Playtime

Mornings are the best time of day. The Bean always wakes up cheerful and ready to play. This morning I heard her cooing in her crib at 6:00, so I grudgingly got up to get her. She rewarded my efforts with a giant grin when I peered into her crib.

When I go to pick her up these days, from her crib, from the car seat, she lifts her arms up towards me. Her limbs cling to me like an amazing little tree frog. When she wakes up, she is so happy to get out of baby jail, so happy for some company, that she nuzzles her head into me neck to cuddle.

We lay down to nurse, and when she's done, she rolls away and smiles at me. The she flips onto her belly to go wake up daddy by fish-hooking his lip or pulling out an arm hair or two. We usually let her crawl around the bed for a few minutes, until she starts hanging her body over mine to peer at Pup.

Breakfast of cheerios, bananas, peaches and "oatmeal" (breastmilk mixed with infant oat cereal). She makes a grand old mess and complains when we wipe her hands and face. Then it's time to play.

This morning, as I was laying in our Baby Octagon (a safe play area whose boundaries are formed by some couches, a well-placed toybox, the TV stand, and a wall) I was thinking about how much she has changed in the past few months... and how there are so many milestones of development that you never think to expect.

-This morning we were playing her new favorite game. I take one of her toys and she watches as I hide it inside another toy. The she crawls over, and "finds" the toy. She didn't do that even a month ago.

-I watched her as she crawled over to her toy basket, reached inside and pulled out one of her gigantic colored beads (a favorite toy). She then continued fishing in the basket and pulled out a second bead. She then put one on the index finger of each hand and crawled away. I've never seen her search for a specific toy in the toy basket before. Ever.

-She can often pull herself up to standing while holding a toy. This morning, I watched as she crawled over to the couch with a very large toy and tried to stand up. It was too big and she could only get to her knees because the toy was getting in her way. She put the toy down, finished pulling up, then bent over and picked up the toy. Um, problem solving anyone?

-Over the last month she has become VERY interested in Pup and our two black cats. She gets excited when she seems them, she will chase after them and try her best to pet them and eat their paws and/or tails. (All of the pets have been exceedingly patient with the Bean.) Bean has now realized that if she throws Cheerios to Pup, she will hang out nearby and might even lick Bean's hand. Bean's usual pattern of Cheerio eating is now "One for me, three for you..."

And this morning we discovered a new game. Not long ago Bean discovered my back massager (one of those hard plastic things that you rub on someone's back and it feels so good... this one is shaped like a star). Bean claimed this as a toy because she could grip it in one hand and crawl around with it... it makes a lovely noise on the hardwood floors. Anyway, so this morning I actually used it on Bean's little back. It must have tickled like crazy because every time I did it Bean squealed and arched her back. It was great fun.

Now Bean is napping, and I am about to go out for a run.

Happy Sunday!