six weeks, weatherwise, thanks to your new friend, Mortimer. He's the groundhog who looked for his shadow at our favorite park on Groundhog Day, and you were there to witness the prognostication. Mortimer, bless his heart, predicted an early spring. And good thing -- you've still got a lot to learn, and a lot of the fun stuff is outside!
(Nora checks out Mortimer with her friend Claire, left, held by mama's friend, Amy.)
Love,
Mama and Daddy
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