Perfect! Now don't move a muscle.

We attended another wedding this weekend and Audrey wore-- for the first time ever!-- a pair of shoes.* During the reception I was approached every few minutes by someone holding one of these aforementioned shoes, asking "Is this yours?"

She doesn't hold still for cameras, or anything, anymore.

*Dress, bloomers and shoes provided by Mimi and PopPop, who will be pleased to know that the dress survived the whole night! No horrific stains! And we left the wedding with both shoes.

Inchworm

If I pull all the levers, set the Pict-o-Gram meter to its highest setting, and pedal really fast, the Magic-Lantern Video Projection Machine should start working! Here we go.....

I should point out that that is not a bottle of toxic household cleaner she's playing with in the video; it's the baby sunscreen, and the bottle is tightly closed! Just didn't want to give the grandmothers any heart attacks.

Hang on, Chickpea has just disappeared under the couch...

How to eat an apricot

Watching her eat this apricot half reminded me of the way some types of wasps and spiders will inject their prey with a venom that liquefies them first.

We now rate meals in terms of number of washcloths needed for clean-up. This was a two washcloth. She had liquefied apricot pulp from her knees to her eyebrows.

Straw poll for our readers.

Is "uh-oh" a word? Would it count as a first word? Audrey said it several times today, the first time at around 5:00 in the morning right after she dumped the entire container of diaper wipes on the floor, and just before she worked the cap of the diaper cream and almost ate some. (Did I mention she's getting hard to handle? Suddenly every diaper change is a Cirque du Soleil audition. By the time I've got the used diaper off of her she has twisted herself into a headstand.)

I invite your comments. Actual word, or just grunting mimicry? Any difference?

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

This needs no caption. Either you are thinking, "I can't believe she's posting that. It's really not appropriate," or you are thinking, "That's the cutest thing I've ever seen," in which case, you are probably my mom.

Hi, Mom.

Audrey does enjoy a good bath, which is handy since she needs more and more of them lately. She is having a nap right now, and I am getting to know my new laptop, who will be known as Chapman, after the guy we bought it from. Now I can tote Chapman from room to room with me, instead of trying to keep Audrey out of trouble while I use the desktop. There is no keeping Audrey out of trouble now. Trouble is her job.

Does she have a hollow leg?

When Audrey first began eating solid foods about four months ago, I started to puree things for her and freeze them in batches. The usual stuff- sweet potatoes, pears, apples, spinach, etc. I was really getting good at it and was thinking about all sorts of ways to fit more pureed cubes into the freezer, when it occurred to me that she actually doesn't need all that much now in the way of mush. She can just eat a lot of the same things we do, as long as they are soft and she can get some bite-size (for her) pieces gnawed off with her gums and one snaggly little tooth.

Last night we had some fusilli pasta and I gave her some (unsauced) on her highchair tray, which seemed to delight her. They were a facinating shape, nice and gummy-- right up her street. She was really putting it away, it seemed-- the more I gave her, the more she wanted. And I did see her chewing, but when I took the tray off to clean her up, I found that she had just stashed most of the pasta away in the pocket of her bib. While getting her ready for bed a bit later I found more fusilli tucked down into her onsie, in the top fold of her diaper.

Maybe, like both of her parents, she likes to store food away for later use. Scott cans and preserves, and I puree and freeze. Audrey pockets.

At home with Mom and Ah-Da

I would like to direct your attention to her deliciously fat arms and legs. This kid was a rather scrawny newborn at first. But look at her now! Buttery rolls. Wrist creases. The works.


This is the kind of kiss you get from Audrey-- more of a slobbery bite, actually.

We are hoping for a better night of sleep tonight, and some naps tomorrow. Audrey has been sick this week and is teething. Currently she is on Day Two of her complete nap strike. That's right. No naps. At. All. Please let the madness end.