share and share alike

today ocean and her parents came up to visit. we haven't seen them in a while and it was amazing how much ocean has grown and changed in a month and a half. she has way more hair, babbles a lot and can sit up without any help! now that both girls are sitting they can interact a lot more. they spent most of today checking each other out. the following sequence nicely illustrates my daughter's inability to share:

in this first photo, ocean notices bebe's cool toy -- my ipod case. (because of course, the coolest toys of all are those that were never intended to be toys in the first place).



she makes a move,

and for a minute bebe looks like she's actually going to give it up.

"psych! nice try, ocean."

"what? i didn't want it anyway."

luckily for beebs, ocean didn't seem to hold a grudge.

later, we went up the street to our local pub, where the girls enjoyed sweet potato fries while their parents had some beers and burgers. ocean, who has only recently started solid foods, was a bit cautious with the fries but seemed to like them.

our little monster ate about 15. once again i say, self-regulating my ass! i kept thinking, she'll stop eating once she's had enough. well, she didn't stop eating until there were no more fries left to give her. and then she tried to eat her plate.

a very busy day

when i put bebe down in her crib tonight after nursing her, she looked up at me and smiled. i handed her a binky and walked out of the room and she didn't make a peep. we are past the days of her crying herself to sleep, thankfully (lots of parents decide not to cry it out, or CIO, but we learned through trial and error that bebe slept much better when she fell asleep on her own rather than being nursed or otherwise parented to sleep, even though it usually meant some crying), but she does usually give a little shriek when she realizes i'm leaving, which is then followed by 5-10 minutes of babbling.

not tonight, though. i never heard from her after i closed her door, and i think i know why. she had a very busy day.

it started off pretty low-key, with some lounging around in bed. we usually call bebe "lady-baby" but this morning daddy called her "lazy-baby."

then, for breakfast, along with her cantaloupe and cheerios, bebe had some oatmeal. she fed it to herself, with her hands. that's extreme eating, folks.

after we finished with breakfast, we packed up the car and headed down to nana's for some visiting. first we went to see mrs. allingham, one of nana's oldest friends. i have gotten to know her a bit over the years and she was anxious to meet bebe. then we headed back to nana's house for a ladies' lunch, joined by another old friend, mrs. berry. bebe did not fail to impress -- all day long she was at her absolute most charming and delightful. mrs. berry and nana couldn't believe how much she ate and how good at eating she is! nana made some parsnip soup which bebe loved. unfortunately, since it wasn't something she could feed herself, this meant that i hardly got to have any myself. every time i had the nerve to direct the spoon to my mouth instead of miss bebe marie's, she was quick to remind me that she was waiting for more.

then, on our way home from nana's, we stopped at bed bath & beyond for a few things, including a replacement for the full-length mirror bebe broke the other day (we are hoping the fact that she's 7 months old somehow will cancel out the whole seven years of bad luck thing). it was the weirdest thing, bebe kept running into that pretty baby she sees in the mirrors at our house!

she couldn't take her eyes off her. neither can i...

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i think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship

chocolate, i'd like you to meet my daughter bebe. bebe, this is chocolate.


i made a batch of these cookies the other day, substituting some good quality chopped dark chocolate for the raisins. (because raisins in cookies? seriously? yuck.) i originally made them for myself but then realized that they'd be a great treat for beebs since they're basically just oatmeal and bananas, two of her favorite things. oh, and the chocolate.

i think she liked the chocolate.

she gobbled the whole thing down within a couple minutes. i don't know if it's the tooth or just practice making perfect, but she is a champion eater now. she ate entire pieces of cantaloupe this morning, just bit off hunks, gummed them up and swallowed them -- oh, and she has figured out how to get cheerios into her mouth, too! i took some video which i might post tomorrow, if i have time.

and speaking of that tooth, it's got a little friend just about ready to join it on the right side.

