Saucers

The girl is 17 weeks old this weekend and she is lovin' herself some exersaucer. As I type she is going to town over there, standing and bouncing and kicking, spinning around to reach out for different toys. A delightful look of surprise and pride comes over her face each time she causes something else to happen. She's got that thing rocking and rolling and a hand on two different toys and this big ol' stream of drool coming out of her mouth and she is CUTE.

All of a sudden this weekend she is seeming so big, so grown up, so competent. So "baby, as advertised" to steal Anthony's phrase. Perhaps its her skill at grabbing and holding and interacting with toys, that has bloomed this week. Perhaps its the fact that she is dressed in 3-6 month clothes and that I spent the afternoon boxing up her teeny tiny summer stuff (sigh...). Perhaps it was yesterday's visit to Pittsburgh to meet an actual tiny baby, Fi and Anthony's little Keely, 17 days old yesterday.

Sitting next to her, Ivy seemed to be a bit of a behemoth, actually. It's amazing how quickly you forget the tini-ness, the mushy baby-ness of a newborn. The little chicken legs and the absolute floppiness and the wide eyed expression. The ball of warmth curled on your chest. It was kind of nice, actually, to hold a little mushy again, as Ivy girl never snuggles in at all these days (what have I done, to be cursed with two children who don't snuggle???). I think it is so much easier to enjoy someone else's newborn, because you are not busy resenting someone else's baby for stealing your sleep and your life-as-you-knew-it. So you can just appreciate the singular moment in time the newborn represents, and soak up the snuggles with no strings attached...

It was a lovely visit all told- a good day for a drive, nigh cold outside, but with some shy autumn-tinged sunshine that broke through just in time for our trip to the fabulous playground. Jack, despite his early reticence to be there, ended up enjoying his time at Fi's house-- giving treats to Otter the cat, playing with the fabulous hover-craft toy, and getting his first ever treat from an ice cream truck. Kid picked a confection named the "two ball screwball". Who on earth is coming up with ice cream novelty names these days? I tell ya.