Mostly Lil

Most of my writings here tend to focus on the larger two miniature members of the traveling flea circus I call my life, and that's for good reason: They are the ones who most often make my day resemble some kind of kinetic Salvador Dali painting. Anna wants pig tails because we're going to the petting zoo to see pigs? Of course. Mary wants to know if caterpillars taste good. I say no. Anna asks if butterflies, then, taste good. My answer perplexes her. And on we go.


So I don't write much about Lily because until recently, she didn't do much. She's the world's happiest baby, to be sure, but tomorrow she is going to be nine months old (how did that happen?) and no longer is she content to sit and watch the world (that'd be her sisters) go by.


We started food at six months. Purees from a jar lasted...about six minutes. She looked at her mashed "mixed garden veg," looked at the lasagna the rest of us were scarfing down and gave us her best "to Hell with this!" look. She stole a Saltine out of my father's hand once and was working like mad to get her three teeth to handle it before someone took it away (no one did).


Now, the jars are on hand for the days when we eat something heavy on the seasoning, but on pulled barbecue chicken and rice night?

Not a prayer.

This is the baby who's lack of weight gain in the beginning had the doctors concerned, by the way.



Skinny baby!



"It takes work to make this chub!"

Earlier this month, she learned to properly crawl. Before she was doing this weird army crawl thing and could only go backwards, which led to much wailing and gnashing of (all three) teeth when she'd back herself up to the couch or into a corner and had no way to propel herself forward.

And then today, this happened:

Admittedly it happened with a little maternal guidance, but she was all about it.

She likes the swings.

She likes her sisters.

She is a connoisseur of fine china:



"I don't know if this is real Fiestaware..."



She still doesn't do much of this:



And the other day, she said "hi" for the first time. She says it a lot. Just not when I have a video camera ready. We have hundreds of seconds of me babbling "hi" at her, while she gazes at me in amusement but says nothing. Then I turn off the camcorder, and play it back for her, at which point she beams and starts saying "hey, hey, hey, HI" at the baby on my phone.

So frustrating.



But hey, it's one of my kids, there has to be a(n adorable) catch somewhere.