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melon and sausages

this morning i gave bebe some cantaloupe for breakfast.

she's gotten really good at transferring her food from one hand to the other to get a better grip on it, or to expose some more after she's eaten all that originally stuck out of her fist.

she loved the cantaloupe. every time she had just about finished a piece, she would drop the mangled remnant to her tray and say "muh muh muh." so i'd give her another one and she'd repeat the process. could my seven-and-a-half-month-old baby possibly be talking, i wondered? is she saying "more"? it sort of fit, especially because normally when i ask (and sign) "do you want more?" she drops whatever she's holding to let me know that she does. but still, it seemed like a ridiculous idea, a total rookie first-time mom misunderstanding. babies this young just don't talk yet.

but then, after the melon, i gave her some prune juice in her cup. i had been shocked to discover, the first time i offered it to her (for, you know, her constipation situation), that she actually really liked it. i mean, i guess it's sweet and all, but i personally can think of few things more disgusting than prune juice. it makes me shudder just imagining the feel of it in my mouth. apparently bebe doesn't share my disgust, though, and this morning after i took the cup away from her mouth the first time (i don't let her hold the cup when she's drinking prune juice because it's just too messy and it stains), she did it again. "muh muh muh," she said. i gave her another sip, took the cup away, and "muh muh muh." three or four times in a row.

so, i don't know. maybe i'm crazy. but i really think she said "more" today. and i am 100% sure that she loves cantaloupe.

then, this afternoon, nora jane and her mommy came over to hang out. we decided to go out for a little walk to get some fresh air, so you know what that means -- the obligatory baby sausages pictures.

playdate snacking

today when euan was upstairs with us, we all had a snack of apples and cheerios. bebe has finally gotten the pincer grip down and can pick up a single cheerio and convey it to her mouth. unfortunately, she hasn't yet figured out how to let go of it once she gets it there. so euan helpfully fed her some of his cheerios. she much preferred the apple, though, which she could hold onto herself. she gummed at it for a good hour, happy to finally be doing the same thing as the big kid.

one down, nineteen to go

although you can't tell from this photo, bebe's first tooth appeared this morning!


you can't, in fact, tell from looking at her at all -- you have to stick your finger in her mouth and rub it along her gum, as i've been doing every day for the past week, ever since i noticed some telltale swelling. when she woke up this morning and we were snuggling in bed i got my finger in there and felt some hard little bumps poking through on the bottom left side. josh and i have mixed feelings about this new development. we're excited that our baby girl is growing up and, at the same time, we're really sad that our baby girl is growing up. i am alone, however, in my fear of being bitten on the nipple.

a couple other things to share as well.

first, a picture taken while grocery shopping today. i am finally confident enough in my ability to get bebe safely onto my back in the mei tai that i can do it anywhere, not just while standing over my bed. it's a much more comfortable (for me) and enjoyable (for her) grocery shopping experience than having her in a front carry, now that she is so heavy and so much more interested in what's going on around her, and today she got tons of compliments on her hat. thanks again, grammy!

second, some video taken in the car this morning. we were out at mems' and teed's house and for some reason didn't check the forecast. we couldn't leave yesterday because western mass was getting a whole bunch of snow, so we headed back to boston early this morning to get josh to work just an hour or so late. we usually try to time our long car trips to coincide with bebe's naps, but today that wasn't possible. she happily babbled to herself for about an hour, before getting fussy and half-yelling, half-talking herself to sleep. this video shows how much her "language" has developed recently, especially when compared to this one, taken about three months ago. she has discovered all sorts of consonants ("da da" is her favorite thing to say right now, which as you can imagine josh doesn't like at all) and more varied intonations. it seems like she changes every day now!

the face of a baby who loves her mems

beaming while playing on the floor tonight before bed


and the look of adoration she gave mems yesterday when mems arrived home mid-lunch and made bebe's day.

mealtime fun at mems and teed's

hangin out with nj

yesterday the birthday buddies got together for some floor time. nora jane's mobility is inspiring bebe to try really hard to get up on all fours. so far she hasn't managed it but she keeps trying.

pulling her weight

i don't know if i've mentioned this before, but i'm having a really hard time working on my dissertation. partly, it's hard to find time (we are lucky that auntie jamie comes to babysit 15 hours/week but that's not nearly enough time in which to write a dissertation), but largely my problem is that i have completely lost my focus. or, i should say, my focus is elsewhere. you can probably figure out where.

anyway, it's a real problem. at some point soon my committee is going to expect me to be producing actual pages, full of actual words that make up coherent sentences. i've been starting to lose sleep over the situation, but then today i hit upon the perfect solution. it's not like i'm the only person home all day. why don't i just have my little partner in crime do some of the work for me? it's about time she started pulling her weight around here. and 17+ pounds is probably equal to, oh i don't know, a chapter and a half?

all right, bebe, this chapter is on women's magazines and their portrayal of romance in the 1920s. go!


bebe got right to work,

and was excited to be able to utilize her main talent.

unfortunately, though, when i popped back in a while later to check on her progress, her work left a little something to be desired.

bebe, i don't think my committee is going to accept this.

"well then, mommy, maybe you should write your own dissertation."

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