More butts....

There are many great questions to be pondered out there, like what is the meaning of life and why do humans always seem to be fighting over/about something… well maybe it is my lack-of-sleep-addled brain but these days I feel like the most important conundrum out there is: why are baby butts so darn cute? Now I know I am your typical over-cooing mom, but I would wager that there are very few people out there, even those not yet with wee-ones, who disagree.

So what exactly is it about the backside of a baby that is so appealing? I mean, really, if you think about it this should be the least appealing part of anyone, but most especially babies. Babies have all sorts of great traits but their derrieres are, in the end, the stinkiest grossest place that needs to be cared for. When Evie was about 2 months I coined the phrase “poo-splosion” to describe the overwhelmingly large bowel movements she would have on occasion. Now how can something associated with that possibly be cute?

Could it be some sort of survival instinct created to ensure that all babies have clean bottoms? Certainly if that thing weren’t cute I would be much more reluctant to approach it. (Hmm well that is a question for a evolutionary biology type, I’ll have to have Brendon look into it, what a fabulous topic for a PhD!) Or perhaps it is just the diminutive factor, i.e., all things that are small are inherently endearing? Maybe it is simpler than all of that. Maybe the answer is just that everything about babies is cute, butts, toes, noses you name it, and that part must be cute. With deep questions like this one swimming in my head it is a wonder I ever sleep!

Wiggle yer butt

I consider myself a pretty well read mommy, hip to the stages of development jive. The past week or so I have found that I was wrong (for the first…OK really not even first…but most certainly not the last time in this baby adventure I am sure) There is a stage of mobility that I had never heard of before, indeed it isn’t even in any of the “what the heck do I do with my baby” books. Because I cannot find this stage in any "baby know it all" book I have dubbed it alternately the “wiggle yer butt” stage or the “launch position.”

The wiggle yer butt stage is the point at which a baby has mastered the art of hands and knees but cannot quite seem to get it together enough to move in a crawl. Aptly named (or so I think) in this stage the baby just hangs out on his/her hands and knees going back and forth like they are trying to propel themselves forward by sheer force of butt inertia and wiggles and squiggles their little bum in the air, trying to do what I am not entirely sure… but I’ll be darned it if isn’t funny to watch! Evie now spends quite a bit of her time in the “launch position” Every time I go to get her out of her crib, for example, she is there, on all fours, just wagging her little bum in the air and rocking back and forth like maybe, just maybe, this will be the time that she will magically move forward.

I can tell that much like the transition from rolling back-front but not front-back this whole awkward neither here nor there stage is frustrating to her. Luckily she has her parents (but especially her dad) who are well educated in the art of crawling and are more than happy to spend quality time with her working her through this tricky stage. Wish her luck as she forges ahead in the days to come.

6 Months of Life!!

Soundtrack

When I was in college I loved the show Ally McBeal. One of my favorite parts about it was that each character had a theme song, something that epitomized them that was constantly playing in their head as a motivation to their day. Well these past few weeks Patrick and I have a new “theme song.” Actually it is really more like a soundtrack… Our new familial soundtrack consists of the near constant babbling of Miss Evie, and anyone who has spent time with her recently can corroborate this, pretty much anytime she is awake she is talking, talking, talking. It is great laugh therapy for Patrick and I. She has even taken to babbling in the middle of the night when she wakes up to eat.

The theme song is not just for Patrick and I, she seems to pick themes herself as well. One day the refrain will be la, la, la and the next da, da, da and then a little ka, ka, ka. Sometimes she gets really fancy and combines the sounds (Patrick swears he has heard both a daaag (to be translated as dog) and a daaady). These more word like sounds are punctuated with the squeal, scream and not to be over looked groan and grumble. She must be telling one fantastic (and epic) story in her head!!

Last weekend we took our last trip up to Blue for the season. There were lots of great things a foot. Getting to wear Oma Monique’s outfit for the first time, playing in the grass, small jaunts in the woods and a fasciations with Grandma Mary’s painted toenails…. Ahh if we all could be so entertained by the minutiae of life!

Its heeeree!

News flash!! Yes folks it felt like forever to her mom and dad (and we did not actually have to suffer any of the pain… well maybe a little pain in the ear and head(ache) department) but really it couldn’t have been more than six months… Evie officially (as of Monday night) has a tooth!! Now the tooth is not quite photogenic enough yet to share, it is still in its nascent stages but a quick once over on that little lower gum definitely confirms its existence. Hooray only 19 more baby teeth to go!

In other news it was a banger-up weekend for birthdays. On Saturday (after a much needed massage that Patrick bought me for Mother’s Day) we went over to Ben’s mom’s house for a birthday feast that included ribs and other gourmet goodies for Ben's birthday. Evie got to see Maxine again and that was great! It was really neat how interested Evie was in her, especially when she cried.

On Sunday we went up to Phoenix for my Dad’s birthday. Mom and I spent an hour or so trying to take video of Evie that she can use for her Prep stuff. The “weekly video” is an out-take from that and is posted special for her Uncle Brendy who thinks that her excited belly convulsing is particularly hilarious… Dad thought it looked like swimming… of a sort. Brendon spent some good quality time with his niece playing on the floor in Mom’s office… mirror and someone new to play with = hours of entertainment!!