More Adventures

Just the other day, I looked at Evie and I swear she'd visibly grown during the night. She's doing all kinds of new things, and she's very excited about them. She can actually crawl now--on her knees and everything! And she's fast about it too! She loves to stand up, and can pull herself into a standing position using almost any piece of furniture in the house. Or, regardless of whether we're sitting or standing, she'll just pull on our legs until she's standing up. She has also discovered the stairs, and keeps trying to escape up them before one of us comes to recapture her. Or, if we run up the stairs for a moment to get something, she tries to follow us. So far, she's managed to make it halfway up the staircase before being caught. On the one hand, I'm proud of her and her accomplishments, but on the other, I'm scared to death that she's going to fall down the stairs and get hurt. We're planning to get a gate next week when our coupon becomes valid; until then, we have to keep a sharp eye on her. Also on Evie's adventures around the house, she's started finding tiny, almost microscopic, specks of fuzz or dirt or whatever, and she manages to get a tight grip with her tiny little fingers, inspect them for a moment, and then pop them into her mouth. Sometimes I can catch her in the act of inspecting her next potential morsel and take it away from her, but other times I don't realize she's eating something bad until I notice her chewing. Of course, the sneaky baby has also taken to chewing on just her tongue so as to throw us off. *Roll eyes here* When I go to her and poke my finger into her mouth to scoop the offending bite out of her gullet, she always seems so pleased. Almost like she's thinking, "Good, Mommy! You got to me just in time. Of course, I'm getting faster and I'll eventually win, but nice attempts in the meantime!" Speaking of "Mommy," we think Evie is starting to recognize us! Sometimes, when Todd hands her to me, she'll smile, snuggle into my shoulder, and say "Mamama." Other times, when she's upset and wants to be comforted, she'll wail "Maa-Maa-Maa-Maa!" It just tickles me pink to have her actually be calling my name (even if she's really just stringing sounds together instead). She can't say "Daddy" yet, but she says "Dad-un-Dad-un-Dad-un." The other day she pulled herself up using our bed, and she saw the cat lying there. So she looked at him, looked at me, and said "Ghee!" So I said, "Yes, that's the kitty!" She just beamed and did it again, "Ghee!" So I responded again, "Yes, that's the kitty!" We did this a few more times, and Evie was just thrilled. Finally, she plopped back onto the floor to discover some dust to eat and the game ended, but I actually had lots of fun! I don't know if this is still just baby babble or if Evie really is trying to use big-people words, but either way, it's fun to play along as if she is. She has a fixation with faces lately, especially mouths. She steals my glasses at least twice a day, doing so while I type this, in fact. And she likes to poke my teeth, lips, and tongue with her little fingers. She thinks it is strange and silly that I have teeth in the back of my mouth. In her own mouth, Evie popped a third tooth just this past weekend and might be growing a fourth, but she won't let me get a close enough look. She pops her lips and loves it when other people copy her. And I've caught her making fish-lips a couple of times! The poor little munchkin has had a cold for over a week now, but she's been her usual cheerful and fun little self through the whole thing. I'm so proud of her for all she is and does, even when it keeps me on my toes!