Mini Surprises

In the last few days, I've found myself surprised by things Ada has done. For instance... while eating my cereal from a square ceramic bowl, I was sitting on the couch with Ada on my lap and the bowl in my hand. Being the little teething queen that she is, within a few bites of my Cheerios she had pulled the bowl toward her and started gnawing on the corner of the bowl. I doubt it offered much relief but it was entertaining.

Then, silly me, I set Ada on the couch to go get a long sleeve shirt since the temperature had cooled and the breeze was making me a bit cold. I left her with a good full roll distance to her right and left, assuming she'd be fine. As I grabbed the shirt from my drawer I heard a thud and a squeal. I sprinted through the house chanting "shit, shit, shit" as I know she has managed to fall off the couch. I arrive to find that she has indeed fallen, but has not rolled to either side. She has surprised me again by bouncing herself to the front edge of the couch and flipping off of it, landing with her head 180 degrees from where she started. Lucky for me, she landed on a blanket I had left on the floor and missed the corners of the coffee table hutch by about six inches. Rick said I've now used up my one freebie so I can never leave her alone again. And I never intend to. She is very deserving of the nickname "squirmy worm".

Again today I was surprised when I returned from making our lunches in the kitchen while she was on her playmat in her room. Surrounded by toys galore, what does she chose to slobber on but the fabric skirt of the glidder's ottoman. Of all things yummy and good in the world, the ottoman is not one of them.

And, after lunch I was changing her diaper on the floor on her pee mat in the living room when I ran to her bedroom for a wipe and new diaper. Moments later I returned to find a five inch curly turd had been neatly expelled and awaited my removal. Lucky for me, again, she didn't have time to roll in it.

Among all of these surprises, the best is learning that Ada loves to bounce, jump, and skip. Or more specifically, she loves it when we hold her while bouncing, jumping or skipping. Galloping works too. The result of our movement is easily the biggest smile in the history of the Universe. Followed closely by the huge smile achieved by standing her up on the couch to look out the window while enjoying a cool August breeze. This my friends, is one happy baby -- despite all of my negligent mommy moments.

Moral of the story: Don't be lulled into the false sense of security during the first six months. Once these babies go mobile, they need constant supervision. And the surprises never end.